Kyla’s Urban Durango Senior Model Picture Session!

Kyla came in this past weekend for her Class of 2013 Senior Model Session and we had a blast! I loved watching Kyla through my camera lens because she made so many funny faces in between shots. We laughed a lot. We began at Hair Fusion and I learned about waterfall braids since Mary Beth put one in Kyla’s hair – it was so pretty! And I loved the gold tones Mary Beth used in Kyla’s makeup. And wow – what beautiful blue eyes Kyla has! It was a beautifully overcast day and still very warm out – which made for a great shoot. We ran around town using a couple favorite spots that are normally reserved for morning shoots because of the position of the sun but we were able to use on this particular afternoon since it was cloudy. We discovered a ton of new locations along our way, which is great! We even got to use the stairs/doors at St. Columba, which I never get to use when the sun is out. I was pretty excited about the whole thing. I loved Kyla’s outfit choices – the purple dress, the blue lace top, etc. I hope you love these few of my faves and don’t forget to come back for Kyla’s music video!

Katie came in for her model session last Saturday and it was finally nice enough outside for my models to be able to wear dresses instead of snow clothes – yay! I LOVED the outfits Katie brought too. We started with hair and make up at Hair Fusion and Mary Beth worked her magic. Katie is stunning and so much fun to photograph! She was great at posing – a total natural. I had spotted two “new” locations on the way to the salon so we started with those downtown. We actually found a little bit of greenery to use, which I’ve been missing lately. Then we headed out toward Junction Creek for a more rustic feel. We found a great fence to use and stopped at one of my favorite bridges. We finished the session in the studio and captured one of my newest all time favorite images. I hope you love these few of my favorites and stay tuned for the music video!

Jamie is one of our amazing Class of 2013 Models and she is also one of our first Animas High School models! This will be the first graduating class from Animas, so this is our first year to have models from Animas and we are excited! Jamie loves to ski and does it “professionally” so she wanted to do her model session up in the mountains in the snow. She wanted unique portraits and I think that’s exactly what we got. We started at Hair Fusion, per usual, and Jamie looked even more beautiful than usual. I loved her casual and fun style and her super fun leggings. Jamie’s wonderful mom picked up Jamie’s skis and her dog and we met up across the street from DMR. It was a beautiful day and there was a lot more snow than I expected – and what beautiful backdrops! We played a little at the Nordic Center and then used a couple of chair lifts at DMR and the beautiful Twilights in the background. We had a blast and I can’t wait to share Jamie’s music video! Hope you love these few of my faves!

Tasha came in for her model session last Monday afternoon. She was so excited about her session that it was contagious and so we were all super excited! I was also really looking forward to this session because I have gotten to know Tasha’s family over the last few years, photographing her older sister and older brother for their senior portraits. Plus, I got to photograph Tasha’s adorable son, Jace, for the Cutest Kids Contest at Kids Rock. We started at Hair Fusion, of course, and Mary Beth worked her usual magic. I loved the messy bun updo Tasha chose for her portraits. Tasha preferred the urban and rustic backdrops this time of year, so we used a few new walls that I had scouted the week before. We also used a favorite “abandoned” building of mine. It was slightly breezy, but a fairly nice day, so none of us got frostbite. We finished the session in the studio, with Tasha in some super cute red high heels (so she could wear them in a few portraits without having to walk anywhere in them). She is too cute! It was also my intern (Tara Murphy)’s first day with us, so we had a great time teaching Tara how to use the reflector and video camera. Tasha was such a natural in front of the camera, coming up with so many great poses of her own. Thanks for such a great session and I hope you love these few of my faves!

Rachel Redders is one of our stunning Class of 2013 models and we photographed her model session last weekend. I have been excited about photographing Rachel since I photographed her brother, Ryan, for his senior portraits a few years ago. In fact, one of the images we got of Ryan is one of my all time favorite portraits. So, I was really, really excited when Rachel signed up for our model program! Rachel is such a beauty and made her model session so much fun. She brought lots of outfit changes but they were such simple and fast changes – we hardly noticed her being gone between them. We started with hair and make up at Hair Fusion of course so we could tell the story of the entire day. Mary Beth did an incredible job, as always. We headed outside for the shoot, and unfortunately, ran into some very strong wind. We did our best to stay behind buildings and inside the studio so we would be protected. We ended the session in the studio, where it was nice and warm, with no wind. Rachel was such a joy to photograph and I hope you love these few of my faves! And of course, stay tuned for the music video of Rachel’s session – it’s going to be amazing!

