Alyssa Benjamin, Maternity Lifestyle
A little bit of my heart is left in each of my client’s homes when I shoot there. It’s so important to me to capture the feeling and atmosphere of your home that it feels like a piece of my own home by the time I leave. I’ve always been enamored by the feeling of a home and that’s another reason why I loooooove lifestyle sessions. Even if it isn’t your forever home, it is home to you now, and you can always look back on those images and immediately remember how it was to live there. How it felt with just the two of you, before you brought home a new baby. How it felt to bring home a new sibling. How it felt to be in your first home.
This session was full of feelings of anticipation right before the arrival of their first baby complete with a freshly home baked apple tart. The light that poured into their home was perfection and provided the perfect moody atmosphere at the end of our session (my favorite kind of light). Scroll through to the end to see!
Holly & Travis Engagements, Conroe
The light that filters through this forest is UNREAL. Since it’s so thickly wooded, I can shoot here almost any time of day and get some amazing light. It’s so diverse and I love the different looks I can get here. Holly and Travis pushed me out of my comfort zone (she had to catch a flight home that evening!) and we shot at mid-day. I loooved the results! It added a whole new element of whim. These two could barely keep their eyes off of each other. Also, flowy dresses is a straight way to my heart. You can’t go wrong with a flowy dress. It’s science. I loved frolicking around with these two gorgeous humans and capturing their love. A few of my faves…
Heather & CJ Engagements, AF Canyon
This location is always a guarantee for jaw-dropping views and a great variety of backdrops. Surrounded by pine covered mountains, a gorgeous turquoise lake lays in the middle of it all complete with a cute boardwalk to the center of the lake. We found the perfect pocket of light at the beginning of our session and ended with a serene sunset. Heather and CJ were so easy going and incredibly perfect together. I don’t think we ever went five minutes without laughing. Loved everything about this beautiful lake side session!
Alex & Christian Engagements, Provo Canyon
We found the prettiest mountainside with yellow wildflowers that matched Alex’s dress perfectly! The light was so pretty and the love between Christian and Alex was electric. I will forever love the mountains in the summer! Alex’s amazing dress is from Anthropologie (I know I’ll get lots of those who ask!). Lots of the images reminded me of scenes from The Sound of Music!
Shelby Maternity, Provo Canyon
I sat at a blank screen for awhile trying to figure out how to begin this blogpost because I had so many favorite things about this session that I didn’t know where to start! Shelby’s amazing tulle and sequined ASOS dress, the cutest baby bump in all the land, her long flowing locks, her adoring husband, their sweet relationship, the perfect summer light, this location….gah. This has quickly become one of my favorite locations because of it’s amazing views, diversity, and light. I will always recommend it to everyone. Also, can we appreciate Shelby’s GORGEOUS dress? It was so perfect to show off her cute baby bump and her sharply dressed hubby was soooo sweet! I personally love when husband’s join their wives for maternity shoots. Scroll for some yummy baby bump goodness…
Blossom Sessions
I have a feeling that mini blossom sessions will become a yearly tradition…
Chelsie & Wilson Engagements, Big Cottonwood Canyon
In an attempt to be better at blogging...enjoy this winter mountain engagement session! I know, I'm so behind but really I am trying to be better at posting my current work! Here we go! :)
Jerrica & Cole Engagements, Little Cottonwood Canyon
This shoot will always be a favorite. Jerrica and Cole were perfect together and this location was a dream. I've shot here plenty of times but decided to explore outside of my usual go-to spots. I'm so glad we did! The sun can be tricky here so we went and followed the light as it was dipping out of sight. It was terrifying shooting in the road but we grabbed verrrry quick shots and then moved out of the way! Jerrica and Cole were down for anything and any pose I asked them to do for which I was so grateful! I love adventurous sessions and experimenting. Here are my faves!
Nichelle & Paul Engagements, Downtown Spanish Fork
Baaaaasically as I shot this couple I felt like we were doing a magazine shoot. Nichelle wanted to shoot at this unique urban spot with fun colored walls and I was SO down. It's so fun to change it up every now and then! Okay, let's talk about these two gorgeous people. These two are in the acting business, so naturally they are very easy on the eyes, not to mention they had the most AMAZING chemistry! Paul could make Nichelle laugh at any moment and he usually did. It was tough to get those "steamy serious" images, but dang, when we did....holy smokes! Enjoy some of my favorites! xoxo
Kambrie & Landon Maternity, AF Canyon
One of the best things about your siblings getting older and reaching milestones in their life is getting to document it. It's such a special time for me to connect with family and be excited for upcoming events, and in this case - a baby! It's always fun for me to see couples before kids and then after kids. It changes them. For the good, most of the time. ;) My sister and brother-in-law are expecting their first baby boy in just a few short weeks! His nursery is woodland themed, so naturally we had to do their maternity pics in the woods. This was my first time up to Tibble Fork since the renovation and man, it felt good to be back. I made Kambrie and Landon get their feet in the water for a few of the last shots even though it was FRIGID but I think it was worth it!
