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It has been way too long since I have posted on my blog. My apologies. Senior season has arrived in full force. I have been so busy, but loving every minute of it. I only have maybe 2 open spots for afternoon sessions in September, for senior sessions. After school openings go fast, but if you are open to coming in during school hours, I can get you in September. October is filling up fast too, so if you want to get in, please don’t wait, call us today, 517-546-6654 or email me: Karina@karinagphotography.com

Here are a few shots from Cody’s full session, a couple of weeks back. You might remember him from past photos, since he is one of my Senior Model Reps for this year. Cody, I hope you got some sleep after this session
I do like how they turned out; hope you do too. More to come later. Enjoy! (Leave a comment if you like his photos.)

Cody is on Howell’s wrestling team. Be sure to go out and support him and his team this year!

First, bare with me as you read this post. I have to admit, this all may be odd to blog about, but in this day and age, when you want someone to “listen” to you, it often calls for “typing” it out. And so today, this is how I will do it.

It is hard to believe that 17 years ago today, at 9:11 a.m., our little princess Kayla was born. Looking back through the memories, through photos of course, I honestly do not know where the time went. Kayla was born strong and determined, confident she could accomplish anything she set her mind too. “Anything her brother Nathan could do, she could do better”; that was her motto. Lenny and I loved watching the two of them grow up so close in age because they were the best of friends; but like most friendships, there were ups and downs. But eventually they would find their way back to each other, happy as can be. Kayla has brought so much laughter and joy to this family, and looking back, I love to remember the times I spent dancing with her, hugging and kissing her, when she really didn’t care who was watching. Those were some of the best times of my life; being her mother and her best friend. If I could have bottled those special moments up to hold on to forever, and bring them back out when times were tough, I would. Relationships get complicated, for many different reasons; and not having control over that is a very hard thing to deal with. I guess growing up I never realized how hard being a mother would be, not just dealing with all that came with children, but the heartache that came with every little thing your child, your baby, ever would go through.

Kayla has grown up to be such a beautiful young lady, one who my husband still doesn’t want to see as a young woman. He, as well as I, will always look at her as the spunky little girl who would dress up in my shoes and clothes and sing the ANNIE song for money. She will always be our little princess who loved to wrestle and beat up her brother, or jump off of ledges and sprain her ankle just to say she did it. Even though we don’t always see eye to eye all the time, we will always love her: we love you Kayla. Being a teenager now is much more difficult then when we were in school; way tougher. There is way more ugly out in the world unfortunately, and as your parents we can’t always be there to protect you from all of it. We try, oh how we try. It is so not easy for us, for any parent to see that it is not up to us anymore. The hardest thing a parent has to do is let go. And right now, I am not ready. Don’t think I ever will be. It hurts too much. BUT, I am open to talking about it, and trying to get comfortable with just the thought of it. GASP, that is hard to even think of. But Kayla, you are and have always been the most important thing to us, yes, along with your brother and sister; period. Today, tomorrow and forever, you will always be our baby, our little girl. We hope that life brings you only the best things, and that you will truly follow your heart and your dreams, but most of all that you will believe in yourself and in us. I know to you it may not always seem fair, and that I do make mistakes and am not the perfect mother, but Kayla honey, please trust in God and in the love that dad and I have for you.

We know that the future is yours for the taking. I can promise you that we will always be here for you, no matter how complicated things may be; we will ALWAYS be here for you. Happy 17th Birthday Kayla!
Always, Mommy’s Little Angel! WE love you, MOM & DAD

Here’s Kayla and I 17 years ago.

Below, Kayla today

I believe that Briana is my last 2011 senior model rep, for now. I was searching for reps for Brighton High School and thought I wouldn’t have one this year, but luckily a friend directed Briana my way (thanks Tenley). I love it when I get to photograph kids who are involved in a hobby or sport and are dedicated. This was a fun “mini” session for me, and I hope it was for Briana, too. Thanks for being a rep for Karina G Photography and I hope you like what we captured. Enjoy!

