Germaine Graduation photos

The weather has been less than ideal for springtime photos in west Michigan that last few weeks, and after rescheduling 3 times I finally met up with Germaine. Though it’s not as common as high school graduation, I love the idea of taking pictures to commemorate college graduation. Germaine will be getting a degree in computer science from Calvin University this weekend and managed to find time between exams for a photo session. She braved the cold and walked around campus with heels on, but smiled through it all. This was both of our first attempts at getting champagne to spray for photos and luckily it worked out. Congratulations and good luck with whatever comes next Germaine!

Baby Delaney

My friend Rachael and her husband Alex have been through a lot of ups and downs on their journey to have a baby and Delaney was born via surrogate just 11 days before I met her and took these photos :) She was not very happy that we kept disrupting her nap to change positions for photos, but luckily her parents were able to comfort Delaney each time she started to cry. Plus, after a diaper change and bottle we even managed to take some pictures with the dog, Rosie, and outside on their front porch. I have learned so much about advocacy and surrogacy laws in Michigan from watching Rachael and Alex and am proud that they are using their voice and their story to create positive change for others!

Kalala modeling portraits

Last week I got to catch up with Kalala who I used to babysit (yes I feel old seeing her as a teenager) because she needed pictures for her modeling and acting portfolio! Because we live in Michigan where it snows in March we came up with some creative indoor locations. I’m grateful that local hotels let us take pictures in their lobby and that Grand Rapids has a sky walk connecting many locations. We had fun exploring the JW Mariott and Amway Grand Hotel and trying out different outfits for different modeling looks. Here are some of my favorites from our Monday morning photo session!

Beatrice class of 2023

Beatrice is spending her senior year as a foreign exchange student here in West Michigan. She was brave enough to trek through the snow at Hager Park to get to the locations I had in mind for pictures since the parking lot was not plowed all the way! We were lucky to have a sunny day, but it was still cold though you’d never guess looking at Beatrice since she has a natural smile and warmth. Here are some of my favorites from her session :)

PGR/ AIM Winter Soiree

Last week I went to a really fun event put on by Professionals of Grand Rapids to support an organization that is close to my heart, Arts in Motion which provides art, music, and dance classes for individuals with disabilities. This was such a fun night with live music by the Oxymorons Band , dancing, drumming, a silent auction, and even an Elvis impersonator showing off his skills all to raise money and awareness for Arts in Motion. I’ve always wanted to photograph an event at Meijer Gardens and I know some of the dancers, so when I was asked to document this “winter soiree” it was an easy yes! Here are some of my favorite pictures :)

Klein Kids 2023

The Klein family started off the new year with updated pictures of their kids! It’s crazy how much they have grown since I last saw them for photos in December 2021. They did such a great job dealing with the cold and we had fun walking around downtown Rockford looking for good locations (and looking at dogs walking by). This year also included pictures of the kids with a great aunt who was visiting from out of state, thanks so much for letting me capture memories of these ages/stages of your family :)

World of Winter Circus

Grand Rapids is such a fun city and not just in the summer! They’ve started an annual event called World of Winter and last weekend for the opening several local performers set up in Calder Plaza and did performances in the cold. Just for fun I brought my camera and tried some new skills of capturing motion in low light. I had no expectations the images would turn out perfectly as I imagined, but I still wanted to share some of my favorites from the event :)

Top 22 of 2022

Just for fun on the last day of this year I thought I’d post my favorite 22 photos taken in 2022. The more I looked through old posts today the harder it became to choose so few pictures to share! Eventually I settled on this combination of professional and personal photo projects and tried to include something from each season :)

Hounakey Family 2022

Winter can be a tricky time for family pictures, but I’m grateful for hotels with beautifully decorated lobbies and families who are up for anything :) I met the Hounakey’s for the first time last December and we had lots of fun, so this year I was excited to do holiday photos for them again! The JW Marriott downtown Grand Rapids has an iconic staircase that I’ve used as a backdrop for photos during the day before, but I didn’t realize they lit it up blue at night and this just added to the festive look. Plus the Christmas trees were so pretty. Here are some of my favorites from the Hounakey family last Saturday!

Joseph's Senior pictures

Another class of 2023 senior session to round out this year! Joseph’s mom contacted me in November asking about taking his photos by the blue bridge specifically, and since this time of year Michigan is not exactly pretty outside (or warm) we made the most of the indoor spots downtown Grand Rapids. I love the sky walk that connects the hotels because it provides so much natural light, the stairs in the lobby of the JW Mariott are another favorite indoor location. Joseph was so easy going that we got lots of great photos in a short period of time. I had fun meeting him and hearing about his plans to study interior design at college in the fall!

