Jessica Strickland, International Fine Art and Wedding Photojournalist | » Portrait http://www.jessicarstrickland.com Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:09:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= NOLAN http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/nolan-2/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/nolan-2/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:09:08 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=7111 Oh sweet baby Nolan is soooo precious!! He had just come home from the hospital the day before our shoot and was a teeeny 5 pounds when I met him. He was soo sleepy and good for our shoot!! His big brother Jack is quite a show stealer and was pretty funny about his little brother….he wasn’t completely sure what to think. He’s naturally a little timid and scared of him, after all…he does look soo itty bitty and he did just have to learn to share the house/the love/the time/his parents with him…but Jack is also very sweet, loving and protective over his brother. I imagine in no time, those two will be thick as theives and be ruling the world…at least the Kakasuleff world! ;) Jared & Kristina, we are SOO happy for you guys!! Watch out Hamilton Heights…Kakasuleff boys are on the way! ;)

Jack was SUCH a ham during our shoot that I had to give him his own little post….he’s 3 (in case you couldn’t tell!) and he even tried to turn the camera on me! Love it!

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/nolan-2/feed/ 1 ATTENTION PORTRAIT CLIENTS! http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/attention-portrait-clients/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/attention-portrait-clients/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:47:35 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=7109 Just a quick note of business regarding portrait scheduling! My portrait schedule is filling a bit more quickly than normal and available dates are becoming LIMITED!! Just wanted to let everyone know in case you were hoping to get a portrait session scheduled this spring, summer or fall! I’m sorry to say that OCTOBER is already FULL and I only have a few remaining spots left in September! Spring and summer still have a few spots per month! So, please, if you want to schedule a portrait session, contact me ASAP so I can accomodate your preferred timing as best I can! As always, I appreciate your business sooooo…. much! :)

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/attention-portrait-clients/feed/ 0 THE WRIGHT & PENTZER FAMILY http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-wright-pentzer-family/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-wright-pentzer-family/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:01:02 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=7081 You know how in life, as you grow up, you know families that are kind of iconic for being just awesome and cool? They are wonderful, fun, loving, authentic, welcoming and you just love being their presence? Well, this family is one of THOSE kinds of families for me! I’ve known the Wright Family for a long time, long before I was even a photographer! They are just special in soo many ways….and I absolutely loved getting to photograph them!! It was a super chilly morning and they were serious troopers! The incredibly authentic smiles do a great job of masking the fact that they were literally freezing!! Wright Family…YOU GUYS ROCK!! I adore you and I always will!! :)

Aren’t these children SOO precious and adorable?

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-wright-pentzer-family/feed/ 2 THOMAS http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/thomas/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/thomas/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:47:11 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=7060 Oh sweet sweet baby Thomas! He had my heart instantly!! I adore his parents, I was soo fortunate to photograph their wedding and engagement several years ago and I was soo excited when I got the call that they were expecting their first baby and they wanted me to do his newborn images!! He was very new when I met him, just a few days old, they had barely just gotten home from the hospital…and they were already soo comfortable as a new family, it was soo great getting to spend a few hours with them and be in that sweet newborn haze with them for a little while! (If you have kids, you know what I mean about just getting home from the hospital with your first baby, it’s a sweet, excited, (and let’s be honest, a bit clueless and sleepless) wonderful time…you are almost in a happy haze!) I soo love watching my couples grow into families, my favorite part of my job, and when the people are as kind and wonderful as Elise and John, it’s extra sweet!! Meet sweet baby Thomas!

