Football and Fun with Aimee and Jordan

Meet Aimee and her son Jordan! Aimee found me through Kelli + Jake (below) because she and Kelli work together. Aimee told me in one of her first emails, "A little background on Jordan and I…..we love sports." So what better way to show their relationship than to play a little football. :)

We met in Ashland, and here is a bright blue wall of the Ashland Optimist...

Jordan was so tough! On our way to the second location his thumb got shut in the car door...oh no! But Jordan was a trooper and we still got great images in the fall leaves.
Aimee is gorgeous!! Look here:
Are you kidding me!?! :)

Thanks for letting me spend the afternoon with you! I loved meeting you!
See all of Aimee and Jordan's tackles and laughs here:
http://annikasphoto.zenfolio.com/

Mi Familia

Ok, I might be biased but isn't this the cutest family you have ever seen!?! They're mine :) My brother Cliff, his wife Suzanne, and my sweet nephew Collin met me one day right before Halloween for some pumpkin pickin' and photo takin'.

Collin's smiles and giggles could turn any bad day around. Just look at this: You're smiling now aren't you? .....Don't say I didn't warn you..... Collin smiles are contagious.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE fall......these vivid colors make my day, and my night, week....month even!
By now you are wondering where we found such a cute location. We met at the semi-halfway point between Warrensburg and Moberly, Peach Tree Farm. Peach Tree, well you guessed it, they grow peaches! In the fall, however, they are a pick-your-own-pumpkins-and-gourds patch. They have hayrides, a straw maze, barnyard animals, adorable barns, and super nice people. Oh and puppies!

And sunflowers! The owner was so nice to even let us dance in the sunflower patch, ok I wasn't dancing, but Cliff and Suz were very cute at it.

How blessed I am to have such a great family, not to mention amazing role models. Love you guys!

All the pumpkin-pickin' fun: http://annikasphoto.zenfolio.com/

"My Desk"

This semester I am taking a class called Intro to Studio Techniques. That being said, anyone who has seen my work would point out I don't do studio work. It's not my thing, ok? But this assignment, I liked.
The first part of the semester consisted of weekly assignments photographing "metal," "texture," " a box," "flowers," etc. using hot lights. We have recently moved on to flash assignments but I wanted to share one of my favorites from the first half of the class. This assignment was to photograph a set of our "desk."
Although my REAL desk at home is covered with my laptop, camera, hard drives, and a printer...I didn't want to look like a total gearhead! In this photo I featured my drawing hobby in a charcoal sketch. The leaves represent my love for fall and COLOR. My MacBook Pro...because-duh-I love Macs! (Thank you Steve Jobs, but that's a whole 'nother post)
And the pear.
I love pears. Ask my roommates. I'm borderline obsessive about pears. Not just about eating them, I like to photograph them, draw them, decorate with them, and I think pear is my favorite color. Don't ask. It is a color in my book.
I was very pleased with this shot. Not my typical comfort zone but I like it none-the-less. Something about it seems very...calming. It's the pear. It has to be the pear.

Whatchya think?

Emily+Damon and Kiddos

CUTE FAMILY!! Emily contacted me about pictures after she had seen the Gillispie trio's (hmm note to self to blog those equally cute Gillispies..) pictures and we set up a time for these fun family/engagement pictures. Emily and Damon are getting married in May...they are sooo cute together. During the shoot they had great instincts, I would start to pose them and realize they were already perfect the way they were!
See what I mean?!

This is Addison, she is 10 months in these photos. Lovin' that bow!
Cayden, 2, loves his trucks and tractors. While going through the photos after the shoot I found myself laughing at one of him driving his john deere over his sister's head. :)
We had beautiful light in the woods next to Emily's parent's house. Also a cool truck, but you will have to click here to see those....

Addison and her Daddy:
What happy kids! After the shoot I got the sweetest e-mail from Emily:

"I just wanted to let tell you thanks again for coming to my parents to take our pictures. You are soooooo talented and I can't wait to see the results. I hope the kids weren't to fussy for you......Thank you so much. You are awesome and I am going to be sending as much business as I can to you!!"

Fussy kids?! They were great..seriously. Thank YOU so much. I loved every minute of it.

To see every cute second and every cute dimple: http://annikasphoto.zenfolio.com/

Riley

This is Miss Riley! I went to high school with Riley's parents and was excited to get to photograph her for her 2nd birthday, which is coming up very soon!
We spent our session exploring Riley's grandparent's farm in Cairo, MO. There were so many rustic buildings and things to play and climb on for pictures. Riley seemed to be distracted a great deal of the time by collecting rocks..what a tomboy ;)
I laughed so hard watching Riley "dance," as seen in the first photo. She was also very entertaining on this little horse:

What a cute expression!



This is Riley's mom, Courtney.
Love this image of her with the wagon...
The look of determination:

Thanks for letting me photograph this little lady! To see all of my adventures with Riley check out http://annikasphoto.zenfolio.com/

Shea²

As promised, here is Shea². My second session with Shea had 3 main objectives: golf photos, a yearbook photo, and a mini session with Shea's brother Ryan. However, we didn't neglect having fun in the process:
Girl has ups!!

I love, love, lovvveeee the light coming through in the above photo. The shadows from the golf balls and the light coming across Shea's face (because of Chad rockin' the reflector behind the scenes) makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. :)


A little texture..fun eh? I love the assortment of colors in the background :) yay! fall!



And, this is Ryan!

Whew! Have I mentioned how much fun I have had with Shea? I can't wait to see what she picks for her album, wallets, etc.
Yay for Sr. photos.....

"Check It":
http://annikasphoto.zenfolio.com/

Kelli + Jake

HEY YOU NEWLYWEDS!!
Kelli and Jake tied the knot this past weekend. I wasn't able to go to their wedding but after spending an afternoon with them a few weeks ago, I know it had to be a fun-filled event. These two had me laughing the whole time!


We got so lucky to have fall leaves in the beautiful Nifong Park...

Kelli+Jake, thanks for letting me photograph you as you start your life together. I really enjoyed laughing with and getting to know you two.


See 'em all: http://annikasphoto.zenfolio.com/