You know how you feel when you’ve just accomplished something simultaneously so difficult and so rewarding? Pure joy! And Jordan embodied that feeling perfectly during her University of Montana graduation photos the other day. (She literally kicked up her heels from happiness!)

We had such a great time making these photos for her to celebrate her December graduation. Jordan’s getting her degree in Math (something I greatly respect as someone who is forever challenged by numbers). In between making photos near the beloved Griz statue and Main Hall’s clock tower, we popped into buildings around campus to warm up, one of which was the Math building. As luck would have it, we found a room that wasn’t being used, and Jordan had fun writing a quick equation on the board that we could use as a backdrop to some of her images.

I’ve also got to give her major props for braving the chilly temps when we weren’t indoors. A few snowflakes were coming down as we made her images, but even though she was freezing, you would have never known it!

Another one of our warm up pit stops was at the library, an old haunt of Jordan’s since she used to work the late late shift there. We had a good time playing with the leading lines of the endless shelves full of books, and captured some images of Jordan pseudo-studying. (And I promise, we were quiet while we made these photos!)

Jordan! Thank you (and your most excellent sister assistant) for such a fabulous session! Your joy and energy is contagious in the best way possible, and I left with a perma-grin on my face (always a wonderful thing). Here’s to you and all your hard work to reach this point, and congratulations again on your graduation!

On the docket:

After a little holiday break, portraits and weddings! Stay tuned!

Cheers,

-Kristine

I am always so happy when I hear from Kristan, Ben, Lincoln, and Cormac that they’re back in town visiting, and that we get to make more Missoula summer family photos at the University of Montana for them! I’ve been photographing their family for several years now, and it is always an absolute delight to get to hang out with them, laugh together, and document their wonderful family!

This year we decided to hike up the “M” trail a bit, explore the grasses, and have a blast laughing our heads off as we yelled Lincoln’s favorite funny words. (I’ll let you guess what a five-year-old boy might choose. )

We ventured back down to check out the peonies that were in full, splendid bloom, made ur way onto campus to cool off a bit, and enjoyed some time wandering around, racing each other, exploring cool bike racks that were perfect for 22-month-old Cormac to crawl through, and of course, the check out the wonders of steps and railings around the various buildings.

Cormac was particularly interested in investigating pine cones, Lincoln loved climbing the various rocks and other structures, and both boys are total pro speed racers!

We topped off our session with a visit to the grizzly statue on the Oval. Cormac was intent on holding its paw, while Lincoln performed a drum session for us on the bear’s thighs. Everyone joined in for a good family “roar” together, (again, Lincoln and Cormac are total roaring pros), and that was a wrap on another absolutely wonderful session with their family.

Kristan, Ben, Lincoln, and Cormac! Thank you for being your wonderful selves, for your curiosity and joy, and for always sharing the biggest and best laughs with me! Yay for you all!

On the docket:

Portraits and weddings – stay tuned!

Cheers,

-Kristine

When Kristan got in touch with me this year to make University of Montana summertime family photos again of her, her husband Ben, their son Lincoln, Ben’s mother Janet and Ben’s sister Jessica I was beyond excited because we’d had such a blast last summer making images for them. And this year was no exception!

Lincoln, now two, was as energetic as ever, ready to rocket all over campus, climb up and down stairs, balance on curbs, swing from his parents’ arms, giggle with his grammie and auntie, and challenge me to mini races. The boundless joy in this little guy is pretty magical and absolutely contagious! He had us all laughing and my cheeks definitely hurt from grinning so much!

Case-in-point: he gave me a new nickname of “Toots” – you know, short for Tootsie. Which has got to be about the funniest thing ever. Lincoln walked up to me at one point and exclaimed, “Hi Toots!” Ben looked at him, surprised and said, “Where did that come from?” We all had a good time guffawing over that little moment.

We eventually needed to wrap up our session, and as I was headed out to leave, Lincoln took my hand in his little one and pulled me along with his family. Oh my heart! I explained to him that I had to go to my house and he had to go to his, which wasn’t exactly the most suitable of explanations to him, because he was still pretty insistent that I come with them. So we agreed that he could give me a hug and I’d see him again soon. Seriously – how I didn’t melt right there on the spot is a mystery to me. What a little dear!

