Right before moving from our long-time home-state, New Hampshire, for the northland of Wisconsin, my middle son expressed interest in playing youth football.  No doubt, some of his interest was sparked by the impressive seasons that the New England Patriots have completed of late, but I knew it was a real desire and wanted to act.

Not sure what to expect in our new town, I was pleased to find the Ashland Youth Football league online -- and noticed that they were starting up right as we were due to arrive in town.  It was an excellent break for my son.  Not only are the coaches really good and knowledgeable about the sport, they took it serious in a good way, expecting commitment and hard work from the kids.  

At first, I was concerned that it might be too much for my son's first year.  The practices were long and intense and the weather was unusually hot -- yet he never complained.  As time went on, I could see that he was finding this venture to be very fulfilling and I could also see growth as anyone who goes through a trial and out the other side intact and victorious experiences.  

So, my son is Oredocker strong and proud!  And his mom was excited for an opportunity to take him out around town and onto the field for some cool shots in uniform.   We look forward to great year #2 this fall. 

When we found out that we were leaving our home-state of 30 years, New Hampshire, we realized that some of our grown kids would stay behind.  Though very hard to say good-bye, it was a natural expectation.  This was a compelling reason to get my 5 daughters together for a photo-shoot at a local park.  I haven't taken a group shot of the girls in a long time and this was the excuse I needed to force myself into action.

My girls are super-close and affectionate.  I know it's hard for them to be apart (2 remained in NH,) so I know that these portraits will be priceless treasures over the years.  It was neat to get the group shots and some smaller couplings.  Here are my five beauties! (Ages 24 down to 10.)

This family won a free session at an auction I donated to.  It was fun for me to hear that because I took their son's Senior portraits the year before, so looked forward to spending more time with them all and get some great family and couple shots.

They had a good idea of the locations they were looking for and came well prepared with wardrobe and posing ideas.  Dad had us in stitches much of the time, so it was just a fun, relaxing evening.  This was my last session in beautiful New Hampshire as, shortly after, we moved to our new home in Ashland, WI.  Here are some favorites of the awesome W family!

We started in a lovely, natural setting . . . 

Later we moved on downtown for some "small-town urban" shots. 

My last Senior for the class of '17 got me for a late spring session.  Though most of my Senior sessions happen in the fall, it is not at all unusual for students to wait for a spring setting to get their portraits taken.  In fact, until the end of June, I encourage any Senior to get their portraits done to commemorate this amazing achievement -- that means it's not too late for the Class of '18!

John is a very special guy.  I met this family several years ago when they were looking for winter family portraits.  It was definitely one of the most fun and unique experiences I've had.  From there, I did Senior portraits for two of John's siblings, so was very excited when it was his turn.  Like his siblings, John has been homeschooled, but he also participated in other formal programs.  For his efforts, he was awarded Valedictorian! WOW!  So excited for him (so we, of course, had to incorporate some shots with his cap, gown, and medal.)

John is also a very funny, nice, and just great guy.  He has a lot of interests and I expect an exciting future for him.  Here are some favorite shots from our session at St. Gaudens in Plainfield, NH.

He made this cloak himself!  So cool. 

Valedictorian!!

I have taken portraits of little Hannah before and she is SUCH a good little model.  It's hard to believe that she is only 6.  She sits so still and sweet and demure.  All of her expressions were unprompted.  Of course, she is a little beauty, too.  Her red hair is a photographer's dream.  She is part of the smallest minority in the world -- red hair and blue eyes!  

As New Hampshire was experiencing a glorious spring and beautiful perennials were blooming everywhere, we definitely had to incorporate them into the session.  At the last minute, her mother grabbed the plaid blanket to wrap her in and I'm so glad that she did -- she is like a little Scottish princess.  

Here are my favorite shots of little Hannah.

As spring came to NH, Maya and I decided that it would be fun to get out and capture that beautiful golden light and contrast all that gold and white with red.  I just love the colors in this and, of course, Maya looks gorgeous.