best. friends. forever.

Meet Ashley.

We go way back.

First it was the high school sleepovers, volleyball trips, late night chats, laughing our heads off...then it we became college roommates: teeny tiny dorm rooms, dating tons of boys (haha), planning out our lives, complaining about early morning classes, and sleeping every minute of the day. Now we text and call and still get together for sleepovers and chick flick marathons.

Not much has changed.

And I like that.

Utah Children's Photographer

This was such a sweet family...I loved the location and their happy faces! :) 

Orchard :: Utah Children's Photography

"Grace was in all her steps. Heaven in her eye. In every gesture. dignity and love." 

~John Milton~

I'm just BEGINNING to catch up on blogging all my wonderful late-summer sessions. Hopefully by Christmas they will all be up. ;) 

A Birth Story :: Utah Photographer

I have been known to get emotional at weddings.

I tear up when the bride dances with the father. I get choked up when a couple embraces after they listen to a particularly eloquent speech from a close friend. It can be pretty embarrassing to sniffle a bit as I 'click' away on my camera.

Now you may be wondering why I'm telling you all this. {I promise, there is a point.}

Human life is incredible. I feel so blessed to have been given the gift of capturing small day-to-day moments. My summer has been consumed with documenting weddings, so it was a refreshing opportunity to shoot this lovely family's birth story.

As I processed these images when I got home from the hospital that day, I thought. A lot. About different things. The beauty of birth, the tenderness of love between a parent and their new baby, and the intense emotional reaction I was feeling as a result of shooting these pictures. As I edited the photos that captured the wonderful, beautiful emotion that filled their hospital room, I found myself blinking back tears on more than one occasion.

When I discussed my "overly-emotional" reaction with my sweet husband, he said something that made me feel a little better. "Cate, you're passionate about what you do. You connect with your client's on a personal level, and that's why you get emotional." What a smart man I married. ;)

I loved documenting this birth story so much. Thank you to this sweet, sweet family for letting me share in their joy for a few minutes!

(PS: On a more comical note, I had a brief rendezvous with the hospital security following this session...apparently walking around snapping photos merits a call to four or five burly security guards who briefly scare you silly with their interrogation.)

Tea Party

Part One: Family Pictures

Part Two: Tea Party & Dress Up

This photo session was sheer magic. The light was fabulous and diffused, the siblings played well together, and we got to throw a little tea party in the middle of a park! That's a good day in my book. :)