This gorgeous session wouldn’t have happened if my sister Amanda didn’t have such an awesome best friend.

Let me introduce you to Nicole, who is my sister’s sweet and incredibly lovely bestie. Nicole is the fiery redhead, hard to miss in the pictures!

Nicole and I made friends on social media forever ago – I love to follow her because she’s a creative genius and seamstress extraordinaire (dresses, costumes, all amazing) and she became a fan of my photography. We actually just met for the first time in March, when she and Amanda were in an Anthropologie fashion show hosted at Northpark. (That was amazing .. definitely should have brought my camera!!) I’ve been wanting to photograph her beautiful face just about forever. And I finally got the chance when she reached out to me at the end of July.

Nicole told me she wanted to arrange a photoshoot in honor of her older sister Jessie coming to Texas to visit with her daughter, Lexi. I felt so honored to be able to commemorate their special family bond. And when they showed up to the homestead museum park we chose as our location looking this drop dead gorgeous, I could hardly contain my excitement. I was in no doubt that this would be a fantastic session.

Jessie and her daughter Lexi were visiting from New York State. We all commiserated on the woes of having dear family 1000 miles away. (As you know, my boyfriend’s wonderful family lives in Chicagoland.) Lexi, who is seven, was a bit shy at first but by the end of the session was aiming some serious sass toward the camera. And I was totally loving it! It was amazing, seeing all the love directed toward her by her mother and aunt. It really comes through in every single photo, don’t you think?

The conditions for this shoot were basically perfect. The light was unmistakably gorgeous – we met about one hour before sunset. Everyone looked amazing and was having so much fun modeling. The rustic setting of the homestead lent a timeless quality to the photos. The only thing any of us could really complain about was the heat. These poor Northerners! They were straight suffering in the 98 degree heat, while Nicole and I felt that it was a refreshing chance from the extreme temperatures we’d endured just a week before.

My absolute favourite thing about this session was that the end I felt like we were all old friends. Jessie started our catchphrase of the night; in an effort to get Lexi to smile, she chanted at her, “Sugar Shiiiiiiit!” Much better than the usual “CHEESE” which can contort your smile and make for an awkward expression. I thought it was so genius: saying “Sugar Shit” literally stretched Lexi’s face into the perfect smile. By the end of the evening, we’d all shouted it a least a few times, and cracked up into hysterical laughter more than once.

Sessions like this are what makes this the absolute best job in the whole world. When clients feel comfortable, and even better, feel like friends, beautiful pictures and lifelong memories are the result. I so hope I get to work with these three again. We had the best time.