there’s this thing that a lot of photographers know… shooting other photogs rules!! and this is no exception with jen van dam and her beautiful family.

we first got to know jen through our blog, then a bunch of emails talking shop, then facebook …. and now finally in person! and we were scheduled to shoot them in april, but then the arctic decided to visit michigan, you know, just for fun…and we decided to reschedule for a day when you could actually feel the sun!! so june 5th comes, they drive over from detroit for a saturday evening shoot… and once again in true michigan form, the rain clouds come in. and not just rain. but thunder and lightning. and lots of it. nice!!

seriously michigan. we just want to shoot this one session

but no worries folks. all is well. they spent the night with family and we shot em sunday morning (don’t tell our pastor!).

jen…sooo great finally meeting you and your family!!
now here’s a few of our faves.

elisabeth, andy (her hubby) and i all went to college together at trinity international university near chicago, IL. andy was a super cool guy with mad baseball skills that fell in love with my incredibly beautiful friend, elisabeth. everyone needs an “elisabeth” as a friend….. she is sweet, energetic, barrels of fun, compassionate and loyal. we got to know each other while playing soccer together in college and though we have not done the best job of keeping in touch as much as we’d both like….. there is still SOOO much LOVE between us!!!!

*fast forward………. when we were planning our trip to vegas for WPPI with our good friends, ben + laura harrison of harrison studio, i received an email from our AZ friends, andy + elisabeth asking if there would be any way we could do a session with their family while in vegas. harrisons quickly came up with the idea that we could just go to AZ first and stay at laura’s parents’ place in mesa, then head to vegas after that! BRILLIANT!!!! and a HUGE shoutout to connie + terry for having us!!! laura’s mom is one of the best hosts EVER!!!

so we headed to AZ and had such an awesome and relaxing time hanging out…… exactly what we needed! while there, we did a session with the magnificent milich family and a couple other sessions, as well. the milich family gave us full permission to shoot wherever our hearts desired, so off ben and i went to scout. check out this uber cool building from an old racetrack. and what?!!! that’s right, the gate was OPEN!!! we love open gates. we were also able to shoot at this super fantastic little shop in cave creek, AZ…… their back yard was a photographer’s playground! thanks so much to the owners for letting us invade their fabulous store for a bit.

we just can’t tell you how much we love andy + elisabeth and their 3 incredible kids… noah, macie and kate!!!! so wish we lived closer to each other….. thanks for the privilege of spending some time with you…. miss you already!!! xoxoxo

now for some faves….. ENJOY these rockstars!!

meet the last four of the 14 families that we did sessions for in CT!!  the katz family……. so amazingly beautiful and sweet!!!  and their girls were such the little models….. so much fun!  then we have the kellaher kids….. talk about some lively personalities!!!  they were so wonderful and energetic and wiggly and well….. kids!!  we had so much fun with them and even got colin to stand still for one picture (just kidding, colin….. we love your energy!!).    meet the mcshane boys next….. bright eyed, friendly, extremely handsome and ever so kind!!!  they did this session as a surprise for their dad and we had a blast hanging out with them and their mom, jen for the afternoon.  and last, but not least……. the norton family.  3 beautiful girls, their hot mom and handsome dad….. oh and we can’t forget about the family dog.  we had outfits and accessories galore and the sweetest girls in the world to work with.  sigh.  we love all of our new friends in CT…… and we’ll be back in the spring!!  and now for some CT photo faves……….

we weren’t kidding when we said we have LOTS to blog and we are going to keep them coming!!!  this part 2 from our CT sessions and once again, a sampling of pictures from each family.

for our next 3 families…… meet the israels, slavtcheffs, and wall family.  we met the israels for the first time on this trip… LOVE them and could totally hang out with them and their ADORABLE daughter.  the slatvcheffs….. so hilarious!!!  they have 5 boys ranging from preschool age to high school and did we mention that this session was at 7am in the morning?!  talk about a wake up call!!!  those boys had us on our toes, even that early in the morning.  they were such a FUN family with lots of boy energy!!!    the wall family…… well, they were our first family in CT and have been our biggest fans, as well as becoming our good friends.  so much love for the walls!!!!

and now for some faves from their sessions……….

