Chantell and Jayden

I love Chantell. I have always loved her. She was one of my models in Minot, North Dakota, and she has the most delicate nose and giant doe eyes. She's just exquisite. She used to take Zoe for swim lessons every Friday night at the YMCA...we went to watch once...it went something like this...go in the jacuzzi, talk a little, swim a little, jacuzzi... Read More some more...Buzz and I saw our opportunity and started going to dinner and a movie on Fridays, for the first time in years. What we didn't know is that she was a world class swim teacher...Zoe kicks serious booty at swiming thanks to Chantell! So when I was in Nortrh Dakota and found out that she and hubby Jayden were expecting, well, I just HAD to be a part of it. What a great sport Jayden was...I basically said, "Hi, nice to meet you, would you please take off your pants," and he DID! Now that's a good sport. But they did great, and you could just tell that they love each other so much. This is going to be one lucky baby.

Taylor and Tori

Taylor and Tori are the sweetest little twins imaginable. They were totally different, both in looks and even the way that they moved, but they were just so cute...they giggled and whispered throughout their entire sitting, and they just eased into their shoot like the stars that they are...but the biggest transformation for me was when they were in the shot together...they instinctively turned into their light so that both of them were lit equally, and they just put their heads together and glowed, while their mom, Natalie and I just looked on in awe. How wonderful to have that kind of bond, right there in your own twin!

Nuri's Senior Pictures!

Nuri is one of those kids who you know is going to change the world...and you better get out of the way now. I loved her on sight, but was slightly intimidated...she was nodding and smiling at me, but I could tell that she was having her senior pictures taken under duress...a fact that she confirmed within five minutes, which made me like her even more...I value honesty, what can I say? We started at the Cave Creek Coffee Company, then moved on to a funky part of Carefree, my new favorite spot, except for the fact that a guy in a junky car, with a filthy shirt and reeking of...well, to be precise, the funk that collects from not having bathed in a very long time came careening up, begging us to take Nuri's pictures with his "really cool saxophone". I was getting ready to tell him what to do with his saxophone when Nuri's mom, Nadine Shalaan, editor and publisher of our local fave magazine up here, the In &Out, roared up in her fab new Mini Cooper. That guy ran like a lamb when he sees mint jelly. The rest of the shoot was filled with great light, and beautiful Nuri. What else can you ask for?

Jaden'sSenior Pictures!

Jaden is the reason I love taking Senior Pictures...she was sweet, fun, up for anything, and a knockout. How could anything go wrong? We had a great time taking pictures at my favorite place to shoot, the JW Marriott, tried all kinds of looks, poses, lighting, clothes...the whole day was a great success!

Famous people

I shot someone famous the other day. You'd recognize her. Anyone would, from your children to your grandmother. She was in town and just wanted family pictures, in a casual, relaxed setting, which we did. I was...I don't know, kind of scared beforehand...why did she call ME? What if her people told me that I had to only have green M&M's on hand, or I had to bow and curtsey before looking her in the eye? But she was great, and amazing and funny and self deprecating, and she had a stain onher shirt, and we laughed a lot and got a lot of great pictures, none of which I can show, of course, which kind of makes me sad, because they were great pictures, and I always like to share them with you, but also kind of makes me feel like I have a secret...does that make sense? Anyway, I just wanted to share what I could.

Princess Maia

maia is just one of those adorable, irresistble kids who makes you feel happy to be alive. Her mom, who I will worship forever because of her immediate, amazing above and beyond the call of duty help last September, was such a joy to watch, so proud of her baby being so grown up and beautiful. You can just feel the love between them. What a Win!

I have been shooting the elegant Princess Claudia for a year now, and her brother Christopher,who is a little cutie as well. She's grown up so much!! And I love hanging out with their mom, Cindy...she's so nice and always cheers me on at Sweat!