Erin was 34 weeks pregnant at the time of our session, and she looked AMAZING!!

Erin and Jacob are so great together…it was really neat to get to capture their sweet interactions with one another.

Seriously, Erin, you are stunning!!

Love this!! 

We had to do a little shooting in Jack’s nursery!  It is so cute and all ready for him!!

And we had to get a few belly shots with a little more dramatic lighting too!

Well, I have heard that next week is the week that Jack is scheduled to arrive!!  I know that you will be wonderful parents, Erin and Jacob!  I can’t wait to meet your precious little boy!

Lovely Lucy!!

Big sister, Maddie, is four years old and such a beauty!

See, I told you there was fun involved!

Sisters are pretty great. 

Before we ended the day, we stopped in the Fishers’ backyard for a couple of last shots.  How can you go wrong with so much green and that cute little gate to welcome you?

Thanks, Steph, Aaron, Maddie, and Lucy for such a fun session!

First, congratulations to Mary and Don, who were married recently in Kokomo, Indiana!

Next, congratulations to Carrie and Ben, who were married in Attica, Indiana!

Much more to come - very soon!! 

Ann and Will wanted to make sure we got in a few photos with the beautiful Purdue Bell Tower in the background! (And you can’t even tell that the whole area at the base of the tower was fenced off for repairs and surrounded by all sorts of construction, can you?!!)

I love trying to capture the interactions between people that really show how they feel about each other.  Little looks between two people when they aren’t paying attention to me or to the camera usually give this away the most.  When I was going through and editing Ann and Will’s photos, I saw those looks again and again.  I think these two make each other pretty happy…wouldn’t you agree?

Just a note…Ann and Will got engaged just a few feet from the spot where we took these photos!!  Will proposed on graduation day as soon as the ceremony was over!  They say the end of one thing is the beginning of something new, right?  Well, I think that this was the case for his graduation day, don’t you think?!

I think these last two are my favorites from the session!!

Thanks for showing me all around Purdue, Ann and Will!  I can’t wait for your wedding!

Johnna wanted a more rural session, so we headed out into the country to see what we could find!  Here are some favorites from our session!  (I had a really hard time narrowing down the photos for the blog…I loved so many of them!!)  You’re beautiful, Johnna!!

We didn’t know what kind of field this was, but we loved the vibrant green color!  (Can anyone tell me what is growing here??)

The light this evening was so beautiful!

Love these next ones…

Look at those eyes!!

We just happened to do this session when the daffodils were perfect!  (A few days later when I went past this same spot, they were no longer in bloom!!)  Lucky us!

Johnna, thanks for having me do your senior portraits!  Good luck in all that lies ahead after high school!!

And now, Lilly has her very own baby sister as well!  Meet precious little Evelyn.  She was 21 days old for our session.

These adorable booties were made by Evelyn’s great grandmother when her own daughter (Evelyn’s grandmother) was born in 1930.  Isn’t is neat that they were able to pass these down and that 80 years later, Evelyn is able to wear them?

We had to get a shot of her tiny toes too, though!!

Here is one more favorite of Lilly!

Evelyn is such a perfect addition to a beautiful family.  To end this post, I’ll leave you with a favorite photo of her with her mommy and daddy.

Robin and Joe, thanks for inviting me back to capture more memories of your growing family!

Introduced just over 25 years ago, the ugly truth about our plastic bag addiction is that society’s consumption rate is now estimated at well over 500,000,000,000 (that’s 500 billion) plastic bags annually, or almost 1 million per minute.

• Single-use bags made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) are the main culprit. Once brought into existence to tote your purchases, they’ll accumulate and persist on our planet for up to 1,000 years.
• Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food.
• The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store.
• Each high quality reusable bag you use has the potential to eliminate an average of 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime. The bag will pay for itself if your grocery store offers a $.05 or $.10 credit per bag for bringing your own bags.

Okay, so now here is the fun part!  Check out the Green Bag Lady’s website at http://greenbaglady.blogspot.com/.  She has free patterns and even video tutorials showing how to make a simple reusable bag!  I haven’t tried it yet, but at least it looks easy!!  :)  She also has a giveaway going on for earth day…if you leave a comment on her blog you have a chance to win one of 40 bags she is giving away!

Personally, I think carrying reusable bags is a really great (and pretty simple) way to live a more earth friendly life!  I got into the habit of using them at the grocery store while shopping at Aldi (oh my gosh, the bargain hunter in me LOVES that place!), because at Aldi, you either bring your own bags or buy those that you need.  Now I’m realizing that I need to start using them at the other stores that I go to as well.  So who is with me??  I’m making it a goal (and since I’m telling you all it will help keep me accountable) to drastically cut down on our family’s plastic bag usage.  Maybe by Earth Day 2011, we’ll be able to say that we use reusable bags everywhere that we go!

I’ve been getting to meet quite a few beautiful newborns during this winter season when there are not so many weddings!  It has been so much fun.  When Ashley and Jon contacted me about doing photos of their newborn son, Aiden, I was thrilled!  It was just a couple of years ago that I got to photograph Ashley and Jon’s wedding, and I’d loved working with them.  It is always so fun to get to photograph people at key stages of life…and when you get to capture not only a couple’s wedding but also their growing family, it is such a privilege!

Anyway, sweet little Aiden’s session took place when he was 4 weeks old and he is absolutely precious.

Look at the joy on those faces!!

“Okay, I’ll give you half a smile.” 

Hanging out with Dad.

Ashley and Jon have these great green chairs that coordinated perfectly with Aiden’s blanket.  I love all of the color in these next two shots!!

All that photo-taking can wear a little guy out!!

Ashley and Jon, thank you so much for letting me in on all of the excitement of this next big step in your lives!  You are a beautiful family!

We started out on a hunt for some fall leaves that still looked pretty…and we found them!!  I loved these shots of Emily in her prom dress out in all of the leaves!

The next shot is probably my favorite from the entire session…I love the sunlight on Emily’s hair, the colors in the background, and the fact that she is wearing her warm, bubbly smile!

For this shot, I was balancing on a stack of river rocks in order to get high enough to get Emily’s whole reflection in the water.  Emily’s mom was spotting me to keep me from falling!

Next, we headed downtown and shot until after sundown!!

We did a few shots with the nighttime lights downtown in the background before calling it a night!

Thanks, Emily, for giving me the opportunity to do your senior portraits!  I had so much fun getting to know you and your mom and loved working with you!!

I LOVE this hat.  Hannah said she just happened to find it (I think it was only a day or two before our session) and she thought it was fun so she brought it along.  I completely agree!!

Hannah plays guitar and we wanted to be sure to include it in a few shots!  I really like these next few.

We found the old wooden steps seen in the last few shots at the side of a building that also just happened to have a bathtub out front filled with dirt, plastic flowers, and some weeds.  What?  How could we not take at least a couple of pictures with something like that??!

Pretty!!

As we headed out of town, we stopped at an old bridge.  This is one of my favorites from the session.  I love the sunlight shining on Hannah’s hair in this one.

There was a field next to the bridge and Hannah was so great about getting right out in the middle of it to get this next shot.

Then I asked her to spin around so we could get some fun candid moments!!  Hannah probably thought I was crazy, but I love how this one of her laughing as she was spinning around turned out!! 

Lastly, we went down to the edge of the river for the last few shots!

Hannah, thank you so much for being willing to try all of my crazy ideas!!  I had so much fun during your session!  You were so great to work with!!  I hope you love your senior year!!