Kylie

Oh man, you all are in for it today! I've been telling everyone that I don't want to blog these pictures because then it'll be over, and I love this shoot so much that I don't want to let it go! It's kind of like when you buy some cute new clothes and don't wear them right away, because then you have something new and cute to look forward to. I CAN'T be the only one who does that, right?


Anyway, Kylie is my cousin and she's the middle child in her family, and she's the only one I haven't taken pictures of yet. Her older sister, Chelsea, helped me in one of my student projects as a scary person who appeared in the mirror behind me (which was very fun and actually pretty cool, and she was AWESOME at being terrifying), and I took pictures of Izzy when she turned one. Kylie is super cute, and I was going to be back in Indy (to shoot the puppies from the previous post!), and I wanted to do some portfolio work so I called her up (actually, Facebooked her up) to model for me.

And oh, she worked it.

We found this weird little back road that ended up leading to a train yard, which I was beyond thrilled about, because everyone knows how much I love trains. We didn't actually go very far back there but I'm totally going to go back ... there is some serious untapped potential there.

ANYWAY. We started out the shoot and I loved this picture of Kylie biting her lip, because I think she was still a little nervous with the start of the session, but it looked so model-riffic that I was in love.

And here's the same basic picture with a different facial expression that I also LOVED. You know, I didn't think that Kylie was looking much like Chelsea, but in some of these pictures (like this one), you can really see it. Also, this picture convinced me to try to let my hair go au natural, since we have about the same amount of wavy. The difference, of course, is that Kylie's falls all beautifully and perfectly and mine is kind of ... uncooperative, but I'm hoping that one day it will learn. Now, if I have the patience to make it that far is a whole other story (read: unlikely).

We took a couple shots out at the park in Avon, but mostly I just wasn't really feeling it (although I did get a sweet picture of some ducks that I'll post up later this week), but this picture was cute and I think it's how I mostly picture Kylie in my head.

Anyway, like I said, we weren't really feeling it at the park, so we went to downtown Danville to take some pictures around their square, and I LOVED how great this wall turned out to be as a background. I liked the hood up, and her eyes (well, eye) looked so pretty. I thought about cropping this to be more centered, but I liked the slightly off-center thing so I kept it.

This one is for my mom, who liked it because Kylie's eyes look pretty and you can see her dimple. And, you know, gotta keep the moms happy. I was talking to my mom about how Kylie and her sisters are pretty much my mom's grandchildren, since my grandma isn't as mobile anymore as she was when I was a kid, and my mom takes them out shopping and hangs out on their birthdays and they do fun stuff. She agreed, and Kylie did too. Plus, according to my mom, Kylie is sweet and smart and perfect and good at everything and beautiful and talented. If that doesn't sound like a grandma, I don't even know what does.

This is kind of a classic senior picture shot, and it's weird to think about how much different she'll look when it's time for ACTUAL senior pictures. (She's going to be a freshman this year, which I don't think I mentioned earlier.) I mean, I know that at the ripe old age of 28, with one foot in the grave, I'm getting worse at judging ages and all the young whippersnappers look the same to me, but I totally think these shots can serve as examples of the bad ass senior pictures I take. Woo!

(I don't know why I just wooed. It seemed appropriate.)

Loved this B&W. Isn't it amazing how even when you're smiling, you can have so many different expressions?

OMG, one of my absolute favorites. I love everything about this.

And here's what I had her perched on. I thought this one was so cute and youthful, and I am IN LOVE with her shoes. I swear, every time I see cute shoes that I am in love with, they are made by Rocketdog. These, naturally, are no exception. Some people have Jimmy Choo's, I have Rocketdog. What can I say?

You know, sometimes I think I'm over brick, because it's everywhere, but it does occasionally make really nice backgrounds and I love how rich it looks here.

Essentially a different shot of the same basic set up, but I couldn't pick so you get both. Trust me, I did a lot of narrowing down for this post given how in love with it all I was, but I am not a miracle worker, people, and I only have so much willpower!

Alright, now this marks sort of a turning point in our story. I ended up with this picture, I think, because it reminds me a lot of stuff I see on my friend Erin's design website (http://www.designformankind.com, total plug, go check it out, it's AWESOME). But Kylie and I were driving around kind of aimlessly and we were about ready to throw in the towel. I told her, you're an awesome model and I have great pictures of you, but I'm just feeling kind of uninspired by what's around, so what do you say we get some drinks and go home? And also, when I say drinks, I mean of the variety appropriate for a 14-year-old and a person driving a car, so no one freak out on me.

Anyway, as I was trying to get all turned around and going the right direction, we spotted this building, and it was empty and for sale, so I drove through a minefield of potholes in a gravel lot so we could trespass on it. And that's cool, what self-respecting Hoosier doesn't like a little mud on the tires, but I didn't want to push the car too hard so I thought I'd take an actual road out of there. But when I tried, all I kept ending up on were dead ends.

AND THEN.

Oh. Oh oh oh. We ended up on a dead end with a junk yard, and sitting right out in the middle of the road like a gift from God Almighty Himself, at the perfect time of day with gorgeous sunlight, was the most majestic, rusty old tow truck you have ever seen. I squealed my car to a stop and actually clapped my hands like a little kid. This was the find that made the entire trip out of control perfect for me. And here are those shots.

Every single one of these shots is magic for me, so much so that I didn't even offer commentary. I am in LOVE. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I know, I'm in love all the time (also, I have a song on my iPod called "I'm Always in Love" by Wilco, and I totally recommend it), but this love is SERIOUS. It is MAYJAH. It is ... so, so perfect.