Suffice it to say, it was an absolutely fabulous session and I loved every second, as I knew I would. Kristan, Ben, Lincoln, Janet and Jessica – thank you again for a wonderful evening! It is such a treat to get to document your family when you swing on over to Montana! Here’s to a wonderful year ahead for you all!

On the docket:

Oodles of weddings, elopements, and portraits! Stay tuned!

Cheers,

-Kristine

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

College graduation is such a time of excitement, joy and pure anticipation of getting out there in the real world and practicing what you’ve learned! I always love making graduation portraits – whether that’s for seniors in high school or seniors in college. So when Emily contacted me about making college graduation and couples’ photos with her boyfriend, John, I knew we’d have a fantastic time making these images to celebrate such a wonderful milestone in her life.

It was a bit of a windy, chilly day for our session, but Missoula in springtime is just gorgeous no matter what the weather decides to do. We had such a fun time on the University of Montana campus hitting up the symbolism trifecta (the Griz statue, Main Hall, and the M). And Emily added a little pizazz to the party by bring along some glitter to use in a few images (I admit that I totally yelped out of pure joy each time we made those shots – so fun!)

Our session then morphed into a couples’ session that John got to star in too! We really had a great time roaming around some funky little spots in Missoula, and making images of Emily and John – who clearly are smitten with one another. Those smiles!

Thank you again, Emily and John, for such an enjoyable shoot! It was so nice to meet you both, and here’s another big congratulations to you on your graduation! Here’s to a bright future – glitter included! :)

On the docket: portraits and weddings!
-Kristine

Brooke was so enthusiastic when she contacted me to make some University of Montana graduation portraits and headshots of her to use for her graduation invites and in the professional world. I knew we’d have a great time working together because of her awesome positive energy. And we even lucked out with gorgeous spring weather and lovely light (although I swear, that 70 degrees sure felt like summer to me!).

Brooke’s also got THE most sparkly blue eyes I’ve ever seen – no need to visit the Caribbean – just check out Brooke’s eyes! We had such a nice time laughing and chatting about her plans for the future during our quick little session. Brooke is so excited to be graduating from the Journalism School and is looking forward to pursuing photography as well.

And if her vibrant, positive attitude is any indication of her future success, she’ll be doing very well!

Congrats again to you, Brooke! Being a college graduate is such a profound accomplishment! Here’s to a fun future ahead!

On the docket: portraits and weddings! Stay tuned!

Cheers,

-Kristine

Dusty and Tom are so fab – first, remember their gorgeous Glacier wedding last July? Secondly, when Dusty told me what she wanted to do for her rock the dress session, I was loving how her goal was to incorporate some of their favorite things – golfing, their love of Missoula, their passion for the Griz and, the cherry on top – quintessential Missoula summer awesomeness: floating the river with beers in hand.

We started out golfing a few holes and took advantage of some gorgeous Missoula vistas as well. Talk about a perfect day for all of what we had planned! After hitting the course, our next stop was the “M” trail at the university, and yet more amazing views! (I think we all surprised quite a few of the hikers on the trail – we’re pretty sure Dusty even got instagrammed by a lady finishing her hike).

We couldn’t leave the university without a nod to the Griz, so we headed over to the stadium to make some photos there. We were all kind of secretly longing to get into the stadium (or perhaps not so secretly longing), but discovered it was locked, and decided we probably shouldn’t break in. ;) However, luck was on our side and we ended up running into a friend of mine (yay Adelle!), who works at the U, and also happened to have a set of keys on her. Serendipity, baby! We were in! And boy were we excited.

After we did our photo thing in the stadium, we zipped on over to the river and ended our evening with some tube-floating, river-wading and a TON of laughter. I’d say that makes for one heckuva a great rock the dress session. Way to be, D&T! You seriously rocked your session!

On the docket: portraits galore and weddings! Stay posted!

Cheers,

-Kristine