Simply Knot Photography Blog - Arizona Wedding Photographers » Portraits

Allison’s Senior Session: Scottsdale, Arizona

Ryan — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:00:04 +0000

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Last Saturday we got to hang out with my awesome cousin Allison to shoot her senior portraits. It was so much fun and I am so proud of her for turning into the beautiful person that she is both inside and out.

Just to show you how much she’s changed over the years we thought we would throw in this picture that was taken a long time ago. Here’s on old school shot of my Aunt Linda and her kids (my cousins) Jeff, Steven and little tiny Allison. Even back then, Allison kinda ran the show. Good lookin’ family huh? (Yeah, that’s right . . . we’re related.) Over the years, we’ve had so much fun hangin’ with the cousins. We did a lot of running around in their backyard swimming, fencing, and jumping on the trampoline while singing/yelling the theme song to friends at 11:00 at night.

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Now my little tiny cousin is all grown up. On top of the good looks, she’s is so much fun :-)

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We love this little alley. It’s so funny to shoot there because every time we come out from between the buildings we get the strangest looks from people.

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Allison totally rocked the serious face.

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Aunt Linda came along too for some photos of mom and daughter. They are so cute together and have such a wonderful relationship.

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The cousin’s have always been big into their extra curricular activities. For Allison, it’s always been dance. The things that she can do are incredible. We saw her at a show one time and she stood on the very tips of her toes for like, a really long time. We were amazed!

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Showing off her hip-hop kicks :-)

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Ok, ::laughing:: so I just googled “gangster names” and the first site that came up was The Original Gangsta Name Generator. I typed in Allison to see what would come up . . .

everyone, I’d like you to meet “Head Monkey Smuggla”! (I also tried our names and came up with “No Pants Indian” for me and “Old Killa” for Denise. Awesome.)

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Love her eyelashes in this next one.

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We absolutely LOVE the contrast of taking someone gorgesous and putting them in front of something that is so not gorgeous. In this case Allison and a dumpster.

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Absolutely love this next shot. One of my favorites for sure.

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As we were walking around, we passed by this dirty, grungy alley. Almost simultaneously, all four of us stopped and thought that it would be a great place to shoot. Loved both of these – just couldn’t decide between them so I had to post them both.

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Here’s the sassy side of Allison.

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One of my favorites. Love how the background really brings out her eyes.

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I don’t know which of the next two I like better. Both good. Both favorites.

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Loved the purple hat. Adorable.

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Now there’s the Allison I know. Silly little “Head Monkey Smuggla”.

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One more of Mom and Daughter.

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Thanks Aunt Linda and Allison! We had so much fun with you guys. Hope we can do it again soon! Lot’s of love!

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Carrie & Lindsay: Mesa Center for the Arts

Denise — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:22:14 +0000

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On Sunday, we met up with Carrie and her daughter Lindsay at Mesa Center for the Arts for some family photos. Carrie & I worked together a long, long time ago, so it was so much fun to catch up with her. And the last time I saw Lindsay, she was just a kid. Now she’s a gorgeous (almost 17-year-old) woman! It was so much fun observing their relationship during their time together. You can tell just by looking at them that they’re much more than mother and daughter . . . their also best friends :-) It’s all very “Gilmore Girls” if you ask me. Ha ha ha!

(Please sign the guestbook if you’d like to be notifed when the rest of their photos are online.)

Here are some of our favorites from their session.

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We discovered right away that making these two laugh was going to be pretty easy :-)

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They had some very interesting posing ideas. Both of these just make me laugh!

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Adorable!

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So many great laughs! You just can’t help but laugh along with them!

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And what mother/daughter combo doesn’t walk down the street together while skipping?

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Love it!

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Peak-a-boo!

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They joked with us about how people always think they’re sad or mad when they’re not smiling because they both tend to stand with their arms crossed. Of course, we had to test the theory. Not quite as easy to be serious when you’ve got two cameras pointed at you, huh?

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What a cute pair! Love the colors in these next two.

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Carrie said that the last time they had photos taken Lindsay was about 10 and this was their favorite pose. You’re never too grown up for a piggy back ride, right?

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So at the end of our session, we attempted to do one of our notorious jumping shots, but we quickly discovered that there was going to be a little wardrobe issue. Every time they jumped the neck of their sweaters would fly up and totally cover their faces. So we went with this instead. Love it!