FUN FACTS ABOUT BRIANA:

Tell me something you cannot live without: My family

Your idea of a perfect day: Wake up to go snowboarding nd then go somewhere to relax on the beach, right after

Your dream career: An optometrist or engineer

Your friends would describe you as: nice and considerate

Your personal style is: Casual

Your Dream car: Black Escalade

Number of FB friends: 300

Your favorite high school memory so far: My whole sophomore year

Your favorite teacher is and why: Mr. Gillis, chemistry teacher, because he actually cared if we learned and understood the material

Your favorite band/singer: Kanye West

Your favorite movie: The Departed

What do you plan on doing after high school: Go to “U of M” or State

It has been a really busy time for me lately, which I don’t mind. Gearing up for high school senior season is something I look forward to every year. I have some great senior reps for the 2011 graduating class and Leah S. is another one. Her session was easy, because she has a great look and knows how to work the camera. Leah has been dancing since she was 3 years old and would like to pursue dancing, acting and modeling in the future. I believe she will be on the big screen someday and I can say, “I knew her when” and “hey, I photographed her senior photos!” Leah, I hope you like your photos from your rep session and I can’t wait to photograph your full session in the summer; especially to get some dance shots. If you see Leah or any of our senior reps at your school in the near future, be sure to ask them for a referral card to get some free prints with your senior session. Enjoy!

FUN FACTS ABOUT LEAH:

Tell me something you cannot live without: Food – tacos

Your idea of a perfect day: Going to the beach and hanging out in the sun all day

Your dream career: Being a famous actress

Your friends would describe you as: outgoing, weird, crazy

Your personal style is: Preppy

Your Dream car: Mustang Convertible

Number of FB friends: 500 plus

Your favorite high school memory so far: My math class freshman year. I just had a great time

Your favorite teacher is and why: Mrs. Blumberg, 2nd grade teacher at Southeast Elementary. She made a great impact on my life.

Your favorite band/singer: I am a big fan of the Jonas Brothers

Your favorite movie: The Notebook

What do you plan on doing after high school: I plan to go to MSU then move to L.A. to pursue acting and dancing.

Having Nick as one of my reps has been something I have planned on for years. I am close friends with his family and like to consider him part of our family. Nick has grown up to be such a handsome young man and such an incredible athlete. Thanks Nick for representing Karina G Photography!

FUN FACTS ABOUT NICK:

Tell me something you cannot live without: Sports

Your idea of a perfect day: Nothing bad happens, everything works out

Your dream career: Professional baseball player

Your friends would describe you as: sarcastic and really loud

Your personal style is: preppy, kinda a jock

Your Dream car: F150 or Ferrari

Number of FB friends: 215

Your favorite high school memory so far: Football games and dances

Your favorite teacher is and why: Mr. Rowden because he is so cool about everything and is a good teacher

Your favorite band/singer: Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban

Your favorite movie: The Hangover

What do you plan on doing after high school: Go to college and become a physical therapist

I met JJ’s mom, Laurie, last summer at a friend’s party and then found out that she had a then sophomore at Hartland High. She spoke so highly of JJ on what a great son and great brother he was. I was so impressed and thrilled when she said that he would probably be interested in being a senior rep for me his junior year. Well, now he is a junior and I am so happy that he is on board as one of my reps. Along with his parents, I am super proud of JJ and his accomplishments. He truly puts his heart and soul in everything he does. His determination and perseverance has gotten him a long way, especially this past weekend. I am so happy to say that JJ took 7th in the state finals this past weekend!!! Way to go JJ!! I know that JJ will go far in life. Can’t wait to do a full session with you this summer. But for now, I hope you enjoy your photos as much as I do, JJ.