PS Check out the cute little tiny baby shoes!!! Ugh, so cute.
Maddi & Hayden Bridals, Provo Orchard
I looove first looks. They never cease to be heart melting and maybe a little emotional (for me, oops). Hayden's reaction to seeing Maddi in her wedding dress was perfect and I don't think he could have grinned any bigger. And let's not forget how excited Maddi was to see his reaction! We got to shoot at the orchard during it's prime blossom time (read: crawling with millions of people) but as always, it was worth it. I think it was a perfect setting for their soft romantic look. Be prepared to swoon...
MMHS Prom, Provo Orchard
Found a new favorite subject to shoot - high school prom groups. Especially if they are as cool as these cats. And don't judge me when I try to be as hip and "lit" as they are. And are willing to do any crazy ideas I tell them to do. We had to be creative working in this space because the orchard was literally crawling with a million people. I needed a change from trying to shoot around other people and one of my favorite shots came from this. I laid down on the ground and told everyone to gather around my camera and give me their best stank face. Paid off, in my opinion. Loved these guys and hoped they had a once in a lifetime prom!
Maddi & Hayden, Engagements at Utah Lake
Maddi and Hayden had special memories at the Provo castle so we decided to do their engagement session there and finish up at Utah Lake! It was so fun to try new spots at the castle that I had never been to before. And we literally raced against the rain to try not to get rained out on our way to the lake. Which, luckily it held off until the very end and gave us some seriously cool skies. I loved their connection and how Hayden made Maddi laugh (OFTEN) and loved how Maddi's strawberry blonde hair popped against the lake! These are a few of my favorites! xo
New Beginnings
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. The end of a year and the beginning of a year tend to bring lots of evaluation and self reflection. Thinking about where I want to go, where I want to be with my life and with my business. The reason why I started my photography business was for multiple reasons but the main reason being that I wanted to be able to capture artistic and authentic images of my kids. This desire has evolved over the years and I've been trying really hard to find a balance between running a successful business and, most importantly, feeling like I can be a mother and a wife before anything else. That's why I started all of this, after all. I've been deeply blessed to have been inspired lately with what I think will give me that balance I've been searching for.
To bring balance back into my business, I evaluated every little tiny piece of it. I thought about what I loved about it, and what I didn't love so much about it. I knew things needed to change because I had been falling into many traps - one being that I was overworking, and second, I was hitting a creative road block. I think these traps go hand in hand. To resolve these issues, I am limiting the amount of shoots I take in a year. This has been a hard thing to come to terms with, because every opportunity that arises that clients want to work with you is terribly exciting. However, the more I think about it, the more I know it will greatly impact my work and the quality of work. Stress, anxiety, and fear are not strangers to me, and they don't mix very well when I am trying to produce top notch quality creative work. I know this will benefit my work and home life significantly.
The second trap that I was falling into was a creative trap that felt like I was running into a wall over and over again. (I think many artists can relate to this). I would describe this as performing the same work over and over again due to fear and even due to comfort. Calling in all the safe moves because you know it will produce great results, because, well, it always has before. I had described this to my husband as feeling like I was creating cookie cutter work. This traps you into a pathological state where no real progress is being made. As an artist, this is incredibly harmful. Creative work should always be developing, changing, and growing along with the artist.
By examining my work and business and life values in general, these questions significantly helped me understand what to do to change. Why was I doing this? What do I love in my own images of my family? What do I want to capture? What would I want?
I know I don't want cookie cutter images. I know I was tired of running into a wall. I know I don't want what everyone else is doing because everyone likes it. But I know I want to capture genuine images. I know each shoot should be unique to the client. I know that I wanted authenticity. So, these thoughts have been put to the test.
This shoot with Sadie and Alex was the result of testing those thoughts. It opened my mind and busted down the wall I had hit. I have found my voice again, I have found my motive, and I have found how I want to connect with others through my work. Thank you, Sadie and Alex, for allowing me to find myself again by trying to authentically capture your chemistry, bond, and love.
Here's to a new voice, new journey, and new found balance.