Bonne is another of our stunning Class of 2013 Senior Models. She came in for her model session last Wednesday afternoon. Swimming had officially ended, so Bonne had a little spare time to give us. We had a blast! We started at Hair Fusion and Bonne got extra special treatment. Mary Beth did her make up while Jamie did her hair. Not only were they fast, but Bonne looked amazing! She’s so naturally beautiful she doesn’t even normally wear make up, so it was fun to see her all done up. We headed outside and the first top Bonne chose to wear made her eyes pop – aren’t they beautiful! We headed over to the Smiley building, as it wasn’t very warm outside. We played inside for a while, then played in the snow for a few minutes. We headed to the river next, where Bonne hiked through the snow in her flats and somehow didn’t get frostbite (thank goodness)! We ended the session in the studio, with Bonne’s fun outfit on my fun new yellow backdrop. I hope you love these few of my faves! And stay tuned for Bonne’s music video!

Aubrey is one of our Class of 2013 Models and is such a beauty. I had the opportunity to photograph her older sister, Hayley, two years ago for her senior portraits. So I had been hoping that Aubrey would want to be part of our model program – and she did! We photographed Aubrey’s session this past weekend, which happened to coincide with Snow Down. We started at Hair Fusion (which was safe from Snow Down activities) for hair and makeup and Mary Beth did an amazing job, as always. We ran into a few people in costume along the way to and from the car, but otherwise avoided downtown. We got to use a few spots that I have always wanted to use – spots that I notice driving down the highway and think “I would love to shoot there” – and then forget them as soon as they are out of sight. Of course we had to use a few classic locations as well, and then we ended the session in the studio. I happened to have a mask I purchased in New Orleans lying around the studio and since it was Snow Down weekend, I asked Aubrey to wear it for a few portraits. Thanks Aubrey for such a fun session and I can’t wait to share your music video!

Emily Muller is another of our gorgeous Class of 2013 Models and was our 3rd model session of the year. Emily came with a bunch of great ideas for her session – complete with examples from Free People and Anthropologie. I love when my clients have specific ideas because it gives me a direction to run in and it always presents a challenge. Emily had found a specific hairstyle she wanted to try as well, and it was awesome! We started at Hair Fusion, of course, and Emily requested a “messy braid” hairstyle. Mary Beth pulled out all kinds of tools to create this look – most of them I had never seen before. Her make up was beautiful, as always, and Emily got the airbrush foundation, which made her beautiful skin even more flawless. I had a couple of locations in mind for Emily’s portraits since I already knew what kind of locations she liked, so we started with those. We also happened upon a couch that was sitting on the corner across from the salon. Of course I had to use it and Emily was a great sport about sitting on an unknown couch. We then headed out to Emily’s house to use her amazing barn and we got another lucky find: Annabelle! Annabelle is the big Ford they use in their car wash business and a great prop! Then Emily sat in the snow for us for some “putting on my ice skates” shots. She was completely frozen by then so we headed back to the studio for some hot chocolate and indoor portraits. Emily brought her guitar and we did some unique accent lights with a blue gel. As you can tell from this extra long blog post, this session was pretty long too. So, I’m sharing my normal favorite few from this session in this sneak preview, but I will definitely be sharing the rest in Emily’s fusion music video so stay tuned!

We photographed Beth, one of our beautiful Class of 2013 DHS Models, this past Saturday, while it was dumping snow! It was so fun and I love the images we got so much; but it was so cold! It really was perfect though, because Beth had really been hoping that it would be snowing – and it was! I would like to take credit, but as much as I wish I could control the weather, I just can’t. We started at Hair Fusion and it was barely snowing at the beginning of hair and make up. By the time we were ready to start shooting, it was coming down pretty good. So, we got a little wet – but it was so worth it, don’t you think? I hardly ever get to actually shoot while it’s snowing, so this presented a unique and challenging situation. I kept fogging up my viewfinder and we used the reflector as a an actual umbrella in an attempt to keep Beth dry more than we used it to supplement the natural light. We finished in the studio and Beth had totally different curls at the end than she had started with – which was kind of fun. Beth was really great to work with and photograph. She didn’t complain about the wet or cold at all and gave me a lot of different looks to work with. Matt shot video for Beth’s model session and I can’t wait to share the fusion music video with you! It’s going to look so cool with all that snow coming down! Stay tuned and I hope you love these few of my faves!

Taylor Marshall is our first Class of 2013 model to be photographed for her model session and we had a blast! Taylor’s older sister, Colin, was a model for us 2 years ago, when she was a senior. Colin was our “top model” for the Class of 2011 and I am so excited to have Taylor as a model for the Class of 2013! We started at Hair Fusion for hair and make up, of course. This time, however; Matt shot video the entire session, so we have created a fusion slideshow of video and stills for Taylor’s session. I can’t wait to share that with you! First, I wanted to share the usual 5 faves, like I do from each session I photograph. The first is from the little chapel area at St. Mark’s – I love that wrought iron gate Taylor is hanging onto. Then as we walked back toward the car, I spotted this wood fence that made such a great monochromatic background with Taylor’s creme shirt and brown hair – that one might be my fave favorite. Then we went to my usual favorite river spots and used my favorite 4-in-1 tree trunk. We finished the session in the studio and we used 2 of my new backdrops – and I LOVE them! Hope you love them too!