Mary and Matt's Wedding

On a warm fall day in mid October I got to return to my alma mater for Matt and Mary’s wedding. A year before we had their engagement session also on the Grand Valley campus on a beautiful fall day, these two have great luck with weather! These two met in a college class and I loved that they wanted their school to be part of their marriage by having the ceremony there. For the reception we headed downtown GR and enjoyed a walk around the city before dinner and dancing. Matt and Mary have such supportive friends and family, they were all a joy to be around. Here are some of my favorite pictures form their wedding :)

Johnston Family 2022

Fall photo season wouldn’t be complete until I saw the Johnston family whose pictures I’ve been taking annually since they only had one kid :) Luckily, we had unseasonably warm weather at the start of November and even though the leaves were gone from the trees it was fun exploring more of their property and finding new spots to take pictures. Claire, Andy, their kids and parents are experts at this by now which makes the photos so quick and easy. This year we even did a few inside with their new cat, a very unique sphynx. Here are some of my favorites!

Layna, Ellory and Ceana class of 2023

Layna, Ellory and Ceana had been talking since last spring about taking senior pictuers together in the fall. October got busy quickly, but I’m so glad we made time for a quick 30 minute photo shoot at Heritage Park in Grandville on a cloudy Sunday evening! I’ve been the leader of these girls’ small group for six years and I can’t believe they are seniors who are looking at colleges out of state. I love seeing their friendship and I can’t help but remember them as 6th graders when I look at these pictures of them now :) Here are some of my favorite pictures of my favorite members of the class of 2023!

Abortion Protests - June 2022

The day after Proposal 3 was passed in Michigan to restore women reproductive freedoms, I remembered these photos I took (but never edited) of the protests last June when the supreme court ruled on abortion. Since my days taking pictures for the high school newspaper, part of me has always been drawn to photojournalism. I think it’s important to document and remember what is happening not just nationally but also right in my city. I am proud of the hard work so many volunteers did to make history in my state with drafting petitions, gathering signatures, and encouraging others to vote! Here are some of my favorite pictures from a rally and protest June 25, 2022.

4 generations - Johnston Family

Some of these faces might look familiar and that’s because I’ve done family pictures for one family several times and senior pictures for two of the girls. The day after I took Brooklyn’s senior pictures, I met up with her extended family at Hager Park for round two of photography! It was so great to see four generations of a family all together and I’m grateful for this opportunity to capture a beautiful fall day with them.

Abby and Nic's wedding

At the beginning of October Abby and Nic has a beautiful fall day for their outdoor wedding at The Old Wooden Barn. It was hard to believe almost a year had passed since I took their engagement photos, but these two were just as photogenic and their bridal party was fun to work with! I loved the unique touches of burning a brand on a table during the ceremony, having a bonfire and s’mores kits available to guests after dinner and they made sure to include the dogs in at least one wedding picture :) Congratulations Nic and Abby, thanks for letting me be a part of your wedding day!

Brooklyn and Sydney class of 2023

Another double senior session on a beautiful fall day! We’ve been so lucky the last couple weekends to have great weather and the colors have been really vibrant. Having a friend to do senior pictures with makes the experience more fun for everyone. These two girls walked all around the Grand Ravines dodging mud puddles and following my crazy ideas. Brooklyn is interested in photography so she was a natural at posing and she had great ideas for Sydney as well. Have a great rest of your senior year Brooklyn and Sydney!

Michigan Scenery

I’ve traveled to northern Michigan twice in the last two months and am finally taking time to look through the photos I took! Fall is such a pretty time in this state and I have pulled over on the side of a road more then once to take pictures of trees (or a rainbow) ;) Here are a few favorites, the locations are:

1 and 2. Grand Haven State Park lighthouse/ pier

3 and 4. Laughing Whitefish falls, Munising

5. Wagner Falls, Munising

6. Miners Falls, pictured rocks/ Munising

7 and 8. Rainbow near Interlochen

9, 10, 11, 12. Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, Sleeping Bear Dunes

13. Empire Bluff trail, Sleeping Bear Dunes

14. Empire Beach, Sleeping Bear Dunes

15. DH day farm, Glen Arbor

Still Family 2022

Fall family photo season is officially beginning with the Still family! I’ve photographed Chris and Sarah so much over the years and it’s always a joy to see how their family has grown. This year Chris’s parents and sister joined for an extended family session and the kids had fun showing me their garden and the horses next door!. My favorite part of this session was after the group pictures were done watching the kids
(and adults) in the garden picking vegetables and smelling flowers :)

1920's Party

Friends of mine started a tradition back in 2017 of hosting a theme party each September, and I have been able to photograph the fun. Due to Covid (and their having a baby) the 1920’s theme party was delayed two years, but finally it happened. Mary and Aaron have a great backyard for hosting events, and this year the party had musical guests and a magician. Plus, they set up a photo booth with props in their garage! It was so fun to see everyone dressed up and all the themed decorations and food! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the event :)