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Thanks for the fun session you guys! And happy almost birthday Lindsay :-)

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The Smith Family: Scottsdale, Arizona

Ryan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:56:52 +0000

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Mr. & Mrs. Smith came to Arizona! Meet Christina & Matt and their kids McClellan and Varity! They live in Kansas and were traveling through AZ to get to California on vacation last weekend. Christina and I met way back in our high school years at Grace Community Church. Later in college she used to come to our thousands of parties that we had over at the old “bachelor pad”. We stayed friends ever since and through facebook she let me know that the whole family would be back here soon and wanted some portraits together. HOW FUN!

They wanted the photo shoot to be at a nice little ice cream shop in Old Town Scottsdale called The Sugar Bowl. They seated us in the arcade room so the kids had plenty of stuff to play with. We started off by getting some ice cream. At times it got kind of messy. :-)

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It was so cute, every time McClellan took a bite of his ice cream he turned and posed for the cameras.

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I love this one of Father and Son.

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Matt gave McClellan some cash for the arcade. He made him work for it! Awesome!

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Now time for some FUN at the arcade with the kiddos!

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I don’t think they allow this but hey when your this cute you can do pretty much anything you want!

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McClellan’s winnings! YAY! He knows he’s good.

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McClellan and Mom teamed up on Dad in air hockey. Dad still won though.

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SO CUTE!!!

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We were able to get a few posed shots in there too.

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But it’s usually what happens in between the posed shots that adds some comedy. . .

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This girl loves her sugar! Here’s a few of Verity.

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What an adorable shot of Mother and Daughter.

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We had some fun with this cool mirror.

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While Denise was taking some portraits of Matt, Christina and Verity, I was able to snap this shot of McClellan playing some games. I love that they’re all in the background!

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One last shot of the whole family.

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Thank you guys so much! We had such a great time with you and your family! We hope you had a great trip and are now home safe! Come back out and visit soon!!!

Brian & Jayme: JW Marriott Desert Ridge

Ryan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:42:20 +0000

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Everyone, we’d like to introduce you to: Brian & Jayme!

Last Saturday we got to hang out with them at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Scottsdale. Such a great couple!

Here’s a little background about my relationship with them . . . well half of them anyway. It was the first time we’ve had the pleasure of meeting the incredibly cute and sweet Jayme. Brian and I were roommates way back in the day. We lived together with three others guys in our “bachelor pad” about 8 years ago while we were attending some collage courses. It was a 3 bedroom house in Mesa across from MCC. The garage was extra special. It was converted into an air conditioned, carpeted, 600 square foot room with brick walls. It had a pool table, TV, and all the instruments and sound equipment you would need for a local coffee house band. Oh yeah, the room also had a bed where I slept for a few years. I have so many fond memories of that old place. Seriously some of the best years of my life were in that house. :-)

I was so excited to here from Brian last week when he contacted me on facebook asking if we could do a last minute portrait session with him and his new “lady friend” last weekend. I’m so glad we weren’t too busy and had the chance to photograph them. Jayme and Brian met at a church function a while back. He has been pursuing her for about the last six months. Just in the last couple of weeks they made it official that they are “dating”. Okay, enough rambling on I can’t take it anymore, these two are seriously cute! SERIOUSLY. Check ‘em out.

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Friendly message to anyone who cares: adding some extra color is awesome – Absolutely LOVE the yellow shoes!

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I loved the walkway under the palms. We were all having so much fun!

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Next we walked back inside to get out of the heat. I really like all the furniture in that place. Just relaxing as if at home.

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This mirror shot was pretty sweet.

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Exposing for the bright backlight = tasty silhouettes. LOVE this one. :-)

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So sweet.

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Once we were able to pry these two off each other for a couple seconds we took a few silly shots.

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We have come here a lot and have never been to this part of the resort. Pleasantly surprised. How cute are they???

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Then we headed outside to brave the AZ heat for a couple.

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This next is one of my favorites.

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Hope you all enjoyed! Thank you so much Brian & Jayme! We had so much fun hanging out with you two and catching up with Brian! We’ll leave you with one more of our favorites. So adorable.

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Greyson Harper: Newborn Session

Denise — Mon, 25 May 2009 09:13:11 +0000

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Back in March, I had the opportunity to shoot a baby shower for the very sweet Karina & Susan who were expecting their little girl to arrive in early May. Newborn photo sessions usually take place within 1 to 3 weeks of a baby being born, so we planned for May 23, figuring that the timing would be just about right by then. Well, miss Greyson had an little April Fools present for her mommies and decided she’d rather be born on April 1st :-) Because she decided to come on on out and join the world a bit early, her weight at birth was less than 6 lbs. So despite the fact that the photos may be a little later than usual, we decided that they still count because she just now weighs about as much as the average newborn!

