Remember the Annie photoshoot? Here’s an excerpt from that blog entry

You see, a couple of times a year I like to photograph my girlfriends… all by myself… just because For me, it’s relaxing, ridiculously inspiring, and  REALLY fun. This is going to sound cheesy… but whatever… it’s MY blog and I can do what I want! After Annie’s session, I was on a serious life high for two days.  For some reason, this session was a bit different than other sessions I’ve shot by myself. It’s just SUCH a great feeling to go out with a camera, zero expectations, talk about life, giggle like school girls, get to know each other on a deeper level… oh and take beautiful photos. I LOVE seeing my friends through my lens. As a matter of fact, that night I made a list of all of the women in my life that I’d like to photograph…. so, this session was the start of a personal little project, just for me. Yeah yeah yeah, okay… cheesefest over… back to regularly scheduled “AYKM’s”

So, that night I made it a personal mission… to photograph all of the women in my life. Then… I made a list.  A list that consisted of family and friends. Family who have shaped who I am and my friends who I love.

Kristen was, of course, on that list. She’s become one of my best friends… I share more with her than I do almost anyone.

This time, I went into this project with more of a mission than I did with Annie’s shoot. I asked Kristen to REALLY think. “Someday, when you’re grand kids see these photos of you, at 24 years old, who will they see?” I wanted to take a photo of who Kristen is… not just what she looks like.  Well, that’s always my goal with any photo shoot… but, whatever… you get the idea, right?

Give me five words that describe you. “passionate. determined. strong. goofy. loving.” (more on this at the end)

With that in mind… along with what I already know of Kristen… we went to work.

When we hopped right over that hill… Kristen, Meredith (her best friend) and I saw the skyline and almost in sync, “wowwwwww……” Shooting this series on the hill… I knew, JUST KNEW, that I nailed this project. Here’s the Kristen no one really sees. She’s so outgoing and loud that most think she’s crazy and full of energy all of the time.  I happen to know differently… only because she’s told me Meredith and I were just in awe of Kristen in this moment. We were kinda speechless… which from either of us… is quite rare.  Meredith kept saying, “I’m just so proud of you…”

That one on the right… when she saw it she said with a huge smile, “Why my mom sees that she’ll say ‘that’s SOOO Kristen!”

A very big part of her life…. her friends. Here’s Meredith She drove in from Kentucky to be a part of this.

Kristen, you’re stunning, k?

I would SO love to have a photo like this with my best friend.  Color me jealous.

In that one on the left… HELLOOOOO DICK DAVIS! AKA, dad. To me, you look SO much like him there!

Here’s where Kristen and I are quite alike. Kristen doesn’t know how to do anything if it’s not 100%. She’s intense I say jump and she turns into a spaztastic Tyra Banks America’s Next Top Model. For that reason, I adore her. It’s one of my favorite Kristen traits

I asked Kristen a few questions…

Describe yourself in five words:

I asked a few people in my life to see what others would describe me as… here were their answers

Dick Davis (dad): dedicated, loving, intelligent, magnanimous , playful
Diane Miller (coworker): determined, outgoing, faithful, beautiful, awesome
Meredith Johns (best friend): compassionate, spontaneous, determined, vivacious, beautiful
Lauren Lotz (a sorority friend): caring, enthusiastic, beautiful, smart, amazing
Zach Bobak (a new friend): beautiful, happy, successful, goal-oriented, determined

This showed me is who I truly am in these people’s eyes.  But how do I feel?  Who am I?

passionate. You (Bobbi) say intense.  Everything I do, I put 100% of myself into, whether it is training someone, loving someone, or training for a triathlon.

determined. If I set a goal for myself, I go for it full force.  I continue to push myself outside of my comfort zone to see how far I can go.

strong. I have the love and support of my friends and family to do things I never thought possible.  All of the challenges (both imposed by me, and dished to me), I have learned and become stronger.

goofy. I love asking random questions and just having fun.

loving. People I care about I love with all my heart.  I only want the best for them.  You may describe this as people pleasing.  My family, I would do anything for them.  My friends I would do anything for them.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I see myself in 5 years, not in one location, but a place in my life.  I am newly married, established as an occupational therapist, changing people’s lives by the love and compassion I put into working with them. I may have a kid, I may not.  I continue to compete in triathlons with the same passion and drive I have currently.  I hope to impact my family, friends, and clients by my enthusiastic personality, and desire to be challenged.  I hope this still motivates people in 5 years as it does now.

