For Me.

As an artist, it is so important to create things that are just for yourself. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE photographing babies! But I also love photographing ALL things. Photography truly feeds my soul. It is my way of expressing my creativity. I dream about different things I want to create in my photos. This particular shoot was a few months in the making since the kids were on summer break and schedules were a little hectic. But my oh my was it worth the wait!

So this story starts a little over 15 years ago. I met my husband at the very young age of 14, and I met his beautiful little cousin, Carsen, when she was just 6 months old. I have had the pleasure of not only watching Carsen grow up, but also of watching her grow as a dancer since she was three. I have always loved dance. I love how much emotion you can show through movement alone, without even saying a word. One night this last May, I attended Carsen’s dance recital with my 7 year old daughter, (who is also a dancer) just as we have all these years. But something was different. I realized that I wasn’t watching a little girl on that stage anymore. I was watching a beautiful graceful young woman. I was so emotional watching her dance that night. I remember feeling so moved by her that I knew we had to do a shoot together. Over the summer, we talked about different ideas we both wanted to include in our shoot together. Smoke bombs and tutu’s were a must. When I first imagined this shoot, the location was the first thing I knew that was definite, Roosevelt Row. Obviously I have a thing for birds. Thus, Brian Boner’s bird mural at the monOrchid was also a must.  Carsen’s gorgeous makeup was done by the ever so talented Taryn Conover of Infinite Artistry Makeup and her hair was done by yours truly 🙂 I can’t believe this, but on Monday, Carsen will celebrate her 16th birthday. Carsen, you are so beautiful inside and out my dear and it has truly been a pleasure to watch you grow into the amazing young woman that you are today. Keep dancing like no ones watching. Happy 16th Birthday beautiful, I love you! <3

I am so thrilled with how these images turned out, hope you all enjoy them too!