I’ve always absolutely loved shooting seniors! One reason was that when I worked for Dave Fowler a good chunk of the sessions we did were for seniors. Learning how to do something from one of the best, makes it really easy to love it. I’ve also always felt like I could level well with my seniors and just get what’s in style. I truly feel that needing to stay up on what is in, has and will keep me relevant (I hope) for years to come.

I kicked off my senior season this year with two beautiful senior girls. I’ve had so many fun ideas swimming around in my head that being able to get them out was a great time. As I went through Alie’s pictures to narrow it down to a few for the blog, I found that I was really having to nitpick images to keep from posting 50 shots! That made my day! I really can’t wait for my next seniors, as its been too long since these were shot and I have even more ideas needing let out.

Now onto Alie’s pictures (her sneak peek was here and she’s the newest face in my blog header). First of all, let me say that this session made me feel a little old for a split second. My senior year of high school my girlfriends and I kind of adopted Alie’s older brother Andy and took the “lowly” freshman out to lunch most days . To think that Andy was a freshman, he’s now done with college, and Alie was a fifth grader (I think my math skills are holding up there), and is already a senior… Holy smokes, I think I must have a few gray hairs showing! Over those years though, she has grown into such a sweetie and on top of that a complete knockout.

At some point I usually have to throw in an artsy shot or two!

Let me interrupt this image to point out how awesome Alie’s heels are. I think I almost got drool on them!

-alm

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My to do list has been intimidating me lately. It seemed like the easiest thing for me to put off until “tomorrow” was writing my new blog posts. I used to do a fabulous job of posting up images to my blog the same day that they went up in the gallery. Lately… not so much. So, here I am helping “write new blog post” climb back up my to do list.

First one to get a checkmark is the first of the weddings from my last trip back to Colorado (sneak peek here). Nicole and Zach brought a little new and a little old into my wedding day routine in Julesburg. I’ve gotten to shoot a couple of weddings at the local Methodist church there, and have really been trying to challenge myself to do something new. The reception on the other hand, was at a brand new location to me. Over the last couple of years I had heard bits and pieces about the remodeled Hippodrome Theater and how fantastic it was. This, however was the first time I actually got to step foot in it. I already can’t wait to get back, it came out beautifully and I believe they still had a few finishing touches they were working on.

The little old and little new theme continues straight into Nicole and Zach. I’ve been a regular out in Sedgwick County for a little over five years now. From pretty much the beginning of those trips, I remembered hearing about a cute couple named Nicole and Zach. In fact, they have always pretty much been *that* cute couple to those who knew them. Zach went to Caliche, one of the little rival high schools down the highway, and Nicole of course, went to Julesburg.  In my book, anytime you can date your relationship back using the phrase, “in high school,” it counts as something old when comparing to the brand spanking new marriage and journey they just embarked on.

There’s so much excitement in the air as the girls get ready. I loved all of the hustle and bustle in the getting ready room.

I always love watching sisters interract, especially on such a special day.

You tell me, does stunning really do Nicole’s baby blues justice? Either way, the key players that day made my job super easy.

These guys had me laughing all day and into the night.

The ring bearer and flower girl managed to get a bird’s eye view of the ceremony.

Once the dancefloor filled up, it never emptied!

-alm

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I have what seems like a hundred million other images that need to be blogged, but I wanted to get a few of these up while they’re fresh in my memory. This past Sunday our niece and nephew rolled into Fort Wayne on one stop of their Midwest ballpark tour vacation with their mom and dad. One of the big drawbacks of living out here is that we miss out on so much with these two. We packed quite a bit in while they were here though.

The first night’s agenda didn’t go exactly according to plan, however. Mother nature decided to unleash a couple of inches of rain on the field just as Stephanie went down to race Johnny (the TinCaps mascot) at the TinCaps game. She was plenty bummed out, at least until her “new friend” Brad came over the radio and asked if she could come back Monday to race. From pretty much that point until the race the next day, that was all we heard about. She continually insisted that it was her lucky day, after Sunday was scratched from the lucky day list.

She definitely enjoyed the limelight and her big screen time. She even had a few people recognize her up on the concourse which only lamented the fact that she was a celebrity.

After a quick meal, it was onto the play area.

I have to laugh at how different these two are already. Brennan is very much a taking it all in kind of kiddo, while even at his age Stephanie wanted to be in the middle of it all. This picture just cracked me up, because it totally described their personalities.

I was totally impressed by how fearlessly 5 year old Stephanie scaled the huge climbing wall.

One of the perks of having an uncle that spends so much time at the ballpark is that you get to “help” out with the field.

The next day we were off to a quick park trip and then time to continue on with the ballpark tour in Chicago.

