My session this past week with Braysen was definitely bittersweet. I love photographing this happy chubby little boy, and I am just sad that this is the last session in his baby’s first year portrait package. It has been amazing documenting Melissa, Jared, and adorable Braysen over the last year. I got to first meet Braysen at the hospital right after he was born, and it has been wonderful to see this incredibly cute and interactive little boy grow and change over the past year. For this session we wanted to shoot outdoors in the awesome weather we have been having, so we visited a couple great parks in the DeWitt area. Braysen was more than happy to show off his play skills and to dig in to a smash cake that Melissa specially made for the session. So thankful I got to record Braysen’s first year and I hope he has a wonderful first birthday!

So, I like dogs, and I love it when I get asked to include a dog in a photo shoot. And for Kristine, including Monkey in her lifestyle session was especially important. Kristine is graduating from veterinary school this spring and so she of course has a huge bond with her fur baby who has seen her through years of schooling. Chasing after a dog isn’t always easy, but Monkey is a sweet dog and was a blast to photograph. For this session, Kristine, Monkey and Kristine’s boyfriend Irwin all headed out to Oak Park in Grand Ledge. I cannot believe I have never been to this park before. The rock cliffs in this park are absolutely stunning and it was very cool watching the rock climbers we passed as we walked along the Grand River. We ended up with a surprisingly nice day with a lovely sunset and we were able to capture some great moments with Kristine, Irwin and Monkey.

I had a really good time photographing Miles and Veronica this past weekend. Both these kids are absolutely adorable and I had a lot of fun to hanging out with the whole family (Derek’s parents even joined us for much of the photo shoot and it was such a pleasure meeting them). Veronica is a little model cheesing it up for the camera and her brother isn’t far behind–can you believe the beautiful eyes these two kids have? We shot most of the session in the Polischuk’s gorgeous historic home in East Lansing and then headed to MSU’s campus to take a couple quick outdoor shots. I was so impressed but what a helpful big sister Veronica was and Miles (or Boy Boy as his family calls him) completely charmed me. I enjoyed capturing some candid moments between the family and documenting the fun and chaos of their life as a family of four.

I was honored when Lynnae emailed me to ask if I would be available to shoot her wedding to Andrew this summer. Lynnae is my cousin and I am always a bit intimidated when I am photographing family, but to add to the pressure both Lynnae and her fiancé Andrew are photographers themselves. But any anxiety I had quickly disappeared when I met them at the Calvin College photo lab. I spent countless hours in the darkroom as a Calvin student and was pretty excited to start their engagement session at such an important location for them, and for me (and a decade later I can say very little has changed). Since Lynnae and Andrew spend a lot of time together working at the lab it really was the perfect location for engagement photos. From there we hit up a couple other spots around Calvin College and spent some time out in the gorgeous snow with a very special camera that Andrew used to propose to Lynnae. We finished up the session with a trip to Eastown and a quick stop into an antique bookstore where Andrew, an English major, perused some of their reference books. Lynnae and Andrew are such a cute couple and clearly head over heels for one another. It was such a pleasure photographing them together and I cannot wait for their August wedding.

This winter I had the pleasure of working with the amazing Dawn Hall from Petal and Forrest Wedding and Event Design on Emergent BioSolutions’ annual Denim and Diamonds Gala. Petal and Forrest do stunning work and I frequently get to photograph their gorgeous floral arrangements at weddings. But Dawn definitely out did herself designing this year’s Denim and Diamonds event—creating a glamorous event with a decidedly western bent. With multiple rooms for guests to enjoy every element was perfect and beautifully thought out. Here are a few of my favorite details from the night.