Ashlen's Senior Portraits

i LOVE senior pictures! I really do. It might be because I wish I was 18 again. Or at least looked 18 again? Minus the glow-in-the-dark blond hair... Either way, it's so fun. I met Ashlen who was on vacation here from Colorado (which is funny because I took Woody's senior portraits in Colorado -who is from here.) She was staying at the Cocoa Beach Surf Studios and I loved shooting there! I do apologize for the lagging blog entries but we are about to launch the new site so I keep thinking if I wait a few more days I can post these entries to the new site and then we had some issues (sorry if you couldn't get on the sites the last couple days!) You can even see here that the image borders aren't loading in - weird. So, maybe one or two more entries here until the new Blogsite is all ready to go live! So exciting...
Back to Ashlen, she is super smiley and could barely not smile even while trying which I think is wonderful and adorable. Her dad is an awesome guy who scheduled this whole thing for his daughter (figuring it out from Colorado weeks before they came) knowing how much it would mean to her. I was booked (for the maximum sessions I'll accept each week) but then couldn't resist captain kirk and a senior session with Ashlen. So glad it worked out!

Her cute brother too!! Love it!
I'm on my way up to Ohio tomorrow to photograph my brother's newborn baby! I'll be working while I'm gone though so next up here is the Spacht-Levinsky wedding! (I did not look up that spelling guys so let me know if I've made a mistake!)

UCF College of Medicine - White Coat Ceremony

I had the pleasure of returning to the UCF College of Medicine a few weeks ago to photograph their White Coat Ceremony. I hadn't been since they moved into the new building at Lake Nona in Orlando. Last time I shot there was Spring 2009 and I only heard talk of the plans for Lake Nona. I got involved with the college through a friend of mine -Marcy. I had photographed her family pictures and they were looking for a photographer to really capture something special at the college. Not just an event, but history, excitement... dreams becoming reality. That of course sounded interesting to me. (Oh and I also grew up a few doors down from Marcy and she had the awful job of babysitting me sometimes!) --Her family will actually be up on the blog later this week! Oh my gosh her kids are CRAZY CUTE. You must stay tuned.

Here's the thing about this school. Everyone I've been in contact with there is clearly passionate about the college and dedicated way beyond their job description.

Oh and the building is nice. Really nice.

I think this girl is a real student even though she appears to be a spokes model.
Super sweet smile right?

There's Marcy on the left hanging out with the other smarty pants doctors. If only they knew how smart a photographer has to be... they would be so jealous. They would quit their jobs right away and become photographers just to experience the depth of knowledge.
Or maybe not. Whichever. We wouldn't want all the docs quitting on us.

Eager new students - first day of school - again!
I am such a Grey's Anatomy fan, this is so Pilot Episode.
Seriously, looking through the images I realized that most of the pre-ceremony time I have guys talking to girls... I could have put up a whole montage of that and then realized I should be nice and not.

So here is one with just a guy and no girl. But it's cute how he's trying out his mail box.

I want a t-shirt. You never know, my kids might go there.
Of course they probably will because they are brilliant.

Here's another nice person, Wandy. And her nice friend whose name I don't know yet but appears to be a doctor.

Oh and I forgot to mention that the night before this I caught the stomach flu my family was passing around! I was so afraid I would be sick for the event! I figured though that I could ask someone for some kind of anti-nausea if I had to -right?! Well, I wasn't 100% better, but I just made sure to stay on an empty stomach until after the event so I wouldn't toss my cookies in the auditorium. There is seriously no room for being sick when you have an event to shoot but I would never cancel unless I was physically unable to look through my camera and click the shutter. Or at least click the shutter and point the camera in the right direction.

The main event above is the White Coat Ceremony where all the students in the new class (#2 to be exact) will receive their first white coat. It's special. Parents come.

There were opportunities to raise your hand. Brave I tell you.
But they all did it because they are med students.

And they all got a White Coat.

And they all had proud families and friends - my favorite part!

More nice people, Dr. German (the dean) and Lorraine the Event Coordinator.
Dr. German: Lorraine, what a beautiful job!
Lorraine: Oh go on.

ta da! Read more on the College of Medicine and the impressive staff and faculty here.