What’s your favorite color?

um… for the session I only wore pink; pink shirt, pink dress, pink sports bra.  I was shopping for underwear yesterday and I kept picking up pink ones. So, I’d say pink. This was a TOTALLY sarcastic question because yes… all three of her outfits were pink. Made me laugh

Anything you want to say about the session?

The session was so much fun.  I am so glad I was able to do this with the people I love so much and who have helped shape the person I am today.  This just shows how much love I have in my life.  I have grown so much in the past two years, and become the strong, independent woman I am today.

Meredith is my best friend, and I am so blessed to have her in my life.  She sent me an email after (Bobbi) posted that (yoga) photo on Facebook; it instantly brought tears to my eyes.  Here is what she wrote:

“Its funny how much things have changed in just the past two years of being out of college and how much we have grown.  Looking at the picture of you yesterday made me so proud of all that you have accomplished on your own – your job, grad school, the mini, the triathlons, the classes that you’ve taught, etc.”

It just confirms all the tears, and the stress, and the pushing was worth it, and extremely rewarding.

bobbi’s turn…

my five words to describe Kristen?
ambitious, confident, energetic, generous, determined

Kristen, have an amazing time in North Carolina. Go show that Master’s degree who’s boss!

Thank you for touching my life in such an amazing way. I’ll miss you more than you realize. wow, writing that brought on the tears. wow. standby. okay, back. whew.

If I were getting married next month and had to pick my bridesmaids… you’d be one.

Love to you friend.

~bobbi

*I do this exercise often… the “if I were getting married next month who would be in my wedding party?” I do it so that I make sure that I’m focusing my attention on the people who I love the most. Each one of mine is on this list. You should try it.

Love this. BIG time!

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Annie and I met a few years ago when I first photo’d her. I knew RIGHT away we’d be friends. She was freshly married then, in medical school… and without a cooking blog. 

Now, she’s in her residency, has an ADORABLE son named Andrew, has a RIDICULOUSLY successful cooking blog (you guys would die if you knew how many hits she got a day… I’ll put it to you this way… SHE WINS!), and now Annie lives in YUMTOWN, USA!!!!!

When I was in KC, I randomly sent her a text… “I want to photo you in your kitchen… doing your thing!” And so… THAT is exactly what we did.

You see, a couple of times a year I like to photograph my girlfriends… all by myself… just because For me, it’s relaxing, ridiculously inspiring, and  REALLY fun. This is going to sound cheesy… but whatever… it’s MY blog and I can do what I want! After Annie’s session, I was on a serious life high for two days.  For some reason, this session was a bit different than other sessions I’ve shot by myself. It’s just SUCH a great feeling to go out with a camera, zero expectations, talk about life, giggle like school girls, get to know each other on a deeper level… oh and take beautiful photos. I LOVE seeing my friends through my lens. As a matter of fact, that night I made a list of all of the women in my life that I’d like to photograph…. so, this session was the start of a personal little project, just for me. Yeah yeah yeah, okay… cheesefest over… back to regularly scheduled “AYKM’s”

THENNNNN… I started having all of these crazy ideas… I saw this field on my way out to her house… so when we were done she made a quick outfit change… and we loaded up my FJ cruiser and headed out PS Annie… do you still have my yellow flowered barrette? I can’t find it anywhere?!

That Coca Cola thing she’s sitting on… that usually sits on top of my cabinets… WACKY BOBBI STRIKES AGAIN!!!!!

Every professional needs a good head shot…. that’s EXACTLY what that photo is on the right. The PERFECT head shot… if I do say so myself I’m telling you… head shots are a WHOLE lot easier said than done. There’s a real art form to it. Don’t ask my why! It’s just tough.  Oh, and the cookies on the left… yeah, those were a gift to me. YEAHHH… healthy train fail. But… THEY ARE SO FLIPPING GOOOOOOOD!!!!!! I’m kind of a chocolate chip cookie addict… and she knows it.

Oh yes… she’s reading a cook book… in an apron… in an abandoned field… oh yes… just another day.

I’m sorry you’re so damn cute! PS. Because we were talking so much… the light left us… and left us way too quickly! Note to self… FOCUS BOBBI! Thank you fast glass and High ISO capabilities

SOOOOO… Maybe this one isn’t necessarily cooking blog appropriate… but AYKM with her GORGEOUSNESS?! This one is absolutely my favorite… hands down… NO contest… my favorite!

