I love when I get a referral!! Stephanie was referred by
Elizabeth as the two were in youth group together. Both are great young women who have a heart for the Lord, which is so refreshing to see. I had never met Stephanie before the shoot, but her easy-going attitude and openness to try any pose or location developed a trust between us rather quickly. Throughout our time together, Stephanie and her mom just talked to each other and moms can get the most genuine expressions from their children-laughter, serious looks or a twinkle in the eyes.
Stephanie is keeping her options for the future open and waiting for the Lord to clearly lead in one particular area, but she is confident that He will and that courageous attitude was apparent and contagious to me in just the hour that we spent together.
Stephanie isn’t just courageous, she’s modest and considerate of how she’s portrayed. But one thing she certainly couldn’t hide? Her gorgeous eyes!
When I saw this picture pop up on my computer, my jaw dropped. Woah came out in a whisper. Stephanie does not look just 18 here, she looks like a beautiful young woman.
Around those lovely eyes are pretty lengthy lashes-
had to try to capture what God blessed her with!
This was a “look” reserved solely for Mom. Fiesty much Stephanie? 🙂
Mom made sure that Steph knew this was HER day. They went shopping for her outfits and for a fun game throughout their time together, spotted everything purple (her favorite color). It was like the Volkswagon game-if they were close enough to each other, a punch would be thrown upon seeing anything purple. Look out!
I wanted to somehow capture the boldness that Stephanie was exuding out of every pore and as we were making our way around the Pappajohn Sculpture Park, I was on the lower part of the hill, called to Stephanie to turn towards me and this is what resulted: a fearless leader charging downtown! 🙂
I’d gotten all the images I thought were beneficial when Stephanie had a special request-she loved the horse sculpture in the park and I asked why (I personally think some of these sculptures are somewhat creepy…). The horse, she explained, was created out of driftwood gathered during the floods of 2008. An example in Iowa’s history of courage amidst a scary, challenging time, that showed how Iowans can work together for the greater good. Seemed like a perfect place to take some senior pictures when thinking of it in that respect and suddenly, the horse didn’t seem so intimidating to me anymore.
Stephanie-I know you have an incredible plan before you mapped out by the Divine Compass. I pray that you keep your contagious courage, your confidence, modesty and kindness and use them to glorify His Kingdom. The legacy & tradition you have behind you, will keep things in front of you from being intimidating.
I know He has big things in store for you!
Blessings,
–Carrie–
