Heather & Cody -{Just because}-

This was an amazing shoot - Heather and Cody were totally ok with meeting me at a new location that I "found" and were willing to have their "love, just because" portraits made here! I am sooo incredibly in love with the photos from this location, I can't wait to shoot here again!

They are so photogenic and were so easy to photograph! Not only were they laid back and had "go-with-the-flow" demeanors, they were extremely cooperative and willing to do whatever I asked of them!

Heather is my cousin; it makes me incredibly happy when family request me to photograph them!

So, yea, my location...amazing? All of these portraits were taken on a tiny little property - no long walks to the next location. It made for a nice, easy and quick photo session (which was a good thing because Cody had to get to a softball game)!

Who needs to TTD?

Someday I am hoping to book a Trash the Dress session. I haven't had any brave souls come my way yet for such a session. However, I have had a few recent opportunities to do some off camera flash lighting with some gorgeous models.

This is April. Gorgeous, right? She is a coworker of mine at Lifetouch. I was in charge of presenting a class on off-camera flash lighting techniques. I asked April to model. She said yes. The photos turned out amazing! We started at 6:00 am and finished around 8:00 am. She was such a trooper :-)

And here is Julianne. My sister. I asked her on a last minute's notice if she would be willing to put on my wedding dress and model it for me. She agreed...and I was sooo glad she did. The sky this night was right after a storm and was way too incredible to pass up an opportunity to photograph in front of it. Of course she looked amazing as ever in my dress. These were taken between 8:00-8:20 pm.

Tommy & Ella {Twins}..and Sara!

Sara and her twins! Ohmy, they couldn't be any cuter - all three of them! Sara was one of my best friend's from high school. I am super sad that we haven't kept in closer contact over the past 10 years, but was INCREDIBLY excited when she asked me to photograph he adorable babes! Sara's husband couldn't make the trip home from Texas for the session, so Mommy got to make some keepsake photos of just her and the kids.

Tommy and Ella are probably the most adorable twins in the entire world! It cracks me up how little Tommy looks just like his daddy and Ella looks just like her Mommy!

They have their own personalities as well. Tommy is all boy. Doesn't care if he gets a little dirt on him. He is so laid back and easy going. He got a little distracted from time to time, but could flash the most handsome smile in an instant!

Ella is little miss diva-extraordinaire. She didn't like being dirty, and the smallest little issue turned into a huge drama scene. She is full of emotion! She has the biggest dimples and the most beautiful smile! 

We snuck grandpa in for a photo - love it!

 The grand finale of the session was some silhouette shots. So glad we did them - they are priceless!

 Oh, and Ella was EXTREMELY happy when she got her sucker!

They were so much fun! The love that Sara has for these kids and the love that they give back to her is incredible. I looooooved photographing them and can't wait until they come back to Ohio next!

Frenzy!

This photo is my ultimate representation of "frenzy"

Here's why...

I was driving home from dinner with my kids at 7:30 pm. The sky was GORGEOUS; I couldn't waste it. I called my sister and asked her to meet me at this location in TEN minutes. She agreed.

I swept thru my house in a "frenzy" to grab all of my equipment and, of course, my wedding dress.

When we got to the location, we pretty much threw the dress on her (never mind the awful lacing of the corset that I did) and raced to the top of the reservoir.

Once we got up there, the sun was pretty low meaning we didn't have much time. We were battling mosquitoes. I had to keep chasing my 2 year old and 3 year old because they were throwing rocks in the water and I didn't want them getting too close.

I got a few shots and then we lost the sun.

From the time I made the phone call until the time I got home after the shoot, it had been about 35 minutes. Talk about "frenzy"!

And, to you, everything looks quite the opposite of frenzy. More like peaceful. Ahhhh.

Thank you Fstop Frenzy!

Fstop Frenzy

Ivy {one week old}

Ivy was only one week old when I got the priveledge of photographing her. She knew I was leaving the state for a week around her due date, so she decided to come a little bit early just so I could meet and photograph her before I left! You may remember Ivy's first photo session (in her momma's belly), here: Nick & Megan's Maternity Session

She is soooo incredibly adorable. She is perfect. At only a little over 6 pounds, she was perfectly ripe for her photo shoot!

I am going to start this blog post with my absolute favorite photo from the session. It's amazing! When I post photos to my fan page (Levenhagen Photography) I loooooooove getting comments. The comments for this particular photo were off the chart!

It was a long evening. I spent about 4 hours with Miss Ivy. She wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with pictures. However, we were able to work around her needs and get some great shots! Don't let her closed eyes fool you...I think I caught her in a few blinks. She didn't sleep a wink the entire time I was there - she had to be soooo tired!

Ivy was perfectly content while she was being held, so we took advantage of that and I captured some sweet moments of her with her Mommy and Daddy.

And, finally, the basket picture. Ivy sure didn't seem to mind that we squished her into this little crocheted basket. In fact she laid there happily for quite a while. She let us know she was done with it when she widdled on the basket (and the blanket)!

 I am so excited to watch Ivy grow up over the next year. She comes from a wonderful family who I feel so lucky to know (and have known for a very long time).

Kaylee and Gabriella (and their Mom and Dad too!)

Gabriella is a busy 3 year old and Kaylee is a fun-loving little one year old. They gave me a workout, that's for sure...but the end results were ABSOLUTE worth it!



I was able to capture a few of the girls together and then a few of the entire family, but the majority of the session ended up being individual photos of each girl.

 Little Kaylee was nervous (as can be expected of a one year old)...but she managed to flash quite a few smiles that my quick-clicking finger on the shutter managed to capture! And from these photos you would never know that she was upset...

Gabriella, on the other hand, was full of spunk! She was way too busy to look at the camera, but I feel that these natural moments are truly special!

 We finished up the session by letting the girls change into their swimsuits. I am sooo glad we did - these photos are not only priceless, but were super fun to capture!