Holly + Elliot [Mother & Daughter Series #3 - Coralville, IA Family and Child Photography]

On Friday, Coelle and I met up with the gorgeous Holly and her sweet Elliot girl at Lake MacBride for Coelle's 3rd practice session and another in the series of Mother/Daughter sessions. The photos below are a mix of Coelle's and mine, we had such a beautiful night and so much fun with these two.

Again, Coelle continues to impress and amaze me. This girl has talent and I'm lucky to have her on my team! :)

Holly and Elliot, thank you so much for giving your time on Friday and modeling for us. You two are beautiful, and I hope you love this sneak peek.

Photo by Coelle
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Photo on the left by Coelle, the one on the right is mine. :) c-hollyelliot-2014-3 copy

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The remaining photos are mine! Love this one where Elliot is blowing kisses. <3 br=""> j-hollyelliot-2014-1

My fave I think! j-hollyelliot-2014-6

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A Mother's Love...

Let me begin by saying - this post includes a special for Mother's Day, and although this post (and the photos) focus on the mother/daughter relationship the special collection can also include Mother/Son or Mother/Daughter(s)/Son(s)!

I was a mama's girl when I was little. Then, I became one of "those" teenagers - who felt like their mom knew absolutely NOTHING about ANYTHING (though now I realize she was almost always right...). So, as a daughter myself, I know that the relationship between mother and daughter is a special one. Being a mom is hard work, for sure. It's a lifelong career with no breaks, no sick days, and is often under appreciated. So, in honor of moms - I wanted to take a month to celebrate them.

The women below are all outstanding mothers who I've gotten to know on a personal level and they are all so inspiring to me. Tanya, Kayla, Holly, and Gaby are incredible, and Avery, Jae, Elliot, and Erika are so lucky to have such wonderful women as role models. The love between a mother and her daughter shown in these photos makes me miss my own mom (whom I don't see often enough), but also makes me wish for something similar in my own life someday! Truly, photographing these sessions has been the highlight of my year so far.

So, to celebrate all of the mothers this year, I am doing a Mother's Day Collection which is available for purchase now through the end of May (sessions can take place anytime in 2014). Details are below!

Tanya, Kayla, Holly, and Gaby - Thank you so much for allowing me to document the incredible bond you have with your daughters. I appreciate you all so much!


On the left is Tanya her daughter Avery. On the right is Kayla and her little lady, Jae.

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Elliot and her mom Holly
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Erika and her mom Gaby chefgaby-4 copy

Mac: 1 Year [Coralville, IA Child Photography]

Mac is a new client, but I had so much fun hanging out with him last Saturday evening. He just turned one, and so we documented the occasion out at Squire Point. Although we are still awaiting more green on the trees this spring, Mac brightened up the woods in his adorable outfits. This little guy is curious, and is crawling up a storm. I love his big smile, and those blue eyes...he's going to be a heartbreaker!

Molly, Ezra, and Mac - It was wonderful meeting you all! I had a great time at the session, and I hope you enjoy the sneak peek!

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Those boots just kill me! Love... mac-oneyear-22 copy

Kayla + Jae [Mother & Daughter Series #2 - Coralville, IA Family Photography]

This session with the stunning Kayla and cutie pie Jae took place last Friday at the Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. This was Coelle's 2nd practice session and she did the majority of the shooting after her success with Tanya and Avery the week before.

Again, this is part of a Mother/Daughter series I am working on - so I took a handful of photos (more info on this project/Mother's Day special coming very soon!!) but the most of these are Coelle's work. I am SO proud of her, I can't wait to see her continue to progress as a photographer. We have many more practice sessions lined up and I am so excited for each and every one. Coelle's photos are credited below!

Kayla and Jae - thank you again for volunteering your time for Coelle to practice. You guys were wonderful!!

Hands down, my favorite of the session. Photo by Coelle. c-kayla-jae-2014_01

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Photo on left by Coelle. c-kayla-jae-2014_12

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Photo on left by Coelle. c-kayla-jae-2014_11

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Jae is a little dancing machine, love these two! j-kayla-jae-2014_19

Casey + Matt [Kansas City, MO Country Club Plaza + Loose Park Engagement Photography]

A week and a half ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Kansas City to take Casey and Matt's engagement photos. They are getting married this October, in Anamosa, but met (and live) in Kansas City so they wanted to have documentation of the place where they fell in love. We had AMAZING weather for this session, 80 degrees and everything was starting to bloom down there so I was thrilled. I even got to meet their sweet pup Darla. Oh, and for the record - everyone that has warned me of their "crazy puppies" has been soooo wrong! ;) Maybe she is a wild woman normally (like my Clara) but when it came time for her photo debut, Darla was a pro!

One of my favorite things about Casey and Matt is how sweet they are together, and hello - gorgeous!! One of the first things I asked was how they met, and as Casey shared the story of that night, Matt couldn't keep the smile off his face. These two are awesome and I can't thank them enough for bringing us down to KC to do their session.

Casey and Matt (and Darla!) - you guys are awesome and I am so excited for your wedding in October! I hope you love this sneak peek - and thank you again for a fabulous session.

My fave!! casey-matt-epics-91-bw

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Below photo by Josh
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Photo on left by Josh
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Photo below by Josh
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Tanya + Avery [Mother & Daughter Series #1 - North Liberty, IA Family Photography]

As you all know, Coelle joined my team this fall and not only is she doing styling, but she is also doing a ton of behind the scenes work. In addition to all of that, she is also eager to learn the photography aspect of things, which is awesome! This session is the first in a set of 3 Mother and Daughter sessions. The focus is for Coelle to learn in a session environment, but we use volunteers (we like to call them "models") who are willing to offer their time for Coelle to get practice in a no pressure situation. (If you are interested in modeling, we will be doing one of these sessions per month, contact me for more info - now looking for May models! I am looking for a variety - families, kids, couples, etc.)

During these sessions, I am teaching Coelle but I am also currently working on a personal project so I took some photos as well. This post features a few of Coelle's images, and some of mine as well to get you all excited for a special I will be offering in May (great gift idea for Mother's Day!) :) Can't wait to share more details soon.

These first three photos are by Coelle, she did a fantastic job!! I am so proud of her, and can't wait to see how she continues to progress!! Thanks as well to Tanya and Avery for modeling.

Both photos below by Coelle coelle-1 copy1

Photo below by Coelle coelle-2

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