Fall Vibes Senior Photoshoot with Cloey

Fall Vibes & Cheerleading Senior Photoshoot with Cloey

Czech Village | Center Point-Urbana (CPU) High School

Get ready for the cutest rust-colored pants, the most adorable cheerleading photos and ALLL the glowy fall vibes from Cloey’s session! When we met for Cloey’s consultation, she told me she was open to anything nature and I could choose! And when I found out she was a cheerleader from CPU like I was (many moons ago) I KNEW we’d have a blast! She showed me her outfits, including the rust-colored pants and I knew I wanted to photograph her in the Czech Village with it’s cozy, cute downtown aesthetic. So that’s what we did!

We met behind Lucky’s restaurant and started our venture around Czech Village, looking for cute, unexpected locations. We made a stop in front of the cool brown door at SOKO Outfitters, and worked our way around the rest of the main street! What a PERFECT day we had! The weather couldn’t have been better for mid/late-October!

We finished up our lap around Czech Village and headed into Center Point. We made a pit stop at the nature trail - one of my favorite locations for trees when you need a quick, easy place to stop for photos! I LOVED the cozy, fall vibes that her cropped sweater brought! And those shoes?! Adorable!

Then we headed to the CPU track and football field to do Cloey’s pictures in her cheerleading uniform. I always love going back to my high school football field. So many cold, fall nights spent out there cheering on our football players and so many memories. We had lots of laughs at she scaled the side of the bleachers to avoid getting her competition shoes dirty. (They were still clean and rock-free by the end, too!) We had some extra time here so we were able to venture around and try some fun ideas! I love how they turned out!

Then our last stop of the day was a short drive over to the field outside the high school! I LOVE how this place looks in the fall with the sun glowing behind it. And Cloey rocked her cute black dress (AND that hat!) as she danced and twirled.. and tried not to fall over. There are SO many mole holes out there!! LOL! As she sat there glowing in the sunlight, I even coined the term “Glowy Cloey” - at least I thought it was super clever. It turns out she’s heard it before. I’m not as clever as I thought - haha!!

I had SO much fun reliving my cheerleading days through her, hearing all of the stories and updates about what’s going on at my old stomping grounds and just getting to know Cloey and her mom. What a fun fall senior session with this gorgeous CPU (soon-to-be) grad!!

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!

Rustic & Feminine Fall Senior Session with Megan

Rustic & Feminine Fall Senior Pictures with Megan

Central City, Iowa | Center Point, Iowa

When the time came to plan Megan’s session, I couldn’t believe how long it had been since they had booked her session! Time sure flies when the weather is nice - LOL! They had booked me in June and now it was already October! Like how?!

During our consultation (when I meet with Seniors and parent(s) for the first time to plan and get to know each other before the photoshoot) I learned that Megan’s sport was softball so incorporating that was a MUST, and she also requested fields and a farm/rustic location! I hadn’t gotten to that in so long, so I was excited for a little change of scenery!

After getting hair and makeup professionally done by Krysta at Make Me Up, Megan and her mom met me at my friend’s farm in Central City JUST as the sun decided to peek out for the first time that day! We explored the farm in her first (and “casual”) outfit, waved at the cows and swung on the fences. I could immediately tell she was a natural!

After a change of clothes, we explored the less “rustic/farm” parts of their land and I loved how their garage/shed paired so well with this outfit! And the soft tones against the gravel road!

I somehow convinced Megan to let me make a pit-stop on the way to our next location, because just off of the busy road was some pampas grass and I’ve been DYING to shoot in it. For like 2 years. She put on this sparkly, floral, super feminine dress and I KNEW that the aesthetic would be perfect. Although the location was NOT ideal and not easy to get to (especially in heels, right Megan?!), it was worth it. We probably spent a total of 10 minutes at this location, but we were in a hurry to get to our next stop AND it was off a busy road. So we flew through poses and magic just happened!

We hopped back into the vehicles and headed into Center Point. Our next stop was supposed to be the CPU Softball Field, but for the first time EVER in my experience it was locked up. (Cue internal panic!) After almost getting stuck trying to turn around in the parking lot full of cars and spectators at a CPU football game, we parked and while Megan changed outfits I came up with a new game plan. After realizing there wasn’t any easy way to get into the softball field (except climbing over the fence… not happening!), I decided the next best option was Fross Park. We headed there, ran into some road blocks. had to turn around and take the long way around, but alas! We finally made it!

We don’t have many behind-the-scene pictures here because I had Mom on “dust duty” - creating us this hazy look in the background of some of Megan’s images!!

It turns out I actually liked this location more than the original spot we had chosen! It worked out PERFECTLY! She brought all of her softball jerseys and I loved using them in a few shots!

We wrapped up and headed to our last location: a gorgeous little field near the CPU High School. When Megan put on her last outfit and that hat, I was SO excited to capture her cute-little-self! That outfit + that location + that light = AHHHMAZING!

