AnnaLee is just about to graduate from Vallivue High School! Its a little crazy to think that almost 10 YEARS ago, I was graduating from the very same high school! It is amazing how fast time flies— it really feels like yesterday.

To say that AnnaLee and I had fun on this shoot would be a major understatement. I can’t wait to show you the fun stop-motion video that we made. (disclaimer: Ampersand Studios does not claim to know a thing about video, hence why it is taking me SOOOO long to edit it!) But HELLO, look at this girl! Amazingly beautiful with the sweetest personality around. And, that hair…seriously!? Of course with locks that long, we had to play a little towards the end–which honestly are some of my favorite shots because I know how much fun we had making them!

enjoy.

I hope that AnnaLee doesn’t mind me sharing, but something really touching about this gorgeous, seemingly perfect girl is that she doesn’t get to go straight to college after high school like most kids her age since she is in need of a kidney transplant. I am going to re-post these words, since I feel like she describes the story best:

“Two years ago a girl was playing basketball and during practice hurt her foot. She pulled tendons and ligaments in her foot and had to wear a boot for a while, but the doctors noticed something wrong with her blood pressure, it was way to high.The doctors didn’t know what was going on with her body and why her blood pressure was that high. Being that high could cause many things to go wrong in her body. They ran a whole bunch of tests to pinpoint the location of what was causing it. After a heart ultrasound, blood work, and kidney ultrasound they had pinpointed the problem. It was the kidneys. The doctors did a kidney biopsy and found out that she had kidney disease and failure of the kidneys. She was put on several different medications. She takes about 16 pills a day, to try and slow down the progression of the disease.
In January of this year that girl was told she is needed a kidney transplant, the doctor would like to do it by August of 2013.The disease had progressed enough that the girl needed to start the process of finding a donor. The doctor would like to have a live donor. I am sending this message out to all of you today because I am that girl. I need a kidney transplant in August of this year. I am 18 years old and graduating high school in May. If you or anyone you know would like to donate, please ask to be my friend on facebook and send me a message. I will give you a number to call. You have to be 21-60 years of age to donate. I know this is asking a lot of anyone to donate, but if you would consider doing this I would be eternally grateful. Please share this with your friends and family.

Thank you so much. Annalee Swenson”

AnnaLee and her family are most certainly in our thoughts and prayers, and may they be in yours as well.

Aren’t these two just beyond words gorgeous!  I met these two lovely ladies in school and had so much fun working on photo projects along side them.  When they both asked me to take their college senior photos, I was thrilled to get to photograph such awesome, beautiful friends.  Congrats on your recent graduation!  I am so excited for what is to come for these two talented ladies.

Enjoy!

So first up today is one of our super-handsome seniors: Destin. Don’t let that height fool ya- this kid is only a senior in high school! I had so much fun chatting with Destin, and although his ubber-dapper-GQ seriousness may throw you off, he is actually really funny and SO SMART! I know we are going to see some amazing things from this kid!

Destin, why ya gotta make me work so hard to get smiles? Next time, I will be sure to come prepared with better jokes so I dont have to embarrass you…

enjoy.

Pumpkins! For fall! Happy Thanksgiving week–lots of blogging to come to enjoy for the long weekend.

Little miss Betsy asked us if “Senior Photos” included “College Seniors”—and we were overjoyed to be able to shoot pictures of this STUNNING girl again (you may remember Ampersand did their family photos a few years back). So, obviously Betsy is petite Barbie incarnate- but what you may not know is the girl has got brains- we have a scientist in our midst. She was just telling me how much she loves calculous and my jaw nearly dropped to the ground (we are more “right-brainers” in our studio, our favorite saying: “we aren’t math-magicians!”)

Alright- I will shut up. Congratulations on your graduation Betsy! You are going to do so many amazing things, you and your mommy are such a blasty blast! I would love to photograph you again when you finish grad school…or when someone puts a ring on it. ;-) Love you Tuel girls!!

enjoy.

Uhhh…where did this sunshine come from today? Woohoo! Out to go shoot in it! But first- I am so excited to share this blogpost with you guys.

Now introducing our GORGEOUS Eagle High Senior: Gabby! Those eyes, that hair, those LIPS! Wowzas!

enjoy.

Tyler is a senior at Mountain View High School in Boise, graduating class of spring 2012! We had so much fun on his shoot at the top of Table Rock. Tyler is such a sweet kid and a good sport for my dorky “wit.” He thought it was SOOOO fun to scare the living %^*$ out of me by pretending to dive off the cliffs. Ty, I think you have successfully contributed to my gray hairs! Waaaay too daring for me- and I am not sure our insurance policy covers that.

Anyways—Tyler has this UH-MAZING orange Jeep that he and his dad rebuilt together, even painted it in their garage. I must say, that thing is *mint* now…babied and polished with diapers. Along with his fab ride, Tyler sports an awesome sense of humor and a cute little half smile that I am sure high school girls go nuts for!

After getting all of his model shots next to the squeaky clean whip—Ty insisted on running it through a puddle, check out the play by play:

Enjoy.

For Teresa’s senior photos, she decided that she wanted to have a “travel theme” worked into the shoot and so we included a vintage suitcase, a camera, globe, as well as Teresa’s travel books as well as some flags that are very sentimental to her recent long study abroad in Italy. The book about Chile is the current fave, since Teresa’s mother is treating her to a trip after graduation next summer.

Teresa is one of the brightest, amazing, and beautiful young ladies I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She has traveled to more places that most people could ever wish to go in a lifetime…and she is only 17 years old! We had a great chat about some of the wonderful places she has been to, her fluent Italian, all the accents she can fake, and the trusty shoes she can’t get rid of. ;-) For the shoot location, she chose to go hiking near her home of Hidden Springs, Idaho- since it is near and dear to her heart (what a beautiful view).

Now let’s talk about the shoot—uhm, can you say GORGEOUS!!?? Teresa credits America’s Next Top Model for her amazing posing abilities as well as the mastered “smeyes-ing.” We had such a great time, thank you so much Teresa for the chatting and letting me photograph your beautiful eyebrows….”totes.”

Enjoy.

enjoy.