Look at that sweet face!! Scarlett is turning 2 and to celebrate she had a little tea party in the park with her teddy ♥ I had the honor of photographing Scarlett last year for her first birthday so I was excited when her mommy called me to do another shoot. Lindsay is so creative and always has great ideas for the theme. I love how these turned out! Scarlett was such a doll playing with her tea set, giving her teddy hugs and kisses, gathering as many strawberries as her little arms could hold and pretending to eat watermelon. But a girl with 3 older brothers can only handle that for so long till she needs to use her tea cup as a shovel in the pea gravel lol. I so wish I would have captured that on camera! Scarlett you are a sweet girl with the prettiest eyes! Thank you for letting me crash your tea party. I hope to capture many birthdays to come! 

Hello friends. I bring sad news. My brother’s mother-in-law was diagnosed in November with pancreatic cancer. She has fought hard for the past several months to beat this horrible disease and it is with sadness that I report things are not going well. In addition to the emotional stress, this life event has also taken its toll on the family finances. I am reaching out to past, present, and future clients to find it in their hearts to help. If you feel called to help here are the ways you can:

• Directly donate to the established gofundme:http://www.gofundme.com/wssp9h8

• Book a session between June 22nd and July 25th (session can be scheduled anytime in 2015). 15% of all sessions will be donated at the Ann’s Cancer Brigade Benefit July 25th, 2015

*Images shown are of Ann's daughter & family

Thank you to everyone in advance for you generosity!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be able to photograph the 2nd annual charity golf outing for Apple Tree Academy at the Oak's Golf Club in Lima, Ohio. Apple Tree Academy is located in Lima, Ohio near the Shawnee area. If you are looking for an amazing school for ages 3-Kindergarten, look no further! Last year my daughter was supposed to be entering Kindergarten. Two days prior to school starting she had her screening at school, it was recommended that due to her birthday being so close to the age cut off,  that she start the following year. I was in shock and for no reason my eyes started to well with tears while I stood there looking at the deliverer of the news, trying to process what she was saying.  As I walked out of the school my mind was swirling... my baby was supposed to start kindergarten in 2 days...I've purchased all her stuff already...she has her little heart set on riding the bus like her big brother, they only recommended it, we could still send her...should we...shouldn't we... After the shock I started scrambling to find a preschool for her that would have openings that late in the game. I called 3 places and Apple Tree Academy called me back right away. I went for a tour and knew immediately that this was the place I wanted my daughter to go! The owner, Melissa Smiley, sat me down in her office to go over everything. She informed me that they were starting the next day and they would do anything they could do to help me get my daughter ready. I of course had another melt down in Melissa's office apologizing for my blubbering the whole time. She was so kind and understanding and when I said "I don't know why I'm crying."  She replied, "It's because you love your child and want the best for her." ♥ Apple Tree was amazing for my daughter and I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone! My daughter went in not knowing all her letter sounds to finishing the year reading and writing. She has grown so much and everyday I saw her passion to learn grow. They are definitely doing something right there and I'm excited for my youngest to start attending this fall.

The Oak's Golf Club is a beautiful course! Lima has experienced a great deal of flooding over the past few weeks and many courses were closed. Even though they were pretty wet The Oak's was willing to accepted the outing the day before it was supposed to take place! Thank you!!

We maybe should have called it the Extreme Mud Golf Outing lol. The participants were awesome and made the best of it! 

Ashley is Captured by Lydia & 12 Month Beauty's last senior rep! She attends Bath High School where she is a varsity cheerleader and part of the year book committee. Her momma is my personal hair stylist...(so check her out at Angela's Hair Design) We chose to shoot in one of the beautiful old buildings in downtown Lima, Ohio and out in a wide open grassy field in Shawnee. If you think Ashley looks familiar but can't place it...she has modeled for me before (see shoot).  Ashley had a ton of ideas for her shoot and about a week or so before her session she started texting all them to me (23 photos to be exact, she told me later that she had more but didn't want to keep blowing up my phone lol)  We started tossing ideas around about how and where, and I was able to get a solid idea of where she wanted to go with her images. This was the first time I shot in this building and I LOVED it. It is a photographer's dream :) I wish we would have had more time to explore, but we had to cut it short to fly across town to catch the sunset. The light in the field was so dreamy. Liz Flowers not only did the makeup for this shoot but actually joined us for the session. She was such a valuable contributor to the creative flow and always makes everything more fun ♥ Ashley you are a beautiful girl and a dream to photograph. You have been such an asset in the growth of my business this year. Thank you for modeling for me and sharing my name with your friends. I loved working with you ♥ I hope your senior year is EVERYTHING you want it to be! 

My dream job is: an oncologist 

My biggest accomplishment so far is: being able to balance two jobs, friends, and family on top of high school and cheer. 

Plans after graduation: go to college to be an oncologist and make a difference.

Meet Kelli Miller another rep for Captured by Lydia & 12 Month Beauty. Kelli goes to Pandora-Gilboa High School,  has a passion for photography, and the coolest tattoo behind her ear! Kelli has such a sweet spirit and I loved spending time with her ♥ We explored downtown Lima for our urban setting and went to a field across town to catch the sunset. Even though it can be unsettling to go from being behind the camera to in front of it (trust me I KNOW) she did an amazing job! I loved chatting with her about photography and sharing my knowledge with an eager mind! She was willing to try everything I had in mind including some hair flips...that didn't turn out :( the sun had set a little too much...but it was fun anyway :D   One thing that was very important to Kelli was that we were able to capture an image of her with a picture of her grandmother. I wasn't entirely sure how we would do this when she first mentioned it but I think we final image came great! Thank you Kelli for trusting me to take your photos, you are so sweet and I hope you have an amazing senior year!
PS. I ♥ your hoop...I mean I'm not partial or anything ;) 

Meet Captured by Lydia & 12 Month Beauty's first 2016 Senior Rep! This is Kirsten Carter of Apollo High School. She has a passion for cheerleading and is a member of the Rebels Cheer Squad. She was a total doll to work with! I showed up at Liz's house (Liz Flowers, 12 Month Beauty) to meet Kirsten as Liz was finishing her makeup and was surprised when I saw her fan club...ok I'm exaggerating, not her fan club, but she did bring her momma, bestie Ariana, and  Zach Aka: Boyfriend. Side note: I'm not always the best with learning names on a shoot so if there are several people, I'll probably end up calling you by your title: mom, dad, boyfriend...you get the picture. We chose a huge property located between Shawnee and Spencerville. It had rolling hills, an apple orchard, and river. Did I mention this place was HUGE?! What a workout! We had a beautiful (slightly chilly) day with tons of sunlight and a gorgeous sunset. Every member of Kirsten's entourage was supportive but Ariana was just bursting with  happiness for her friend and how pretty she looked for her pictures. She was so supportive with compliments and encouragement and I loved having her there! Thank you Kirsten for giving me the opportunity to photograph this important milestone! You rocked your session!