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/thomas/feed/ 1 THE HOSKINS + PULFER FAMILY http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-hoskins-pulfer-family/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-hoskins-pulfer-family/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:08:20 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=6763 Oh I love this family! It was soo great getting to see them again, after photographing Nikki & Chuck’s wedding several years ago! They are such wonderful, kind people!! They are major troopers, too because on the morning that we did their shoot, it was a brisk, windy 38 degrees…and I could barely move my fingers to photograph them….so it’s majorly impressive that they all look soo happy and smiley!! Most people would have said NO thanks, this is miserable and WAY too cold…but not this awesome family…they sucked it up and enjoyed themselves (ok, enjoy might be a stretch!) anyway!! Hoskins & Pulfer Family…thank you for such a great shoot and for enduring the cold for me!! I think it proved to be well worth it! I hope you agree!! :)

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-hoskins-pulfer-family/feed/ 1 THE RETTIG GIRLS http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-rettig-girls/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-rettig-girls/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 23:15:44 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=6560 Every year, there is a day when I am out photographing and it’s a noticable turning point in the weather. The wind has a bite to it and never really seems to end, the leaves are mostly gone and the trees are noticably bare, there is either a crunch or a squish everywhere you walk, fall has come to a close…and winter is knocking on the door. It was THAT day. And I felt bad because I had a day full of shoots and noone really wants to be outside having fun and being cute when they are freezing and being blown away! So, I felt bad for these sweet Rettig girls…I really did. As you will see though, they were serious troopers through it all! Ellen, Thank you for your patience ;) , help and bribes in order to get great smiles! I hope that “biggest waffle cone EVER” with gummy bears and m&m’s was REALLY great, Mia! ;) Despite the cold and wind….we got tons of great images of these SUPER adorable girls and I really did enjoy my time with them!! Thanks soo much, Ellen, Caroline, Cate & Mia for being soo wonderful to work with! :)

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-rettig-girls/feed/ 2 THE PLEIMAN FAMILY http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-pleiman-family-2/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-pleiman-family-2/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:18:21 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=6527 Another great shoot with the Pleiman’s! It’s amazing to see how quickly time has flown…I vividly remember Anderson’s (the older one!) newborn session and can’t believe that Carson, their youngest is already two!! I have heard that time goes even faster when you have kids, but I didn’t really believe it until I started working with families and watching their kids grown…and then had a child of my own!! Pleiman Family…thanks soo much for always being soo incredibly easy to work with, always trusting me and being great!! Soo good to see you guys! :)

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-pleiman-family-2/feed/ 1 THE BOYCE FAMILY + BABY NATE http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-boyce-family/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-boyce-family/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:52:40 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=6493 Oh the sweet Boyce Family!! I simply adore them sooo much. It’s just soo great having such wonderful friends and getting to be their photographer so that I can watch their children grow…and watch their family grow too!  I also love this family for the fact that they always understand that sometimes, you get perfect shoots with perfect weather and sometimes, you get crazy shoots where you are sort of just figuring it out as you go, based on what mother nature is throwing at you…and it’s just part of photo shoots…with babies and little boys and weather! It literally started SNOWING like mad (in early November!) while I was driving to the Boyce’s…the wind got crazy and the temps were dropping…I just knew it was going to make for an interesting day! You see, photographing inside in the late fall and winter can be really tough, it’s darker and lighting is a challenge…then add a newborn with three active (but super awesome!) little boys, all cooped up inside while trying to do a photo shoot…it can be a recipe for craziness…but in all honestly, it turned out GREAT…..and per their usual, the Boyce’s were flexible and understanding (even when the boys decided they wanted to do a pose of all of them in a pile with baby Nate on TOP! hehe!)….and we had a BLAST!  Luckily, the snow stopped and we snuck outside for 3 minutes of pictures right at the end! I even got the text from Deanna after I left saying that the boys were asking where “Aunt Jess” went and that I had moved to AUNT status!! Am I a lucky girl or WHAT!?  ;) I love those boys!! Thanks, Boyce Family…you guys are just the best!!

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-boyce-family/feed/ 0 THE WILHOITE FAMILY http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-wilhoite-family-2/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-wilhoite-family-2/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:56:59 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=6193 I love this wonderful family! Ever since waaay back to photographing Jessica & Aaron’s wedding, to getting to photograph Claire earlier this year and now, she’s a big walking, smiling, laughing 1 year old!!! It’s amazing how quickly the time has gone, feels like just yesterday that I remember the cold December day that Jess & Aaron were married!! They are soo wonderful to work with…and always have been! They are soo laid back, easy going, fun and always flexible! Miss Claire rocked it for a good 30 minutes for this shoot, but then the wind picked up, the temps kept dropping and she just plain got tired of me and enduring the weather (and frankly, I didn’t blame her at all!)….but like always, Jess & Aaron completed trusted me when I said that we had great ones already and we could wrap up….and I love that about them! ;) And as you will see, Claire seriously rocked it! She is SUCH a cutie!! Thanks soo much, Jess, Aaron & Claire for an awesome, slightly abbreviated shoot! ;) Can’t wait until next time!!

