I am a portrait...

I am a portrait. People say I am expensive. And yet, I may be the one thing in your home that will outlive anything else. I will not go out of style like a coat. I will instead serve as a mirror to your children as to how beautiful their mother once was. I will not depreciate in value as your car will, and I require no monthly check ups.

I am many things to many people. I am your own unique lifestyle. I not only show you what you look like, I also show you how you live and some of your most treasured possessions. But most of all, I can show love to a grandparent miles away or across town better than anything else money can buy.

I am a very complex time machine for I can not only show you a moment past, but I can also let you have a glimpse into the future with just a little smile or a tilt of the head.

Think about me. I am a work created by the master artist and a labor of love.

Dollar for dollar invested, I am one of the best buys you will ever make.

author-Shane Hamilton

Saige and Trevin

I love these two.. I've taken their pictures before, once for Saige's 3 month pictures and they were also at Couch in a Field. And they are both growing so fast!

I love just letting the kids be themselves, it makes for a neat kind of picture-one where you look back and realize you have a picture of how your child really was at that time in their life--bottle, pacifier, or favorite stuffed teddy bear. That's what I did here, just let Saige run around and try to get some smiles in the mix. *this usually requires mom and dad doing something silly (okay me too)!*





I can tell this family is a riot at home--check out this outtake.. ha ha.







Yup, we broke out the hats :)

And we've been published... sort of.. :)

Last year, I arranged to do a shoot with the gorgeous Ashley Sickels. I had found the perfect space but it was 4 hours away and in a city where I barely knew anyone. So I got with some other photographers and we were able to get into the space I had seen and loved! The space was dirty, grungy, and full of texture. From the moment I saw it, I wanted to do a trash the dress in it.

I purchased the perfect dress, picked out the perfect jewelry to compliment my vision, and let the girls at Hy-Vee in Oskaloosa run with any kind of bouquet that matched a bag of inspiration I took in. I also lined up professional hair by Abby Bowker of Expressions Studio, and Racheal Ebelsheiser did Ashley's makeup before we left town.

Ashley was a trooper, her dress was strapless and it was cold.. By cold, I mean we could see our breath in the space. Seriously.....

Fast forward a year, Brandi (one of the other photographers who had access to the space I wanted to shoot in), sent in a few of the images she had taken at the shoot to a magazine. We found out a few weeks ago that it had been published on page 7 in Celebrity Hair Style Magazine, Wedding Edition which officially hit news stands today!

Check it out--page 7! And a decent sized picture!

While none of my actual pictures got chosen (none of my pictures were submitted) I am adding a few of them to this post. I love the pictures we got that day!!

Thank you so much to everyone that was involved!


I know these next few poses are very similar, but Ashley was so beautiful, I couldn't decide what to post. I think she is smoking hot in all of them. By this time in the shoot, the ever so smiley Ashley was actually able to pull off a really nice serious look..


I added texture here for some added depth.


um, yes, that's a dead bird on the floor. 'ew!

An old elevator shaft that had been sealed off (dont worry, we didn't put her in harm's way )

My favorite images of the shoot... Love the textured walls.

Again, thank you to Ashley, Brandi, Abby, Racheal, and the girls at HyVee floral in Oskaloosa. They all did a fantastic job with my vision.! I couldn't have done it without you guys!