Photographer’s Choice: My Top 5 Favorite Photo Shoots in 2018

The week between Christmas and New Year’s I always love to recap the fun we had in 2018 along with offering some great tips and tricks that you can use in the New Year. Today I am kicking it all off with my Top 5 favorite photo shoots in 2018. Inspiration is key for photographers and putting together shoots that are unique and fun are a big part of what I enjoy most about working with my clients. My Teens and Seniors get to take part in multiple shoot opportunities each year and they are always fun to organize and put together. Below are my favorite shoots I had with my girls this year. Enjoy!

#5- 2019 Elite Senior Desert Shoot: The Desert Shoot is ALWAYS a favorite with my Elite Seniors and this year we changed it up with some photos in direct sun topped off with chic sunglasses and hats. What made this one of my favorites this year? It was officially the first mini shoot of the season and I love the chance to work for the first time with my Seniors. They are always giggly and nervous and it’s fun to start building their confidence and getting to know each of them. That’s what made this shoot so much fun for me this year and gave the girls some gorgeous photos!

#4- 2019 Elite Senior Pumpkin Patch Community Shoot: A bunch of Seniors in a pumpkin patch with great light? Yes please! Every year I plan a fall themed shoot and every year it gets RAINED out. But not this year! Not only did we have a dry day for our pumpkin patch shoot– but we had beautiful sunshine! I loved the playfulness of this session along with all that great light reflecting off the field of orange pumpkins. This shoot was casual, frolicking and fun and definitely earns the #4 spot!

#3- Teen Destination Shoot at Smith Rock State Park: This was the first year that I had a program for my Teens and Tweens and part of that program was a destination shoot down to Smith Rock State Park in Oregon this past August. Smith Rock is gorgeous with its stone structures, desert landscape and beautiful light and I was blessed enough to have 3 of my incredible Teens come down for this amazing shoot. We spent all afternoon in the gorgeous sun and took some beautiful pictures and played with new poses. It was a blast with lots of laughing and giggling and definitely the reason this shoot takes the #3 spot on my countdown!

#2- Teen and Tween Ballet Shoot: Okay, if you follow me at all, you know that I totally LOVE working with dancers. Being a dancer myself for over 20 years, it is a passion of mine and any chance I get, I am going to take it! So many of my teens and tweens dance, so this year as part of their Teen Program, we did a fun, ballet stylized shoot. The girls got to come out and show me their skills in front of the camera and it created some epic photos. We buzzed around in the Opera Alley area of Downtown Tacoma and then headed over to the 11th Ave bridge. It was an unforgettable afternoon and one of my absolute favorite shoots to date!

#1- 2019 Elite Senior San Diego Destination Shoot: Okay, okay. So this is probably no surprise to anyone that my #1 choice is the 2019 Elite Senior destination shoot in San Diego, California. You all know that I am all about sunshine and warmth, so San Diego was a natural choice for our first ever destination location. We did 2 shoots- the morning shoot in Balboa Park and the evening shoot on the beaches of Coronado Island. It was quite an undertaking and I learned A LOT this year doing something this crazy and it was so worth it. The girls had a blast and we got some amazing pictures and video that the girls will enjoy for a lifetime. Definitely my favorite (and craziest) shoot to date and I can’t wait to tell the 2020 Seniors where we are going next!