If there’s one thing I’m a sucker for it’s someone who will have just as much fun laughing as I do. Enter Kaitlin! She contacted me a while ago about photographing her for her University of Montana graduation celebration images to document this time in her life after having successfully completed her studies. And as soon as I met her (and her lovely mom) I knew we’d have a total blast making images together.

Not only does she clearly exemplify the French phrase joie de vivre, she was gung ho to do anything I suggested and make the absolute most of the beautiful day we had been treated to on campus.

As we wandered around the University, she told me that she was just about to graduate from the University of Montana Business School with a degree in management and entrepreneurship with an entertainment management focus. Talk about impressive! She’s even already got an internship lined up in Arizona – color me doubly impressed!

She does have a super soft spot for Montana in her heart, though, so it was important to her to be able to document some of what she loves in these photos. That also included her mom! Kaitlin told me that she and her mom don’t have a ton of great photos together, so she was really excited to have her mom join her for some images too. And I’m SO glad she did! These two are like two peas in a pod, and it was such a treat to see their fun-loving relationship with one another. I won’t spoil the surprise here, but just do yourself a favor and be sure to find the set of images featuring mother and daughter. They had me absolutely busting a gut laughing. :)

As we progressed through our session, it came to light that Kaitlin has even perfected her Beyonce hair flip moves. Not only this, she’s a pro at making the “swooshing” sound effects to go along with the hair flip – which of course, had us all cracking up all over again.

Somehow we also managed to luck out with some absolutely stellar weather and light for Kaitlin’s session – rain and cold and snow had been threatening all week, but I think Mother Nature knew Kaitlin’s session deserved a little extra special “sumpin’ sumpin,”” so we were treated to some absolutely beautiful light and long shadows. Those shadows got my creative brain going and, as it turns out, Kaitlin told me (or rather, I think Kaitlin’s mom told me) she’s known for her midair heel clicks. Et voila! It was meant to be – long shadows, heel clicks, great light. What’s not to like? We even got to make those particular images right near the Business school, which is where Kaitlin has spent quite a bit of her time during her studies. If a midair heel click doesn’t scream celebratory exuberance, I don’t know what does!

As our session came to a close we were all grinning to beat the band, my face hurt from smiling and laughing (always a good thing!), and we ended it all with hugs all around, copious amounts of well-wishes, and a huge congrats to Kaitlin on her upcoming graduation. Which I’ll reiterate here again! Kaitlin! What a wonderful session it was – I just loved getting to meet you and your mom, and I want to wish you yet another giant congratulations on your accomplishment! You’ve got such a wonderful way about you, and I just know you’re going to do some amazing things in this life! Here’s to you and your future! Cheers! :)

On the docket:

Portraits and weddings and editorial work! Stay tuned!

Cheers,

-Kristine