Ellery | Bickelhaupt Arboretum Portrait Session

One of the fun parts of this job is getting to cross paths with people again years later.

I first met Ellery and her family in 2019 when they were spending the summer here in Iowa. They're from Texas, but we became friends during their time here, and I got to photograph Ellery when she turned four.

Fast forward seven years, and they found themselves spending another summer in Iowa while her dad was here for work. Of course, we had to fit in another round of photos before they headed home!

Ellery turned eleven in July, and we met up at Bickelhaupt Arboretum in Clinton for her session. At first, she wasn't entirely convinced that spending her evening having her picture taken was the greatest plan anyone had ever come up with. Which, at eleven, I completely understand. 😂

But this is one of the reasons I love photographing kids around this age. Once we started wandering around and talking, I got to learn a little more about who Ellery is now. She's a talented actress who loves theater, singing and music, anime, and fantasy. She even spent some of her summer participating in theater camp at the Showboat!

Once the conversation turned to school friends and D&D, I started seeing more and more of her personality come through.

Her parents also did something that works SO well for this age: they gave us a little space to wander around together. Older kids can suddenly become very aware of themselves when they're being photographed, and sometimes having an audience makes that even harder. A little independence gave us a chance to chat, explore the Arboretum, and let the session feel less like everyone was watching and waiting for a smile.

And it worked.

By the end, I felt like I was getting to photograph Ellery rather than simply getting photos of Ellery, which is always the goal.

It was so much fun seeing this family again after all these years and getting another chance to document Ellery at such a different stage of childhood. From four years old to eleven... that's a pretty fun before-and-after.

Happy birthday, Ellery! I'm so glad Iowa brought your family back our way for another summer. 🤍