Nominee #20

Pure joy, Mommy throwing her into the trees.  I've photographed this girl since she was crawling and getting a smile from her is like getting my 7 year old to make his bed.  Darn near impossible.  But the second Mom threw her in the air, I had another split second to catch that enormous grin.  And catch it, we did!

Nominee #19

I told them I was checking my light.  Which was true!  It just happened to be the light was spot on, Mom and Sister shared the sweetest look, and Dad talked to brother.  This photo was a huge boost for me, right in the middle of the holiday season.  It reminded me how to find emotion in the moment.  Pure love.

Nominee #18

Mama held her high in the air and she grabbed a blossom.  She discovered flowers on trees that day.  And I know I will treasure this photo forever and ever. 

Nominee #17

There are no words.  The colors.  The emotion.  Aah.  One of my earliest shots, taken last spring.  And still one of my absolute favorites. 

Nominee #16

Sometimes, the only way to get a smile is with a little peek a boo.  Around Mom's legs.  We happened to catch Dad in the background, which made this my favorite peek a boo shot of the season.

Nominee #15

A big group hug.  And the littlest was almost swallowed up.  Within moments, the sister had grabbed the light saber and was swatting with it.  But in this blink of an eye, we caught the love. 

Nominee #14

Sometimes.  Ok most of the time, babies are not happy!  I love how Dad was willing to do whatever it took to get a smile, if an upside down one.  You can tell brother is so jealous, sister is trying not to laugh, and mom is ever-composed.  Such a great capture-the-moment shot.

Nominee #13

Traipsing around Arizona State campus, trying to find some great shots.  I look from his shirt to the chairs and back again.  Are you kidding me?!  The day I took this is the day I felt proud of my composition. And that confidence affected the whole rest of the shoot.  One of my best of the year.

Nominee #12

I asked him to tell me a joke.  So he thought.  And he thought.  And he thought.  I can't remember the joke he finally told me but I'll always remember the boy who sat on the rock.  And thought.

Nominee #11

This young lady grinned like a cheshire cat the day she realized she was taller than me.  Her 12th birthday.  :)  Full of beauty and grace, she gave me one of my favorite photos of the season.

Nominee #10

There has only been less than a handful of times, that while editing a photo, I've started crying.  I think it really hit me with this one, how fleeting her childhood is.  Matt will always be Matt, smart, successful and funny.  But Gracie will soon have this photo at her wedding.  And sharing a kiss goodbye.  Oh, kill me now!

Nominee #9

The trick on this one was that she was running towards me.  So it was going to be pure chance to catch the focus on her, with her parents lined up just right and not too crazy blurry.  I'm still shocked it actually worked.  Luckily her big brown eyes can make any photo look perfect.

Nominee #8

Motherhood is intense.  And emotional.  And real. And this mom knows it.  One of my favorite baby shots of the whole year.

Nominee #7

There were plenty of "cute" photos from this shoot.  But this one was so real and so genuine.  While wrestling two crazy kids, they happened to catch each other's eye.  So sweet.

Nominee #6

A girl growing up way too fast.  We tried to make her smile.  Then we just got on outright giggle and laugh.  And it was awesome! This time next year, she'll be a young lady.  But we caught her being a kid just in time.

Nominee #5

This sweet boy brought his very best friend on the photo shoot.  When we pulled him out of the stroller, Dylan's eyes got so big and happy.  Blink and it was gone.  One of my very favorite shots.

Nominee #4

Daddy was deployed for a full year.  Finally home and a bouncing baby boy came along soon after.  This was an awesome afternoon at the lake, with Dad making Mom laugh about every 10 seconds. 

Nominee #3

My first senior shoot.  This family spends a lot of time cooking in the kitchen.  And Lexi was just chatting with Mom.  It was the reflection in the mircrowave, along with her relaxed time with her mom that made me taken a second look at this photo.  Lexi will be gone in the blink of an eye, off to college and then to run the world.  So happy to have caught this moment at home with her mom.

Nominee #2

A sunrise shoot.  A sleepy baby.  And a doting first time dad.  It was blessed.

Nominee #1

To start us off, we have one of the sweetest senior photos.  Jesse was just hangin' on the stairs with his little sister, who was about to start high school with her big senior brother.  He laughed at her, she gave him a "seriously?" kind of look and it perfectly captured that sibling vibe.