Several months ago, I received an email from someone I’ve always secretly admired…Katelyn McKay of Katelyn McKay Photography. Katelyn is young, but incredibly talented when it comes to photography. In fact, as I’m writing this post, I couldn’t help but to flip over to her website and drool over her work. So…in her email, she asked if I’d be available to photograph her family this fall. Furthermore, if I would be interested in a photography swap (meaning that I would photograph her family…and she would photograph mine). I don’t remember my exact words, but I responded pretty quickly that I would LOVE to swap services. Last week, we finally met up for her family’s portrait session. The weather was not ideal (cold and dreary), but we worked it out…and chances are, you can’t even tell. We met up at a local nursery thinking that if it started raining, that we could slip inside (also, nurseries are full of cool lines and light). Interestingly enough, the rain held out so we were able to take most of our shots outdoors. I gotta give it to Katelyn for bringing so many cool props to work with…and an awesome family. I could tell that they’ve all been in front of Katelyn’s camera a time or two as they were quite natural in front of the camera. We especially had fun with Emily, Katelyn’s three year old little sister. I’d actually forgotten that Katelyn had a little sister, so I was relieved that my typical animal noises could still be used with this session. That said, Emily still made me work for a smile – you can’t tell by the photos, because I clearly was able to bring out her goofy side. I didn’t see nearly as much goofy with younger brother, Jeff. He didn’t put up a fight, but I’m sure he could have thought of a gazillion other places he’d rather have been. Bless his heart. All in all, it was a fantastic night. And while I certainly previewed more photos than I usually do, I have even more photos waiting to be processed on my hard drive. Don’t you just hate when you have too many favorites?! Now, we just have to meet up so that Katelyn can photograph my little family. I’ve already told her that I hope she’s ready to run because Felicity doesn’t stay still for very long (although she’ll probably just cling to my legs instead). Either way, I hope these photos are everything you dreamed of Katelyn. I loved working with you and can’t wait to see you again in a few weeks!