WE’RE BACK!!!!!

wow……. it has been a crazy summer, fall and is it winter already?!!!! though we have been shooting all over the country and editing like mad, it looks as if our blog has been neglected a bit…. so sad. but the good news is….. we’re back in full swing of things here at home and have SOOO MANY sessions to blog, that frankly, you just might get sick of us! so be ready for some SERIOUS blogging…….. starting……. NOW!!

we left off with the bachaumard family (see the previous post) and they were one of our incredible families out in CT. so the next 3 blog posts will be a spattering of pictures from the rest of the amazing families that we did sessions for in CT. and we LOVED meeting and getting know all of them!!! CT has become one of our main states to shoot in and we can’t wait to come back in the spring!!! now for the good stuff…….. meet the antell family, ludovicos and the mitzelfelts……. ENJOY!!!!

before we even met the bachaumards, we knew through our emails from them, that they would be the perfect family to shoot a session at an old retro airport we had stumbled across in CT. we were not however prepared for how big of ROCKSTARS they were! the boys, hugo, enzo and elliot not only cooperated enthusiastically, but had some ideas of their own, which was awesome. we also included their amazingly cool parents, kristen and didier into a few pictures, but they wanted us to focus mainly on the boys.

a HUGE thank you to our new friend bill, a veteran pilot that offered to meet us at the airport and take us through security so that we could shoot in the hangar and other fabulous surrounding areas at the airport. we had a blast with the bachaumards and thoroughly enjoyed our adventures with them….. we could’ve hung out all weekend! they were very entertaining and extremely fun! and kristen…. you certainly have your hands full with all four of your good looking french boys…. good luck with that!!! here are a few of our faves from the day. and as the bachaumard boys would say, “those are SICK”……. we agree.

there are certain people in this world that are just cool and no one would argue differently……. meet the tibbetts. they are thoughtful, yet fun, creative and smart. then throw in sincere, authentic and some serious style and you get the tibbetts family. they are good friends with ryan and heidi miller (www.mangoink.com) and are now my good friends, too. katherine and i like ALL of the same things (style, design, decorating, fashion, etc……) and she offered to come help me with some sessions. what a blast!!! nick is a graphic designer and film editor and he pretty much kicks butt at it. and then there is sweet olive and leland, two of the most beautiful kids you will every meet . oh my word…… could this family be any more awesome?!!! and then they said….. ‘we’ll go wherever you want us to’. and that ALWAYS makes me smile. creative license with no boundaries……… mmmmmm. back to the tibbetts……….. we found some swanky spots downtown and then we pulled in nick’s really old, retro car for a few pics…….. fabulousness!!! to sum it up….. we love this family, every single one of them and their crazy cool style. check them out……… and ENJOY!!!!

i had the pleasure of not only photographing ryan’s parents, but heidi’s, as well!!!! fred + janice are so darn cute!!!! they brought the harley, the leather, the cowboy hat and boots, lots of accessories and they were smokin’ HOT! heidi came with me again….. because she’s so wonderful and we LOVED working with her parents. they are also incredibly in love and have an amazing story of committment to each other, as well. sadly, it is rare today to find a couple that has both sets of their parents still married, but ryan and heidi are so blessed that they are in that position!!

you can imagine how stoked i was when heidi said her dad was bringing their harley motorcycle and when i met heidi’s mom….. seriously???????? do you see how HOT she is?!!! as adorable as her girls!!!! thank you for spending some time with me…. it was such and honor to meet you both and thank you for raising such wonderful children that bless us so much!!!! here are some of my faves………. ENJOY!!!

it is so fun to take pictures of people that have been married for years and are still soooo in LOVE!!! our good friend ryan miller (www.mangoink.com) and his siblings decided to get a session for their parents and i’m so glad they did! ryan’s wife, heidi (and my dear, dear friend!!!) came with me and we had a blast!!! one of my favorite stories was the one they told me about them sneaking out when they were teenagers and they went and got married!!!! then they returned home and when their parents found out, they were not allowed to live together!! so they were married, but not allowed to be together for a long time. can you imagine? but years later…….. still married and barb is as beautiful as ever!!!!!! YEAH for you two!!! God has blessed your committment to each other and you are an example to us all… thank you for that. here are some of my faves of the day………. and hot barb used to be on american bandstand!!! my hero!!

there is so much i love about this family!!!!! emily is also a photographer and works with mango ink, so i was connected to her through those two loves a while ago. when she found out i was coming to spokane, not only did she book a session right away…. she also offered to come with me and help on some of the sessions! what a love!!!! we got to hang out a few times and it seems like we have been friends for years! and then i got to meet her beautiful family…… oh my word!!! the girls are so stinkin’ sweet, calvin is FULL of energy and life and her husband mac is incredibly kind and happy. all around…… an amazing family to hang out with. we traipsed all over spokane and hit some more rural spots then some urban….. and they were happy to amuse me. emily also brought along an awesome orange chair from her house and it’s a good thing i was flying home or i would have STOLEN it!!! the mikkelsen family is amazing and it was so much fun photographing you all and hanging out!!!! and now for the good stuff…….