Breanna’s session took place on a beautiful day late last summer. She opted for the Couture session, which includes hair and make up. I loved the unique look she went for! Only a few people can pull off the dramatic eye liner that she chose, but she rocked it and I think she looks gorgeous!

We started in downtown Grinnell, trying out a few new spots…

I love this blue on her – makes her eyes sparkle!

The one on the left? My favorite!


A quick location change and slight outfit change…

Breanna is a bit of a bookworm, so we ended her session by hauling a HUGE box of books out to this grassy field, and setting up for this shot…

Congrats on nearly finishing your senior year! I had a great time with you, Breanna!

It’s not too early to start thinking about your own senior photos. In particular, if you have your heart set on a certain time of year, book early! Fall dates are incredibly popular, and so are late spring and early summer. If you’re not sure which time of year you want your photos taken, take a look at the sessions featured in this post, and that should give you an idea of what things will look like that time of year. Keep in mind: every year is different. In 2012, we had a major drought in the summer, so there weren’t many flowers in August and September, and fall colors were more yellow than usual.

April Session
You can usually count on some greenery, and if things warm up early, daffodils start blooming.

May Session (this is from waaaaay back in 2011!)
This is when the beautiful flowering trees hit their peak, and you can count on a fair amount of green on the trees.

June Sessions
You can count on the full splendor of spring – lots of wildflowers, greens, and plenty of sunshine.

July Sessions
It is HOT and that means sessions need to start early in the day, or later in the evening. There’s typically some blooming flowers.

August Sessions
Typically a very busy month because EVERYONE tries to squeeze their session in before school starts. If you want your session in August, be sure to book early!
In August, you can expect flowers to be in bloom in some locations and a fair amount of green. Temps start to get a little more bearable.

September Sessions
My second busiest month since it’s typically GORGEOUS in September in Iowa. Colors are starting to turn usually by the last week of September.

October Sessions
If you want beautiful fall color, book your session for early October! Colors start to dwindle by the third week.

November Sessions
No, it’s not too late for a senior session! November is a great time for senior sessions because fall sports aren’t occupying as much time, the light is beautiful right after school, and you can wear layers! Sometimes we can find a few little pockets of color here and there, but it’s usually pretty neutral outside by now.

Yes, I have shot sessions in December and January, but that’s pretty outside the norm. I often have seniors wanting sessions with snow – let me know if you’re interested, I’d love to make it happen!

I encourage you to give me a call soon to book your session during your preferred time! I typically book about 2-3 months in advance, though fall is incredibly popular and I only have a limited number of sessions available, so I definitely encourage you to book NOW if you have your heart set on fall senior photos

Aren’t her eyes beautiful!?!


This series with her leather coat are some of my absolute favorites




A quick outfit change and new location!

And then the fun began! I love the urban grunge feel of this next one!

And a little bit of fashion and flare too!

I hope you had an amazing time, Victoria! I can’t wait to hear where you end up going to college!

We started with some detail photos at the hotel in Ankeny…

Mallory and Nick opted to see each other ahead of time for a first look at the World Food Prize Building in downtown Des Moines. What a perfect backdrop for some beautiful relaxed portraits!

One of my favorites!

I looooooved the details for their reception! Sticks has a unique warehouse kind of feel, and Mallory and Nick brought in a little bit of elegance with the flowers, teacups, and vintage cameras (Nick is a photographer too!)
Photobooth fun!

I didn’t stay for much of the dancing, but I did snag this sweet moment.

Congrats, and I hope you’re enjoying life as newlyweds!

We are totally smitten by him, at least when not delirious from sleep deprivation! Eventually ill share more photos.

Have a Happy New Year!

~ Jennifer

When are you due again?  Are you having a boy or girl?

These are always the first two questions any pregnant woman is asked, so I’ll clear these up right away!  My original due date is January 12th, though because of some fuzzy dating and weirdness of my body, I’ve measured a bit ahead and have been going by January 7th.  I like to think of it more as a due “zone” than a specific date, it lessons the pressure a bit!   My perspective is that this baby will arrive whenever it choose to and is good and ready, so why stress about it?  :)

We didn’t find out if Baby W is a boy or girl, so it’s a big mystery to us!  People have asked if I have any hunches, and for most of the last 9 months, I didn’t.  Sometime around 32 weeks I started thinking maybe it’s a boy, but now I’m thinking it’s a girl.  *shrugs*

How has your pregnancy been?  How are you feeling?

Other than a brief bout of food poisoning on my 30th birthday – boy, will that be a memorable birthday- I’ve felt pretty great!  I feel a little guilty saying this since I know not everyone woman is as fortunate, but this pregnancy has been relatively easy for me.  I’ve been able to stay quite active, which has been wonderful!  Lots of camping and hiking early on, and I was able to photograph all of my fall weddings and sessions without any trouble, other than maybe just being a bit more awkward  As I’ve gotten further along in my pregnancy, and the belly has grown, my comfort level has gone down a bit, but that’s just because Baby W is quite the kicker!  Sometimes it is downright painful, but for the most part it’s hilarious and entertaining to see the ridiculous shapes my belly can be contorted into because of all of the kicking and movement.  I’m also super grateful that I haven’t suffered from severe morning sickness, but that seems to be true for most of the women in my family.  Thanks for the good genes, mom and dad!

