Sandi Shipley Photography » family photography

Kaitlyn {Phoenix High School Senior Portrait Photography}

Sandi Shipley — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:04:58 +0000

Meet Kaitlyn, my final High School Senior of the 2010 Season. And what a fun session to end with this year! I loved meeting Kaitlyn and had a great time shooting her Senior Portraits. In her pre-session questionnaire, Kaitlyn’s mom wrote “I want her to remember the smell and presence of Jesus swirling through and around the pain. I want themes that are part of our family like authenticity and justice and fierce love to be “keepers”. I want her to be released into this next season with a sense of having been blessed as a woman. I want her to remember that she is beautiful.” Wow. Loved that! I so hope it is true for them post-session as well. Kaitlyn you are beautiful! And so full of light and creativity. You made my job so easy with how open you were to everything I wanted to try! Here are a few of my favorites from our time together. Enjoy!

Play the slide-show if you’d like to see more of Kaitlyn’s images:

Baby Jack {Phoenix Maternity, Newborn and Child Photography}

Sandi Shipley — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:47:10 +0000

A few months ago I got to do Meredith’s Baby Belly pictures. Well sweet little Jack has arrived and went out last week for his very first photo shoot Meredith looks amazing and the obvious love that flows through this family always makes me smile. Welcome to the world, little Jack!

Here are just a few from our session. More to come soon!

Priscilla {Phoenix Senior High School Portraits}

Sandi Shipley — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:55:27 +0000

There are few things that make me as happy as when someone I know and love says those sweet words…”We need to book you for…” This time it was for Priscilla’s High School Senior Portraits. I first met Priscilla 5 years ago helping out iver the summer in our church’s VBS program. She has given her time and talent time in so many ways. She was my co-counselor two summers ago up at Camp, and I have that absolute pleasure of having her hang out with me again this year! It is amazing how quickly 5 years passes. Since then I have watched her grow into such a lovely, confident and talented young lady! And now she is months away from heading off to college. Sigh. Priscilla, I am so grateful for you! Thank you for letting me into your world, trusting me with our coffee talks, late night camp talks and for the times you have loved my kids so well! I am so proud of you and can’t wait to see what God has in store for you.

Here are a few of my favorites from our session. Enjoy!

Click play to see more from Priscilla’s session!

Meredith & Andy {Phoenix Maternity, Newborn, and Child Photography}

Sandi Shipley — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:12:01 +0000

I was really excited when Meredith contacted me a few months back to schedule her Maternity session for this spring. The day of her session arrived…but so did the rain clouds! So we rescheduled for a few weeks out. The rain showed up AGAIN. Meredith was great. She really wanted a bright sunny day so we just rescheduled for another two weeks out. Low and behold, no rain clouds. But a sick little girl. (Mine!) We ended up having to reschedule about 4 times before we actually met up this past Sunday for her session! A true Murphy’s Law of events may have preceded her actual session, but our time together was lovely! The sun was shining, the day was breezy and warm and Meredith was absolutely radiant.

Andy, Meredith’s husband of three years, was a riot. He had us laughing the whole time. But the thing I will remember most about this session was they way he looked at her. My, oh my. Andy looked at Meredith like she was the most beautiful, amazing, funny, intelligent woman on the face of the planet. Every woman should be looked at like that at least once in her life. I had a great time spending time with them and I am so looking forward to meeting their new little boy when he makes his appearance! Until then, enjoy just a few favorites from her Baby Belly session…

Baby Ender {Phoenix Child and Family Photographer}

Sandi Shipley — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:25:14 +0000

My name is Sandi Shipley and I am addicted to baby toes. Seriously. I know it is a problem. I just can’t help myself. And can you blame me?

Love this little one! His itty bitty clothes are still so big on him…

Which leads me to this. Melt me!

Sweet little boy….

Such a big yawn for such a little person!

Welcome to the world, sweet little Ender! I know your parents. You are a pretty lucky little boy. Looking forward to watching you grow into those little pants and beyond!

Happy Birthday Lu! {Phoenix Family and Child Lifestyle Photography}

Sandi Shipley — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:41:34 +0000

On Monday my sweet, rambunctious, fun little girl turned 5 years old. Sigh. It feels like just yesterday we were driving her home from the birth center in her too-big newborn outfit. Now she is zipping around the neighborhood on her two wheeler bike, kicking up dust and takin’ names. I can’t imagine what life would be without this little girl. She has been such a huge blessing to me and our family! She is such a fun mix of sass and sweetness. She makes my laugh, drives me crazy on occasion and just plain makes life so much more fun when I see things through her eyes. So happy birthday, sweet girl!

Life Lessons from 2009 {Phoenix Family and Child Lifestyle Photography}

Sandi Shipley — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:30:21 +0000

I have taken off a good month after the busy holiday season and am just getting back into the routine of working again. Kids are all back in school, life has settled down a bit and the glow of the Holiday season has passed. As I was looking through the pictures I have taken this passed year I was struck by a few beautiful things. I would call them the simple Life Lessons I have learned from all of you as we have spent time together! Thank you to my wonderful, amazing clients, family and friends who have let me follow them around with my camera. I am looking forward to all 2010 has to offer this year and pray your cup will be filled to overflowing with all of God’s blessings!

