Curtis + Jenna | Downtown Casual Engagement Session | Tucson, Arizona Wedding Photography

 {Curtis + Jenna | Downtown Tucson Engagement Sessions | July 2012} Working with Curtis + Jenna has been such a joy. For what little i know of their ins and outs, they couldn't be any more opposite! But it's pretty neat to see God folding them into each other's lives. Folding--that's exactly what I stretched them to do during this engagement session. I wanted Jenna to just fold herself into Curtis. The objective was to make this man feel strong--to accent Jenna's delightful joy and Curtis quite strength. They wanted to keep things 'subtle' and really natural. I tried to capture the little things--the nuances and subtle conversations--the little touches.  I even told them to give me a 'signal' if I asked them to do anything that 'felt funny.' ... oh this face...i love this face almost as much as i love her heart :D 

i really like this black and white...

remember that 'signal' i mentioned above? yea...i got it once... :D these are my favorite... one of their favorite swank little cafes... :)We went to go change wardrobe...check out that stellar glasses! I wish we had played with those more :D its the little looks, ya know?below right was one of my favorite split-second moments during the whole shoot...Jenna spontaneously just whipped her arms around Curtis and gave him a big wet one :)Jenna specfically scouted out this wall and asked for a series with it...this is their REALLY excited face...So incredibly excited to celebrate with these guys on their wedding day in 4 weeks!! :D EEK! | lkm

MICAH | Musician Meets Mad Men | Urban-Styled Tucson Senior Portraits

 {Micah | Senior Portraits | April 2012 | Tucson, AZ } This kid is so suave. Literally--my husband came bounding home after a shift at Starbucks uber excited to tell me he found a rad Senior client for me. He began to sing accolades about Micah's chill sense of humor and ability to carry on conversation--you know, little things that a regular customer/barista relationship can establish. His mom set the session up, I met Micah in downtown on a blistering hot late afternoon. He was down with caravaning around 4th/5th street finding a wicked cool building that the sun was hitting just right. We stopped near this wearhouse, i gave him the basic run down of how 'a guy looks cool in senior pictures' and we hung out for the next hour or two playing with different poses, backdrops, wardrobes, inside jokes, etc. I was thankful for the extra time Micah and his mom chose to invest in. It really made a difference in the session experience. I felt like I reached a myriad of emotional expressions, we weren't rushed, we laughed a ton, we're able to relax... it was a blessing to be trusted with these milestone pictures! | lkm

"now...Micah, i want you to jump off that step with your top best air guitar impression" i love the composition of the two pics below. maybe it's just how the colors work against the sky...i dunno... i vote album cover...headshots below are probably top fave :) Micah just naturally slid into 'subject' role and was awesome to shoot...

MICAH | Musician Meets Mad Men | Urban-Styled Tucson Senior Portraits | teaser

 {Micah | Senior Portrait Sessions | Downtown Tucson | April 2012 | teaser}

I'm doing it backwards again. HERE is the facebook highlight album for Micah's Senior Sesh... I'd love to write about this shoot but I'm pretty sure i'm going to nod off and hit my head on the keyboard any second now. Last time i checked, head-banging isn't the most effective method of blog writing. for now: This senior session goes down as one of my top favorites. I mean, who gets a highschool senior dude to crank out 'the Zoolander face', mixing suave and goofy effortlessly, and a offering 12-point model pose series without blinking? Micah was amazing to work with and skirting around 5th avenue for an hour and half was a blast! | lkm  :)

Jeremy + Kelly | teaser

{Jeremy + Kelly | Engagement Session | Windy Point, Tucson | April 2012} So teasers are pretty mean. That's why i'll trade you a facebook highlight show if you promise to 'like' that sweet little LKM facebook page. deal? deal.

Best Mother's Day Ever | personal

 {Saguaro/Colossal Cave National Park  | Mothers Day 2012} God is so good. It's taken a pretty incredible 4 years to get to this point of celebrating Mommy Day 2012. I won't hash out the heart struggles today. I just wanted to share something personal today--my joy in my family. These are my 2 children. I'm pregnant with #3. (sadly we failed to get any baby bump pictures...you can whine at me later - i just look mostly fluffy anyways.)Lawson suggested we find a place to go hike with the kids. So weird how he reads my mind sometimes. Ive been wanting to check out Saguaro National Park the past few weeks (confession: yes there was an alternative motive that was work-oriented. I've been craving to find some crazy awesome Tucson backdrops for portraits...and yes also, I confess I tend to pronounce it SAG WAR OH. laugh and call me gringo. do it. I dare you)Lawson snagged some great accent shots of desert stuff. the kids haven't been hiking since last summer. I've said it before and i'll say it a thousand times henceforth--the older they get the more fun it is to do stuff like this! Jordyn was so thrilled with the freedom of treking on her own two feet. :D Judah was a little obsessed with stepping on snakes. Dad, in all his mighty warning wisdom, told the kids to be 'careful of snakes'...Judah freaked a little and we had to coax him a little to be brave and trudge forward...carefully.   they pretended to hunt for tigers in these tall sticks...as you can clearly see, Judah was a very committed tiger hunter.by the end of our trek in the desert, you could tell we had run our little munchkins raggedwhile resting back in the picnic area Lawson went to go destroy a dead tree with Judah. While ripping off the bark Jordyn was about to thrust herself upon the trunk and try to scale the darn thing. I heard this very fatherly yell, whipped around to find Lawson swopping the kids up and backing up about 10 feet from the tree. Apparently he found a spider cluster. I think he attempted to protect his manhood by insisting it might have been a brown recluse nest. What a hero. we also had a grand time catching this lil lizard and helping the kids get friendly with it. Judah was pretty sure he was going to lose a limb but still giggled hysterically when he got to feel the poor thing's racing heartbeat. all in all, it was my most favorite mother's day thus far. definitely beat's last year's lonely experience and watching these spawn of mine grow and change rocked my face off. So to sign off...this is them, my offspring, yelling 'happy mommy day' at the top of their lungs. :D Peace. | lkm

