I have known these boys for most of their lives, photographing them for so many years I can’t keep track :)  They’ve turned into young men in front of my various lenses but they continue to be the same funny, teasing brothers I remember from before.  They never cease to teach me a few jokes and tell me stories with lots of detail about school, swimming or other things they’ve been up to lately.  I love that they are so comfortable with me that they keep me informed ;)  Mostly, I love that they crack me up..as well as each other.

We met on a very HOT afternoon last summer and had a few items on the agenda.  One was to photograph them in their most natal summer habitat…the pool.  Brayden and Parker are both swimmers and are active in school as well as  the summer club in Berne. Such a great idea to incorporate things that have meaning to them at this age….we even did some IN the pool..myself included.  I threatened each of them within an inch of their lives that if they splashed me they would pay ;)  They were both perfect gentlemen…but did enjoy getting a little too close for comfort a few times!

Such stud muffins :)  Thanks boys for having fun and making sure I stayed dry!

CAUTION:  DIVA IN TRAINING  (get a load of that pouty face!!!!)

I always, ALWAYS look forward to my sessions with Lana.  For one, I love catching up with mom and dad.  They make their home in Florida (ahhh…jealous!) and when they return to Indiana for a visit, I feel lucky that they make time in their schedule to see me :)  Heather is a detail girl and always has the cutest outfits and accessories for Lana and the whole family!  And Lana is always so cooperative and content…she reminds me a lot of how my Evie was at that age…about 10 years ago.  WOW.  I can’t believe I just typed that.  Evie has changed a lot in that time ;)

Oh my goodness gracious…SUCH a cutie!!!!!!

I look at this last image and laugh thinking how much Lana changed from this session to the next one we did with her a couple of months ago in Savannah, Georgia.  At four months, we literally worked her so hard she willingly fell asleep in an open field.  Fast forward four more months and Lana was going strong the entire time to the point I was exhausted from chasing after her!  More to come on that soon!

Now that Spring Break is over, the rest of the school year will feel like it’s all happening in fast forward mode…especially for the seniors.  So many tasks and milestones will be  crammed into just a few short months…studying, prom, finals…everything leading up to graduation.  I love having the opportunity to showcase this period in their lives as they transition from one stage to the next.

Alexa found me by way of her brother and sister-in-law whose wedding I photographed this December.  I had just finished their engagement session when Alexa called to book her own session so I was excited to get to know her before the wedding came around too!  Alexa split her session into morning and evening, which made for such different light!  The morning was extremely overcast and we were afraid it would rain.  But by evening, the sun was screaming and we used it to our advantage :)  We started near my own house and ventured into town from there.

Funny story about the image with the blue flowers:  If you’ve ever seen these things you know they often grow near the side of the road.  As in just barely off the blacktop.  I happened to notice them as we were approaching a stop sign and pulled over .  Now, I should mention before I go any further that Alexa’s mom was present and no one was ever put in danger…..but I did have Alexa lay on the side of the road while her mom watched traffic to be sure that our two parked cars gave her enough protection.  So, there was Alexa laying on her back with me standing over her.  We weren’t there longer than a few minutes before we jumped back in our vehicles to proceed to the next spot…when here comes a police car through the intersection.  Luckily, I knew the officer because he said he had just gotten a call about a woman “laying in a ditch” and the concerned passer by thought she was injured.  Oh Boy.  I think that’s the last time I’ll do any shots like that ;)

LOVED Alexa’s natural curls that she had for the evening session…and oh man, is that light pretty :)

Alexa, I hope the rest of your senior year goes quickly!  Enjoy every single second :)