What better to do on a beautiful Christmas afternoon that an impromptu photo shoot? I asked Calista if she was up for a few pictures, and she was! We got her dressed up in her Great-Grandmother’s dress, curled her hair, and took off. I really didn’t have anything specific in mind…I just wanted to play around and see if I couldn’t find some new spots. In reality, each and every one of these shots should be included in my Favorite’s of 2011 blog post below, but on another hand, I kind of think they deserve their own post. I’ll probably cheat and add them to my favorite’s of 2012 post next year anyways. ;)

We first headed up into the mountains behind our house. We can literally go from green grass and fall colors (yes, we still have some even in late December!) to snow in just 10 minutes. Calista is SUCH a trooper. I had no idea there would still be so much snow up here. She was in FLIP FLOPS! Someone sign her already…she’s a tough girly and pretty darn gorgeous if I do say so myself! Despite the cold toes, we got some AWESOME shots! I love that she’s wearing her Great-Grandma’s dress. I love my girl! <3

This first shot was taken with my Lensbaby…I LOVE the dreamy feel it gives to this photo. Check out their lenses on their WEBSITE! I shot this with the Lensbaby Composer with the double glass optic. She totally reminds me of a winter fairy princess in this picture…you are so stinkin’ pretty, Calista! <3

I grabbed a few more shots before it was time to move on. You can only do snow in a sleeveless dress and flip flops for so long! LOL

We left the mountains behind and headed into town. I was originally looking for a spot with some pretty leaves on the ground, but most of those seem to have blown away. Boo! While driving around, I found a fab new location! Just check out these pics. I’ll share a pullback too. :)

Check out this pullback! Who would’ve thought, huh? For the laying down shots, I had her laying with her feet toward the tree. The top of her head was angled toward the brightest part of the sky (so as not to up-light her). She was laying parallel to the sidewalk (and yes, I’m sure we looked odd…her laying in the grass next to a parking lot and me hovering over her with a camera…lol). For the color shots, I had her looking at me toward the sidewalk. For the black & white’s, I had her turn her head toward the wall, for more shadowing and drama. Hopefully that makes sense! :) Amazing locations don’t always look so ‘amazing’ in real life…you just need a little spot that photographs well, and this spot with the nice, green overgrown grass worked for me!

It seems that the older I get, the faster the years fly by. This one was no exception. I feel like I was just sitting here writing my favorites of 2010 post, and yet, here we are, finishing up the last days of 2011. This year was a big one for me. I made a major change in my business structure which has brought me many new, and wonderful clients. I am the mother of a high school student! I sent one more little one off to preschool, and yet another off to kindergarten. I became a soccer mom (and loved every minute of it)! I made amazing new friends! My photography grew by leaps and bounds (at least I think so). We are preparing to move into a beautiful house up in the mountains. I so look forward to the deer and other critters that we’ll be able to feed from our back porch, and growing tomatoes in the winter (it has a green house)! The brightest highlight of 2011, without a doubt, was the birth of our 9th little love, Elliott Andrew. He has been such a wonderful blessing to our family!

What do I look forward to in 2012? Living in the mountains! Snow! Meeting new people and growing in my photography and business even more. And more than anything, being a mama to my 9 sweet kids and a wife to my amazing husband. I can’t wait to see where 2012 takes us!

Without further ado, here is a collection of some of my favorite images from 2012. They are in no particular order, and I’ve mixed my personal favorites in with my client favorites. As per usual with me, I’m sure I’ve massively over-shared. I can’t help it! 2011 was a wonderful year!

A HUGE thank you to all of my wonderful friends, family, and clients this year for making it such an amazing year! I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and an awesome New Year! <3

I met up with Juleigh on Saturday to shoot her senior pictures…we had so much fun!  Juleigh comes from a big family too so I felt an instant connection with her. Juleigh, I’m sure you will be AMAZING at whatever path you end up taking in life.  I had so much fun doing these for you, and truly hope you love them as much as I do!  You are GORGEOUS!

I lost track of how many places we shot at, but we found some amazing new locations and had an awesome time!  Sorry for dragging you through the sticks but I know it was worth it for these pictures!

Is she not gorgeous? Look at those eyes!

I love these. LOVE them.