The LiLo Life: August 2012

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Aidan- 3 months

Remember this little guy?

Isn't he so cute. Well guess what? He is now over three months old.....and is even cuter! His mom called me to say that he was so cute and smiley that she really wanted some 3 month pictures. I was happy to oblige!

We decided to meet downtown at Civic Center Park because they really wanted some flowers in their pictures. Civic Center Park has really pretty flowers. However, there were several events they were getting ready for (including the pro cycle challenge viewing and taste of Colorado for next weekend). Therefore, all of the flowers were blocked off, all of the streets were blocked off and it was kind of a nightmare!

But, we made the best of the situation and got some great pictures. And Becky, you are right, he is a really smiley little guy. He was happy and wide awake the entire shoot. It was so much fun! I love my job!

I love that you can see a reflection of his mom and downtown in his eyes!

Nothing is cuter than drool!

I love Brian and Becky and it has been so good getting to know them. And don't you think she is SO GORGEOUS!!?? I could take pictures of this family all day long! And I can't wait for a Christmas card shoot with them in November! For more pictures, check out my facebook page here or my website here.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Mariah- Sneak Peek

I LOVE my job! Things are picking up in the photography world as summer is ending and fall is fast approaching. This last Saturday I had 3 photo-shoots in one day. I think that is a record. They were all so much fun, but now I am trying to get all of those pictures edited. That is a tall order. I know what it is like to sit by the computer waiting to see your pictures, so I try to get them done as quickly as possible, but WHEW, I am tired!

Just to be fair, I started editing with the first shoot of the day. Yikes. I think it is my toughest. I took over 300 pictures, and after weeding it down, I had over 100 that I LOVED and wanted to tweak a bit. That is a lot of pictures!

Mariah goes to our church and I just love her and her family. Her mom is one of the most amazing women I know, and if this young lady grows up to be anything like her mom (which she already is), she is going to be a real gem too. Not only is she amazingly sweet and talented (she is going to beauty school right now), she is GORGEOUS!!!! I feel like we were shooting the cover of a magazine. Stunning.

So Mariah, here you go! Bask in your beauty and the One who created you with such beauty inside and out!

For more pictures of this beauty, check out my facebook page here.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Kaylee-The Good Dilemma

I hadn't done any senior pictures all summer and then, BAM, two in one week! I love taking pictures of seniors. It allows me to slow down, connect with my subject and really be creative! I usually do young kids/families (which I LOVE) but it sometimes feels like I am doing a jig on my head, waving my hands and constantly trying to get everyone smiling and looking at the camera. It has been a nice change of pace.

Kaylee is the sister of one of Tanner's baseball team members (I love the Storm team!). Again, how is it that Jenny is old enough to have a senior in High School?

Kaylee is interested in photography and is such a sweetie. Doesn't hurt that she is a real beauty too. However, Kaylee presented me with a real dilemma this week. I took over 200 pictures of her, and I narrowed it down to about 180 REALLY good ones. This presents a problem. Which ones are the best? Which ones do I blog about? Which ones do I post online? Decisions, decisions. I realize that this is an incredibly amazing problem to have, so I am not really complaining!

The biggest problem I had with Kaylee is that she didn't have a serious face. Every time I would say "okay, how about not smiling?", she would break out into a huge smile. It was hilarious! Toward the end, I would just say that to get a big smile out of her. It was so cute!

So Kaylee, here you go. Here are some of my favorites.

Good luck and have fun your Senior Year! For more pictures, check my facebook page here.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Brandon Sneak Peek

On Sunday, I met up with Brandon and his mom Dee. They are one of our beloved "Storm" baseball families (I love that team). I can't believe that Dee is old enough to have a senior in high school!

While I was scouting for places to shoot, I came across a beautiful sight: a big meadow with a deer grazing in it. I have always wanted to be the type of photographer to pull off to the side of the road and find a beautiful sight to capture. Unfortunately, I usually have three little people in the back seat, a place to be (usually in a hurry) or don't have my camera with me. This time......no little people, no hurry and I had my camera! After pulling off the road, I was surprised to not only find the deer, but her fawn as well. It made for a happy LiLo!

It was so fun to hang out with Brandon and Dee. Brandon is a good egg. I hope my boys are as nice as he is when they are 18! At the end of our shoot, we were in a field that had some random cacti. He kept reminding me and made sure I didn't get a cactus in the toe! See what I mean? Good kid.

This is the shot I got when I said "look at your mom". AWWWWW

Brandon loves to go Bow shooting with his uncle

Love this gnarly tree!

Might not make the yearbook, but it shows his fun side!

Thanks guys! It was fun working with you and Brandon, I hope you have a great Senior Year! For more pictures, visit my facebook page.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Get Up and Get Going!

This weekend, we (meaning mostly Chris, I was there for moral support) took part in an amazing event! Chris ran (I watched) the Wild West Relay. It is insane! A team of 12 runners, running over 200 miles broken into 36 legs of continuous running from Ft. Collins to Steamboat. It was a really fun time bonding with a really great group of people. When Andy (our neighbor) invited Chris to join his "team" I thought they were crazy. I still think that, but now I see how much fun "crazy" can be!

These 12 men and women traveled over 200 miles in 31 and 1/2 hours (running). That is a 9:30 minute mile average! I can barely do that in my neighborhood, let alone up to the top of the Continental Divide!

Here is how it worked. The team (named "get up and get going") all met up in Ft. Collins on Thursday night. The team is split into two vans. The first van, started with race on Friday morning (at 7 am) The first runner ran his 4.3 miles and then handed the baton over to the next runner who ran 3.9 miles (with van #1 going ahead of each runner to get ready for the next "exchange"). Meanwhile, van #2 headed to the rendezvous spot to hang out for a few hours until the 6th runner in van #1 finished (this continued for over 30 hours).

There was plenty of down time between the three "legs" of the race to hang out, eat, rest and get to know the other team members. Each member ran three legs with a combined average of 13-19 miles. Guess who volunteered for the toughest legs? You got it, my amazing husband! He is an animal who has recently found a new passion in running. During the race, his team mates nicknamed him El Machino (the machine for those of you who don't speak Spanglish). His first leg was an easy (for him) 3.6 mile run with the first half being downhill and the second half being an uphill. I think he AVERAGED close to an 8 minute mile. That was his "easy leg". His next leg started at midnight (this is tough enough for the man who has a hard time keeping his eyes open after 10 pm). He ran 8.8 miles and gained over 1600 feet in elevation. Can you say steep? He knocked it out with no problem (of course). His last leg started at 10 am and he ran 5.7 miles and gained 881 feet in elevation. In his final leg, he was literally running on the shoulder of highway 40 up Rabbit Ears Pass and the hand-off to the next team member was at the top of the Continental Divide. This one was a little tougher for him. He was tired (they only got about 2 hours of sleep during the night) and that is a tough climb. We caught him (from our drive from Denver to Steamboat) about 1/2 mile from the end of his run. He said he was really hurting, but he looked great to me. I was SO proud of him!

Overall, it was a really fun weekend with some really great people! After the race, we went to our hotel and swam, hung out, played (the runners were all pretty delirious, but in great spirits) and then had dinner together at the base of the Steamboat Ski area. A good time was had by all.