Mckenzie is a senior at Grandville,
and I met her through her teacher - my husband!
She began babysitting for our two kids,
and we are so happy we found her!
Anyway, she knew I was a photographer and asked me
to do a senior portrait session.
It was nice to get to know her better.
We spent a lot of time wandering around Eastown,
then ventured over to the campus of Aquinas,
where she plans to attend college next fall!

Mckenzie is full of life and joy,
and has such a bright future....
You can tell right away meeting her that
she has a wonderful spirit and confidence,
and it will take her far.
Mckenzie,
best wishes for the rest of your senior year and in college!
I'm sure I will see you again soon!

This fall I did a senior portrait session
for our friends' son Christopher,
a student at Grandville.
It was a perfect day, and I enjoyed taking these photos
because I think I captured his personality...

Jim and Cathy, his parents, are friends of ours
from church, and came along for the session...
it was very nice to spend a little time with all three of them!
Chris (like most guys I've met) doesn't love
having his photo taken,
but he was such a good sport about it and
I really appreciate them choosing me to capture him at
this point in his life.
Chris, best wishes to you for your future!
I believe we all have gifts and talents to share,
it took me a long time to figure out what mine were.
I hope that you find yours, and when you do
I know that success and happiness will follow!

Jordan is a senior at Jenison
and we met up last month for his portraits,
we found some great locations that really
seemed to fit his personal style well...

I looooove these with the red grape vine and the chain-link fence....

Something different, a little urban grunginess....

In case you hadn't noticed by now,
Jordan has the most amazing blue eyes!

He also brought along his Fender acoustic
for some pictures of him playing!
I love when someone incorporates something meaningful
or important to them into their session....

It was very nice to meet you Jordan,

and I hope your senior year is wonderful.
I have a lot more great images,
but I wanted to give you a preview while I keep working.

Someday I hope you look at these pictures,
and remember this time in your life
knowing that you were true to yourself and
made the most of every day.
Best wishes for the rest of your time at JHS and
whatever the future holds!

After rescheduling a couple times due to rain,
Kelsey and I finally got a great day for her senior session.
We went to a couple different locations,
and she had such amazing style...

New location, new outfit - I love her clothes...
they really work with the locations we went to,
and she was such a natural subject,
all I had to do was keep shooting!

This next one on the left might be my favorite of the session ;)
Her eyes look incredible!

Our last stop was Bauerwood Elementary,
where she went to school as a little kid...
such a fun idea!

Kelsey, I had a lot of fun with you
during our session. You are a beautiful person!
I hope your senior year is amazing...
Best wishes in school and everything else your future holds.
Thank you again for having me take these photos for you! :)

Last week I met up with Loren and his mom
and his beautiful little sister for his senior session.
He's a busy guy, plays football at West Catholic and
happens to be a leading rusher in the state! Pretty impressive!

This was one of my favorites:



He was so nice and had such a natural smile, it was
really tough to get him to give me a "serious" face!





I love this one of him with his sister Taylor. She is gorgeous!





Caught a real laugh (yay)! I just had to share it here.
Senior sessions tend to be mostly "posed", so I love when I capture something like this.



Got the football in some of these pictures... :)




Ending, of course, with a great smile...



Loren - I am so glad I got to take your senior pictures and get
to know a little bit about you. Good luck this season and I hope you
stay healthy and injury-free, so your senior year in football you can really shine!
Have a great year in school too, work hard, and have fun. Thank you again!

Last weekend I had a session with Kelsey...
She just started her senior year at Grandville.
Her mom came along and we went to some really pretty
locations, with lots of bright fun colors!

It was hard to narrow down a few favorites
for your preview! Can't wait to show you the rest...








I loved this purple brick building and we had to turn around and go back
when we saw it on our way some place else!
Favorite:





Another outfit change (she had such cute clothes),
and we went to where I knew we could find a nice dark background.
I love the contrast...




These two buildings are pretty close, so I wanted to use that somehow...
I think her expression is so cute in this one:




Since the sun was getting lower in the sky I got a few with this beautiful
warm glowy light...



Thanks Kelsey for letting me be the one to
capture you at this time in your life - it really is an honor.
It was very nice to meet you, and I hope you like your photos!
Have an amazing, unforgettable senior year,
and I wish you all the best in life!

A week ago I got together with Claire and her mom in Grand Rapids
for a special portrait session - since Claire is now a teenager!
Her mom was my art teacher in high school, so it meant a lot
that she chose me to take these photos.





She brought her lime green bike along for later,
but I love it sitting there in the background.




She is so tall - and this photo really shows it.




Okay, can I just say that I took this with a big heavy camera + lens,
one handed, while holding onto the fence myself?



I can really tell she is her mother's daughter,
they have such similar features.



Of course she didn't know I was taking this photo, and it is
one of my favorite images from the session.




I love these lines and blocks of light and dark...




Claire (and Victoria), I had a great time with you wandering around
and talking, climbing fences and jumping over walls... ;)
Thank you again, and I hope you like your pictures!

Last week was Fernando's senior portrait session
and we found a lot of great places to shoot not too far from home.
I love finding new locations, and so far I have been trying to mix it up
as much as possible, especially with seniors!

Fernando just started his senior year at Jenison,
and yesterday was the first day of school.
I know most kids were probably not looking forward to it,
but I hope it was a good day!




Soccer season is already in full swing...
He wanted some photos in his jersey.
