……………………………

Annie | genuine & ambitious.

Wife | 5  years.

Mom | 1 year, 10 months.

Daughter | 27 years.

Doctor | officially, 1 year.

My friend | 3 years.

Cook | Annie’s Eat’s.

……………………………

love bobbi.

AYKM with those blueeeee eyes?!

COCAAAAAAAA COLAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! (Corrie… that was for you! Inside joke… please ignore )

 My HILAAAAAARIOUS JOKES!

I can't get over this. Dave, you look SO handsome!  You see… he JUST got this car a week before… and was SO excited about it!  So yesyesyes… we got some photos with it :D  Mikey's favorite

 My favorite This is the Dave I know and adore!

 Back to that car. YEAHHH!

 OOOOOKAY! So, two things here.  The photo on the left… Deb (AKA Mom) was carrying around that guitar for him when he wasn't using it in the photo.  I looked over at her and couldn't quit giggling… she just looked SO dang cute!  So I thought it would be funny to get a picture of her with it looking like a rockstar… Dave agreed…

The photo on the right, HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! You know those big foam letters… the kind that read your graduation year.. and nearly every senior has them in their senior pictures? Well, we were laughing about that when Dave held up his hands in a one and zero for a photo and I about LOST IT!  I look to my right and I see Deb and BAM… I KNEW what our next photo was going to be SOOO… yes yes yes… Congratulations to Dave on graduating in '10! Please tell me you're laughing… because to us, it's hilarious!  And to Deb, thanks for being a good sport… you're such a fun mom!

LAFAYETTE, Ind. I've known Dave since he was 16… you see, we took their family photos 2 years ago and fell in LOVE with all of them So, when it came time for Dave's senior year… they didn't have an option… they were GOING to call Mike and I for his senior pictures! YEAHYEAHYEAH!

When we showed up and Dave got out of his brand new car… I about fell over. "YOU ARE SO GROWN UP!" I shouted! Man oh man I'm getting old when I start seeing teenagers and am blown away by their adulthood… ANYWAY… I just COULD NOT believe how different he looked than just three years ago, CRAZY!

Dave, I SO cannot wait to see what these next few years hold for you! You're one of the sweetest, most caring, most unique young men we've ever met…. and when I'm around you, I genuinely cannot wipe the smile off of my face. You're the real deal. 

Love to you… and you're crazy fun family!

~bobbi+mike +

PS. Healthy train announcement coming Sunday… so for those who want to join/re-join… come back then!

Meet my friend Kristen. …who also happens to be my personal trainer.

We laugh… a lot… sometimes too much

She’s also crazy hothothot.  PS… HELLO TRAPEZOIDS!

…and a VERY good jumper!  I made her do this jump again and again and again and again Uhm… MY turn to be in charge. She was even a bit sore the next day… MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!!

Oh, and if she ever wants to be a country music artist… this is her album cover. k? k.

ARE YOU FLIPPING KIDDING ME WITH THIS SEXINESS?! KRISTEN!!!!!!  YOU ARE ONE RIDICULOUSLY HOT TAMALE!!!!!!

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. Kristen has been training me since October We work out at the National Institute of Fitness, where Kristen has been pushing pushing pushing me even when I’m being the most ridiculous drama queen you could EVER imagine (okay, maybe you can imagine it…).  She’s been an awesome support system through all of my ups and downs.  As some of you may or may not know from past blog entries… this whole “healthy train” has been much harder and much more emotional than I ever imagined it to be… and she’s been incredibly patient through it all.  She knew of my potential and hasn’t let me give up on myself.  I’m now nearly 30 pounds lighter than I was then… and that’s no easy feat.

As a HUGE thanks to her for making me feel a WHOLE let better about myself and pushing me to a whole new level…. I thought I’d repay her with some hot photos, check and MARK!

Kristen, I can’t thank you enough Now… I’m ready to lose this last 20 BAAAAABY!

MUCH LOVE!

~bobbi

PS. MY CORE IS ENGAGED, MY CORE IS ENGAAAAAGED!!!!

PPS. no action shots as I did this session on my own… I should have taken a self portrait of the two of us… oh well… there’s always next time.

