Johnston Family 2018

The Johnston’s are another family who I’ve had the joy of getting to photograph multiple years in a row. They live on a natural beauty road and have a lot of beautiful trees around their yard that make for a great background this time of year. We got so lucky with the weather this year since on the day we scheduled photos it rained until about 30 minutes before and started up again about 10 minutes after I left! It was so much fun seeing how much their boys had grown and getting to meet their baby daughter! It was hard to choose favorites to share from this session but here are my top 13 :)

Blanca & Francesca Class of 2019

A couple weeks ago on a beautiful fall day I had the opportunity to explore a new location for taking some senior photos. The Grand Ravines is so pretty as are the two girls I was able to take pictures of! Both Francesca and Blanca are seniors who are foreign exchange students living with a friend of mine this year and I’m so happy they decided to participate in our American tradition of getting senior pictures taken. The girls were naturals in front of the camera and we had lots of fun walking around the park looking for fall colors. Here are some of my favorites from their session :)

Aupperlee Family

I love when families ask me to take their photos once a year around the same time because it’s so fun to see how they grow and change, but I think the Aupperlee family are the first clients I’ve ever had to get family photos twice within 6 months and both kids have grown a lot since the spring! This time we met at a park and despite it being a little cold the kids did a good job (the baby even fell asleep at the end)! I also learned from this photo session that going to a dog park is a great way to get little kids to focus as we were able to tell Jackson to keep an eye out for dogs behind me which made him look toward the camera :) Here are some of my favorites from their session last weekend!

Klein Family

Last week I finally was able to meet up with the Klein Family and take their photos after re-scheduling three times due to rain! Thankfully they were able to be flexible and when we finally got a dry day their family orchard was the perfect setting for fall pictures. I had lots of fun with 2 year old Stella and by the end of the shoot she was even holding my hand :) And I learned that 1 year old Eli loves apples! Enjoy this preview of Angie, Brent, and the kids!

Beverage Family

I love when I get to photograph families year after year, it’s such a fun way to watch them grow and preserve those memories! Karen and I have been friends for a while and as such I had the privilage of photographing her and Doug’s wedding back in 2011 and each of their kids as newborns. Despite the humidity and the mosquitoes I managed to get a few smiles from the kids - here are some of my favorites from their photo session :)

Perkins Family

Over Labor Day Weekend I met up with the Perkins family at one of my favorite parks in Grand Rapids to take their family photos. The weather forecast was calling for rain and luckily we were able to change the time for photos at the last minute and finish up before the rain started (though it was very humid)! These three were troopers and didn’t complain about the weather or the amount of walking I asked them to do to get to some of my favorite spots. Even the dog was cooperative for pictures :) Enjoy this preview of their session!

Mary & Aaron's 1970's Party

My friend Mary and Aaron started a tradition last year of hosting an annual theme party and I’m so grateful they’ve asked me to photograph the event. This year’s theme was the 1970’s and though it was a smaller crowd everyone seemed to have fun playing games and eating foods that were popular in the 70’s. Here are some of my favorite photos from the day!

Melissa's Senior Photos

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph my first senior of the year.  Melissa and her mom knew of a cute little park in Grand Rapids that I would never have found on my own.  Although we were one of three photo shoots happening at the park at that time we still managed to find some great spots and take turns with the other people :) It was so fun getting to know Melissa a little bit and she has great things planned for her future.  Enjoy your senior year!

Heather & Dale's Wedding

On a rainy Saturday I drove down to Indiana with an assistant to photograph Heather and Dale's wedding.  I don't often work with an assistant but knowing we didn't have a lot of time for pictures on this day I was very thankful Dale and Heather had asked for two photographers!  Despite the bad weather the wedding party were in good spirits and the tent kept everyone dry during the ceremony.  Their reception was at a cool old courthouse downtown within walking distance of the backyard wedding - plus the rain stopped long enough for a few photos outside before the reception started.  Enjoy this preview of some of my favorites!

McAleenan Family

Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting the McAleenan family and taking some photos in their beautiful backyard.  All of their kids and all of their grand kids (5 boys) were home for just a short time and luckily the rain held off until we were done taking photos! I loved seeing the little cousins play together and amazingly none of them started crying while I was there :) Here are some of my favorites of this sweet family!