I put together a little video of some of my favorite pictures from 2009. Enjoy!

Family {Phoenix Family and Child Lifestyle Photography}

Sandi Shipley — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:25:14 +0000

Have you ever heard the saying that a cobblers kids have no shoes? Well, I have to admit that I have been pretty bad about not getting my very own Christmas cards out until after the New Year. I take pictures of my kids all year long. All the time, really. It is pretty bad! But to set aside time and do an actual Family session for my own kids?? Not so good at that! This year I really wanted to be better. My kids are growing up so fast and I don’t want to miss any of it! I actually had a plan. Set a date, went shopping for coordinating outfits that everyone would agree on.

Looking back I had to laugh…shopping for three kids, different genders, ages and sizes is much harder than it looks! But we did it. I feel your pain for all of you who have ever asked the dreaded “What do we wear??” question. So here are some of my favorite shots from our afternoon out. And yes, my cards actually made it out this year in time for Christmas

And the winner is…. {Phoenix High School Senior Photography}

Sandi Shipley — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:25:54 +0000

First, I want to say thank you to those of you who took the time to send in nominations! It was so encouraging to read about these young adults who, despite their circumstances, are accomplishing great things. I was so touched reading the stories and hearing about these teens. It was way too difficult to pick just one winner, so I picked two! Read a bit more about each of them below. I will be contacting both families shortly. Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

The first winner is Alexys Amuso. Alexys was nominated by her Grandmother, Andrea Amuso, and is a Senior at Ironwood High School. Alexys’ mother was killed in an accident when she was just 9 years old. For various reasons her father was unable to care for her and her brother. They were both adopted by her Grandmother, Andrea.

Her Grandmother wrote these words to describe Alexys: “Never once has Alexys used this loss as an excuse for anything in her life. When she’s really missing her Mom, she sits down and writes poetry to express her feelings. She wrote her first poem months after her Mom died. It was published in a book of Poems and in a Poetry contest at her school. Lexi, as her friends call her maintains a 3.7 non weighted GPA at taking Honors classes, and is Captain of her Soccer Team. She has been accepted into all three of the State’s Public Universities and is awaiting word from some out of state Universities. She wants to be a Neonatal Nurse and is very focused on that goal. Everyone who meets her falls in love with her. Her Guidance Counselor at Ironwood High School says she’s the most mature, focused student she has.”

The second teen to receive a Portrait Session is Sarah Poland, a Senior at Sunnyslope High School. The amazing thing about Sarah is that she was nominated not once but twice, by two separate people! Here is a little bit from what both people had to say about Sarah…

Sarah Doyle, Sarah’s Small group leader wrote me these words about Sarah: “She is a born leader and is able to influence those around her. She can be straight-forward but also tends to guard herself until she knows she can really trust you. She is kind and deeply loyal to her family and friends. She has a sweet passion for developmentally delayed children and hopes to be a special education teacher or work with them in another way. Sarah is currently the editor of her high school newspaper and plays on the varsity soccer team. In the spring she will be on the track team where she will compete in triple jump and long jump. She was a cheerleader for the first time this year during football season. She is learning to play the piano in school and maintains a B average in her classes. She is on our high school leadership team, and remains committed to my small group. She goes to many of the Senior High events, went on the Mexico mission trip with our church the last two years, helped with VBS, and did Kid’s Club with Neighborhood Ministries this summer. She works and plays hard in everything she is a part of, so much so that she loses her voice often from sheer exhaustion.”

And Sue DeForrest, a close friend, had this to say: “(Sarah) is a Senior at Sunnyslope High School and has dealt with so much in her young life. Finances have always been tight for Scott and his family and over the years Sarah has dealt with their situation quietly. In spite of all her struggles, Sarah has persevered. She has been on the swim team, soccer team, track team and this year she was a cheerleader. She has wrestled with and hung in there with God and is regular at ODF. And best of all she will graduate in a few months with plans and hope for her future!”

Congratulations Alexys and Sarah! I was blessed by hearing your stories and the wonderful things your loved ones had to say about you both. I am looking forward to meeting you and will contact you to schedule your free Portrait Sessions!

Baby Sienna {Phoenix Maternity and Newborn Photography}

Sandi Shipley — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:54:32 +0000

Meet sweet Sienna. Last month I did Katy’s maternity session out at their home. I recently went back to meet the lovely and very tiny baby Sienna. I really enjoyed meeting this family and I have a feeling you will be seeing more of them in the future!

So here you go. A few of my favorites from our time together. Keith and Katy, it was so much fun to meet your sweet family! Have a wonderful Christmas with the girls!

Big sister Charlotte…

and one of them all together….

and we couldn’t resist using this stocking that was made for Katy…melt me!