Dana Smith 5/20/25 Dana Smith 5/20/25

Angelina - Elevation High School - class of 2025

Double the pleasure with these two lovelies! Look at them, they’re gorgeous and adorable inside and out. Marina booked their session in January for their senior portraits and again for their graduation portraits in April. So, not only did I get twins , I got two sessions with them! Marina wanted their senior portrait location at the Botanical Gardens. We didn’t even have to discuss this at their consultation. I have never been to the gardens during the winter months, but I knew we didn’t need all the botanical to get awesome shots there. The Gardens is dream location. Boy, were we lucky with our scheduled date - 65 degrees with a chance of clouds. The girls got to don their sun dressing in January.

It’s hard to write words to describe this session - everything went to smoothly from booking to final gallery presentation. I did get to use my new Nikkor 85mm lens on the girls session, too. Man, that is a sweet piece of glass. Just look at those photos. Shape as a tack.

I loved the girls style - loved the coordination of their outfits, even though they’re not identical twins, they went so well together in style, smiles and personalities. And their hair - just loved it! I was absolutely thrilled they got to wear their dresses - they went so well with the surroundings. A splash of color goes a long way. They nailed it. They even got to wear the ballerina tutus without freezing their thules off.

The whole family came along, and what a perfect day to bring dad, too. Its great to see when families can make family time even during a session. After their session, I couldn’t wait for their graduation session. That’s a whole other blog.

Dana Smith 1/14/25 Dana Smith 1/14/25

Chloe - Eaglecrest High School - class of 2025

Oooo - Chloe - petals to the metal. When I received Chloe’s booking for senior portraits with the Denver Botanical Gardens - Yes! Yes! Yes! I absolutely love the Gardens for the Girls! Note: I do not make extra off this location. The BG requires a permit to photograph there, and the permit is at the cost of the client. But well worth the extra cost IMO. There are a plethora of spots to shoot. If you want flowers, this is the location!

I loved Chloe’s outfits. Simple, easy, black and white with a splash of her letter Jacket. She looked very feminine and sweet with her bare feet as a NO shoe choice. Birkenstock to walk around in only.

We started our session in sunshine with a down pour in the middle, and clearing skies for the end. The rain made for an ethereal fee. The rain made the ground and vegetation pop.

During our rain break, we talked about our travels. Both of our husbands work for United Airlines.

OMG! I absolutely Love Chloe’s photos!

Dana Smith 1/6/25 Dana Smith 1/6/25

Jake - Cherokee Trail High School - Class of 2025

Jake - just a big smiley teddy bear! Sherry’s consultation for Jake was for a location more on the urban look, but she wanted a photo with a fence to go along with his older sister’s senior portraits. This particular location has the urban/industrial/nature scene in one spot, so we got the fence with the greenery in.

Jake was so awesome to work with! He was all smiles and easy to talk too. He looked like a guy who should be on the field, but is more interested in physics. Sherry was such a pleasure to chat with too. Their session flowed from beginning to end. I loved Jake’s session!

Dana Smith 12/20/24 Dana Smith 12/20/24

Ashley - Grandview High School - Class of 2025

Porter and Ashley - double shooting in the city. Porter’s mom, Lisa, booked Porter and Ashley’s session with downtown Denver for their location. Denver has a lot of goodies as far as spots to shoot, so I give clients plenty of time to do our “walkabout” and with two of them, we definitely needed the time.

So who’s shooting who in Denver. Literally, I’m shooting my client’s with a (camera), while someone else is shooting others with a gun. Seriously, just around the the corner from us, 8 or more rounds go off. We all stopped and paused thinking it was fireworks until we saw a bunch of people flee from around the corner, then you realize.

With that, our session was shot short. I never cut my client’s short on time and Porter really wanted his car with Denver in the Background. So, not only did we get nervous with the shooting situation, the pistachio Ice-cream had turned (weather) on us. RAIN!

I rescheduled another session with Portrer and Ashley to get their time in and shots with Porter’s car. Denver wasn’t an option at this point, so I suggested Castle Rock with one of their cool parking garages, yeah, it’s not Denver, but pretty sweet for second best.

I loved how Porter and Ashley coordinated their clothing! They are such a sweet couple and loved hearing how the meet.Porter is at EHS, and Ashley at GHS. I had great conversation with them and Porter’s parents. They were such a dream to work with.

PSA: Go with your gut. Be aware of your surrounding at all times. Hard to do when you have a camera in your face.For Denver shoots, I will bring a second person to be my look out. I was very grateful Porter’s dad was there with us, HE MADE THE CALL. Always look at people, make eye contact. Don’t have your face in your phone every moment, that makes you an easy target. Know your exit plan.

Dana Smith 12/17/24 Dana Smith 12/17/24

Porter - Eaglecrest High School - Class of 2025

Dana Smith 12/3/24 Dana Smith 12/3/24

Hannah -Chaparral High School - Class of 2025

Hotel. Alfa. November. November. Alfa. Hotel. Hannah, my sky girl. When Hannah’s mom booked and put airplanes down on the intake form, I was keeping my fingers crossed for another airplane shoot. Ka-ching, easiest consultation ever! Yankee. Echo. Sierra.- airplane and girly time!

Sierra. Hotel. India. Tango - we have turbulence ahead. I meet Stephen (the owner of the plane) at Centennial Airport an hour before the scheduled session to figure out plane placement. The pistachio ice- cream had already turned, but the session needed to go on. Stephen and I thought maybe an indoor session with all the nice expensive jets would be a nice option, and we had access to it. Hannah wanted her session outdoors . . . cancellation ahead . . . down pour! My client’s all showed up on time for their session, but our chat was to figure out our next reschedule date.

