I had been watching the weather all day..."Scattered slow moving Thunderstorms," they said.....at 5:30...when I was going to meet Shelby and her awesome mom Jane for a Senior Session. Of course we would be sipping on some coffee over a little bit of chat before the session started..but still, they said slow moving. On any other day I LOVE the rain, its the happy in my day and no matter how much I wanted to deny it, I was secretly excited that it was going to be a rainy day. But I wanted to do this shoot with a little dry-ness and did not want to have to reschedule since they would be leaving for England soon and not coming back till the middle of the month. so jealous of that by the way.
Well, it ended up being a perfect day and a perfect shoot. Jane told me, before the shoot, that Shelby isnt a casual kind of girl, she is usually dressed well...to this I imagine schoolgirl type outfits...you know the nerdy kind. which I was totally fine with...if it fits her personality Im down with that! Well Shelby just made my day when she came in her 'most casual' outfit which was this:


the PERFECT Senior shoot outfit. The first photo will fit just right in my "what to wear guide." Oh and I guess I forgot to mention that Shelby is DROP DEAD GORGEOUS. Guess you figured that out yourself just now. Sorry guys and gals, this firecracker is taken. : )
Well after we got some awesome photos of her in the 'casual outfit' it was time for me to see the rest of the session wardrobe. Shelby and Jane wanted some of my input on the outfits and when I saw them my jaw dropped! I thought I won the 'photographer who loves taking pictures of awesome people in awesome clothing' lottery. She had already told me that she loves to wear heels and besides the flip-flops she was wearing, that was all she had. *serious swoon Well the outfits to go with them were super fun! I could not stand it...Ill just shut up already and let ya'll see for yourself: prepare yourself, image overload...I could not pick just a few, they were seriously all my favorite...all 600 of them




Tried something different...
I hated this photo in camera, but then I uploaded it and fell in love! I was telling Nicholas the little story behind it and some of the others and he said to me, "You really loved them, didnt you?" referring to Shelby and Jane. The stories went something like, "they knew exactly what I was getting at, we were always on the same wavelength, they happily put up with my tendency to get overexcited and silly and they were just such awesome women."
Shot with my br-and new lens that I just got in the mail only 1 hr before our session. Love it. Seriously.
The sun was amazing...such yummy light. This my friends, is why I wont do sessions any other time of the day, there is something about the light and the mood during this part of the day that makes my heart all skippy. Add a gorgeous Shelby and a TEAL adirondack chair and my heart is doing kartwheels. 
Sometimes I almost forgot I was shooting a senior session, it so much felt like a high fashion shoot. Only she was so much more beautiful than any other model. 
I had this photo in my head going to this session, I met Shelby beforehand and this is the impression I had of her...so chill. 
but still fun. love love love this spot. Made me love Safety Harbor so much more...
LOVED this capture...I think its one of my favorites ever. If and when I have a studio, you can bet this photo will be Ha-yooge up on the wall. 
I have been GLUED to my computer since Tuesday playing with these photos...you would think I was a complete weirdo if you could hear the sounds and see the faces I make during the first couple of scan throughs after they've been uploaded to the computer. My little Aly always looks at me, but I dont think she is judging me...I wouldnt be surprised though. : )
Now this is where it really got good. She brought her Homecoming dress that was to die for...Im so glad that we got some good shots of it...they both loved the dress so much. And of course she works it well, total natural in front of the camera. 
Does she not look like Jennifer Love Hewitt here?! Only way better. Seriously. 

But seriously...she has the whole package...Smart, involved, big plans, steady boyfriend, great taste in music, chill, super sweet and magazine cover beautiful. We seemed to have so much in common, minus the drop dead gorgeous part, and we totally clicked. I really really had so much fun during our shoot and loved getting to know her.
Shelbs, thanks SO much for being so fantastic. I can NOT wait for Juan's session and getting to capture a little bit of your relationship. Jane, thanks for being such an awesome Mama, I truly enjoyed our time together!

















photo from Top Chef website