One of the last images that we took that night was a special one, inspired by a photo of Megan’s grandma that she carried in her cell phone case. Megan’s mom knew how special that photo of her grandma is to her, and so we did our best to replicate the pose for her. Simply beautiful!

I loved how Megan and her mom were up for all of my ideas and I loved getting to know them both. And I adore. EVERY. IMAGE!

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!

Epic Summer Senior Pictures | Kiah | Benton Community High School

SPORTS, FLOWERS & WATER SENIOR SESSION WITH KIAH

Brandon, Iowa | Center Point, Iowa | Eastern Iowa Senior Photographer

I first met Kiah and her family a few years ago when I did some photos of her and her sisters. When her mom reached out in May, I couldn’t believe she was a senior already!!! We met for a consultation, talked about Kiah’s ideas and made some plans. During her consultation, she told me she LOVED tall, grassy fields, water, and would love her pictures on a bridge. She also wanted to do some track and volleyball photos as well. And that’s exactly what we did!

I scheduled Kiah’s hair and makeup to be done at her house by my good friend, Krysta at Make Me Up. (Kiah later told me that she loved how her makeup turned out SO much that she wants her to come do her prom makeup too!) Then Kiah, her mom and little sister all met me in Brandon, Iowa for the first stop of what we planned to be a 3.5+ hour photoshoot. It was a HOT day. Like at one point, I was sweating so bad I couldn’t see out of my eyes. I mean.. I always sweat when I do photoshoots, but when it’s 100 degrees out - phhhewwwy! For me, it reminded me of being on the beach in Aruba in August for a wedding without any cloud or shade coverage. Sizzling! We were all a bit concerned about that, but her mom brought snacks, drinks, and a face-blotting town to ward off any shininess. And it all went perfectly!

Kiah had 8 total outfit changes, poor thing! I knew it would be tough to get them all in (not to mention changing that many times when you’re already a little sweaty from the weather0) but we JUST couldn’t narrow down her adorable outfits. So I set my phone timer to go off every 20-30 minutes to keep us on track and we began!

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(Behind-the-scenes and “what you see vs. what I see” comparison photos, courtesy of Kiah’s mom!)

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We started by exploring the cute, old buildings on the main street in Brandon. Her dress looked adorable on her! After a little wandering around, forgetting my entire camera bag down the road (what in the world?! I’ll blame it on the head I guess) and taking some seriously adorable photos of Kiah, my alarm went off. Time for an outfit change! We chose a more casual outfit to explore some areas off one of the side roads with some barnwood, vintage truck, and gorgeous lighting.

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Then it was time for Kiah’s volleyball outfit. Not only had she brought her entire uniform, but she brought 3 volleyballs and a game net. I knew I wanted to do some photos in the sandy, indoor horse arena on a friend’s property but we also wanted some variety, so we did some with the old buildings as a backdrop as well. They turned out so cool! Then we hurried and left for the horse arena for some unique pictures!

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The horse arena was cooler than the outside and we were so thankful for that little break. With mom standing on a ladder, holding a reflector and little sister as the professional sand-thrower, we took some really fun, unique volleyball senior photos!

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The sand arena sits on beautiful farm land and it was the perfect, effortless setting for another outfit change and to add some variety to Kiah’s senior pictures!! Then we rushed off to Center Point to keep on our tight schedule!

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We met at the Center Point track for some photos of Kiah in her track uniform. They brought a baton and a hurdle and we did this portion of her session as fast as we could - in less than 15 minutes!! Kiah even had a little fan-club for the remainder of the night, because her mom’s friend and her daughter showed up to cheer her on! Talk about a party!

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Right on schedule, we headed to a new location I’d never tried before. Although it took us a while to get to our spot through all of that looonngg grass and the heat (now I know for next time - haha!), THESE were the photos Kiah had been waiting for! Her long grass and flowers! Isn’t she beautiful?!?

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Then we headed to the famous bridge in Center Point. I’m sure people were wondering what was happening since we had 6 of us out there in the middle of the bridge. But we had so much fun and these sunset photos are PERFECTION! Kiah’s requested bridge photos… check!

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Then off we went to our last stop of the night. The sun was pretty much set, but I knew that this location had wide open skies and it would be that soft, pretty light. But it was a location I’d never used before and something I had never done before for senior photos… you’ll see what I mean if you keep scrolling ;)

We started off in traditional senior picture poses and Kiah looked adorable!

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Then I asked her if she was up for trying something a little EXTRA unique and crazy. She said she was and we went for it! They turned out so amazing and I’m SO glad she let me try this with her!

Overall, Kiah’s senior photoshoot lasted about 4 hours, which is insane! But it was worth it and we had so much fun while creating some seriously epic and beautiful images!!

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!