The Zivoder Family

The Zivoder family was here on vacation from Ohio when we met to take some family portraits at Ryckman Park in Melbourne Beach. These kids are so adorable it is crazy. They have the sweetest little features and are obviously very happy children. It can be easy to stress your kids out before a photo shoot... and then get less than desirable behavior out of them during the shoot. I am guilty of this myself! But I could tell that even though Gina was very excited to have their portraits taken, she did not put any pressure on her family and thanks to that, they responded quite well! It's funny that I had just been up in Ohio/Michigan when we met. Gina's accent was the strongest I have ever heard though! It seemed like they were having a great vacation here and hopefully easy travel home!

see what I mean?

This is so hilarious to me... they went back for more treats and just stood there salivating. Treats can sometimes be key to your children's photography session. I prefer fruit snacks because I am not technically offering your kids candy and because they disappear quickly from their mouths. Of course I always ask first and would never give fruit snacks to babes!

We stopped at the beach for a few more...

Maternity Marathon with Chad and Khara!

I'm not sure where to start. I'm going to be wordy on this one so get your coffee. I just have a lot to say. First of all, this picture above might be my favorite maternity ever, but only if one of my other favorites below don't win out in the end. Oh and I might have to start offering sessions in Ohio... travel fees apply. Also, my new website/blog will be done soon and I tested the blog. Thanks to my testing the new blog I now hate this one. My images here look like thumbnails. Can't wait for the big switcheroo!

I had the opportunity to shoot pregnancy photography for my brother and sister in law last month in Ohio. The trip is part of why I am a week behind right now (but only because it happened right after my family moved - and turned our lives upside down in the process.) It was of course worth it because family is a big deal (no pun intended.)

I was so impressed by the Ohio corn fields we set out to find the perfect one. Instead of the normal maternity session, we took a day trip up to Battle Creek MI to visit family and stopped for "mini sessions" throughout the day in different locations. You've never seen so many belly shots but it was lots of fun! Our first stop was the "perfect corn field." We spotted the small farm with a tomato stand out front and decided we had the most unbelievable tomato craving. After stopping for tomatoes, we had an equally irresistable urge to use the farm for our maternity shoot. The farm lady was super nice and didn't mind at all. She even helped us out with some props which you'll see later. I might have to make that one the cover image now that I think about it.
Thank you farm lady.

I love the old look of this image. It reminds me of pictures my mom pulls out of her ceder chest from her childhood. Chad and Khara are not actually out of the 50's. But Chad's not that far off.

They aren't telling us the baby's name and they've been calling her "ladybug" until she's born. My son thinks that's her name and doesn't even realize how odd a name it would be.
(My apologies if you named your daughter ladybug.)

The special "something" that made this corn field stand out from the pack is the row of wildflowers (my brother kept naming them but I can't remember what they're called), then row of nothing (otherwise known as the you-stand-here-row) and then the field. Ahhh perfection.

Notice to all beautiful pregnant women: NOT FAIR. I gained anywhere from 30-45lbs every time and looked like a very ugly cow. Not even like the cute ones you notice while you're driving and should be watching the road.

(Jenn inspired.)

My brother being the funny guy. He is that guy.

I heart gravel. We all like different things right?

This is the funniest picture of all time, so funny it looks posed. Explanation: I never shoot in mid day but we had no choice. SO, we were waiting for the clouds that were passing by occasionally before we actually snapped the shot. My brother is watching for the next cloud while Khara is attempting not to pass out. It was awesome.

Same as the first one above but in full color. I love this so much I might hang it in my house, is that weird?

In Ohio, people often hang out under adorable little apple trees. We can do this for your session for the small fee of a round trip ticket to Ohio. Oh wait this was actually in MI.

There are also very huge piles of cut trees. Actually only in my aunts back yard but that is a long story involving my aunt, a pond, a lake and the state of Michigan. If you need firewood this winter or any time in the next ten years, please call her.

Seriously Khara you are smokin.

This is the second funniest picture of all time but only because I kept saying "Kiss her temple" and they kept hearing me say "Kiss the nipple."

After this a muskrat tried to bite Khara's foot off. It was so cool except I totally missed it. I secretly wanted it to happen again so I could see. But not really get her foot. You know?

What a fun day! Thanks Chad and Khara for having me be a part of this precious season in your life and for the fun times we had together! --Newborn images coming soon!

p.s. My brother has finally stopped whining about Ohio and embraced the farmer within. His tomato plant reaches up to the second floor.

p.p.s. Davis had his first hair cut at 2.5 years old. And we only did the bangs because we love his hair and refuse to cut it no matter how many times my dad asks.

what boy doesn't love a good crash?