There is nothing more important to me than being there for my family. I traveled to Utah earlier this month to photograph my cousin’s daughter Analeigha. Although Analeigha grew up in Utah and I didn’t get to spend as much time with her as I did her older siblings, I still enjoyed being there for her and my cousin Karla. I love watching how my family comes together to make these events happen. Our love for my cousin Karla is immense and she is like a sister to me. I don’t have any sisters (only brothers) so Karla is the closest thing I have to a sister and I would do anything for her and her family. I photographed her oldest daughter’s quince almost 10 years ago so I was so excited to do it again!
It was so lovely traveling to the Bonneville salt flats for Analeigha’s pre-quinceanera photoshoot. It was a dream for me to shoot there and I haven’t been able to go there in decades. I hope to be able to photograph there more often as the flight was only an hour and 20 minutes and totally worth the hour and 45-minute drive from my cousin’s home in Utah. The salt flats are stunning and luckily it is so expansive that there were barely any other people near us which makes photoshopping them out a lot easier. I had my cousin, her oldest daughter, and my daughter and forever assistant Maya there to help. I also had them wear something nice and do their hair and makeup because we had to get a few pictures of everyone because it’s the salt flats how could you not? We photographed from about 3 pm all the way until dark and Analeigha did such a good job and didn’t complain about anything which is rare for the teens I shoot, and especially for such a long photoshoot! We chose to let her big curly hair be free and it looked absolutely gorgeous as it bounced in the wind. We did some creative photos, some movement photos, and a lot of fun candid photos. A big shoutout to Analeigha for being such a good model and to everyone who assisted me that day. After a long shoot day, we drove a short distance to Nevada and had some drive-thru Mexican food because we were all starving! It was such a fun day and on the way back we pulled over because there were SO MANY STARS and we wanted a good look at them. I’m not even exaggerating when I say you could see the Milky Way with your naked eye and of course, I took out my camera to capture it a little.
The next day, we went to Daybreak Park and took some photos with Analeigha and her court. This was the same park I took photos for her older sister Natalia’s quince and I loved it so much that I wanted to shoot at it again. It has a beautiful lake and docks, wheat fields, bridges, hills, and lots and lots of ducks. Unfortunately, one of the boys in her court fractured his ankle playing football THE DAY BEFORE the quince and couldn’t dance in the choreography they had been practicing for weeks. Luckily her dad saved the day because he knew all the choreography for the slow songs and stepped in for him. As you can see he has his cast on in the photos and luckily his cousin is also in the court so he rolled him around in a wheelchair the whole shoot hahaha. Her court was full of her best friends, neighbors, and kids from her church and the ages ranged from 11-18! The kids were so adorable and you could tell everyone in her court truly loved and cared about Analeigha. I needed a ride to the venue so I had to crash the limo ride, the kids were so funny and blasted music and sang their hearts out. They stopped for Chick-fil-A before the photos and were ready to go! We let the kids go back to the limo while I finished up with Analeigha in the beautiful wheat field and the photos came out so stunning. Then it was time to party!
Right when we got there her court did their grand entrance and their choreographed dances. They did a slow waltz and then a surprise fun dance which was so cute. Her mom/ my cousin Karla choreographed the whole thing and had weekly rehearsals with the kids and the result was so good! Dinner was served which was some bomb birria which, if you keep up with my blogs, you know is my favorite event food. People danced the night away and balloons were passed out which was a lot of fun. It was an open bar so the adults had a lot of fun too and it was sooo nice to dance all night long with my family. Since I got my bariatric surgery and have been going to the gym I now have crazy endurance and once photos were done I was on the dance floor for HOURS. I love my family so much and any chance to see them fills my soul.
Happy birthday Analeigha, I had so much fun with you! Thank you for being so gracious and down for anything I truly appreciate it. I’ve seen you grow into such a beautiful, funny, intelligent, and kind young woman and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you. Thank you to my cousin Karla for always trusting me with your photography needs and for being there for me, always. I can’t wait to see you again soon and now it’s your turn to visit me hahaha (not kidding)!