FUN FACTS ABOUT JJ:

Tell me something you cannot live without: Music

Your idea of a perfect day: Sunny and warm day with a group of friends

Your dream career: To produce video and films

Your friends would describe you as: Funny, fun and athletic

Your personal style is: I have a lot of different styles, but maybe like a jock or skater, depends on the day

Your Dream car: an old cadillac, I like vintage

Number of FB friends: 200 to 300

Your favorite high school memory so far: When I pinned a kid at State last year against Westland John Glenn and won it for the team

Your favorite teacher is and why: Miss Waddle, 10th grade English, because we were buds

Your favorite band/singer: Blink 182

Your favorite movie: Dazed and Confused

What do you plan on doing after high school: I want to go to Central and take a graduate class in film

I have to admit, that this session with Sarah was a blast. First of all, she is beautiful and has a great unique look and I new all along how I wanted to photograph her. The checkerboards had to come out! Second, she is my daughter’s best friend, so that was a plus since I have seen her grow into this gorgeous young lady, alongside my beautiful daughter, Kayla. Sarah is used to me photographing her though, because I have used the both of them before to shoot on new backdrops and such. All I can say is that I love how these turned out. Thanks Sarah for being my rep. I hope your parents like them. Love you sweetie!

FUN FACTS ABOUT SARAH:

Tell me something you cannot live without: My friends

Your idea of a perfect day: Spending the day on the beach, riding dune buggies

Your dream career: Owning my own hair salon/spa

Your friends would describe you as: helpful and weird

Your personal style is: different and edgy

Your Dream car: Chrysler 300

Number of FB friends: 214

Your favorite high school memory so far: Having my German foreign exchange student, Nina, come live with me for two weeks

Your favorite teacher is and why: Mr. DeAngelo because he helped me and was really cute

Your favorite band/singer: Boys like Girls

Your favorite movie: 500 Days of Summer

What do you plan on doing after high school: Go to dental school at Grand Valley and room with Kayla

I have had the best time photographing my 2011 Senior Models in the past couple of weeks. I need more time in the day to proof them, but happy that another one is done. Erica has been a friend of my daughter Kayla, for years now. She is such a sweet young lady and always smiling. Trying to get her to be serious was a task because she always has a smile on her face. I hope you like your photos Erica. I look forward to your full session.

FUN FACTS about Erica:

Tell me something you cannot live without: My iPod and phone

Your idea of a perfect day: Sleeping in then waking up to a nice cooked breakfast, then shopping for the rest of the day. Then coming home to watch movies for the night.

Your dream career: Becoming a Neonatal nurse

Your friends would describe you as: Bubbly, outgoing and athletic

Your personal style is: Everything is pink

Your Dream car: Ford Fusion

Number of FB friends: 300 plus

Your favorite high school memory so far: when I did the homeless project again my sophomore year

Your favorite teacher is and why: Mrs.Coon (she now teaches Title 1 at Webberville) she was one of my sixth grade teachers and she taught me how to have faith and courage and fight because she fought cancer during my sixth grade year; I looked up to her.

Your favorite band/singer: Taylor Swift

Your favorite movie: Blindside

What do you plan on doing after high school: I’ll go to college, maybe to Eastern or Grand Valley for nursing

I’m so excited that preparation for 2011 seniors has already started. I had several apps for reps and I am so pleased with all of them. I absolutely love photographing this age group; they are so much fun, excited for what is to come, and just full of life. They keep me young!  So here is my first rep, Cody, from Howell High School. I met him back when he was in kindergarten with my daughter, Kayla. It is so nice to see how her friends from back then have grown up into young adults. Anyhow, Cody was absolutely so easy to photograph. He has great style, a great look and very smart. He is on the snowboarding team and right before shooting, Cody got a message letting him know that he made individual states. Congrats Cody and I look forward to working with you throughout your senior year!

I enjoyed asking my reps some fun questions to get to know them a little better. Some of their answers surprised me, but in a good way. Enjoy!

Cody -
Tell me something you cannot live without: Sports and my jeep
Your idea of a perfect day: Wake up late to a big breakfast then snowboarding for the day; then come back to a nice fire and eat steak. (Great answer!)
Your dream career: Professional snowboarder
Your friends would describe you as: funny and athletic

Your personal style is: preppy and jocky (hollister clothes)
Your Dream Car: Lotus Eagle
Your number of Facebook Friends: approximately 600
Your favorite high school memory so far: Every homecoming, dressing up in kilts with the guys. Fun!

Your favorite teacher and why: Miss Huber, english teacher, because I was her favorite.
Your favorite band/singer: Lincoln Park
Your favorite move: Hangover
What do you plan on doing after high school? Become a surgeon, pilot or architect