Here are some of our favorites from their session – such a cutie!

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Love those tiny little feet :-)

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Miss Greyson wasn’t super crazy about laying on her belly, but she decided to give us a little smile anyway. So cute!

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One of my favorites – showing off her favorite lamb rug :-)

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Time for the Mommies to get in on some of the photo action . . .

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Love this one :-) As you can see, Miss Greyson was getting pretty tuckered out towards the end.

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One last shot of the cutie and her Mommies . . .

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To Karina & Susan: we had a great time hanging out with you guys! Thank you for letting us capture your beautiful family :-)

Mimi Jean Newborn Session

Denise — Fri, 15 May 2009 05:21:23 +0000

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Last Saturday I did a newborn mini-shoot for Adrienne and her new baby girl, Mimi Jean. Mimi was born on April 24. When I arrived at their home I was surprised to find her wide awake! For being just a couple of weeks old, she sure was attentive. Newborns are usually asleep for most or all of their photo sessions, but she was watching me the whole time. Such big eyes!!! Here are a few favorites from their session.

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Love this one of Mommy & baby . . .

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This one has kind of a different, moody feel to it but I really like it :-)

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Check out these big brown eyes!

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One last shot: love the way she’s looking up at mamma in this one :-)

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Congratulations Adrienne and family on your new little sweetie pie!

Granata Family Portraits: Gilbert, Arizona

Denise — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:43:30 +0000

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Our niece Makena is six months old! I can’t believe how fast time has flown by and how much she has changed since the day she was born. On Sunday, we met my sister Amy, her husband Jim and Makena at Freestone Park in Gilbert to take some family photos for them. My mom Nancy also came along to help us keep Makena entertained. She was so funny making ducky noises and jumping up and down with us to get her to smile! At one point she even did some reflector work for us – thanks for all your help Mom! We know who to call next time we need an assistant :-)

Here are some of our favorites from their session:

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LOVED Ryan’s perspective for this shot of them on the bridge :-)

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Makena and her proud Mommy & Daddy . . .

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This one of them playing makes me smile and I super love the colors! So cute!

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At one point, I JOKINGLY suggested that Jim hold Makena upside down for a few shots – I should have known better! Ha ha ha! She looks a little confused, but seems to be having a pretty good time . . . .

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“Nana” got in on the action too :-)

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Some fun shots of little miss Makena :-) What a cutie!!!

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LOVE the colors in this detail shot Ryan grabbed while she was modeling her blue hawaiian dress :-)

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And this last one is just too cute for words!

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Love you guys!

Amber’s Senior Session: Scottsdale, Arizona

Denise — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 06:02:55 +0000

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Last Sunday, I met up with Amber for her senior portrait session in downtown Scottsdale. I’ve gotten so used to shooting couples and families, it was actually a really nice change to do a photo shoot for one person! Amber looked gorgeous and was so comfortable in front of the camera. I can’t imagine being able to take a BAD photo of this girl! Seriously! Her mom, aunt and boyfriend came along for moral support (not that she needed any :-), so the five us walked around the Civic Center and chatted in between shots on a lovely Sunday afternoon. After graduation, she plans to go to school and pursue a career as an elementary school teacher.

Here are some of my favorites from our session:

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I totally loved that Amber could rock the more serious look – you’d be surprised how hard that is for most people. I think her eyes look really intense and beautiful in this one.

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Such a classic beauty!

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I’m sure you all know how I feel about reflection shots :-)

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I really loved this last outfit :-) She looks so stylist and it just seemed to fit her personality.

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This one might just be my favorite overall . . . love the colors and the little bit of sassiness in her expression :-)

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And of course, we had to wrap things up with a little bit of silliness:

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Thanks for the awesome session Amber! I had a lot of fun getting to know you guys and best of luck after graduation!