Any strange cravings or weird pregnancy stories?

Honestly, not really.  I’m seriously the most boring pregnant girl ever!  No pickles and ice cream cravings or anything like that.  My food preferences have just been further accentuated beyond the norm, so while I typically don’t have a big sweet tooth even though I’m always raving about desserts at weddings, I have definitely preferred sweeter foods while pregnant.  Especially fruit!  During my first trimester, I made a lot of homemade fruit smoothies.  And now that it’s winter, I’m snacking on clementines all the time.  They are the best!

Do you have any names picked out?  

Oh my word, this has been so difficult!  Naming another human being is no small thing, and we are both quite picky.  Right now, we have a list of about half a dozen boy and girl names.  We haven’t settled on just one name.  I have a feeling we’ll be those parents who can’t decide until after we’ve met our little one  :)

What are you excited or nervous about?

Um, everything?  LOL!  I think every first time parent has a mix of emotions when they are about to have a baby, and I’m definitely living it right now!  Some days, I absolutely can’t wait to meet this little baby that I’ve had growing in me for the past 9 months.  Other days I am completely terrified that we’re totally going to screw this kid up.  So you see, it goes back and forth, though I’d say generally we lean more towards the excited attitude

Are you taking time off?  Will you continue with photography?  Will you finally start photographing babies?

Yes, I’ll be taking a maternity leave to spend lots of time with Baby W.  I can’t wait!  I know those first few months are precious, and I am so grateful that I have the kind of flexibility to focus on being a mom.   I will try to respond to emails and inquiries the best I can, and I have a few special winter shoots in the works that are flexible, but I won’t be shooting any new sessions until probably April.

Yes, I also plan to continue with photography!  I’ve already booked 2013 weddings and I’ve been making plans for continued growth and change in my business, obviously with the added complexity of a growing family!   It will be a bit of trial and error to see what works best for me and our family, but I do plan to continue photographing weddings and high school seniors.

At this point, I don’t have any grand plans to expand my business to include newborn photography, even though I will have an available model to practice on for a few weeks!  I get asked to do newborn sessions quite often, and while I sometimes will do them if I have the time or it’s the right fit, it’s truly not my specialty.  I’m open to this changing, but at this point, my hope is to keep things simple and focus on weddings and high school seniors.  I appreciate all of your support during this big life transition!

Are you going to do your own newborn photos?  Will you share baby photos!?!

I’m sure that this baby will have lots of pictures, and yes, I’ll probably share some.  I’m not sure if it will be here on the blog, on Facebook, or someplace more personal.  It will probably depend on what is easiest!  My friend Sarah, who took these gorgeous maternity photos for my husband and I, will also be doing a newborn session for us!  I’m SO excited

That’s all for now!  We’re super excited for what is to come in 2013, and wish you a happy new year!  We’ll try to keep you posted on Baby W’s arrival!

After a location change and outfit change, the sun was about to set, which made for absolutely INSANELY gorgeous light!  I love these next few!

I love this one on the bottom left.  It has this quiet serene quality to it, which seems to capture Anya’s personality quite well in my opinion.  She is incredibly brilliant, talented, yet also on the quieter side.  I really enjoyed getting to know her, even though she’ll have to forgive me for mixing up the oboe with the clarinet multiple times!  Quite an unforgivable mistake considering I played the clarinet for years in grade school!

Thanks for an amazing time, Anya!  Congrats on your senior year, and good luck with all your college applications

I had such a great time getting to know Kara & Mike better, and I can’t wait for their wedding next summer at Jasper Winery!

I love this one of Kara on the right!  You look beautiful!

One of my favorite moments from their session…

Haha! Mike, you’re such a good sport

Mike & Kara enjoy a lot of different things together – fishing and football being one of them. When I found out that Kara is a Huskers fan (go big red!) we both lamented the recent (fairly pathetic) loss of our beloved team during the big 10 championship. It’s not every day you find a Nebraska fan in the middle of Hawkeye & Cyclone territory!

Where they went on their first date, after years of knowing each other, heading off to college, and reuniting at a friend’s party. Gotta love Smokey Row!

Met:  When they were 5…or something like that!
Engaged:  Oct 2012
Wedding: July 26, 2013  Jasper Winery

Kara:  A talented teacher!
Mike:  In transition, but he just finished student teaching and is into business and education.

Kara’s 5 words or things she loves about Mike:  funny, thoughtful, outgoing and brings that out in her as well, willing to try new and adventurous things (she says she’s the practical one), how he values his family

Mike’s 5 words or things he loves about Kara: caring, fun, loyal, independent, SO beautiful (he may have said something about her sparkly eyes…)  :-)

P.S.  I’ve had a few people ask about if I travel for weddings.   YES!  A great majority of the weddings I photograph are in the Des Moines metro area, so please don’t be dissuaded by my location in Grinnell!

Here’s a few quick ones from yesterday, I can’t wait to share more!

Robyn brought this awesome vintage camera, and we had some fun with it!