Meet Rob, a hot shot real estate agent based in downtown Indianapolis

 He asked for "not a cheesy lame real estate headshot" He wanted something more urban, edgy and badass.

 So….

 WE GAVE HIM URBAN….

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.  Rob is fun, young, fashionable, etc… he isn't the type to be photographed in front of a blue muslin with a big ol' cheesy grin.  As in… every other real estate agent head shot you've ever seen. :)  When he asked us for something less conventional, we were excited  

Oh, it's important to mention that Rob said that he doesn't look good in pictures. I promptly told him to shut up So, Rob… TOLD YA!

Much love friend!

~bobbi+mike +

My blue sunglasses are Mike's favorite.

+

OHHHHH what a FUNNNNN Saturday we had!!!!!!

Betsy and Gail come to Indy to visit us, YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH!!!!!! They came for a couple of reasons… to learn how to clean their sensors (which, according to Mike, is RIDICULOUSLY easy), off camera lighting, and our workflow/file organization. But really… most of the day… we just giggled. Thank Mike for being so patient

Now, you all know Betsy of course… she's been on this blog many, many, many, MANY times!

AND NOW… INTRODUCING GAIL!!!!! Okay, that was a little over the top Gail is a photographer in Muncie who's GREAT friends with my GREAT friend Betsy So, if A equals B and B equals C… that THAT must mean that I'm GREAT friends with Gail, too!  Have I lost you yet?  Gosh, I'm not even sure I'm following along.

ANYWAY… when Betsy and Gail had finished cleaning their sensors, they decided to play with some of our lenses.  Betsy grabbed my all-time favorite… the 50mm 1.2 Gail grabbed an up and coming favorite… the 35mm 1.4 As they stood on our balcony shooting with it… I couldn't resist grabbing Gail's camera with that 35 attached and shooting one of her So.. I did!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THAT BEAUTY?! SERIOUSLY?!?!?!!!! You couldn't have resisted either… guaranteed.

 That was taken at 1/200th of a second… backlit during the setting sun at f 1.6 ANNNND… ISO 160.

And there she is… our beloved 35 1.4 (of course, taken with my true favorite… the 50mm 1.2 )

What I love about the 35 is that it's pretty close to how our eyes see the world.  I like to show everyone how I see the beauty of people… through my eyes.  I like to shoot up close and personal with it.  I like how intimate the images are.  I like that when you see photos from that lens, you can feel like you were right there experiencing it right next to us.  Gosh, I'm sounding RIDICULOUSLY cheesy but really… this is exactly how I feel. :) 

It's oh so sharp, quick to focus… and well… it's just an awesome little lens

Okay, that's it from me… for now

I know I know… our blog has been a little bit slow lately… but, we scheduled a few weeks off from shooting so that we could do exciting things like… taxes I do have to say that it's been GREAT getting all caught up on the paperwork/organization side of things because when things aren't done, I'm an anxiety attack waiting to happen. 

Shooting is picking up for us a bit this week… so our little blog will have some life thrown right back into it!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!

~

PS. Betsy and Gail met through THIS very blog… isn't that COOL?! I don't really know the specifics but something like Gail had seen Betsy's photos here…. clicked over to her blog… saw how amazingly awesome Betsy was…. and they started emailing. :D  As a side note… Gail never emailed me due to how amazingly awesome I am…. but, whatever, she knows now.

PPS. I hope you guys know that I'm being sarcastic.  Mike thought I should remove that last PS.  I responded, "NO ONE would EVER think I'm being serious!" His response, "I know… but I'm not sure they know…" So… now you know

These include family, kids, maternity, newborn and seniors. And you’ll notice that a couple of families were photographed by us numerous times this year (my BFF Corrie takes the win with threeeeeee sessions in 2008 )

50

49

48

47

46

45

44

43

42

41

40

39

38

37

36

35

34

33

32

31

30

29

28

27

26

25

24

23

22

21

20

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

So, that concludes our annual top lists… AHHHHH WHAT A FANTASTIC YEAR!!!

 …. we cannot WAIT to see what 2009 brings us!!!!

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PS. For all of these families in the above photos, we REALLY hope to see you ALLLLL again! Oh, and of COURSE meet NEW families

]]> http://www.bobbiandmike.com/blog/index.php/2008-top-50-portraits/feed/ 32 http://www.bobbiandmike.com/blog/index.php/betsyjohnmiles/ http://www.bobbiandmike.com/blog/index.php/betsyjohnmiles/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:11:38 +0000 bobbi http://www.bobbiandmike.com/blog/?p=6415  

OHHHHH HOW WE LOOOOOVE THIS FAMILY!!!!!!

