Category Archives: Teen Scene

Senior Guys & The Memories They Give Their Mom’s | Sycamore Illinois

This senior season is filled with senior guys this year. I typically have two-or-three senior guys each Fall, but this year the calendar has been filling up with guy style!

Which means…

All 5-foot-3-inches of me should buy a travel step-stool for these sessions, because they are WAY TALLER than me + my camera!

Most senior guys don’t hate having senior portraits, but they aren’t necessarily planning their session for weeks in advance either.

They do however love their Mom’s and having THIS Memory is something they’re willing do for her.

I say it all the time, but this really is the Year of Lasts and having senior portraits is a big deal for both Mom + Senior. We take hundreds, if not thousands of photos of the baby + toddler years when that cute little guy changes so fast. But there is a huge gap between those toddler years and senior year. True, there are family portraits over the years, but in the craziness of senior year I think we forget that this year is the end of so many things.

We’re excited about college visits and getting THE acceptance letter, stressed over ACT scores, happy to finally be the senior class, and also ready to move on to the next chapter.

A lot of things will change next Fall and stopping to get this moment they’re in right now becomes more special than you realize.

Brett’s a busy senior but we stopped to fit in his senior moment. Due to his varsity soccer schedule, these rainy days, + a few unpredictable events that popped up, it took us 3 times to get his senior portraits captured. But we did it and they now have them FOREVER!

His Mom is so funny! Each time we had to reschedule she kept saying the words from Florida Georgia Line, “Meant to be” :0 And, it was MEANT TO BE! Brett’s grown into one respectful, tall, cool guy, and I’m grateful Mom asked me to be a small part of their senior year moment!

“If it’s meant to be, to be, then baby it’s meant to be!”

batavia, batavia-photographers, batavia-il, senior-guys, senior-season, senior-portraits, senior-pictures, senior-photos, sycamore-il, illinois-photographers, st-charles-photographers, st-charles-il

batavia, batavia-photographers, batavia-il, senior-season, senior-portraits, senior-pictures, senior-photos, sycamore-il, illinois-photographers, st-charles-photographers, st-charles-il

0 comments

Family Portraits | Teen Style | St Charles IL Photographer

When you think of family portraits, what comes to mind?

via GIPHY

If Dad is answering that question I might be in big trouble 😉 They really can be FUN, and not always include the whole family.

Say that again?

You read it right. Did I get Dad’s attention?

You get to make the rules and if you want the whole family together for portraits every-other year you can do that. If you want just the teens in the portrait every year, go for it!

I’ve been photographing these two snazzy teens for years and we’ve mixed it up year after year. One year our session was the entire family + their fur-baby, another year our portraits were just the teens, and then a year with the teens and their dog. Let’s get creative and create the memories that’s the BEST FIT for your family.

In a sibling teen session it’s also entertaining to see how they interact with each other on their own. Mom was with us on this shoot, but she found a bench + watch from afar. The banter between Maggie & Joe is always priceless! Maggie’s cheerful + whimsical personality mixed with her brother’s matter-of-fact humor keeps us entertained throughout our photo shoot.

Another twist on family sessions comes at that BIG MILESTONE in the senior year! We have a senior session in the late Summer or Fall and then reserve a mini family session to get everyone back together to capture images just before the college adventure begins. So many things change once they leave home and start their college chapter.

But don’t let the family photos stop there! Joe is a sophomore in college and Mom is still scheduling a Summer session to keep collecting their memories. Make your family moments your way, just don’t forget to capture them each year, or at least every other year. Time is a sneaky thing! It keeps passing + maybe a little quicker than we’d like it too. We don’t get a do-over. Once the time passes…it’s gone for good!

Make the most of your family memories today…not tomorrow!

It Can Take a Village | Want More Inspiration?

4 Hacks For Getting it Done in High School

5 Tips to Ease the Shock of Her Being a High School Senior

4 Tips to Answer, “When Should I Take My Senior Portraits?”

Cheers & Sparkles to your week!

Shining Moments Photography | Family Photographer | St Charles Illinois

0 comments

4 Hacks For Getting It Done in High School | Geneva Illinois

Ready or not the 2018-19 school year is about to start.

Get a step ahead with these 4 hacks and you’ll have things under control and rockin’ senior, junior, sophomore, freshmen year.

Hey freshmen, these are definitely 4 tips for you walking into those new halls!

But we only have a few short weeks left of Summer so lets not waste your precious free days and get to those 4 points you came looking for.

1/ Your Agenda In Style:: Organization is KEY! You’re going to be juggling a full class load, social stuff, sports, play rehearsal, band practice, dances…You NEED TO KEEP TRACK. Get an agenda or planner that fits the way you organize {+ your style is fun too}. Kate Spade always has adorable planners + different sizes to fit your bag.

> Write or tape you class schedule inside

> Highlight your room numbers {freshmen it’s a GREAT IDEA to go walk your schedule before the halls are packed on the first day of school}

2/ Yes, apps are a big help in organization too. A great one to help with big due dates, projects, important dates is the Any.do app. They have a web version too. It has a calendar, to-do list, and virtual-type assistant options to keep you cruising through the school year. A few other apps that other high schoolers are talking about::

> Talkboard is an app to share whiteboard work screens. Perfect when working on group projects or need to SEE an example. They have a free + paid version in the app store

> The 30/30 app is one I use to help keep me on-task for big projects. You put in your outline of tasks & assign a block of time. Timer goes off you move on to the next or plug in your break time.

