Sled Day {Missoula, MT Family Photographer}

We have these friends that are very special to our family. We've all sort of "done life" together. We've evolved from the dumb, 20-something college/grad school students to adults with children and mortgages and student loan payments. Between us, we have five kids, with more on the way. We've been tested by life together. And we've emerged stronger because of our friendship.

Last weekend, we planned a sled day. Everyone wanted to go to Blue Mountain. I'd heard mixed reviews about Blue Mountain -- from it's a slow, quant sled ride, perfect for young kids to it's a dangerous, slippery death trap, DO NOT ATTEMPT! Driving up there is this sign that I should have grabbed a picture of that basically outlines all the perils of sledding -- from possible broken bones to paralysis to death. As if I wasn't already terrified to send my toddler down a hill in a thin encasement of plastic. 

My daredevil husband put an end to my concerns pretty quickly. Before I could even get out of my car, he had Asher in the sled, taking off down a hill. And Blue Mountain proved to be pretty fun. There were some pretty treacherous hills (that the men in our group wasted no time getting to know) and some perfect little bunny hills for the littles in our group. 

Here's some of my favorite images of the day.

Meet Stunning Sari {Missoula, MT Portrait Photographer}

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of photographing my beautiful friend Sari. Sari is an Arbonne expert and my go-to gal for all questions skincare related.  I'm pretty set in my ways when it comes to skincare. I come from a long line of Clinique users. My grandmother, mother and I all have Clinique products in our medicine cabinets. After telling Sari my biggest skincare gripe that Clinique hasn't been able to solve -- the rashy-looking redness on my cheeks -- she convinced me to try a demo of Arbonne's Calm Collection. It's only day four, but I can tell my rosy cheeks have improved. I trust Sari a lot with my skin!

I also trust her with my clients. In fact, Sari and I are going to be working closely together from now on, as she's also my makeup consultant for boudoir, glamour, senior, and maternity shoots in Missoula. First thing was first, I needed to photograph Sari for the About page on my website. "Get ready for the biggest challenge of your photography career!" Sari joked, adding that she NEVER photographs well. I disagreed, but I like challenges. Here's Sari!:

I'm still trying to figure out which style I prefer after creating my own film mattes. The top is with the film matte effect. The bottom is a more tradition, clean edit. Which do you prefer?

I hope Sari can use these for her professional portfolio as she meets with clients and makes their skin care dreams come true. If you would like to schedule a similar head shot session like the one I did with Sari, give me a call at (254) 760-4641.