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-wilhoite-family-2/feed/ 0 THE BOSTIC FAMILY http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-bostic-family/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-bostic-family/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:18:45 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=5907 OH the wonderful Bostic family!! How I adore them!! I am not even sure how many times their gorgeous faces have graced my blog…but every time I get to photograph them, I’m grateful!!! I always walk away from our shoots in slight amazement that they are as super cooperative as they are through hours of photographing, locations, many outfit changes, etc! It’s a lot to ask of children and they really do an incredible job of being TERRIFIC for photo shoots (the most common question I get from other Mom’s of kids that I photograph is “How does the mother of those gorgeous Bostic children get them to change clothes that many times and cooperate through it all?”)! :)  The answer…well, it’s several things….but in this case, it was bribery!! ;) (a commonly used tool in photographing children!) Amy (their beautiful and super patient momma) basically agreed to make them cookies for breakfast the next morning (HA!!)…and it’s also a whole lot of fun and sillyness, Amy and I making fools of ourselves in order to keep the mood really fun!! We have a wonderful time and I just couldn’t adore them more!! Thanks for another awesome shoot, Bostic’s!! And thanks again for the sweet gift for Sophie, Amy!! :) xoxo!!

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-bostic-family/feed/ 2 THE SIMPSON FAMILY http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-simpson-family/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-simpson-family/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:16:31 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=5833 OH, what a special shoot this was for me!! I have been telling myself to make this shoot happen for years now….and so when I got the email from Eric that they were hoping to do a family shoot, I was soo glad to finally be planning it. This is my Pastors terrific family!! Eric, Kendra, Lilly and Kaylynn are genuinely wonderful people to the core…I really can’t say enough about them! Mark and I met at our church, (a little known fact!) Eagle Church..both of our families have attended our church for many years and Eric has been the Teaching Pastor ever since, so our relationship and personal lives date waaaay back to our church! Eric is one of the core reasons why we love our church (in addition to our other wonderful Pastors at Eagle!) as much as we do because he has been blessed with an ability to preach God’s word like noone I’ve ever encountered in my life…and God has touched countless lives through Eric. You know those sermons where God just speaks to you through them, you just can’t stop listening, you want them to go on and on (yep, it’s rare, I KNOW!) ;) , you can’t help but think of all the ways it applies to your every day life and you leave thinking about it for the next few days….well, that’s an Eric Simpson sermon pretty every Sunday at our Church. We are pretty lucky, I know! :) Just listen to one of the sermons that can be found on the Eagle Church website link above and you will see what I mean! And when he’s not preaching at our church, He’s working with with the Indianapolis Colt’s on their pastoral team. God truly works through him and it’s such an incredible blessing to me and to soo many others! He has a super great family!! His amazing wife, Kendra and daughters Lilly and Kaylynn are absolutely terrific!! Soo genuine, fun and real!! They are the kind of family that you really hope to have one day…people who truly love one another, respect and encourage each other, have a blast together and put an emphasis on enjoying life…while being based on foundation of faith, serving God and others and working towards a greater purpose! Mark and I can only hope to raise Sophie like they have raised Lilly and Kaylynn! We had SOO MUCH FUN on this shoot!! They were all completely involved, having a blast from the minute we started and truly enjoying time as a family…just letting me capture it! It was SOO SPECIAL!! Simpson family, I love you guys…it was such a great joy to photograph your family and it’s such a continued blessing to know you and call you friends! :)