> Quizlet is used by a lot of students to help memorize those facts for your test.

> iTunes Radio or Spotify. iTunes Radio is free while Spotify is $10/month, but we all need to relax + dancing it out to your favorite songs is perfect after a long day {or in the middle of the day} Don’t judge 😉

3/ Teach Yourself:: There will be subjects or chapters that you struggle with and instead of staring at the pages in your book, screen, or notes try teaching it out loud to someone else. Talking it out brings an ah-ha moment when you and a friend just can’t figure it out alone. Work smarter, not harder + two heads can be better than one when you talk it out.

4/ Productivity 101 :: Get things done in short bursts of time. The Pomodoro Technique is a primo way to keep you on task in short spurts of time. Similar to the 30/30 app above, break your tasks or assignments into short intervals of time. Set a timer for 25-minutes. When the timers goes off take a 5 or 10-minute break. After an hour or so of that routine take a longer, 30-minute break. Get up + moving for that longer break and get the blood flowing again. Energize yourself for the next study interval!

MEDIA TIP:: If you don’t use the 30/30 app, use an actual timer and not your phone timer or alarm. I don’t know about you, but when I look at my phone to reset the phone timer I get sucked into the social media abyss {baddddd time suck}.

It’s hard to believe we are in our last few weeks of Summer, but I hope you’re relaxing and soaking up the last days of fun-in-the-sun!

I’m here every week with new tips, ideas, and expertise to help with your senior portraits.

Stop by each week or JOIN SPARKLE NOTES to keep up and be a Sparkle Insider!

You’ll also get my FREE Camera Ready Makeup Guide.

Cheers & Sparkles to your week!

💖

0 comments

Manifesto

LIVE | LAUGH | SHINE

Three short words make up my Manifesto. And they all lead into the most important piece… SHOW THE WORLD YOUR KIND OF BEAUTIFUL! I’ve been pouring over sentences, words, and phrases since last August when I attended a workshop. At the time it seemed so simple when we were encouraged to sit down and write our Manifesto. Why do what you do? Why do you love photography? Why work so hard to build your business? Why do photographs matter so much? I thought it sounded like a simple task to write it down on paper and throw it out into the world.

Mistake #1:: It hasn’t been simple. Did I mention I’ve been working on this since August. I’ve written sentences, then deleted. Added phrases, scratched them out. Made a list of my most important words to include and whittled them down to the most important.

The words & phrases aren’t perfectly eloquent, or express all the reasons why I love photographing teens + headshots, but if I wait for perfect I may never hit publish.

Mistake #2:: Writing from the heart means being vulnerable. That’s a word I’m not good at practicing. In this age of social media, where people say unkind words hiding behind their phone or keyboard,

it’s tough – I mean REALLY TOUGH to put yourself out there, and be vulnerable.

Will my words be read or shared? No idea. But I finally hit publish and it’s out there! Next, it’s time to print it and add it to my office wall.

Show the world YOUR kind of BEAUTIFUL!

Live

Laugh

Shine

0 comments

Show Your Kind of Beautiful!

Have you ever walked into a crowded room and felt out-of-place?

Ever been sitting in a group and have nothing to contribute to the conversation?

Do you feel out-of-place with your own kids sometimes?

It’s kinda hard to stand alone, or not have much in common with someone. But it can turn into something pretty darn cool when you change your perspective!

We celebrated our oldest’s Sweet 16 this week and I sat down to write her another milestone letter. Every year I make a pretty big deal about my kid’s BIRTHday’s because they were…a really big deal ;). And we all know 16 is one of those big milestones with getting their driver’s license. I decided to make her a driving scavenger hunt this year {it was on my InstaStories this week if you follow along}. No car keys at the end of it, which brings me back to my questions that opened this post. She hasn’t been excited about driving, it’s been more of a requirement for her than a treat. I couldn’t wait to get my license, so this has been strange to wrap my head around.? My Dad told me just before she was born, “It’s not about you anymore, it’s going to be about her.” That’s stuck with me for the last 16 years watching her grow. I wanted my license A-SAP, but it hasn’t been a priority for her.

I’d kinda like her to drive and have that freedom, but she’s not ready.

I’d love to go out shopping with her for a cute new outfit and shoes, but she’d rather read a book, dance or go to the latest movie.

I like to go watch sports, but she has no interest AT ALL!

She’s comfortable with who she is in her yoga pants and play t-shirts. She is gitty over the release of the newest broadway play or Marvel movie.

When I’ve “walked” into her world I’ve felt out-of-place most times. Year’s back I was sad that we didn’t share everything in common or that she didn’t share in my passions. But with my Beautiful Girl I was given what I NEEDED. Because of her I’ve learned so much about music, the theater, books, film, and to be a better speller {LOL, I’m the teacher and I always ask her how to spell}. I’m feeling out-of-place in her world less & less. She is my go-to for character questions, music, or movie trivia 😉

Just one little thing that needs to change…

Lets talk about changing this “NO PHOTOS” policy during her plays shall we?!?How’s a Mama suppose to fill her high school Memory Album or add to her collection in her Memory Box?

She may not be able to dribble a basketball, but when you hear her singing it can bring goosebumps up your arm.

I can’t memorize one line for a play, but I can hold my own in a game.

Next time you’re with family or friends, notice how they shine, especially if it’s different than you!

And then, don’t be shy to also?Show the World Your Kind of Beautiful!

Shine on & Shine Bright

0 comments