Life is Precious

I know I haven't blogged in awhile, almost three months to be exact. Life has been busy, both on the personal level and on the photography business level. One of my goals in 2013 is to blog on a more consistent basis. I posted the following on my Facebook fan page and then realized that more of the world should read what I wrote, with tears in my eyes, this morning. The post means a lot to me and every word of it is the truth. Please share with those you love and care about.


Due to the tragedy that occurred in Newtown, CT on Friday, it again, has made me realize how short and how precious life is. Our children grow up so quickly (too quickly) before our very eyes, and we slowly age with each passing year. This very life that we all live can be taken from us in an instant. Just like that. The memories we have of our loved ones will always have a special place in our li

ves and in our hearts. We must never take life for granted, as it may not be here tomorrow. 

My heart is heavy for those affected directly by this senseless act of violence. I pray that everyone involved will eventually find peace and comfort and that they hold the memories that they have near and dear to their hearts. I have lost some very special people in my life. I am comforted by the wonderful memories as well as the photographs that I have. Sometimes, I wish that I had even more photographs, but I treasure the ones that I do have. Just a small moment in time when the shutter clicks and that instant is saved forever, has so much meaning and is so cherished. I have photographed families who have lost a loved one and getting messages how thankful the family is for having those photos is so meaningful to me. Knowing that I could provide a little comfort in their darkest hours warms my heart. 

So take photos. Take lots of photos! Whether you hire a professional photographer once or a couple times a year or if you take them yourself, just have them taken. As long as those special moments in life are captured and saved for all time. And don’t keep them on your computer or on a disc tucked away in a drawer. Display the prints. Display the memories. Love ♥

Jackson Family | Harrison Twp., MI

I had been wanting to shoot an early morning beach session and was thrilled when the Jackson Family was up for it. I had photographed this family several times in the past and they have become one of my favorite families to photograph. We met at the beach at 7am and it was pretty chilly out! The twins were still kind of sleeping, lol, because it was so early. They soon perked up and had a lot of fun with the session and on the beach. Mom is pregnant and due in October but doesn't know the sex of the baby....but Dad does know! I thought that was pretty cool, though personally, it would drive me crazy to not know! lol So here are some of my favorite images from our early morning beach session :) Comment are always appreciated and if you'd like to book a beach session, contact me and we'll set it up! 

Little Man Lukas | Clinton Township Toddler Session

Lukas is on the blog! Isn't he just the cutest?! He's got the personality to match too. 

And those eyes! I didn't have to do any touch-ups or sharpening on them...they are really that blue and gorgeous! 

What a little heart-breaker he's going to be! 

Lukas with mommy & daddy

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What to wear?

Often I have clients who ask me for suggestions on what they should wear for their photo sessions. The possibilities are pretty endless. My suggestion for children is to make sure they are comfortable. If a child is uncomfortable in a certain article of clothing, chances are they will get antsy and are less likely to sit still and won't be too enthused about getting photographs taken. Now that I just wrote that, I believe that it can go for any one of any age! If you don't feel comfortable, you won't look comfortable. I want your session to be comfortable for everyone from the time we start until the very end. I do stress that character clothing and huge logos on clothing can be distracting. You don't want to take away from your smiling faces :)

The amazingly talented Corina Nielsen has compiled a few clothing suggestions for January sessions and has graciously allowed photographers to use these images she came up with. Thank you Corina! I think my favorite out of the three is the second one, but they are all pretty great! I love the reds in the first set and love the darker cooler hues in the second and third sets.

So if you are having difficulty deciding what to wear for your upcoming session, check out the following ideas and go from there. Hopefully these ideas will give you some inspiration :)

*Sneak Peak* Miss A { Clinton Township, MI Child Photographer }

It was a super chilly afternoon at George George Park in Clinton Township, but little Miss A was a trooper :)) Isn't she adorable?! 

It's Time To VOTE!

It is time to vote in the Cutie-Pie Contest I am holding on my Facebook Fan Page!! Just head on over to my page and become a fan. Then, to vote, just LIKE your favorite photo. It's that simple! And yes, you may LIKE as many photos as you want! The cutie with the most LIKES will be declared the winner! I think it will be a really tough contest, did you see how incredibly cute all my contestants are?! Good luck to all! 

The B Family Reunion [ Warren, MI Family Photographer ]

I did a photoshoot at the B's family reunion on Labor Day (so much fun!). During the reunion, I was able to take some family portraits as well as some individual ones of the children. Here is a sneak peak for the B family!

Inspiration Through Art [ Birmingham, MI Family Photographer ]

I recently did a photo session through Inspiration Through Art (formally, The Littlest Heroes Project). What an inspiring shoot it was too! The N family is a such a beautiful family, inside and out. Little Grant was born with a serious congenital heart defect and then also diagnosed with pulmonary lung infectasia. He has such a wonderful, on-the-go three-and-a-half year old silly personality and even showed me his "special heart." I had such a great time with the N Family and can't wait to show them all of the photos from our time together.  I feel blessed that they chose me as their photographer to capture some wonderful moments.

Here is a sneak peak at our session:

Look at that adorable smile :)

Grant and his little sister had a blast swinging on the tire swing!

The H Family [Clinton Township, MI Family Photographer]

A couple more sneak peaks for the H Family!

Update [Warren, MI Photographer]

Ocqueoc Falls

Well, I took a much needed but not long enough vacation over the weekend (are they ever long enough?). We went to northern Michigan with a great group of friends and had such a wonderful time. I took about 800 photographs and haven't even gone through them yet! Now it's back to reality!

My vacation put me a little bit behind on editing. All sessions done within the last week or two will be completed by the end of this week (meaning Friday). I will be sure to blog some sneak previews as well.

I have two wonderful upcoming sessions this weekend. One is a family reunion at a local park which should be a lot of fun. The second is one that I am doing through Inspirations Through Art. What a fabulous organization this it! If you don't know what it is, I suggest you click the link and read some truly inspirational stories. I am honored that the family chose me to be their photographer :))

Tuesday Session [Rochester Hills, MI]

It's Been Awhile

It certainly has been awhile since my last posting, nearly a year! I have been super busy being a full-time college student and my photography took a short stint in the backseat of life. I've missed it though! So I am starting back up and booking sessions again. I have done a few weddings already this summer and am looking forward to more sessions throughout the rest of the year and beyond. Keep checking back here for sneak peaks into my sessions and other photography related information and I promise it won't be such a huge gap in between posts :)

The photo above is one of my favorites that I took of my adorable one-year-old niece on the Fourth of July :) My sister and her family live in Arizona and I was finally able to meet my niece when they came to visit in June & July. She is always so full of smiles!

Family Photo Shoot

A friend couldn't make it to a family photo shoot this afternoon so I said I would take on the task of photographing a family of 16(!) people and seven of them were under the age of six! They were all so nice and the kids of course were adorable. The weather was really nice despite the wind. I still need to go through all of the photos I took but here is a quickly-edited family shot.

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

Session "V"

I've finally finished editing the photos from a session I did less than two weeks ago (yay!). I am bringing the family the photo disk today and I am sure they'll be happy with the results. They've seen sneak peaks of some of the photos and were very happy with them and are very excited to see the rest. I made a slideshow as well for them. The above photo is one (of many!) from that shoot. Six-year old triplet boys and an absolute joy to work with! I can't wait until I get to work with this family again, they are great!