Yoga Inspired Victoria Emerson Shoot

I have been super excited lately because Victoria Emerson asked to collaborate with me for a few products.

First of all, I LOVE their bracelets (and other jewelry as well); I was introduced to them by my sister, Jenn, a couple months ago and quickly became obsessed.

And second of all, I have loved the challenge of making a product the focus of my work along with, and sometimes predominate to a client. It's really stretched me creatively and I've just found it so fun!

When they first contacted me, I came up with this HUGE brainstorm list of different shots and styles I'd like to try, and the very top of my list was a yoga inspired shoot. I love how graceful and introspective yoga is and I've actually wanted to photograph my friend Soquel doing it for a long time. She has a website dedicated to helping women heal from abusive relationships through spirituality and yoga linked here. I just love her mission and how compassionate she is!

So we went out to the Organ Mountains and took some pictures and here's a sample of some of my favorites :)

And of course I took a few not focusing entirely on the jewelry, and here are some of my favorites of those that I didn't send to VE. Soquel is gorgeous inside and out and such a great example of a strong woman and mother. 

ALSO!!! Mother's Day and Easter are coming up and in case you've fallen in love as hard as I have for these bracelets and want one of your own, here's a link to their page! 

Platinum Dental Free Dental Day

Today I was super excited to be able to document a free dental day put on by Platinum Dental in Salt Lake. This is the fourth year that Platinum Dental has hosted and organized this event where several dentists, hygienists, assistants, and office staff volunteer their time and supplies for a day.

Big Buddah from Fox 13 News showed up as well and covered the event as well as getting his teeth cleaned.

Here he is witnessing his very first extraction-- clearly impressed :)

One of the reasons I was so excited to work with Platinum Dental today was because I worked as a dental assistant at a pediatric dental office for a short time and I saw a lot of kids who had really decayed teeth. Many of these kids' families didn't have the funds to take care of their dental issues and their teeth, many times ended up having to be extracted. I love what Platinum Dental stands for and that they were willing to donate time and supplies to help the community, young and old.

Product Photography

The last four years I have probably worn heels less than five times. My life has been running shoes and flats basically every day, and for a 5' 2'' woman, that can be kind of lame. So, I told myself that when my latest baby is old enough to go to nursery hours at church, I would start wearing heels again. 

The first week of December, my baby was 18 months and old enough to go to nursery, so I pranced over to the closet to pull out the heels... and they didn't fit. Apparently when you have babies, your hips aren't the only things that get bigger. My feet had grown half a size, and were definitely not squeezing into my favorite shoes. Cue the waterworks. 

Anyway, so before Evan left on his latest rotation we went on a date to get me some heels and I picked out some that I love! They are sexy AND comfortable, and I didn't know those two words could even be worked into the same sentence. 

So when you are a photographer and you get new shoes, you want to try your hand at a little product photography. It was super fun and I think I'll include a lot more of this in the future! Maybe it'll give me some excuses to buy more accessories... ;) 

Dunns // Lifestyle

One kind of photography that I've been really interested in lately is lifestyle photography. Of course, these are the kinds of photos that I take of my kids on a daily basis, so I feel like I get quite a bit of practice in this genre, but I LOVE taking lifestyle pictures of other families.

There is something really awesome about seeing a normal family doing normal, every day things. I see a lot of beauty in the authentic interactions between people. A lot of times, when I get to a photo session, at least one person is dragging their feet and grumbling before we start. This is because they remember the sessions when they were younger when their parents were begging or threatening them to smile and it was just a painful experience for everyone. This is why I love lifestyle photography! It almost eliminates these experiences. Sure, you're going to want a few shots where everyone has a great smile, open eyes, and are looking directly at the camera, but lifestyle photography gives you a lot more freedom to interact with each other in more genuine ways as well.

My friend Jana was kind enough to let me come invade her space and photograph her and her kiddos (with a couple pictures of her hubby, Mark!) She is one of the most genuine people I know, so it was really fitting to make it a lifestyle shoot. Here are some of the photos from that day.

Fall Fest

I am really loving that Evan can hang out with the family on weekends this year and I am taking advantage of it as much as I can! I know that next year and then the next 3 to 7 years after that will be pretty hectic all the time, so I am just soaking up the normal schedule this year.

The boys love cars and I've wanted to put some "art" in their room for a while. Since they are more interested in cars than dinosaurs or even super heroes, I figured it would be a fun little idea to go to a car show and take some pictures to go on their walls. So we went to the Herkimer Fall Fest today and they had a little car show. It'll take me a while to figure out if I want to do black and white or color and how to arrange them, but it was fun to see all the classic cars. 

Along with the car show, they had free cider, doughnuts, and cotton candy, pumpkin painting, games, horse drawn carriage rides, swimming, and frisbee golf. We took advantage of most of those activities and the kids were wiped out by the end! 

My sister in law Kristy gave me her old camera which is way better than mine! So I got to try that out today and she even let me have one of her lenses as well, which was super fun to play with. I didn't take too much time trying to set up the right shots because I was just playing around with the camera, but here are a few pictures from the day. 

Thayer Family // Old Orchard Beach, ME

A couple of months ago, our church's youth group held a service auction as a fund raiser to go to their camp this summer. There were several acts of service and baked items up for bid, and one that I donated to the pile was a photo session with me. The Thayers bid on it and I couldn't ask for a cuter family to take photos of!

It was a particularly long winter and the blooms are still not on the trees, but we headed down to the beach anyway, and you really can't tell that spring hasn't really arrived yet! Here are just a few of the shots I took.

Location Scouting, Maine Audubon and Mackworth Island

One of the great things about doing photography is that it makes me see the world through a lens. No matter where I am, I'm setting up shots in my mind. Figuring out how to work with undesireable backdrops is one of the challenges I am constantly working out in my mind. I'm able to see so much more beauty in the world that I might not have noticed before. 

Then you bring kids into the mix with their thousands of questions and that adds 10 times the amount of wonder you notice in the world. This is why my babies are my favorite location scouts. They definitely don't want to rush things and they are always noticing the smallest details. 

"These trees look scary!"

"Who lives in this barn?"

"The sand is so warm."

Photographers are always trying to tell a story in their photos and kids have a way of pointing you in the right direction of a compelling story.