afO's Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas - Cast and Crew

This was a fun group of actors and actresses to photograph!  I always enjoy working with this group! 

Stay tuned for more pictures from this play!  :)

Mark, Sarah, and Promise

I always love hanging out with this family!  (For those of you just now following this, that is my sister, brother-in-law, and niece!)  And last week was their anniversary!  Happy Anniversary a week late!  :)

We kept having to reschedule this because we couldn't find a time that worked for all of us.  When we finally made it happen, we miscalculated when the sun would be setting and almost ran out of light right as we were starting.  So this was incredibly rushed , but I am still so pleased with how it went!

I LOVE this family!!  :)

Derek and Kate

I was so excited to photograph Derek and Kate's engagement pictures!!  I have known Kate for basically as long as I can remember!  We went to each other's birthday parties growing up and had sleepovers together.  And now she is gonna be getting married!  I am so excited for her and her man (who is a pretty cool guy).

We initially had to reschedule this photo shoot, but we ended up having a perfect day with beautiful weather!  We explored various parts of downtown and had so much fun! 

Aren't they seriously so adorable?!?!?  I can't wait to photograph their wedding!!  :)

Phil, Michelle, and Gracie

I loved working with this awesome family! I have gotten know Phil and Michelle over the last couple years, and they are such a joy to be around! Phil is the youth pastor at our church, and Joe and I are still very involved with that which is a lot of fun!

I was initially worried that since I had to postpone this shoot that I wouldn’t be able to reschedule it before the weather got bad or the pretty leaves were all gone. However, the weather was perfect and the park was still so beautiful! This meant that there were lots of other people out enjoying the day which was very distracting for Gracie. She was so well behaved and did a pretty good job of staying where she was told to be, but she wasn’t the best at looking at me. :)

I had treats in my hand to hold her attention and that worked pretty well. Sometimes a little too well. :)

I love taking pictures of dogs because they have such unique personalities. I like this last picture because you can see that Gracie was ready to be done with the photo shoot. Or maybe she was wondering why I kept calling her name and showing her a treat but making her wait to actually get her reward. Either way, she’s adorable! :)

Thank you Phil, Michelle, and Gracie for a fun evening! :)

Eliana

I had SOOOOO MUCH FUN with Eliana!! Granted, we both about died multiple times during the photo shoot, but that’s fine!! :) (There was that one time when we were walking through really tall grass behind a fallen-down barn when I put my foot down and heard a distinct hiss. I just moved my foot, and we both pretended we didn’t hear anything while I worked as quickly as possible so we could get out of there.)

Elaina had a natural sense for what I was going for, so some of my favorite pictures were when I were tell her where to stand and then tell her to look at me, and that’s when I would snap the picture. It was when she wasn’t yet expecting it, but that is when I was able to capture her natural beauty more so than if I directed her every move.

Eliana was such a trooper for putting up with the bugs. So many bugs… We both nearly got eaten alive. She was so good at ignoring them and holding a pose while I practically dropped my camera to swat at them.

I was so thankful for her patience as I quickly had to recompose pictures in my head when it became clear to me that the location and the weather weren’t going to provide for me what I had originally planned. And she put up with me every time I said, “okay I am good now” only to turn around five seconds later and say, “wait! Can we try this?!”

So, thank you Eliana for putting up with all of my shenanigans! :)

PS.... You are BEAUTIFUL!!! :)

afO's Interval

I am late posting these, but I was able to photography another wonderful all for One play! This was the production ofInterval. The entire play revolved around a string of conversations between two people, Lenore and Alan, who accidentally met in a secluded part of Central Park in New York. They continue to meet weekly over the span of many months. During this time, a murder occurs at Lenore’s work. Alan and Lenore discuss the investigation surrounding the murder case, when another murder occurs. What started as silly speculation turns to thoughtful exploration as Lenore and Alan continue their conversations.

This performance used just two actors, Sam and Sara Ward (who are actually married in real life).

I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of comedy and mystery that runs throughout this play. It was so intriguing that I found myself getting too caught up in the story and forgetting to take pictures. :)

All for One’s production of A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas is coming up soon! You won’t want to miss it! For more info, check out http://allforonefw.wordpress.com/

Natalie Jo

This precious little girl was born on September 4!! I have known this wonderful family for a couple years now, and I was so excited to be able to take pictures of the newest member of the family!! Brad and Jolene are in a small group with me and my husband, and their oldest daughter, Cora, was a part of the youth group that my husband and I also help out with. (I had the privilege of doing Cora’s Senior Pictures which you can find on here as well.)

I knew before the photo shoot that Natalie doesn't enjoy being naked, but I wanted to try surrounding her with enough soft blankets to see if she would decide that she didn't mind. Thankfully, my plan worked and she fell fast asleep. This adorable hat was made for me by Vicci from Vicci's Little Critters! You can check out the great stuffed animals she makes by going to her website at www.viccislittlecritters.com or her etsy store at https://www.etsy.com/shop/ViccisLittleCritters. :)

I was very pleased and surprised that Natalie managed to stay asleep while I kept moving her around.

She often would let out one loud cry when I would first begin moving her to a new position but then she would instantly go back to sleep.

When I was talking with her parents prior to the photo shoot to make sure I had everything, the topic of bows, flowers, and other frilly things came up. Brad, Natalie’s dad, made it clear that he didn’t want to see her in those types of things. He also told me that he wasn’t planning on being present during the photo shoot. So, Jolene and I had a lot of fun putting Natalie in all kinds of frilly things. :) This one is for you, Brad! :)

Natalie REALLY didn’t like when I put her in this little tutu. She got pretty loud, but surprisingly, she just fell asleep again so I was able to capture how cute she looked in it!!

All in all, I think that Natalie was probably the easiest baby I have ever photographed. She was so laid back. I mean, sure, she let me know every time she didn’t like something, but she always just fell back asleep.

I had a great time taking pictures of this beautiful little girl!! Thank you Brad, Jolene, and Cora for letting me invade your home for a few hours and steal Natalie away from you!! And Congratulations!! :)