The Darnall/Mayer Family: Tempe, Arizona

Denise — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:26:33 +0000

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On Sunday, we met up with Melissa & Bryan at their home in downtown Tempe to shoot some portraits of their super cute family. They will be getting married in Maui this coming April and we’ll be shooting their reception here in Phoenix. Rather than do a traditional engagement session, they wanted to include their adorable boys Michael & David. They’ve been living in the same building on Mill Ave since before the boys were born so they choose the surrounding area as the setting of their photo shoot. We super love that! Its one thing for us to chose a cool location for a photo shoot, but it really means so much more when it’s all about who YOU are as a couple or as a family. I totally love the fun interactions between the whole family as they walk down Mill Ave in the first photo. Here are some more favorites from their session:

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David brought along his friend Elmo to keep him company so throughout the course of our time together, Ryan and I traded off on “Elmo Duty” to keep David entertained :-) He did make a guest appearance in a few shots though, like this next one . . .

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Love this one! It’s probably my favorite from the whole day :-) How cute are they? SERIOUSLY!

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These two make me smile :-) Love the silliness!

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A couple of portraits of the boys

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They love to play softball as a family so towards the end of the session we decided it was play time. Hit it out of the park Michael!

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I don’t know what exactly prompted this next shot, but Ryan was watching David play and all of a sudden he put on this AWESOME little “tough guy” scowl and started walking slowly towards him like “hey man, what do you think you’re doing?” He had been pretty shy the whole rest of the shoot so it was totally out of nowhere and completely hilarious! Melissa and I were watching them and I swear we both got a little concerned that Ryan was going to have to make a break for it before he received a plastic bat beating. But he kept his cool and just kept shooting. And of course David ended up with a big silly grin over our reaction to his little display.

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And of course, we had to take some cute shots of the bride & groom to be :-)

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When we were shooting this next one, the kids were playing in the grass nearby and Michael yelled out “It looks like you guys are at our wedding!” which we thought was so cute and hilarious :-) It got a good laugh out of Melissa & Bryan too!

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Thanks guys for the lovely afternoon! We had so much fun getting to know you and can’t wait to celebrate with you at your reception :-)

The Duley Family: Tempe, Arizona

Denise — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:27:35 +0000

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With our friend Ally getting married last week, we’ve had the chance to see lots of old friends recently, including some who were visiting from out of town. My old friend (and roommate :-) Krissy and her hubby Bill were here from Ohio and asked us to do some family portraits with them. So we headed out to the campus of ASU on a chilly Sunday afternoon to capture some Duley cuteness! They chose ASU because both Krissy and Bill have TONS of history there. They both went to school there, Bill was practically living there when they were dating and he was working on his engineering degree, Krissy worked for the school before moving to Ohio and to go even farther back in time, her grandparents used to live right where Palm Walk is now and they sold the land to the school. The Duley’s bleed maroon for sure! They offered to show us their old make out spots on campus, but we opted to stick to the main roads. (Ha ha – probably wasn’t supposed to mention that on the blog, right?)

A little stroll down Palm Walk . . .

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Krissy & Bill’s little boy Sam is almost a year old. He was SOOO good the whole shoot, although his mom says he’s usually a lot more smiley. Smiley or not, he’s a total cutie. I think he was a wee bit suspicious of the two crazy people running around with big cameras. Can’t say I blame him on that one :-) We are a little crazy.

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One of my Favs: SERIOUSLY adorable :-) And I LOVE that he’s sticking out his tongue a little bit.

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The adorable Duleys

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This one just makes me smile – probably because Krissy’s laughing. So many of my fondest memories involve laughing with this gal :-)

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Sam needed a little break from all the group shots so he got to play in the grass for a bit. Ryan snagged this low angle shot of him. Doesn’t it look like he’s on a mission to destroy something? Like attack of the 50 foot baby!

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So I came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea to have Bill throw a bunch of the fall leaves up in the air to get Sam to look up and smile. He could not BE any less amused with my little stunt, but Krissy and Bill seem to be enjoying themselves.

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Favorite, favorite, favorite! Did I mention that this is my favorite?

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Bill’s big request was to do some shots that “look like Arizona”. We actually found this kinda funny since most of the time we’re trying to find places that DON’T look like Arizona :-) So we drove around to find some cactus and brown stuff. (Just kidding Bill – apparently most people in Ohio really do want to know what a cactus looks like.)

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So every time we’re doing a shoot with kids, one parent or the other ends up throwing the kid up in the air like this next one. The kids seem to get a huge kick out of it, but seriously, I’d be SO afraid I would drop them! Especially with a bunch of cactus around . . .

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LOVE this one :-)

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And of course, we had to show a little love to the old alma matter – Go Devils!

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Thanks for hanging out with us Duleys! We had an awesome time with you guys and now we’re even more very sad that you’re going home :-( Love you guys!