Katelin is one of our Class of 2011 Models and lives and goes to school in Farmington. We had a blast at her model session so I couldn’t wait to photograph Katelin again for her senior session! She is a dancer and had just gotten back from a dance competition in Florida – what a weather change! It was an overcast day and I was hoping we would find snow if we headed north toward DMR – so that is what we did. Snow never actually fell out of the sky on it’s own, but her dad was a huge help throwing snow in the air above Katelin – and a little bit right at her. Katelin and her family are so much fun and they had me laughing the whole time! One of the biggest jokes of the day had to do with the fact that Katelin brought these amazing zebra heels and we decided it would be safest and smartest to shoot that outfit in the studio. I had suggested that Katelin could hold the shoes in the portraits – not necessarily wear them, which her dad found hilarious – then I noticed her dad was wearing Vibram Five Finger shoes (check them out – they are amazing – I run in mine) and then we decided they needed a portrait taken together with them both holding their respective shoes – just imagine it. Always an adventure, of course, my “assistant” for the day, Jessie Large, had just injured her shoulder, so her arm was in a sling. Somehow she still managed to not only use the reflector effectively for me, but she could put it away one armed! Not an easy task! Hope you love these few of my faves from the day!

Ben is (was, technically) a Class of 2010 Senior at Fort Lewis College – that’s right – he just graduated from the Fort with a degree in marketing this past weekend. He hadn’t had high school senior portraits taken, so I was super excited to photograph his college senior portraits. We started in the studio, then headed down to the river, for some classic “Durango” portraits. Ben brought his snowboarding gear, including his snowboard, which was fun , even though it hadn’t snowed in town yet. He was up for anything and everything – even sitting on some random old tire we found when I asked him to do so. He’s headed to Hawaii (might even be there already) to celebrate his graduation, then he’s headed home to Unalaska, Alaska – I am jealous. Ben was so great to work with and very photogenic – I had a great time! Thanks Ben for the great session and I hope you love these few of my faves!

Jordan is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School. She called me to schedule her session the day after the yearbook deadline – so even though these won’t be in the yearbook, I am so excited about her session! She wanted portraits with her horses and I have just been waiting for someone to call with this idea! I love horses – I think they are beautiful – and as you can see, Jordan is absolutely gorgeous as well! Jordan has two mares, at the Fairgrounds, so her boyfriend helped us out with trailering her horses up to Lake Nighthorse for portraits. He was a huge help and it would not have gone near as smoothly as it did without him! We took turns at first, photographing Jordan with one more, then the other, then both. They did great! Then we headed back to town, taking the horses back to the fairgrounds. Jordan and I headed downtown and lucked into another location that I’ve always wanted to shoot in – this was such a dream session! We were photographing outside of this building, where I shoot a lot, and the men doing construction on the building asked if we wanted to use the inside as well – and did I ever! I always look through the windows, wishing I could go in – so this was perfect! Jordan was so great – up for anything! Thanks so much for such an amazing session! I hope you love these few of my faves and I can’t wait to show you the rest!

Sage is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School. He actually came in for his session the day of the yearbook deadline! But we made it just in time. He was really fun to photograph and work with and took such good care of me! It had snowed earlier in the week, but was very sunny and warm during Sage’s session and the ground had turned soft and slippery. So, I of course, was wearing boots with no traction, and kind of slipped my way around, causing Sage to watch me carefully, making sure I didn’t fall down. I avoided the ice and mud wherever possible, but I knew Sage would catch me if I didn’t make it – so thanks Sage! We headed to the river first, then up to the Lion’s Den – fun muddy hike – then downtown. Sage was up for anything and even let me pose him front of a bunch of garbage cans. Then we headed back to the studio so we could pick his favorite portrait for the yearbook, then I took it over to the school – all within a couple of hours! Hope you love these few of my faves!

Nico is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School. He came in for his senior portrait session 2 days before the yearbook deadline – and he wasn’t even the last senior I photographed before the deadline! Students are so busy these days, it can be hard to get in at all for a session, not to mention get in early. I had worked with Nico’s family last year, photographing his sister, Alexandra, for her senior portraits. I was very excited to work with them again – I love this family! We started in the studio, then they let me pile in their truck with them (as I remembered during Nico’s session that my license had just expired and I said out loud without thinking it through, I don’t have a valid driver’s license)! So, we headed over to the river, then a rusted aluminum wall I love, then a staircase in front of the Animas Museum. While I had Nico posing on the stairs, we were told the fee to use the property for portraits was that Nico had to go to work for them – oops! It was a great session and I hope you love these few of my faves!

Morgan is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School. He came in for his session the Monday before Thanksgiving, as we were both leaving town the next day to drive to Phoenix for the holiday. It was partly sunny outside, but very cold, so Morgan had to wear his coat in a lot of the portraits. I “made” him wear just a t-shirt in a few portraits – he was a good sport! We started up at the Lion’s Den for the view of the snow capped mountains and for the rock walls. Then we headed back toward town for more of an urban/peeling paint look, and ended the session with the classic pine tree portraits. By the end of the session, Morgan was joking with me – or at me, I should say – about my habit of saying “just one more” for every pose and location, then I proceed to take at least 8 more. I’m not sure why I do it, but I can’t seem to stop. Morgan was so fun to photograph – I hope you love these few of my faves!

Mara is a Class of 2011 Senior at Durango High School. She has such pretty blue eyes! We had a lot of fun on her session – using that last group of trees that had fall colors, pine trees in the park, the railroad tracks, the river, and the swing outside of Bread (for her mom). We put her in a dress and it was not very warm outside! It was last weekend, so it hadn’t snowed yet, but still. She also had a really cute hat that we used, and as you can see in one of my faves posted here – it really accentuates her eyes. We met her parents at the end of her session so we could take some portraits with her adorable dog as well. Hope you love these few of my faves!