Colorful and Summery Senior Pictures | Lauren | Prairie High School

Colorful and Summery Senior Pictures with Lauren

Newbo District | Pinicon Ridge Park | Wanatee Park

I’m writing this blog at 6:30 a.m. and for those that know me… this is highly unusual! But, I’m almost 37 weeks pregnant and fighting insomnia so here we are! I have a list of “work stuff” that I want to get done before Baby comes, which includes writing this blog on Lauren’s AMAZING senior session! I can’t wait to share the images with you all - she is stunning!!

Lauren’s mom reached out to me last October, if I remember right! My memory has not been serving me very well lately, which the insomnia/lack of sleep doesn’t help. But according to my emails, we’ve been chatting since at least last October. Talk about being ON IT for senior pictures! They were specifically wanting July or August photos because Lauren really wanted that full summer-y, flower-y goodness that summer brings! We chatted for a bit, got them on the schedule and then a few months later, I found out I was pregnant and due a week before her senior pictures were scheduled. I knew that I simply couldn’t do the July or August dates they were wanting - it would be too risky and probably too much heat/strain on my body at that time. I decided when I would be comfortable taking my last sessions before Baby came (considering that senior sessions are usually 2-3 hours, outdoors and usually involve at least a little hiking while carrying around my gear/ladder, etc) and I reached out to Lauren and her mom with the option to reschedule for mid-June or a refund. To my surprise (and excitement) they opted for rescheduling!

So we set Lauren’s new session date for the latest possible date in June before I started my “maternity leave” and I just prayed for good weather and for the FLOWERS to bloom early! (Last year, they were barely blooming by June 29th and Lauren was scheduled for June 11th - eek!! Talk about pressure!) We set up a few back-up dates and watched the weather as the day got closer. I wasn’t going to settle for anything less than perfect weather for Lauren’s session after she took a leap of faith with me and rescheduled for mid-June when she really wanted later summer.

The morning of her photoshoot, the forecast called for partially cloudy all day until her photoshoot was set to begin. So we banked on that. Lauren had already gotten her nails and spray tan done (perks of doing a senior photoshoot with me!) and was already feeling cute with her summer glow. (Shout out to Bare Tones for the BEST spray tans in the area!) We met at Moxie Salon for hairstyling with Justine and makeup with Kasya and had a great time just hanging out while Lauren got all dolled up!!

As we wrapped up, the skies still were cloudy and we were slightly worried but held out hope. We headed to our first location in the Newbo area and started shooting. We noticed a cloudless sky in the distance and got excited. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by sun and we all breathed a sigh of relief!! Also, because it happened to be a chill 70 degree day in mid-June and Lauren’s outfits were planned for, like, an 80+ degree day. She was FROZEN! Who would have thought!? But her bright, colorful top brought allll the summer vibes to this location and you couldn’t even tell she was cold!

I’m obsessed with the pops of colors - her outfit, the door, the platform! So cute!!

We started roaming around the area, stopping at my favorite spots that Lauren had requested!

I wasn’t planning on taking her back behind the old firehouse/Airbnb but we spotted these flowers and she mentioned how much she loved them, so we swung by them quick - GREAT choice on our behalf! They matched her shirt perfectly and are some of my favorite images from her session. How dang cute!!

After a quick outfit change, we headed to our next location. Yes - we were already running late.. no surprise there LOL! We set timers to keep me on track, but I use them as more of a suggestion and we always end up running a little behind. Luckily Lauren could change quickly and (spoiler alert) everything worked out fine, as always!

While I LOVE pops of color, I extra-love neutrals in a space like this. Lauren ROCKED her urban vibes and ultimately chose this outfit/setting for her large framed print to hang up next to her sister’s senior pictures at her house! We moved through these locations FAST and then it was off to Pinicon Ridge Park for her requested bridge and pictures with her DOGGIE!!

After our quick stop in Central City, we actually headed back to Marion to chase down the wildflowers at Wanatee Park. The sun was still high enough so we made a stop at my favorite tree-filled area and these turned out to be some of my favorite images. SOOO bright, colorful, summery and ahhmazing!

How gorgeous is she?! As we headed over to our flower area, I convinced Lauren to trek into the white flowers across the street to get a few more pictures in this outfit to give it some more “camera-time” AND because I wanted to use my favorite chair for some different poses that my seniors and their family LOVE! After seeing the pictures, Lauren decided that getting those multiple tiny scratches from our long trek was worth it!!

And then we hopped over to the purple flowers - the main event - the scenery that Lauren was wanting the most!

And that golden hour we were worried we weren’t going to get?? Perfection!

What a perfect senior session!! Everything we could have hoped for. At her ordering session (where they see the photos for the first time and order their images), we matched a frame to her sister’s senior picture that they had in their living room and I love how hers turned out! And her album is just GORGEOUS!

Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine does and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2024 (or a parent of an upcoming graduate) - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!

Casual and Low-Key Seniors Pictures | Sam | West Waterloo

Casual and Low-Key Seniors Pictures with Sam

Mount Trashmore | Morgan Creek Park | Center Point, IA

I met with Sam and her mom at the cutest coffee shop around, Stillwater Coffee Co., and I knew right away that Sam was going to an easy-going, low-key senior! She was definitely looking forward to senior pictures, but I think the thing that excited her most was the free-passes to getting out of school!! (HAHA, totally relatable!!) We chatted about what she wanted from her session, outfits, etc. She really liked the idea of a red bridge, capturing fall colors, and something unique. And of COURSE, bringing her doggy along for some!! (Spoiler alert: Chloe stole the show!)

I told them that I had ALWAYS wanted to try to shoot Mount Trashmore but 100% of the time it’s not worked out for some reason and I thought the fall colors overlooking the city would be the best. They were excited and up for giving it a try… even if the names implies it’s not very aesthetic, I knew it would be. (Being that they’re not from the area, I explained what it was.. reassuring them that they DO have weddings up there, so it’s prettier than the name implies lol!)

Fast forward a few weeks later and we started Sam’s photoshoot day with hair and makeup. Her team consisted of my girls, Aubree on hair and Krysta on makeup! Then we were off to our first stop: Morgan Creek Park.

Sam's flannel outfit was SO cute on her, and was just so HER! So it was my favorite! We even included her drumsticks and soccer outfit (she’s in a ton of extra-curriculars: soccer, softball, basketball, theatre band. But she just picked her faves)!

I loved this location and really got to see Sam’s love for dogs (and animals in general) come out!

Then it was on to Mount Trashmore. We stopped before the entrance b/c I spotted some long grass that I had to try. And then the climb was on. And BOY! I didn’t think it was going to be such a struggle going up that hill!! (Carrying my backpack and ladder is heavy but still - lol!!) We took a lot of pit-stops along the way for some cool spots and eventually made it to the top!

Not going to lie, the way back down was easier. And the sun was hitting all beautiful, too. Sam spotted a caterpillar (or 2 or 3) on the way up so on the way back down while we had some extra time, we got some photos with one. I love that it shows her absolute love for animals and nature. And they turned out beautiful. I also made her stop for some “senior-picturey” ones in the same spot.

At the bottom, we headed to Center Point for the awesome bridge and to meet up with her DOGGY!!! (And also, dad. haha) We really should’ve thought about doing the doggy pictures after we did some photos of just Sam at this location because the amount of dust and doggy-hair I had to edit of her clothes was crazy!! (We we’re excited for Chloe, ok!?!)

We pulled out all the stops to get Chloe to sit, stay, look, etc. At one point Sam actually had a dog treat in her mouth so Chloe would look at her.. and we definitely sprinkled them into her hair for the laying down ones. HAH! We definitely got some laughs in!!!! And SO many adorable pictures.

Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine does and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2024 (or a parent of an upcoming graduate) - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!

Unique City Night Lights Senior Portraits | Emily | Jefferson High School

Unique City Night Lights Senior Portraits with Emily

Culvers Greenhouse | Pleasant Creek Park | Downtown Cedar Rapids

Where do I even start with a blog about Emily’s session?! I had made a post on Facebook about opening up two new August dates after my vacation plans had changed and Emily’s mom reached out immediately. They were on vacation, so communication was tricky but they for sure wanted to book my last open date and we made it happen! And I’m SO glad they did! I actually know some of Emily’s family members because I’ve photographed her aunt and uncle’s exciting events over the past few years (engagement, wedding, maternity, newborn and baby milestone pictures) so it was so fun to get to meet more of the family! When they were back from vacation, we met for a consultation and I learned that Emily has a creative side and had some non-traditional ideas for her pictures: she wanted to use a greenhouse and wanted nighttime pictures with the city lights downtown. The greenhouse has been a popular request this year, but I have never done nighttime senior pictures before - I was immediately excited… and let’s be honest, nervous.

I had an idea on how we were going to pull it off, but wasn’t sure if it would get us the results we both had in mind. A few days before Emily’s photoshoot, I went and scoped out the downtown Cedar Rapids area at night to see what locations I could find with the most lights and sent her some pictures and found some she loved.

Fast forward to photoshoot day - we had Nicole at Onyx Salon doing Emily’s hair and makeup and had a blast just chatting! And then we were off to Culver’s Greenhouse (with their permission, of course!)

It was HOT in there, but it was so fun getting to try some new things and get Emily warmed up.

We changed outfits and our next stop was downtown Cedar Rapids for some more modern-looking city pictures AND pictures with her puppy, Isla!! We met with Emily’s dad and got ADORABLE pictures with her sweet pup who was verrryyyyy pregnant at the time. We moved to our second spot and it was way too sunny so we used another area close by and had fun trying out new ideas.

