The Dippels and Some Dimples

At a bone-chilling 42 degrees, the Dippel children stepped out of their vehicle ready to turn on the charm.  They knew that the quicker they smiled, the quicker they could get back into the warmth!  

Both of these children have a delicate beauty to them. I know that boys aren’t supposed to be beautiful, but I’m breaking that stereotype in this blog.  With Jake’s blue eyes, he truly is beautiful….okay, okay….handsome!  

Addie reminds me of the doll that every girl wants for Christmas.  She has the beautiful hair, the sparkly eyes, the dimples in her smile, and most importantly, the sweet personality to accompany all of that!  

I always go into a shoot knowing that there is a chance the children won’t want to cooperate.  As a matter of fact, I always love to chase the little ones around and capture them in their true element.  Give the children cold temperatures and a little bit of wind, and that likelihood of unruliness increases.  BUT - Jake and Addie were just the opposite. They were kind and well-mannered, and I loved to see how well they got along.  

The entire family is perfection.  The American Dream, family of four, with one boy and one girl.  I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my sessions this past weekend!  

Until next time...

The Many Faces of the Bacon Family

The Bacon Family.  I went into this shoot knowing that the colors they were going to wear were pink and black and that Kelli wanted some shots that were not traditional.  Of all the shoots I’ve done in the last few months, nontraditional would not be something that I’ve mastered.  BUT - I tried my best to catch their personalities.  Their personalities were....HILARIOUS!   

As I drove to our first location, the train depot in Streator, I caught sight of the perfect train car.  I’ve known Kelli for almost 20 years now, and I’ve always known her to have such a fun sense of style.  This train car reminded me of her funkiness.  I did my best to read the graffiti, with hopes that there was no profanity written on it.  After staring at it for awhile, and having no clue what it said, I figured nobody else would be able to read it either.  Now - what I loved the most was the attitude that Ryley and Max gave me in front of the graffiti.  

Max has many facial expressions.  As I was going through the pictures and selecting which ones I wanted to edit, I was literally laughing out loud.  I have a feeling you will do the same as you look at some of these pictures.  

Ryley was the perfect balance of humor and seriousness.  He had a hard time deciding which persona he wanted to put on at any given time, but I think it’s hard to deny his handsomeness.  

The entire family was decked out in their pink and black which I loved!  It broke the mold of the usual fall colors that most people are comfortable with, myself included.  Although we did get some fall shots as well, I appreciate Kelli’s acceptance of stepping outside of the box!  

Until next time…

The Reynolds/Eplin Family - Love Those Baby Blues!

Once upon a time...on a cold Saturday morning (38 degrees), I had the pleasure of working with an absolutely beautiful family.  When I say beautiful, I don't mean your average, "Oh - your kids are adorable" beautiful.  I mean the entire family, from moms to dads to kids to grandparents, were absolutely beautiful.

After deciding on a 9am photo session, I don't think we realized how cold 38 degrees could be when out in the open for about an hour.  The kids' fingers were cold, my fingers were cold, and everyone was shivering!  But, with the promise of some Hot Chocolate afterwards, the kids were absolute troopers.

Before the Hot Chocolate was promised...

Like I said, this family was stunning.  The blue eyes are enough to melt anyone's heart.  Their style, smiles, and sass were all in perfect balance!

This was the quickest shoot that I've ever done.  We started promptly at 9am (I love clients that are punctual!) and we were done at 9:33am.  I know that the promise of something warm and the organization of the parents helped a lot in this!

Thank you to the Reynolds and Eplin families for being punctual, cooperative, and such a fun group!  

Until next time...