Tractors, spiders, and puppies...

Lissa wanted to take her senior photos at her grandmother's farm because it was a special place for her growing up. And what a special place it turned out to be! Her grandfather was kind enough to allow us to roam wherever we wanted and we found some amazing locations. However, with all of the amazing locations, farms come with their fair share of pests. We found a giant wolf spider in the barn (creepy!) and Lissa's poor mother spent most of the shoot trying to distract a puppy who wanted nothing more than to climb all over Lissa's white shirt. Pests aside, it was a beautiful day with a beautiful location and a beautiful model!

Baseball and vineyards....

Gabe is a baseball player so our natural starting point for his senior shoot was the baseball field at Patterson High. Gabe can be a little shy but luckily I had him in class a few years ago so I had some inside information on how to make him laugh. We talked about Remi Gaillard (a frenchman who has a series of goofy youtube videos) and Gabe showed endless patience while I kept making him pose and smile. He laughed at a few of my ideas (crouching down in a vineyard? standing in a pile of weeds?) but he was willing to cooperate and we had a great time.

Round 2....

Josh had his first photo shoot with me when he was a junior and had just completed his truck. Now it's senior photo time. This time we went out to the heifer facility on a local dairy and walked around, stopping and shooting as we went. We found some great locations, but alas, we ran out of sunlight. Looks like Josh will be getting ready for round 3 soon!

Almost Goodbye...

The end of the school year is a bittersweet time for teachers who have seniors. It is amazing to see them come to the end of their high school years full of ambition and promise, but it is also sad. Faces I've seen roaming the halls for the past four years will head their separate ways and walk out of PHS. High school changes from reality to memory as students move on with their lives, and teachers are left to drag the next bunch through to graduation.

Mickey is a beautiful girl who I was lucky enough to have in class for 2 years in a row. When she asked me to take some senior pictures for her, I was thrilled because I knew her beautiful smile and sunny disposition would make for a very enjoyable afternoon. She ventured out to the dairy for some outdoor shots on a very windy day and even brought along a boyfriend willing to miss the football draft to be supportive (what a keeper!). Photos taken 4/28/2011.

A shiny new old truck....

One of my students spent a lot of time restoring a classic Chevy pickup. After spending a few days breaking it in and getting it dirty, he decided it was time to clean it up again and snap some photos. He was the first teenage boy I photographed and really pointed out the differences in the sexes. While girls are happy to smile and pose, Josh looked at me like I was crazy 85% of the time. However, I like to think that some of my craziness was worth it because we had a fun session with some great results. He was still a junior at the time so we decided it would serve as practice for his senior shoot. His mom saw our practice photos and vowed to make him wear a nicer shirt for his senior shoot! Photos taken 4/11/11.

My First Experience as a PREP Mentor...

PHS seniors must all make it through the PREP experience before they can cross the stage, collect their diplomas, and skip happily into the sunset. The project requires students to do some job shadowing or learn a new skill. One of my senior yearbook students decided she would like to learn how to take better pictures and wanted me as her mentor. Since she is an amazing girl and a tiny bundle of fun, I immediately agreed, and we began working together to improve her photography skills. After some instruction on the more advanced features of the camera, she was eager to get some actual practice. She brought along her stunningly beautiful best friend for a photo shoot. While helping Desiree perfect her skills, I took some time to snap a few of my own shots. Here is my favorite:

My Favorite Models...

In January I received a visit from my favorite models. My cousin's children are absolutely beautiful. While the oldest garnered much of the attention on our first shoot, today's focus was all on the little guy. We spent some time snapping a few shots and then enjoyed a visit to the cows (you can imagine which was more enjoyable for the kids). Photos taken 1/29/11.

Out on the Tracks...

While this senior managed to make her yearbook deadline, she wanted some outdoor images to supplement the more traditional studio portraits she took for her yearbook photo. Her request: railroad tracks. So, we headed out to find a spot along highway 33. Rosa looked gorgeous and received several honks and cat calls prom passersby, but we managed several successful shots and had a fun afternoon. Photo taken 11/8/10.

My First Seniors...

Along with teaching English, I am also a yearbook teacher. Yearbook is a bundle of stress, fun, and deadlines. A few members of my yearbook staff were caught up on their yearbook duties and forgot to take care of a few personal duties like their senior pictures. With a deadline looming and no available appointments, they trudged out to the dairy I live on one sunny September afternoon. We walked all over the place and took a number of shots, but my favorites are from a sedan field growing steps from my front door (literally). The bright green grass gave off some fun colors and both girls made it home with a successful yearbook shot. The photos were taken on 9/27/10.

Help from family...

Any new venture that requires experimentation also requires a base of patient and helpful friends and family. Since I am largely interested in senior portraits (I love working with teenagers, hence the high school teaching position), I found the closest thing I had to high school seniors and conned them into a photo shoot. My youngest sister and my husband's youngest sister both happen to be the same age and both were kind enough to give me a few hours practice. Here are a few of my favorites from the session. They were taken on 9/26/10 and 9/8/10, respectively.

Beginning...

All of my interest in photography really began when I accepted the position as yearbook adviser for Patterson High School three years ago. Although I am an artistic person and have loved art & floral design since childhood, I never really thought twice about photography. I never thought twice about it until I began to use the yearbook's Nikon d60 cameras. I love pictures and having pictures of my friends and family on my walls, but I was never especially proud of the pictures I took. Entering the world of DSLR photography changed all of that for me. I started off using the automatic settings only and got some cool results. My students really appreciated the photos I took of their events but nothing really stood out as amazing. I decided to buy a new lens and from the moment I snapped it to the front of my camera, I was hooked. I used it for the first time to photograph my favorite sport (soccer) and the images I pulled off my camera of the boy's soccer team were definitely something I could be proud of. From there, I began to explore photography and quickly realized how much there was to learn. Since then, I have worked hard to learn and fill the gaps in my knowledge, to experiment, and to take pictures I could be proud of.

Although the yearbook started it all, I decided that I didn't want to limit myself to sports photography and began to practice with portrait photography. Luckily for me, I had two adorable models for my first photo shoot. My amazing cousin Nicole allowed me to practice on her beautiful children and help to launch me on this photography journey. This is where it began...now it is time to see where it ends up!


The following images were captured on September 18, 2010.