Mackenzie - Central High School - Clinton County Senior Photographer

Oh. My. Gorgeous. <--- That pretty  much sums up how I feel about Ms. Mackenzie. She's a dedicated cheerleader, an incredible artist and she has the most beautiful personality! I absolutely loved working with her and her mom, Paula. We had a great time talking about what sort of images Mackenzie wanted, and designing a shoot around exactly that!

Mackenzie loves to paint, draw and read, so we created a concept shoot with that! Concept shoots require lots of planning and are highly stylized with props and outfit details! Think of a production for a magazine add and that's what our concept shoots are like! We absolutely LOVED the way Mackenzie's turned out and I can't wait to show her the rest!

Mackenzie and Paula - I had such a wonderful time working with you both! Mackenzie, you are such a bright, talented girl and I know you're going to do big things in the future! I can't wait to show you everything next week!

xoxo, h

The Concept Shoot

Lydia - Central High School - Clinton County Senior Photographer

I had so much fun with Lydia and her mom, Mary! We came up with a great plan from the start and I am SO happy with the way everything turned out! She put a ton of thought into her eight outfits (which I LOVED!) and her locations. We even used locations that were special to her and her parents, like Scottrade Center and her family's business. Being a die-hard Blues fan, of course we had to go down there for a few images. I know they are about to head out on vacation (luckies!) so I hope we were able to get this up for you before you left! Enjoy the sneak peek and we can't wait to show you them all!

xoxo, h

Meet our newest intern, KRYSTAL :))

Meet, Krystal! What can I say? We love her :) Krystal is currently attending SIUE and she's going to be helping out around the studio with projects and assisting on sessions!!!

We told her she had to pass our interview to work with us (just kidding...kind of ;)) - Here were her responses..

When is your Birthday? Jan 16, 1990 What School do you go to and What's your major? SIUE Mass communication and Art and Design minor What's your favorite cereal? Frosted Flakes If you could vacation anywhere in the world? Spain What is your favorite Planet? Earth! Can you say your ABC's backwards? Haha! Definitely Not! What do you want to be when you grow up? Freelance Graphic Designer Why do you want to work with our crazy studio? I love working at hfp because everyday is something new! We are always working on different projects or ideas. My favorite thing about hpf is the fun and positive environment we work in that makes me excited to come in to learn more!

We also asked her 5 random facts about herself (Read mine and Amy, our Creative Director's, here and here), but you'll have to wait for next week to see those! :)))

 xoxo, h

The Raimo Family - Clinton County Family Photographer

When Ashley calls, I know it's time for extended family pictures! And this time was no exception :) Her dad, step-mom and step-brother had come in to visit from Arizona and they wanted to have family pictures done while they were here. So, we gathered up the entire family and headed out! Thank Goodness we had nice weather and a sunny morning!

Also, a few days later, we were able to get a few updated pictures of Caden & Abby in the studio. The kids were all about it and I'm so happy with how they turned out! I had a great time working with this family and I'm looking forward to capturing Ashley and Jon's wedding later next year!

xoxo, h

Destination Senior : LOS ANGELES - Laney Albers - Wesclin High School - Clinton County Senior Photographer

Recently we were lucky enough to travel to Los Angeles, California with one of our local Wesclin High School Seniors, Laney! I chose to bring my sister, Lydia, as an assistant. Super Excited does not even come close to how we felt about our trip! We took off on Sunday evening, starting out with parking our car and running across 3 parking lots in a monsoon (nothing like flying almost 4 hours in wet clothes). After finally checking our luggage and getting through security, we find out our flight was delayed. A quick ten games of hangman and our flight was ready to leave. We made in into LAX at 1:00pm, picked up our rental car and headed Santa Monica, where is stayed for the next three days.

We started out on Monday at a cute little place, recommended by a few locals off Ocean Avenue called Cora's Cafe. We had the BEST breakfast ever! :)))

After breakfast went did a little shopping and scouting for locations for Laney's shoot the next day! We looked mainly in a few of my favorite places in Venice and Santa Monica.

It was a long day, so we stopped in a Jamba Juice where Lydia needed a break ;)

That evening, of course we had to get our authentic Mexican fix so we had dinner at a place called La Sandia in Santa Monica Place. Chicken Fajitas = insane.

After a long day of scouting and shopping, a margarita and a full night's rest, we were more than ready to photograph Laney the next day! Some of my favorite images came from The Santa Monica Pier and we absolutely can't wait to show those off!!

Lydia and I together at the pier during the shoot :)

And, per the norm, this fair skinned girl ended up with a sunburn from shooting all day, even in the overcast sky.

All in all, it was a perfect trip! Well, aside from the six hour delay coming home, getting us back to Clinton County at 3:30am! Aahhh, the fun of traveling! :)))))

I'm so excited to show off some of Laney's images - Check back soon for the sneak peek!

If you are interested in a destination senior shoot, or destination shoot of any kind (we have a destination engagement in Nashville Tennessee coming up, soon!), give us a call! 618-407-4363 It's easier than you think! :)

xoxo, H

The Korte Family - Clinton County Photographer

So sweet, as usual - that's how I would describe the Korte Family. Every time Stephanie contacts me, we always end up with fun, sweet portraits. This time, she wanted an entire family portrait, dad, sisters, kiddos and all! We had wonderful weather and the kiddos were in a great mood, too! All in all, I think they turned out really cute! Thanks again for a great session!