I had a lot of favorites from this session so it was hard to narrow it down.
Fernando has a cool style, and I had a lot of fun taking his pictures!
Hope your senior year is memorable, and your team has a great season...
Thanks again for having me take your photos!

Earlier this week I met with Kaitlyn in downtown Holland
for her senior session. As we walked around I got
to know her a little bit and found out that she
is a pretty amazing girl - wants to study nursing or law in college,
plays guitar, and is an athlete at Hudsonville!
She is also just a friendly, down-to-earth person.

Sessions like this are so relaxing and fun...
I still can't believe this is my "job"...



This was early in the session, but I think it's my favorite:






We went into Firehouse for some quick pictures with a couple guitars...
since she mentioned she likes to play.
I love that store! Whenever I go in there it makes me want to
get my own guitar out and get back into it!





Then we headed out to the beach... ahhh :)








Kaitlyn it was great to meet you (and your mom),
and I hope you have a wonderful senior year!
Best of luck in whatever you decide to pursue...
but you have the rest of life to figure everything out.
For now, just make the most of each day,
stay true to yourself, and have fun!
The year will go by so quickly.

Hope you like your preview! :)

A couple weeks ago I had a senior session downtown
with Annie, a long-time family friend.
Her mom came along too, and we had a nice time talking and laughing...
even got some chili dogs afterward - YUM!
I can tell you this much - Annie is beautiful inside and out,
and I hope her photos reflect her thoughtful and cheerful personality.
I love that I got to take her senior photos, I have memories of her as a toddler!
I guess you never know where life will take you.



It wasn't easy for Annie to give me a serious face,
she kept cracking up and smiling - clearly that is what comes
more naturally to her! I caught this little smirk, however,
and it turned out to be one of my favorites.













She is so cute! Another favorite...



Thank you for having me take your portraits!
Wherever you go, and whatever you do, keep smiling,
never take life too seriously, and remember you are blessed
with lots of friends and family who love you and are so proud of who you are.
I hope your senior year is fabulous!

Last week I went downtown with Hanna, because she loves the city style!
She was very sweet (not to mention gorgeous) so
I had a wonderful time taking her photos...
She will be starting her senior year at Grandville this fall,
and she's already gearing up for tennis season!





We "discovered" these fun green chairs...



We weren't far from the cool dark stone fountain,
so that was our next stop. I love the simplicity of it as a backdrop.
I love water, and I love what it adds to portraits,
especially in a place where there is so much glass, concrete, and stone.





Then we went for some of the "old city" style...
amazingly her three outfits were absolutely perfect for each location,
which was just a lucky coincidence.
However, I think I might like these colors the best of all.





I loved this session - it seemed so easy, relaxed, and casual... it hardly felt like work (well, photography never really feels like work to me)! I love so many photos it was hard to choose which to post - there are many more that turned out just great. Thank you Hanna for choosing me for your senior pictures, and best wishes for your last year at GHS!

While we were in Mexico for Kelly and Heath's wedding, I also took some senior pictures of my cousin Brady. His brother Taylor came along too, and I think it's nice to get a siblings shot if at all possible! I remember getting a sweet sibling picture with my sister during her senior photo shoot (oh... back in '96), at Holland State Park with our big Abercrombie flannels on! LOL.. anyway, back to the point... Brady's pictures!





How could I not end up with great shots in a location like this?
Besides, Brady has a great sense of style. Must run in the family... ;)
Brady is an amazing soccer player at Jenison, and an excellent student as well.
I truly look forward to seeing what the future holds for him.









I just realized this is the only black and white I am posting here, but I love it... the siblings shot! These two definitely have a strong bond, although they have the normal sibling rivalry issues, they have a lot
to look forward to as brothers and friends, trust me.



Enjoy the rest of your summer, as well as senior year!
I hope someday you look back very fondly at your high school years,
but the best is yet to come...

I went downtown with Savanna the other day for a session, and had a great time photographing this gorgeous girl - who happens to be over six feet tall! She even brought along a few tops, tons of fun jewelry, and a pair of black suede pumps, which "aren't for walking" as she put it, but looked so cute! When you're already as tall as she is, what's a few more inches anyway?

This was a happy accident - it was so bright out, even though it was overcast, she could hardly keep her eyes open. This one, with her eyes closed, turned out to be one of my favorites!



I love the all black - reminds me of Sandy from Grease!







She is just great at working so many different looks from silly to sexy, even serious. Definitely made my job so much easier! It seemed like every picture I took she looked great!









Wardrobe change again - and then we headed to a different part of town, where she showed me a great location (the dark stone wall) that I didn't even know about! I'm sure most photogs out there are well aware of it, but I'm still learning my way around town. It was a great place to end our session!











There are way too many great images to post on a blog! Thank you Savanna, you are a beautiful person, inside and out. I had a great time downtown with you, and getting to know you a little better.

Last week Sandy Morrow and I went downtown to take some photos of various places and people, including each other. She and I went to high school together, and it's been 10 years! Although we weren't close friends back then, we had a great time wandering around and catching up, as well as talking about all things photography related :). She's also getting seriously into photography (planning on starting a business in the future), so I am sure we will be spending some more time together soon!





This was one of my favorites - something about her hair, and the angle is just so pretty...





I love her yellow shoes - too cute!





We were actually heading out of town and ended up at this beautiful location near the train tracks... time to get the cameras out again!



Check out Capturing Subtleties, Sandy's blog, where you can see more of her work... although I believe she is in the process of making some changes to her site!