No extra fees with Stephen! He was so awesome and very flexible with his plane and scheduling. Our next shoot started out iffy with the weather. We did have a short weather delay, but managed to get a 90+ minute session in. For our patience, we were rewarded with a rainbow and an awesome moody sky at the end.

Hannah was so, Foxtrot. Unicorn. November. to shoot. She went with the flow and popped out her own ideas and worked that camera!

Dana Smith 11/17/24 Dana Smith 11/17/24

Carston - Cherokee Trail High School - Class of 2025

Carston - cruisin’ his session, ROUTE 66 style. Carton’s my first born and it’s hard to believe he’s graduating HS. Wow, class of 2025. Since Carston was born, I have been snapping photos of him and it progressively got worse as he got older and even worse than that after I got my first DSLR camera in 2015. He has been my test subject for studio projects and location scouting. Carston’s very photogenic, so its not unwanted to have him as a subject. He is a guy and I would safely say, 8 out of 10 of my guys don’t care to have their photos taken and it’s mostly for the moms, me being one of those moms..

Carston has been photographed in many Colorado location, so I wasn’t too inspired to pick a spot for his senior portraits in the Denver area or anywhere in Colorado. And Carston was definitely unmotivated.

Carston is into vintage, old things and has quite the camera collection. I came up with the plan for Tulsa, OK (long story as to why I picked Tulsa) for his senior portraits. Carston perked up to that idea.

I compiled my list of must stops a month before our June trip. When we arrived, I was a bit overwhelmed with my list, but in the end we did a majority of our spots. We started out early the first morning to out first spot in downtown Tulsa and oh, my, it was amazing. NO PEEPS. The spot was better in person and it got me going for our next spots. Tulsa has a plethora of these hidden gems for portraits. I found it more appealing than Denver. I wish I could take all my urban/city kids here.

While I don’t disclose my exact spots, I did major research and a lot of Google - earthing to find these locations. I found a 50’s decor wall in the heart of Tulsa. The vintage sign of the Dancing Ballroom, an antique store, gas station and mural wall in Sapulpa. And one of my favorite spots, an old door in downtown Tulsa. This location was perfect for Carston.

In the end, I was so glad we made this trip for Carston. I enjoyed my time with all three of my boys. It was a sightseeing trip, too. Carston is still the worst client ever (put rolling eye and cheesy grin emoji here). Proud Mamma!

This will always be one of my favorites of Carston - on our way to the summit of Humboldt Peak. 09/2020

Mt biggest adventure with Carston - hike to the Summit of Mt St Helens 07/2018

My most epic trip with Carston - Lofoten, Norway - 06/2022

My farthest trip with Carston - Australia 05/2015

Dana Smith 10/31/24 Dana Smith 10/31/24

Sage - Cherokee Trail High School - class of 2025

Sage - girly time with this young lady! Sage knew exactly what she wanted for her portraits. She wanted the natural, tall grass look. At her consultation, I gave them some suggestion for spots with grass. In the end, she chose her spot in the Castle Rock area.

After a run of guy session (hey, I Love my guys), I got my first girl of the season. Yes, I live vicariously through the moms. I am a boy mom, so I love the hair, shoes and all things girly once in a while. Sage brought a few outfit changes which we captured beautifully. The light was perfect, and not always at this location. We lucked out on this day, so our session went a bit longer than expected.

We had to work around a couple of other session going on, but really, it flowed pretty nicely. Locations look different year to year depending on rain and the lack thereof, so the grass was not what I was hoping for - a little dry, like most places this year. You get what you get.

I absolutely enjoyed my time with Sage and Meredith! Sage was so easy and enjoyable to photograph. They were both so easy to work with from beginning to end.

Dana Smith 1/13/24 Dana Smith 1/13/24

Brevin’s senior portrats Cherokee Trail High School - Class of 2024

Alright, alright, alright… you had me at airplanes! When I got Sophia’s booking for Brevin and the initial questionnaire read, “Brevin loves to fly airplanes,” I was hoping this would be another Centennial Airport shoot! Why? Because the Smith Family loves to fly airplanes. I was a United Airlines flight attendant for 9 years, the best job I ever had, aside from being a photographer of course!. My husband is a pilot for United Airlines. So, when I made the call to Sophia for Brevin’s consultation she informed me she wanted one of his 2 shoots at Centennial. Yes! Yes! Yes! Now, when we talked about clothing, I got the initial, “he wants to wear a tee-shirt and pants or shorts.” I kind of cringed, I admit. I met with them at Centennial one afternoon before one of his training flights and had a chat with both on where to do the photo shoot at Centennial and clothing. For me, I always consult on clothing, but ultimately, its up to the client what they want to wear. But I was envisioning something along the lines of a professional attire, because when I see a pilot; especially one that wants to fly professionally, in my opinion, should look the part. So when I showed up to the shoot, I was so pleasantly surprised with Brevin’s outfit. Apparently Brevin’s dad took him shopping. I was ecstatic that they put in the effort. I am sooo stoked with how they turned out. Effort and planning can really make the photos pop.

In the interim of the second shoot, my husband mentioned the United Airlines was holding their Sun-and-fund fundraiser at the Rocky Mountain Airport, I asked if we could invite Brevin and his dad to attend. Since I was in contact with Sophia, she was so excited that we would think of Brevin. Bevin and Shane did meet us there, but I told them they could do their own thing while we did ours. So glad we all had something in common I could share with Brevin. To me, it made this session all that more special!

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