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/the-simpson-family/feed/ 5 THE HUDDLESTON FAMILY http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/personal/the-huddleston-family-2/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/personal/the-huddleston-family-2/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 03:34:33 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=5801 Another family shoot! This time, for Mark’s family! Hannah, Ben, Graham and Xavier…our wonderful family…and our neighbors! We love them soo much and are soo blessed to have them in our lives! It’s soo hard to believe that Graham is now 4 years old (5 in January!)…when it seems like only yesterday, he practically had a daily shoot on my blog when he was born as the first child into the family!! Now Xavier is 2 (3 in March!) and everyone is growing soo quickly!! Oh…and a full family shot at the end! Told you that I was trying to capture everyone this year!

We were at my in-laws house for a family day of birthday celebrations when we did this shoot…and so Soph naturally ended up in the shoot! She loves her cousins, her Auntie H and her Umbleken, as she calls him (aka, Uncle Ben)! And I couldn’t help but shoot a few of my FAVORITE tree….. it’s such a beautiful, magestic old tree that is absolutely massive!! It’s estimated to be over 200 years old….and seen soo many generations, seasons, storms and sunshine…it’s amazing. One of my favorite things to do each fall is to visit Mark’s parents property and see my favorite tree!

And the whole clan from earlier this fall…

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/personal/the-huddleston-family-2/feed/ 7 THE BURGERS http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/personal/the-burgers/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/personal/the-burgers/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 02:38:57 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=5774 If these lovely faces look familiar, that’s because they are MY FAMILY!! My sister’s family, my parents…and even Mark, Sophie and I…and my Gram makes an appearance too! :) I’ve worked hard to try to actually capture family shots for all members of my family this year because while it’s on my priority list every year, it doesn’t always happen! So, we grabbed a tripod, snuck away as a group for about 15 minutes and voila…family photos! I love my family…they are all such fantastic, wonderful people. I’m SOO blessed to have them in my life, have their constant help, support, friendship and love!

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/personal/the-burgers/feed/ 3 BABY LOUIS http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/baby-louis/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/baby-louis/#comments Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:10:23 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=5499 I have been waiting for the call that sweet baby Louis was HERE…and I finally got it!! When the call didn’t come for about 3 weeks past the expected time, I started to really feel for Melissa (who you might remember from her recent maternity shoot!) because I knew that she had to be soo ready!! She ended up going to 42 weeks with him and made an incredibly valiant attempt at natural delivery, even at 42 weeks, with all 9.6 pounds  & 22 inches of him…so, Louis, just a tip…I would highly recommend you start planning a lovely trip to Europe for her when you are of age, as your payback for all that your Mom endured on your behalf! ;) All joking aside, I walked into P.J. & Melissa’s….and could have almost melted when I saw Louis. He is pure sweetness, absolute perfection and worth every minute of waiting!! Melissa & P.J., I have grown to adore you guys through our time together (I had a feeling I would when we first met!) and I am soo grateful to be the chosen one to capture your beautiful family!! All my love…and wishes for lots of sleep! xoxo! :) (oh and yes, I’ll admit it, I was a wee bit obsessed with his nursery, hence all the detail shots!)

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/baby-louis/feed/ 2 BABY OWEN + THE BENESH FAMILY http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/baby-owen-the-benesh-family/ http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/baby-owen-the-benesh-family/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:48:21 +0000 Jessica http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/?p=5410 Oh sweet baby Owen! You melt my heart!! I have loved the Benesh family since waaaay back when I first met Heather & Russell for their engagement session and I’ve been soo blessed to capture every milestone in their lives ever since! It’s hard to believe that time has gone soo fast that they just welcomed their second child!! It feels like just yesterday when I visited them to do Aubrey’s newborn session! I’m soo happy for them…and I was honored to be able to capture sweet baby Owen’s first pictures!! Love you, Benesh Family!! :) Thanks for another great shoot and a wonderful time together!

And then we had some sweet family time!

And then it was AUBREY’s turn…so we laughed and played and danced until we wore ourselves out!

]]> http://www.jessicarstrickland.com/blog/portrait/baby-owen-the-benesh-family/feed/ 3