Megan and Kahler's Wedding

A couple weeks ago on a beautiful summer Saturday in Northern Michigan I had the pleasure of photographing Megan and Kahler's wedding.  They both attended Grand Valley which was where we took their engagement photos, but these high school sweethearts chose to return to their home town for their wedding.  The ceremony and reception were at a venue on the shore of Lake Huron which made an awesome backdrop and despite a forecast of rain it stayed dry the entire day.  Plus, the bridal party all knew each other and wanted to have fun when taking photos which always makes my job easier :) Here are some of my favorites from Megan and Kahler's special day!

Aupperlee Family

Baby girls are popular on the blog right now, a few weeks ago I got to meet and photograph my second one in a month :) Baby Amelia was so sweet and didn't seem to mind us moving her around for photos or even when big brother Jackson was driving his tractors on her.  I had lots of fun with this family and loved seeing how Jackson tried to play with his baby sister.  Thanks Aupperlee family for letting me come take some family photos for you, here are some of my favorites!

Heather & Dale's Engagement

A couple weeks ago I met up with Heather and Dale for an engagement session downtown St. Joe.  They drove up to Michigan from Indiana so of course I wanted to show off our lake shore and fortunately we discovered now and not on their wedding day that we are in different time zones :)  Despite the crazy wind we still got some great photos and I'm excited to see these two again in a couple months for their wedding!  Here are some of my favorites. 

Baby Cora

Last weekend I had the joy of meeting two week old baby Cora and catching up with her big brother and big sister.  The Kosters family have always been willing to let me photograph their big events from their wedding to pregnancy with baby #2 and family photos commemorating the move out of their first house.  Although, neither Cora nor her older siblings were in the mood to have their picture taken I still managed to capture some sweet moments in between tears (all three kids were crying at one point) and I hope the big kids always love their little sister this much!

Mady and Nick's Wedding

Last Friday I had the privilege of meeting Mady and Nick and photographing their intimate courthouse wedding in South Haven (so intimate that I was asked to sign the marriage license as a witness).  These two live out of state and wanted a cute lakeside town for their wedding which they were keeping secret from everyone.  I love that they still wanted photos despite keeping the rest of the wedding small and am amazed that they managed to keep this wedding secret for months from everyone they know!  Mady and Nick were so much fun and more then willing to brave the cold and the wind of southwest Michigan for some great photo spots -  I just wish I could have seen the reactions of their friends and family when they surprised them with these pictures :) Here are some of my favorites from their wedding day.

Winter Scenery

Last week a friend asked me if I had any scenic winter photos and after looking through my archives I realized I did not have many.  I love being outside in all seasons and I always take a ton of photos in the fall, but never think to walk around a park with my camera to capture the beauty of fresh snow.  West Michigan is due for a warm up this weekend so I went to Aman Park Tuesday after work and captured a few photos before the sun set and before I slipped and fell on the ice that was hiding under the snow ;)  I'm now hoping for more snow before winter is over becasue there are more places around Grand Rapids that I want to explore and take photos!

Baker Family

My last photo shoot of 2017 was a fun winter afternoon with the Baker family at Wedgwood Park in Grandville.  This family attends church with me, but it was fun seeing them outside of there :)  Despite initial complaints about the cold- Shanna and her 4 kids all trudged through the snow with me to find good spots for photos!  These pictures were a Christmas gift for the kids Grandma so I had to wait to post them until after the holiday, but I'm excited to share my favorites with everyone now!

Ethan and Angela

While the snow was still here last weekend I squeezed in two more 'mini' sessions at Wedgewood Park in Grandville and one of them was of my co-worker Ethan, his wife Angela and their two dogs.  The park was not very large but has a creek running through it which looked so pretty in the fresh snow.  Due to the cold we only got a couple pictures with the dogs before they were put back into the car to wait but here are some of my favorites from their session.

Budrick/ Griffin Family

Yesterday was one of those rare moments this time of year where a last minute photo shoot was able to be scheduled when everyone was free the weather was also cooperating! Two years ago I took family photos for the Budricks at this same locations in the fall and they had been hoping for updated photos before Christmas this year, but wanted snow which was late to arrive in west Michigan this year.  We also added Gia's brother and his son to the family photos this year and it was fun watching the cousins interact with each other and play in the snow between photos.  The location looked so beautiful with the fresh snow and I appreciated how everyone was patient with me despite being cold- here are some of my favorites from this session!

DeJager Family

It's been such a joy to photograph so many special moments for Jess and Jason this past year and a half.  From their engagement to their wedding and now their first family photos with baby Josephine I love that they keep asking me to document these occasions! Though the fall colors were still bright the weather was a little cold for the baby so we purposefully chose a location that had some good indoor photo spots as well.  Here are some of my favorites from the new family of 3- I can't wait to finish editing the rest :)