We wrapped up, changed outfits and headed out to Pleasant Creek State Park. I picked this location because it had a lot of things Emily wanted: willow trees, water and long grass. I’ve been here before but it turned out better than I imagined! We started in the shady road area, and Emily decided to throw on her sunglasses for a few AND use their truck for some pictures, too! SUPER cute and fun!

Then we changed outfits, and waded through the weeds and flowers to get the best lighting with the willow tree. I am OBSESSED with this light! She was a natural in front of the camera, too!

As the sun set, we headed further into the park to catch that amazing light in the long grass. And again, I was obsessed! I LOVED the light from this session so much, and Emily made my job easy.

And then we rushed back to water area, got a few on shore and then attempted to get IN the water. I had completely forgot that she had told me she actually wanted to get IN!! So we carefully tip-toed into the water and decided it would be safer to just sit down in it! hah!! So fun!

Then the sun had set and we still had the last part of the session left. But we WANTED it dark, so no more chasing the sunlight for us. We headed back to downtown Cedar Rapids, we met in the first location and got out my wayyyyyy too big 86” umbrella and lighting combo (but it’s all I’ve got). We definitely got some strange looks but that’s to be expected. And a huge shout out to Emily’s mom for carrying that huge thing around all night. We had planned to only take 30 minutes or so… but it took a lot of trial and error. We walked around, tried some funky things. And found a spot that almost impossible to light with an 86” umbrella but it was worth it! We LOVED the results and ended up wrapping up at 11pm!!! Needless to say, we were ALL tired!

Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine does and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2023 or 2024 (or a parent of an upcoming graduate) - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info!

Summer, Fall & Winter Senior Session | Makenna | Wapsie Valley High School

Summer, Fall & Winter Triple Senior Session with Makenna

Wapsie Valley High School | Iowa Senior Photographer

Last December, Makenna’s aunt Dorothy reached out to me to set up a plan for her upcoming senior session. Dorothy is a friend of mine, so she knew she needed to reach out early to start planning AND she wanted to gift her a session. (I was so surprised and excited for Makenna! What a sweet idea!) Dorothy let me know that they wanted to do a three-season photoshoot: summer, fall and winter. I was SO excited!! I had met Makenna briefly last summer when I did an extended family photoshoot for her and her family, so I knew we were going to have some fun! After Makenna wrapped up her junior year, I met with her and her grandma (who arranged the previous year’s family photos with me) and we chatted about what ideas she had for all three of her photoshoots. And after mentioning she liked colorful walls, willow trees, long grass, water and rocks, I came up with a game plan for her summer session! So let’s start there!

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Part 1: SUMMER

Newbo District | Pleasant Creek State Park

Makenna reached out to Nicole at Onyx Salon and set up hair and makeup, who her family had worked with in the past and started her photoshoot day off getting pampered (which turned out PERFECTLY by the way). We met at the Newbo City Market and I learned quickly that Makenna had brought a fan club! Her grandma, her cousin, and her bestie all joined her and I KNEW it was going to be a party! (Senior photo tip: bringing your bestie is a GUARANTEED good time.) We explored some of my favorite spots in the area, and I could tell after showing Makenna the back of my camera that she was feeling. her.self! She was ROCKING it! Of course, the excitement coming from her best friend Chris, definitely helped too!

I knew I wanted check out (or “Czech” out?! See what I did there?!) the Czech Village in Cedar Rapids because of their colorful mural walls. So we hopped over there, changed outfits (I ADORE this color on Makenna) and found some really fun, unique spots.

Next stop: Pleasant Creek State Park in Palo. We took the trek out there and found one of the last remaining willow trees post-derecho. We tried some cool angles with the willow tree branches, found the perfect path through a wildflower field (a fun surprise) and then changed outfits one last time!

This is one of my favorite spots out at the park, because it’s so high up that you get to see the water behind it. And the long grass was super summer and pretty, and had pops of little wildflowers too! We were snapping away (and sweating away, as usual for me) and who shows up?! Aunt Dorothy who had reached out to book Makenna’s session from the beginning. What an exciting surprise!!

By the end, Makenna was a pro and I already knew the next 2 sessions were going to be SO easy and fun for her!!

Part 2: FALL

Downtown Cedar Rapids | Palisades-Kepler State Park

The day we had chosen for Makenna’s fall session ended up being a little dark and overcast, but after some deliberation about rescheduling we decided to just go for it anyway! She had scheduled hair/makeup with Nicole at Onyx Salon right after her first session to get our date/time locked in. I LOVED how “fall” her look was this round!! We decided a location pretty far in advance but the day before her photoshoot I had scoped the Palisades out for another upcoming session and had a feeling she’d LOVE all the fall colors happening here! So the day before her shoot, I changed up our game plan! We met by the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and used that area, but moved QUICKLY! It was windy and cold, and Makenna had chosen super-cute fall outfits that didn’t happen to be ideal for cold weather. So we just kept the car running nearby and didn’t stay in one place too long!

