Hi, friends! What a year already, am I right? It’s only April however it certainly feels like it’s time to put up the tree and carve that dang turkey!
Here I was thinking 2025 was the year for stability, establishing roots where I’ve been since late 2022 but now, I’m moving to Cleveland, Ohio!
Cleveland, Ohio - I’ve never even been there! The only time I’ve been through Ohio was in 2001, on the way from Wichita, KS to Mahwah, NJ (a friend was spending a semester away at college and I drove cross country with her). Even then it wasn’t Cleveland - it was Columbus, and it was bumper to bumper traffic in rush hour on a Friday afternoon. Back in 2001 I was only 22 years old and coming from Wichita it seemed like SO many people. Little did I know back then I would be spending over an hour every morning in horrendous Dallas traffic. I’m embracing this change with my entire heart.
Moving is a lot more than boxing our things up now. Considering my fiancé and I have three children between the two of us (and two dogs), it’s a lot of things: waiting for school to be over, being gentle with them about big changes, embracing the emotions that come with it, the excitement about something new, and weather. My daughter has only called Texas her home and she’s used to 110-degree heat in the summer and barely freezing in the winter. She will now see snow stick for over 48 hours, mild temperatures in the summer, and a lack of snow days – here they call off school if we have flurries (maybe I’m exaggerating a little but not too much)!
These are obviously big personal changes, but another adjustment will be establishing new clients in a foreign land. Texas is where I learned how to use a camera, how to edit, pose, my style of photography. I’ve gone from studio lighting to sunsets, sunrise to newborns, newborns to weddings, weddings to senior sessions. I have learned what I like and do not like, what to take and what to refer – and while I’m not complaining, I do have to do it all over again. Hence, my first blog in two years. All that being said – Ohio, I’m heading your way!!!
What better way to introduce myself to Ohio other than to show off a GEM of a senior session that took place in Marfa, TX a couple years back. Avery (and her family) are good friends of mine, and that weekend was SO much fun. I took my daughter (who was 7 at the time) with me and the four of us spent several evenings under the west Texas sky. I will never forget when we arrived at https://elcosmico.com/ - my daughter gasped and said, “Momma, look at the sky!” I did and gasped myself – never have I seen such a clear sky and bright, shining stars like I did that night. I can talk to you about it all day but until you make the trek out west you will not understand what I saw. While there wasn’t much else out there (besides some awesome charcuteries boards, tumble weeds, deserted highways, and a fake Prada store) it was still one of my best photo sessions to date. Having several days and nothing to do equals a ton of photo opportunities and a gallery of over 450 images. That’s right – 450 images!
As I end this blog, this is for you, Ohio. Senior sessions are one of my most favorite things to do. My senior sessions are 1.5-2 hours in length and include two to three outfit changes. I am your HYPE queen – leaving your session you will see the back of my camera at least five times and feel like five million bucks. Galleries often include over seventy-five images and are delivered digitally within three weeks. Enjoy this fun gallery and contact me when you are ready for your session, we will have a lot of fun together!
See you soon!
XOXO
