This photo shoot  was a surprise for Michelle’s husband, Trent, for Father’s Day.  Michelle mentioned when she picked up her order that it had been pretty hard to keep this a secret from her inquisitive husband, but thankfully she was sneaky and no one else let the cat out of the bag!  We started in the studio and then made our way to Hornbaker Gardens for the rest of the session.  Michelle & Trent, I wish you the best on this journey towards parenthood.   You will be amazing parents and I look forward to meeting your little one in a few short months!  Thank you so much, Michelle, for asking me to do this for you.  I had a great time!

My favorite.

I am a few days late with this post, but better late than never, right?!  His card and gift arrived on time this year…next year I will get this done on time!  My dad is the backbone of our family.  My mother, two sisters and I have depended on him for much throughout the years and he has expected nothing in return.  As our family grows I now see the way he interacts with my nieces and nephew and I feel like I have a front row seat to what he was like when we were kids.  He is not only an AMAZING Father and Grandpa, but an amazing man.  Every time I meet someone new and they find out who my dad is they all tell me what a great man he is, I couldn’t agree more.  About 7 years ago my Dad had a heart attack and I can say without a doubt it was the biggest, most frightening day of my life.  I didn’t know I could love or appreciate him more that I had before that day, but I do and  I thank God for giving me seven more years with him.  I pray for many, many more!

My Dad is very goofy and I still believe to this day his life’s mission is to mess with me until I get frustrated.  I got better at ignoring it over the years, but as I get older I secretly enjoy it!  Makes me feel like his little girl again.  I have so many fond memories that I could post for days, but I’ll just share a few:

When I was a little girl I had LONG hair past my butt and each night after Dad would give us girls a bath he would brush my hair out on his jeans.  Then he would take his spot on the bed and me on the floor in front of the full length mirror.  After he was done braiding my hair he would poke my ears from behind so it looked like the wiggled on their own.  We also had a lot of footie pajamas and he would always take the hair dryer and stick it in the legs for a few minutes so when we put them on they would be roasty toasty!

Many, many times I remember sitting in the living room with my hand outstretched to recieve the drink he was bringing me.  As soon as he got within a few feet he would fake trip and the cup would go flying onto me…of course the cup was empty.  Good trick Dad.  I can’t wait to use it on my kids someday.

I’ll leave with a few of his silly sayings that my sister’s and I are beginning to incorporate into our adult lives!

“Up your nose with a rubber hose.”

“Head ‘em up. Move ‘em out.”

“Little birdie in the sky, dropped some white wash in my eye.  I don’t wimper, I don’t cry, I’m just glad cows don’t fly.”

“I always said I had one good kid.”

Happy Father’s Day, Dad  (Daddy, Tommy Boy, TI, Pappi, Pops….)!  Over the years you have shown me what the definition of unconditional love and sacrifice is.  I couldn’t be more proud to call you my Father.  Thank you.  I love you so much!

I took this photograph of my Dad back in 2004 while in school at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.  My portfolio at the time was shot with a 4×5 view camera and Polaroid Type 55 film.  I’m so glad to have had the chance to learn film cameras and darkroom printing even though I haven’t shot film in about five years!  In fact I haven’t touched a view camera, darkroom tray or box of photo paper since 2004 and my fellow classmates will understand the sadness of Type 55 being extinct.  So sad.  I still have a big 20 x 24 framed print of this hanging in my studio.  Everyone that comes by comments on what a great photo it is and those that know him think it portrays his strength and gentle spirit perfectly.  I think he is pretty darn handsome (especially for an old fart!).  The dog in the background is our dearly missed Golden, Willy.  I am partial, but I am pretty sure he was the best dog that EVER lived.  He was so odd that day…just stood in the water up to his chest for the 20 minutes it took to get a few shots and never moved his eyes from me.

Sylvie’s mommy saw one year portraits I did of Mazie a few months back and went right out and bought a tutu for her little girl’s one year pictures.  Sylvie wasn’t real excited about having the scratchy material against her skin, but we managed to get some cute shots in it before she was calling it done!  I had so much fun chasing her around and watching everyone be clowns to get her to pay attention to us instead of the grass.  After we got some shots at the park we went to a friend’s house and found some beautiful flowers as a backdrop for more photos of Sylvie.  I hope you like my favorites I picked out.  Enjoy!

Love her big eyes and this sweet little look she gave me!

She has an AMAZING big sister, Sophie!  She was so good with Sylvie and I’m sure she is a big help at home!

Sophie asked to have her picture taken and when I turned around she already had herself posed!  Her mom says she does it all the time…I wonder if America’s Next Top Model is in her future?

I wonder how these Peonies tasted?

A few weeks ago I photographed Alysson and her two year old Makayla.   Congratulations are in order as Alysson is expecting baby #2 later this year!  We took a lot shots that showed she was pregnant, but I just loved these closer shots of the two of them playing.  Makayla has one of those smiles that is contageous and brings so much joy to everyone around her.  I found myself giggling as I was editing these photos.  Also, a big THANK YOU to Hornbaker Gardens for allowing us to use their beautiful property.  I could photograph out there all day long!

In March, Taylor & Ben won a free engagement session at a Bridal Fair I had a booth at.  Their wedding is in her hometown in Iowa this summer, but once they are married they will be making Princeton their home.  Both Taylor and Ben have such a sweet, gentle spirit about them.  When I asked them to lay down on the ground for a shot and they both got dirty I felt horrible, but they rolled with it and insisted it wasn’t a big deal.  (Sorry again!)  You guys are wonderful!  Thanks so much for making my afternoon so much fun.  I can’t wait to see photos from your wedding…I’m sure they will be stunning.  I wish you all the best in your marriage!

