Categories
Glamour High School Seniors

Erin — Sweet Sixteen Portraiture

I’m so excited to share Erin’s session with you!
Sorry it’s been so long between blog posts…
it’s been crazy around here, good-crazy, but crazy nonetheless!

When Erin’s dad, Tom, approached me about wanting to give Erin a portrait session for her sixteenth birthday,
I was beyond thrilled!

I admit it,
I even cried.

Before you start thinking I’m an emotional basket case
that cries over every portrait session,
it is sooo much more than that!

You see,
I’ve known Erin since she was a baby.
In fact, she has a place in my heart few others have.

I was blessed to nanny for Erin {and later her brother also}
until she was nearly five when Mark and I began our own family.

And now she’s lovely young lady of sixteen!!!

Sixteen!!! I’m in total denial! Life just shouldn’t race by so fast!

When a client is shy or quiet or very reserved,
it’s such fun to be able to bring out their personality
they aren’t always confident to put forward.

Erin is sweet and quiet.
And photographing her was such a treat.

She was convinced she was awkward,
nervous and didn’t know how or what to do…
but she totally ROCKED her session!

I mean look at her images…
you’d like she was a seasoned model!!
You are amazing, Erin!

In her pre-consultation,
Erin and I talked about her desire for natural settings,
fields especially, and how to incorporate her love for ballet into her session…
so I went on a quest.

I knew I had one field already secured,
as it belonged to friends of ours,
but it didn’t have flowers,
so the quest continued.

I found a lush field of tall green “weeds” the owner called it
{although they were stunning white and yellow flowers in amidst the lush green}.

And then, while running an errand,
I found her field…
Knowing Erin’s favorite color was purple,
I was dreaming that maybe,
just maybe I could find a field of purple flowers.

And I did!!!
Even better the owner was thrilled to have us shoot in it!

When the day of Erin’s session arrived,
we weren’t completely sure what the weather was doing,
but we met at her home for my hair & make-up genius, AJ Lane, to work her magic.
We watched the clouds closely hoping that it wouldn’t choose to rain. 

Of course as we arrived at our first location,
it started to rain a little.
Erin and I just looked at each other and laughed.

Of course it would start to rain NOW!
But it was only light rain,
so we decided to forge ahead instead of waste time by sitting and waiting.

And I’m so glad we did!
The rain didn’t last long and the rest of the day was beautiful!
And it not only allowed us to get two totally different types of lighting
{we ended up in full, hot sunshine},
but it also helped the field look more lush and green.

It’s all about the experience.

And although I work to create an experience that will bless my clients…
ultimately they end up blessing me!

Thank you for allowing me to photograph you, Erin!
And thank you, Tom, for thinking of giving this gift to Erin!

What a wonderful gift for a young lady to receive for her sixteenth birthday!

Categories
Glamour High School Seniors

Mikela — HS Senior Portraiture

God is SO good!

What do you get when you take a lovely young lady,

a stunning copper-brown gown

and a crazy-beautiful field of red clover…

I’ll tell you…

You get a super-fun, amazingly stunning senior session!

But before it sounds like I’m tooting my own horn… let me tell you a bit about what transpired before this session started…

Right before the session my Mom called to let me know my Dad’s melanoma was back {for the third time}. However, this time it was a different type… that still confuses me.

Needless to say my mind was not as focused as it is normally.

In fact, I was on auto pilot.

Thankfully I had rehearsed in my mind the types of images I wanted to capture ahead of time.

Praying for every session is critical:

…for my clients,

…for wisdom and guidance,

…that what I create would be a blessing,

…and that God would be honored in all I say and do.

But this session…

Oy vey…

I prayed I would just remember my settings!

Things that normally come naturally to me required all my focus…

I started to get overwhelmed and Mikela wasn’t even there yet.

Quickly I emailed several of my photographer friends to ask them to pray for the session, too.

I knew my brain wouldn’t be working at its normal capacity.

And it totally wasn’t.

But God is SO good.

Just look what He allowed me to be a part of creating!

Dispite all that was going on in my heart and mind, photographing Mikela was a delight. She is so sweet and intelligent. We had so much fun chatting as we posed and set up different shots.

She really wanted some dark, dramatic clouds and thankfully God even arranged the perfect ones for us to capture.

I love that God even cares about the little details.

The time with Mikela was such a blessing…

A break from what was going on with my Dad,

time with an amazing young lady

and much needed laughter and smiles!

She probably doesn’t realize how much she blessed me during that session.

She completely stunning {inside and out} and is such a genuine and fun young lady.

I know God planned the timing of my Mom’s call and the session.

He knew I would need to shoot and that Mikela would be the perfect subject.

Now, what I wasn’t prepared for was the overwhelming response to her images.

I am so deeply humbled by everyone’s kind words.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments on my Facebook page.

It means more to me than you will ever know!

When people tell me I’m amazing… I often reply,

“I’m not amazing, God is amazing… I’m just available.”

 

{For those of you who were wondering, yes, the Silent Words post

http://staceetaft.com/silent-words/

was promted by the news about my Dad.

But I have a happy update:

my Dad had his surgery and his margins were clear… praise God!

We get to keep him around for a while longer!

Insert BIG happy dance and a really BIG smile!}

 

And a HUGE thanks to my new farmer friend who graciously allowed me to shoot in his amazing field.

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