Graduation announcements are one of my very favorite products to create for my senior clients.  I just love pairing their beautiful senior portraits with such an important celebration.  As one 2011 senior client put it so well, their custom graduation announcements ended up being a wonderful keepsake for friends and family.  That’s right, these are far too fabulous to get dumped in the trash like those boring school announcements. :)  Here are a sampling of some of my favorite 2011 designs:

 And now for a drumroll …. I have a very cool addition to our graduation announcement line-up for the Class of 2012!  Here they are, new Folded {LUXE} cards!

These unique cards have all of the beautiful design elements of our Flat {LUXE} cards with the added benefit of more space and images.  These come in either 5×5 or 5×7 sizes, are printed standard on luxurious linen paper, and include envelopes as well.  I am so thrilled to be able to offer these to this year’s seniors – I can’t wait to see your graduation celebrated in print!

Honestly, it seems like just yesterday that I was planning and booking and scheduling and daydreaming about the Class of 2011.  Yet here we are in June of 2011, they’ve all been met, photographed, have graduated, and are preparing for this next phase of their lives.  Now it might just be the pregnancy hormones, but I am getting a little emotional typing this up!  I truly feel like I’ve made such wonderful connections with this fabulous group of 29 seniors – they have each touched me and brought joy to my life in different ways, and I can honestly say that it was an absolute pleasure to work with each and every one of you.  We planned, we talked, we laughed, we made many a mom cry (always happy tears), you shared your plans and goals with me, and I shared my stories of my life with you as well.  I hope that you enjoyed our time together as much as I did, and that the final product made you feel beautiful inside and out.  I have enjoyed running into you around town since our sessions, and I hope you’ll never hesitate to stop me and give me a hug if you see me out and about!  I know that great things are going to come from this class, and I can’t wait for your stories to be told!  So here you go … enjoy!

If you can’t see the embedded video above, click here for a direct link.  And now here I am preparing for the Class of 2012 … and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for me!  Can they top the Class of 2011?  Let’s just say that the challenge has been put forth …

After an initial reschedule during our crazy week of storms, I finally had the chance to meet up with Meagan last week in one of my favorite urban spots!  We were a little worried about the wind, but it ended up being a perfect evening.  Love it when that happens!    Meagan is such an incredibly sweet AND beautiful girl, and like most of my seniors this year, she is very talented!  She sings, acts, and is a soccer star too.  She brought along her mom and a good friend (who also happens to be my baby sister), so needless to say, there was lots of laughing.  I had such a great time finding a bunch of new spots at a “well-used” location, and Meagan had a killer wardrobe and was up for anything so it worked out great!  Thanks for a wonderful evening, and enjoy your sneak peek!  P.S. I want her hair!!!

I feel like a broken record, but here we go … I got the honor of photographing another beautiful senior girl on another windy night last week!  I’m lovin’ all of my gorgeous seniors, I could definitely do without the near constant wind we’ve had lately.  Luckily, Sophie was a trooper and she totally OWNED that wind.   She brought some gorgeous outfits that really complimented our nice natural surroundings, she has a great sense of style.  She also brought along her two younger brothers who snuck in for a few sibling shots – aren’t they the cutest?  Thanks so much for a great evening Sophie, I had a blast!  And I’m STILL laughing about our “encounter” in the field!  Enjoy your sneak peek! 

After an initial reschedule on a very windy day, we ended up with the most beautiful weather for our session!  Not only that, but I picked up a cool new prop earlier in the day that I decided I couldn’t wait to try out … I’m sure you’ll notice it’s brief debut below!    Christine (and Mom) were such good sports – this particular location is HUGE and I dragged them all over the place, and well off the beaten path.  Christine has the sweetest laugh and the most awesome serious face (yes, it looks like she is channeling Natalie Portman in some shots) - it is a killer combination, I tell ya.  Put that together with her awesome wardrobe, and I knew this session wouldn’t disappoint.  Thank you for being so willing to go along with all of the crazy ideas I had for you, I hope you’ll think it was as worth it as I do!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

I so enjoyed working with this fabulous family – my family clients have been spoiling me lately!  It’s so nice to work with loving families who get along and truly enjoy spending time together.  It really makes family portraits so much more fun, and much easier on me too!  This awesome family was no exception, and their wardrobe was pretty awesome too!  We got some fun family shots, but focused on the two kiddos (Allen and Anna) who are both high school baseball/softball players (as you can see).  We also spent some time taking some senior portraits for Allen – isn’t he so photogenic?  While the day ended up being fairly windy, they went along without complaint.  Thank you so much for letting me spend the evening with you (on Spring Break nonetheless), and enjoy your sneak peek!

You would be hard-pressed to find a more laid-back, up-for-whatever girl than Kirby.  She really didn’t have a strong peference about a location or her wardrobe – she just wanted some great images documenting this time in her life and left the rest up to me (and Mom)!  Love it!   I had such a great time dragging them ALL over this very spacious park – I hope it will have been worth it for them too.  As you can see from these images, Kirby has a super-fun personality – thanks for indulging me on our “goofy” shots!  I hope you are enjoying your spring break, now enjoy your sneak peek!

I really enjoyed spending last Saturday afternoon with Gray in one of my favorite “winter” locations.  Gray is a fellow soccer player and an Office watcher, so we had plenty to talk about!    I love this spot, because even in the dead of winter, it has some lovely green areas to be found as well as some other cool natural backdrops.  I know Gray isn’t crazy about his “serious” look, but I’m glad he was willing to indulge me – I think he totally owns that one!  Thanks for being such a trooper, and enjoy your sneak peek! 

I had the great pleasure of photographing Sam and his wonderful family last week for a little dual family/senior session.  Seriously, working with families like this is a wonderful reminder of what an AMAZING job I have.  They certainly made it easy on me – goofing off, easy smiles, and laughter to tears – those are all hallmarks of a great session.  Mom nailed their wardrobe too – the colors looked wonderful!  Sam’s senior portion of the session was no different.  He was so laid back and up for trekking all over this cool new location I found.  I mean, all of this green in February?  Love it!  Sam is also my first Richardson High senior, and the recipient of my Trendsetter Bonus!  Yay!  I so enjoyed our time together.  Enjoy your sneak peek!

I couldn’t have imagined a better way to kick off my 2011 schedule than with photographing Lindsey!  Lindsey found me online back over the summer, so it seemed like this session had been in the works for quite some time.  She really wanted something different for her senior portraits, and I was honored that she trusted me to accomplish that for her.  Speaking of accomplished … Lindsey plays the fiddle, is a fabulous artist {see below}, AND is a natural in front of the camera!  She has such a wonderful presence about her –  you can tell she truly has a heart to serve others.  I really enjoyed the couple of hours we spent together at an awesome new location.  And I really love the fact that she brought so many great accessories and props all on her own to incorporate into the session.  That is what can truly make your session unique!  Thanks again for allowing me to capture these special moments for you Lindsey, and enjoy your sneak peek!