After a few photos there, we drove down the road to White Star Ale House for their famous vine wall and then hit flew to our last stop in Cedar Rapids: the parking garage across from Eastbank Venue! I love this spot and Makenna wanted more of a city-look for this round of photos. We moved fast enough that we were even able to do an outfit change and get some photos of her in her second outfit here as well!

Then off to the Palisades…one of the photography HOT SPOTS, especially during the fall! It’s been a few years since I had done a photoshoot there so I was excited to try it out again!!

Aren’t the fall colors perfect!?

We drove to another spot closer to the river for some long grass and more fall colors! I LOVE how this whole combo came together. Isn’t Makenna so darn beautiful!? This was my favorite of her fall outfits. I just love that skirt color!!!

Then after picking off all of the burrs (lol) we changed outfits and headed to the famous beaches of the Palisades! We did some leaf-tossing, rock-climbing and dog-wrangling and were able to capture some amazing and fun shots!! The ones with Makenna and her beloved dogs are definitely my FAVE!

After wrapping up adorable puppy photos, we were able to just explore the area and get creative with posing. We had a few windy Pocahontas moments, but Makenna is such a natural in front of the camera and made my job so easy! I was already SOOO looking forward to her most unique session: in the snow!!!

Part 3: WINTER

Wanatee Park

For Makenna’s final senior session, we planned for snow, pine trees and all things beautiful about winter! This is SO hard to plan, because…. well, Iowa weather is known for being unpredictable. ESPECIALLY hard to coordinate and plan when you’re scheduling hair and makeup to be done beforehand. We chose a Wednesday the first week in February when we knew Makenna didn’t have school and crossed our fingers for snow and non-dangerous wind chills. She scheduled hair and makeup with Nicole at Onyx Salon and we waited for the day.

Meanwhile, I planned on leaving for vacation the next day but the flights weren’t lining up in our favor. So we ended up having to change our itinerary to fly out of Des Moines VERY early the next day, which meant we would need to leave the night before to stay in a hotel in Des Moines. Meaning RIGHT after Makenna’s session, I would be leaving for vacation. Talk about a whirl-wind! But as always, it worked it perfectly. I scoped out our location a few days beforehand. My criteria: snow, a spot without buildings in the background but somewhere with an outdoor plug to use my beloved snow machine to make some magic happen. I came upon a lodge out at Wanatee that would work for us! (I LOVE Wanatee for it’s many different backdrops it provides within a small park.)

Makenna, her grandma and her bestie Chris showed up that day ready to make this the fastest photoshoot yet. Sure, it wasn’t dangerously cold but it was PRETTY dang chilly. Most of her outfits were chosen with the cold in mind, but the last was a special idea (that I was pumped about) and would require A LOT of help and fast movements.

We started with Makenna’s photos with Chris! We planned on including him in a few photos from the start, but settled on the winter ones with him. Grandma came up with the idea of the amazing, gold “2022” balloons and bringing sleds. Oh! And the fun senior-year piñata Makenna and Chris made for class. To say we had a blast is an understatement!!

After a quick outfit change into her beautiful green jacket, we hit a different spot in the park for those rich dark greens we were after. I LOVE how this outfit compliments her eyes, skin and hair color. And that she brought her Honor Society metal to show off!!

And the last part of the session that was supposed to be the quickest. While Makenna got dressed in the warmth of her vehicle, Chris and I set up and test the snow machine. We wrap Makenna in a blanket and get her perfectly placed.. suddenly the snow machine won’t work. We LITERALLY just had it tested. After a minute of freezing and frustration, I sent Makenna back to the car to keep warm and Chris and I brainstormed. We decided to try to warm it up in the car and try again. After a bit, we set the blanket-wrapped Makenna back up in the perfect spot and the snow machine started working!! While keeping a blanket nearby, Grandma and Chris alternated on wrapping her up when needed and blasting her with the snow machine (one of them literally blasted Makenna directly onto Makenna that we had to pause to de-snow her… I won’t say who LOL).

When we wrapped up, all frozen, Makenna was SO excited from how much fun she had!! She hugged and thanked me and ran to the car to warm up… and I was off to start my vacation!

Multiple senior sessions are SO fun and we get so close that it’s sad when it’s all done. How amazing is it that you get to have different makeup and hair styles and SOO many different looks?! Totally worth it, I think!!!

Your calendar likely fills up as fast as mine does and it’s SO easy to forget to schedule photos! If you are graduating in 2023 or 2024 (or a parent of an upcoming graduate) - reach out with any questions or to start planning!! Check out my Senior Gallery or contact me for more info.