Thursday, April 14, 2011

Savoring Sierra

Hello blog! It's been a long cold winter. And since I shoot outside in natural light there hasn't been much to do here in Chicago. But I've been busy taking classes and experimenting with things (which you'll see below) and am very excited about what this year holds for Clark Street Photography.

I was lucky enough last month to make my annual pilgrimage to Texas for spring break. While I do tend to go every year, this year I was invited to take senior portraits for my cousin's daughter who is graduating in just 47 days. And will be attending....

....St. Edward's University in the fall. Majoring in some combination of Psychology and Theatre. Which, I can speak from personal experience, is about the same thing.

Sierra comes from a pretty awesome family. She's chill like her Dad, funny like her Mom, but has her own rockin' style. She somehow managed to transcend that whole member of the herd mentality that high school breeds. She is very much her own person. This alone elevates her to rock-star status in my book.

Spicy. Sweet. Silly. Self-assured.

And flat out freaking gorgeous.


She is frequently smiling and laughing and encouraging and inspiring others to do the same. She's easy to be with, can't ruffle her feathers too much. But still waters run deep. And she definitely has a depth about her. She's complex and mature beyond her years.


And she's graduating from high school. And embarking on the adventure of growing up. And it's exciting and scary both for her and her parents who love her so much and have done an amazing job parenting her. She has everything she needs to soar on her own. To blossom and develop into the person she is meant to become. It's significant, this passage of time. It's a huge milestone. And for me, to remember so vividly holding her just hours after her birth, it is so bittersweet. The bottom line is - kids grow up. They do. And as parents it's hard to let them go. But Sierra's parents can have confidence in knowing she will make great choices for herself. That even her mistakes will be meaningful in some way. And that because they have loved her so well, she'll always be their little girl. Even when she's busy growing into womanhood.