My favorite

 The Internet famous Miles hasn't made an appearance on this blog in quite a while… it was SO time! Mikey's favorite

 Betsy requested a photo for a canvas to put above her bed… here's what we came up with.  I say… HOT HOT HOTTTT!!!! (PS. I want some boots like that!)

 Perfect.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. As I already mentioned, we love this family OH SO MUCH! Betsy and John, as many of you know, are both INCREDIBLY talented. Betsy runs a super successful photography business in Fort Wayne and John is a composer of marching band shows.  Yeah… talk about DRIPPING in talent!

Many of you may remember Betsy and John from the AMAAAAAAAZING wedding of Cassie and Jason (where we got to help them out).

However, I'm SURE that most of you will remember the ADORABLE Miles! Miles gets more blog requests than anyone here in bobbi+mike land.

"Hey Bobbi, when is Miles going to be making an appearance on the blog?"

"We haven't seen Miles in a while!"

"How's that baby doing who said your name on that video?!"

This is the third time we've photo'd this amazing family…

First time: two months old.

2nd time: 9 months old

And…. you just saw the third time

It really is the absolute best part about our jobs…. watching families grow.  Hopefully someday we'll get to take his senior photos. CLASS OF 2025 BABY! HAHAHAHAHA!

Betsy and John… two of our favorite people in the whole world…. thank you THANK YOU for being some of our best friends. :) 

LOOOOOOOOOVE YOUUUUUUU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!

~bobbi+mike +

 And how do you make a baby laugh?! You act like a monkey!  (See the first photo for the result)

 Who ever knew chimpin' could look so good?!

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Andrea and Ryan are our VERY good friends. 

They were the 16th wedding we ever photographed. I remember every second of that day… and it was perfection.

Ryan is an incredibly talented graphic designer and often helps the bobbi+mike brand further develop.

Andrea is a teacher, a great cook, has the perfect smile and is 100% genuine 100% of the time.

My tradition of getting a photo with the bride and groom started with their wedding.

When I went to Jesh's workshop, he was in need of models.  The only requirement: to be in love.  I immediately thought of these two.  So yes… they've been photographed by the AMAZING Jesh de Rox. 

Andrea is pregnant. AHHH!!! I cried when she told me.

It's a girl. Name her Bobbi, k? 

They both kept insisting, "we only need one!"  My response… "I don't do just one."  They already knew that.  So, I compromised and we got all of the photos done in 15 minutes.  Also, Ryan didn't want to be in any of the photos…. after all, he's not a fan of getting his photo taken.  And my response to that?! TOO BAD SO SAD!  I suppose I have a little bit of extra room for fiestyness when we're photographing our friends. HA!

I've gotta tell you… they made magic happen in that 15 minutes. They're so in love, so at ease, so PERFECT in front of the camera.  WE JUST LOVE THESE TWO!  Ryan, seriously… no more of that "I don't want my picture taken!" crap!  You're SO handsome!

Are you KIDDING me with how flipping BEAUTIFUL she is?!  Mikey's favorite

 I LOVE the bump!!!!

Favorite

SNUGGGGLES!

I think I want a canvas of this one for our studio.

 Wait, no… THIS is my favorite!

Thank you so much for asking us capture this awesome time in your lives… we're so lucky to know you and to call you our friends.

Love!

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Meet Mike's brother Greg.  He just turned 21… for his birthday, we got him a haircut.  I'm a fan.

Last time we were in Fort Wayne, Mike had some errands to run… so I thought it would be fun to photograph Greg… you know, just for fun :)  Because well… Greg IS fun!

 He's one of the funniest people I know.  Sometimes I fall over from laughing so hard…

Over the past couple of years, Greg has had numerous surgeries done to his foot/ankle… he's still in the recovery process.  Needless to say, we did a lot of this session sitting down

MY LEGS ARE MELLLLLTINNNNNG!

HA!!!

Bob Dylan?   Favorite

Tilt… bring it.

I couldn't decide which crop of this image I liked better so… I picked both

Oh ladies… he's single Greg… don't kill me for that

I adore you Greg.  Thanks for spending the afternoon with me… I love hangin' out with you.

love,