Tyler + Megan | Tucson Engagement Session | Pt.2 - "Romance in a Desert Wash"

 {Tyler + Megan | Engagement Session | North Tucson | April 2012} After we hit up T + M's favorite date spot (See Part One), we sauntered over to the nearby wash (a common landmark in Tucson). I wasn't sure what to expect. As a photographer stationed in the desert (grin) I'm still workin' on my collection of locations and backdrops to shoot in...I'll have to write more about the changing and challenging scenery later. While Megan was anticipating a couple romantic hugs on the bridge I suggested we jump down INTO the wash (which was an impressive feat for a client in a sassy dress, a pregnant photographer and a grip of camera gear). But we did it and I was so glad we did! The sun was setting and provided a soft glow as a few tall, assuming weeds played off the neutral tones of the lovebird's wardrobe. I was eyeballing the sunbeams streaking through the bridge pillars knowing that that was where i'd wrap up the shoot...

Tyler + Megan are getting married in Alburquerque, New Mexico next month. I am SO excited for them to start this new chapter...AND finally get to live in the same city. They've been doing long distance for the past few months and my heart goes out to them. While distance is a pretty 'safe' way to do the engagement period, it's gut-wrenching. Been there. Done that. Thank you so much for letting me be part of these memories T + M. I hope this last month of preparing for the celebration and the rest of your lives ROCKS and is full of great, great amazing joy! | lkm

Child's Play in Tucson | personal

 {Judah + Jordyn | Play Time | January 2012} I found a few pictures snagged while kids were playing outside a bit ago. Lately i've been enjoying these play times more. They're hilarious...they really like to play 'dead'...is that morbid? It's pretty entertaining regardless. they'll just fall down and then whisper vigorously--"pssst. moooom. i'm D E A D" - with great gutteral grunts and moans. :)...(do note that even buzz lightyear died)this whole conversation he had on the phone was hilarious. he was pissed. like royally. and he kept saying things in a nice even tone that got more and more stressed until he was yelling. he must have been dealing with credit card collectors or something. 

Texture Tuesday | Blossoms Out of Nowhere!

 {Random plant that sprouted vibrant orange blossoms | evening walk with kids | tucson, AZ | April 2012} I didn't even THINK this plant did anything cool. I mean it's got cute little round leaves and stuff. But otherwise its dry, straight and prickly. However, come April, right down the street where the kids and I periodically walk in the evenings--this plant  strut its feathers.  I have LOVED this past month in TUCSON. Colors are coming out of plants I had passed off as ugly brown, prickly, purposeless plants...(grin) I feel a poignant life-lesson-parallel coming on... | lkm

Tyler + Megan | Tucson Engagement Session | Pt. 1 - "Favorite Date Spot"

 {Tyler + Megan | Engagement Session | North Tucson | April 2012} There is something super sweet about leaving an engagement session overjoyed for the couple you just shot. I watched eyeballs light up and laughter dance even over the silly things and left Tyler + Megan's session with a HUGE smile on my face. AND--that's EVEN after my phone fell out of my camera bag and shattered its screen in the parking lot seconds before I met up with the couple--a fantastic way to glaze over that travesty! Here are a few highlights from our time together - PART ONE. (Stay tuned for PART TWO later this week :D)they really got into their dancing... (song playing softly in my head "when a man loves a woman...") Tyler's top favorite food is Pizza. And this particular parlor is one of their favorites.  these stairs were SO cool.  :Done of my absolute favorite collections of images... :) "tyler can you just grab that woman and embrace her please."...yes, thank you. check out her eyes!!  PART TWO coming soon... :D

Texture Tuesday | Palm Blades

 {Palm Leaves | Tucson, AZ | November 2011} There is a lot of brown in Tucson. Of course if you were to ask one of my best friends Alyssa, one of the most die-hard Tucsonans I know, she'd say brown is her favorite color. I'm so not there yet. Meanwhile, here is an almost-green texture of a bushel of lethal palm branches I nearly impaled myself on whilst playing tag with the kids. I know. I'm hard core. | lkm