What a bummer it was to miss out on Buehrle’s perfect game by less than 24 hours. Everyone enjoyed U.S. Cellular and Chicago though. Stephanie and Brennan even took a night off of cheering for the Rockies to root on the White Sox.

It was a bummer to have to leave them before they headed back to Colorado, but the real world and our jobs were calling. Right about now they are probably taking in a game at Wrigley before starting the drive back to Colorado. Thanks for coming out guys, we already miss you!

-alm (aka Aunt Anna and Uncle Mitch)

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From Thanksgiving to Christmas last year, Mitch and I lucked out and were able to spend that time back in Colorado with our family and friends. During that time, I of course decided to try to pack as many sessions in as I could. However, it was December, and the reality of the weather situation was that it was really cold. Because of that, quite a few of my sessions got pushed back into our last week there. The weather appeared to be cooperating, so what else could have gone wrong?

Well, Christmas night a sickness that stuck with me for almost two weeks hit, and it knocked me out! That next morning I was supposed to have a family session with the Schecks. So, sick Anna + two teacher parents + two little kids at the end of Christmas break, meant that we’d have to reschedule. I wasn’t terribly devastated though, as I knew that my next trip back would have to be much warmer. Little did I know that the next time that our schedules would align would be almost six months later! Ironic thing was, we got rained out on our first try! We ended up pushing it back to my last day in Colorado and for a little while the stars aligned, the weather was perfect, and there weren’t even any snakes in the field!

Just a couple of Annika and Brandon to tease you with, for now!

Try not to laugh when you look at this one!

-alm

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I’ve learned over the years, that as soon as I tell someone that I’m originally from Colorado, they will immediately picture the mountains. After they are done with that little mental imagery, they will usually ask how often I ski and/or snowboard. Funny thing is, it is about a 2.5 hour drive from my hometown of Sterling to the mountains. After I explain that, and that Sterling is actually 45 minutes from Nebraska, and doesn’t really look anything like the mountains, they usually assume that its really just flat, not that great, and isn’t the picturesque Colorado they had imagined. Wrong again!

I really wish that everyone had the opportunity to check out the flatter portion of Colorado. They would find that it isn’t the dull lifeless area that it is often assumed to be. On my last trip back, there were several times that I just couldn’t believe how beautiful everything looked. This is the first year in a quite awhile that there haven’t been drought conditions at this point. The pastures were all as green as a grass green crayon, the wheat was a beautiful shade of amber, the river bottoms were full of lush trees, there were wildflowers blooming everywhere, and everything was just flat out, full of life.

My last full day there I had a sunrise session out in the little town of Akron. When I was about ten miles from the town, a thick and heavy fog came out of nowhere. I kept hoping that around every bend it would lighten, just a little bit. Like, just enough that I might be able to see faces more than two feet away from my camera. Well, it definitely didn’t let up a ton, but it did just enough that it gave Cody and Monica a pretty awesome backdrop.

They had scouted out a few locations for us to use the previous day. As we were shooting (all at perfect locations, might I add) Monica said that she also knew of a pond that we could go to. Now, when she said that the first image that came to mind was a little fishing pond, nothing spectacular, but it probably had a few possibilities. When we pulled up though, my jaw absolutely dropped. I had highly underrated this pond. Now, I don’t know what it looks like on your average day, but with the foggy conditions, it was just straight out of my “Where Do These Dream Locations Exist?” book? Oh yeah, and the fact that Monica is gorgeous and Cody’s not too bad himself, only made my job insanely easy that morning

The aforementioned, storybook pond, fog, lush trees, and beautiful couple!

-alm

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Most weekends this summer you can find me either shooting a wedding or attending one. I’ve been asked by quite a few people if I ever get sick of them, and the answer is quite frankly, no! I love how every couple has a different take on what their day looks like and how each one can be incredibly similar, but beautifully different all at the same time.

Ask any wedding photographer and they will all tell you a different part that they just absolutely love. For some it is the first time the bride and groom see each other, for others it is the recessional up the aisle, or really anything. Mine? It has always been the first dance. There’s just something about it, that pretty much always leaves me with tears in my eyes.

Leslie and Bob’s wedding was no different. They had many of the traditional things you’ve come to expect at a wedding. However, they set themselves apart by really cutting out so many of the extras and just focusing in on each other, their three girls, and their new family.

As usual, my eyes watered up during their first dance. I swear, I went from a girl who rarely cried, then came my wedding day, and from that day on, I cry over anything. Yes, I’m a sap. But, it’s just such a great moment!

There will of course be more to come in the official wedding post, but I had to get a couple up for them! So, here is one more, for now!

-alm

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