This one reminds me of the movie “Greese” a little bit.  “I got chills…they’re multiplyin’…”

I can’t stop laughing at this jumping shot.  I’m not sure why, but every time I look at it I think of Pee Wee Herman and the scene where he dances on the bar to the “tequila” song!  So funny!

Don’t they look like they stepped out of 1920?  I just love their classic look.

I come from a family of three girls so this shoot reminded me a lot of my sisters.  We have an old picture of us at about the same age except it is a bit different than these cute photos!  It was taken at a traveling Olan Mills studio that was set up in a room of my family’s old hotel, the Lincoln Inn (now the Days Inn in Princeton).  My mother still proudly displays this portrait (to my diapproval) in an oval floral frame.  We are all sporting floral print dresses and have more bangs than any one person should ever be allowed to have.  Thank goodness we grew those puppies out!  (If you guys are lucky I may just scan that photo in on a slow day and show you how bad it really is!)  These girls have a mom for a hair stylist so I am pretty sure they won’t ever regret their past hair styles!  Don’t they have beautiful hair?  I think so.  Hope you enjoy a few of my favorites from their session.  Thanks Janet (mom) for choosing me to take the long awaited portrait of your girls…they are beautiful!!

It’s so awesome when I have the opportunity to work with people throughout their lives and photograph different milestones.  I begin to feel like I hold a small part in documenting their history as a family and this is really what makes my job so rewarding.  A few years back I was an assistant at Chloe’s Mom and Dad’s wedding and last week they asked me to photograph their baby girls one year portrait.  Maybe one day I will take her senior portraits or photograph her wedding?!?  Happy Birthday, Chloe!

Katie and Andy were married on April 18th this year.  I did their engagement photos a few months before and I knew that their wedding would be beautiful from the way that they interacted with one another during the session.  They are so comfortable with each other and loving towards each other.  I believe that being able to laugh with your partner is one of the most important things in a relationship and they definitely have that!  Their wedding day was beautiful and went off without a hitch.  I loved so many of the shots from the wedding that this post is a bit long.  I might make a second post with reception shots…their guests tore up the dance floor!!  Check back for that soon.

Thanks Katie and Andy for allowing me to share in your special day.  It was an honor and a pleasure getting to know you!  May the Lord bless your marriage and life with each other!

Kate & Andy had a fabulous bridal party that was full of personality.  We did tons of individual goofy shots that will make it into a blog post at a later date, but for now here are the tame ones!

Aren’t these ladies beautiful?

And these men handsome?  (Especially the little guy in the front! Such a cute little smile!)

This was one of my favorite parts of the wedding day.  They had a bagpiper lead them out of the church and boy was it loud!  I am pretty sure this is the second time I have photographed a wedding where this man was the bagpiper.  I have to go back and look in my archives to check it out!

Bubbles don’t usually work out very good, but Katie & Andy had awesome guests that blew bubbles til their faces turned red.  You guys rocked! These are by far the best bubble shots I have gotten at a wedding to date.   Don’t you love how excited Andy is?!?

Maybe my favorite from the whole day.

Flowers by Julia always does exceptional work!

A few weeks ago my cousin Jessie was in town with her fiance, Ryan, and we had a great time shooting their engagement session.  We were rained out once a few weeks before and the skies were cloudy again, but thankfully the rain held out.  Jess & Ryan have been dating for years, but since they don’t live in Princeton I haven’t really gotten to know Ryan very well.  It was so great to get to see the two of them interact and to get to know my future cousin-in-law!  You guys were so much fun and I hope we can hang out again real soon!

They will be married next March at Starved Rock State Park (which is beautiful and an absolute photographer’s dream to shoot at!).  It’s also my Dad’s 60th birthday so it will be a day of many celebrations!  Jess and her mom approached me shortly after the engagement and asked if I would like to photograph the wedding.  They were a bit hesitant to ask me because they were concerned I would be too busy with taking pictures to really get to enjoy the day with our family.  My thoughts are the exact opposite! I think being the photographer at a loved one’s wedding is even more special than just attending.  I get to spend so much more time with them through out their wedding day and I get a front row seat for all the special moments that you don’t get to see as a guest.  It is such a great feeling knowing that I am capturing on “film” one of the biggest days of their lives and I’m honored that they are trusting me with this.  This will be my second family wedding that I have shot and I can’t wait!

I couldn’t decide if I liked this one…

…or this one best.  So I posted both!

Can you feel the love?!?

I think this shot is pretty groovy.

Last year Sophia’s mom came to me to take her 2 year portraits and I fell in love with this little girl!  She was VERY shy at first and almost wouldn’t even look at me.  By the end of the session she was calling me “Miss Cole” (for Miss Nicole) and holding my hand.  Whenever they would stop by the studio Sophia would get so excited to see me. I love my job!  Then a few months after that I photographed Sophia and her cousins at my uncles farm.  I’ll try to post a few from both of those sessions later this week as they are some of my favorite kid images I have ever taken, but for now I am going to share with you some of my favorites from her 3 year photos.

We drove around a small town close to Princeton and happened upon this great little spot.  It’s so much fun finding new spots to shoot in!  This is one I will definitely keep in my memory bank of locations.

Looks like she is ready to shop ’til she drops!

So sassy!

Sophia’s mom called me the morning of the shoot looking for a dress for Sophia that would match her red shirt.  I had told her last year about my sister’s shop, Frog Legs & Ponytails, so we drove over to my sister’s house and she found this adorable dress that matched PERFECTLY!  I just love these shots.  I need to get an small wardrobe of her dresses to use for my clients!  Maybe Sophia will even be on the cover of one of Mindy’s patterns?!

Maybe Sophia will even be on the cover of one of Mindy’s patterns?!