Mckenna and Karat//Arizona Equine Photographer

I still remember that first session so vividly.

She was only 6 years old but her joy simply to be around horses radiated. We were just doing pictures, but there was an emanating peace from just getting to be in the presence of a pony. Her mom wanted beautiful sunset pictures like she had seen on my page, but little did she know she was signing up for far more that day. Almost a decade later her mom still blames me for sending them down this path because when I saw Mckenna’s enthusiasm for equines I couldn’t help but refer them to a local barn for riding lessons….

10 years have flown by since then and I’ve followed her journey with deep interest over the last decade. Finding your passion so young and getting to foster it the way she has is an incredible gift. Her journey has taken her through three stables as her desire to learn and grow as an equestrian has grown with her, ultimately landing her at Twisted Tree Farm in Scottsdale with her beautiful mare, Karat.

One of my goals for the year was to make a return to horse and pony sessions, so I reached out to see if they would be interested in doing a session with me again. I was thrilled when they said yes and even more thrilled when we were able to get the session booked expeditiously. It was a beautiful evening reconnecting and reminiscing about all of the years gone by. The weather was stunning and…

…..best of all. Her mom finally got the sunset she wanted 10 years ago.

Just for fun, A throwback to that very first session! Circa 2014

Love these images but don’t have a horse of your own? Join me on April 12th for my Desert Daydreams in Santan for an opportunity for pictures like this of your own (although you might start a lifelong addiction). If you’re already a committed horse addict like Mckenna, Send me an email at katieharrison@nakupendaphotography.com to book your own sunset session.

The Princess and the Pea//Gilbert fairytale child photographer

The Inspiration: I had felt recently that I had been investing far too much time and effort into my dance brand recently and not nearly enough creativity and passion into the child brand. With the child brand being my first love I felt it was long past time to reinvest into the fairytale story telling side of my photography that I first fell in love with.

Even still I wanted to do something different. As much as I love the classic Disney stories that contain beautiful princesses and far off adventures, I wanted to do something that came with less of a predetermined look to it. So I pulled an old idea from my list of creative session just waiting to come to life.

The princess and the pea. An old classic story with a hazy moral (girls should be picky? perpetually uncomfortable? nobles are unbearable snobs? I never did understand the point of this one) but a perfect opportunity the throw my own styling and creativity into the set.

I debated for a minute brining this indoors, but with the weather so perfect during Arizona winter, I decided on setting up at the meadow in mesa instead. With the setting determined, the rest of the styling fell into place with ease. I had already created the moss covered ladder for another session so I headed off to goodwill to find the assorted bedding the princess would require. The dress, cape and gown had already been purchased from Joyfolie in the fall when I had made a first half hearted attempt to bring the vision to life. My beautiful model I had recently met while doing company photos for Rhythm and Motion Dance center and she was the perfect final piece to the vision.

The Session: The best part about creating sessions like this for children is that they are just FUN set ups. What child wouldn’t love climbing on top of a giant pile of mattresses? The set up came together flawlessly, with the pink blooms of the location the perfect complement to the colors of our pile of mattresses.

The review: I left the session reminding myself how desperately I need to do more creative sessions like this one. It brings me such a joy to create artistic images like this session.

If you love what you see here you can Contact Me here to set up your own session!