I was so excited to have Bridget come to my studio near Robinson, IL last weekend. Bridget is the studio's senior representative this year. The first session I had with her was more of an advertising piece for the studio. This session was all her.

Bridget asked if it would be OK if she brought her dog Harley. For some reason, I expected Harley would be a much larger dog so when this sweet little dog popped out of the car, I immediately started laughing. Sweetest dog ever! He totally played up to the camera.

Bridget had some great ideas for her session - one of which included bubbles. After some trial and error (and a few bubble-blowing) lessons, we captured some cool moments as the sun was setting.

Bridget also had an idea she found on Pinterest. I have to admit the Pinterest ideas I've tried in the past have had limited success other than being absolutely hilarious. True to form, this one took on a life of its own. The idea was to catch Bridget's reflection in the mirror. We opted to do it in the studio sunflower patch but we couldn't get the sunflowers in the reflection or Bridget at the right angle. After we figured it out, it turned out pretty Pinteresting (worst pun ever)!

I'd like to think that when clients come out to the studio, I give them a truly unique experience - a pressure-free session where we share some laughs and the client can relax and actually enjoy being photographed.

Bridget and I received a pretty good laugh about five minutes after this photo was taken.

I had just put up the mirror and placed her in a great patch of sunflowers. The sun was starting to set. She was in some great light and I started to settle in to take the photo.

I think I had one knee on the ground when I looked to my left and saw a beautiful fluffy black and white tail standing straight up about a foot to my right. It wasn't moving and, at that point, neither was I. It was a skunk.

My husband had smelled the skunk earlier in the day. We had all smelled it. And there it was in all it's glory. I wasn't exactly concerned since it was in the drive yet all I could see was the tail. I guessed maybe Greg had hit it with the tractor earlier in the day but I wasn't willing to chance it. I gave Bridget a quick nod toward the tail at which point we both decided to move for less risky spot. Oddly enough, her flipflops were about a foot away from the skunk in the other direction. We'd both missed it.

(As a side note, the skunk was gone the next morning. For the sake of argument, I'm saying an animal drug it off.)

The rest of the session was full of laughs and beautiful light.

This weekend we'll finish up her session with a re-creation of a shot that was taken of her mother when she played high school volleyball. Her mom will be in the stands this time, Bridget will be on the court and the skunk will be far away...lol

Can't wait!