She’s my lil’ cuz. And now she’s all growed up and going to college next year. I’m so proud and in awe how quickly time flies. She’s quite the talented artist I must say. It clearly runs in the Shipley veins. Duh. She even got a coveted art scholarship from a local foundation in Reno and will enroll at the University of Nevada Reno in the fall. I secretly wanted her to come out to Cali for college so we’d be closer, but at least she’s not running off to the East Coast or something, and I’m happy she’ll be around the house to keep a weather eye out on my sweet grandparents and help my grandma with all her cooking endeavors…something, I wish I could do more often.

A while back in my early days as a photographer, I did a little mini-shoot of my cuz in my grandma’s dinning room because it was snowing outside and freezing. In between Katy’s fits of laughter and my less than adept coaching skills, we managed to create a few decent images. But needless to say, a reshoot was in order and after a few years of practice on my end and a great deal of maturation on hers, we were ready for a real photo shoot.

Luckily, she readied herself at my aunt’s house in Crowley and so we got to raid her jewelry box and my-oh-my was that a treat! She had loads of gorgeous vintage pieces and we could hardly decide which ones to bring. But the process was quite fun ,and I cherish those moments I spent with my Auntie, Granma and Cuz. According to my Granma, I always had quite the penchant for fashion and as a little boy, I would insist that I have a say in my aunt’s style choices, especially on her wedding day. Word on the street is that I picked out her shoes and earrings and suggested that she not “wear a dress on her head” (aka a veil). And since I was the ring bearer and would be donning a tux, I made my mother take me all around town looking for a pair of black socks because I couldn’t very well be one of THOSE boys wearing tacky white socks. No-no. All that to say, I share a special bond with them to be sure. I love ’em all so much. And I digress…back to the shoot.

So after we pulled together all the outfits, we hit the road down to Bishop for what turned into a very long photoshoot. We may or may not have gotten a little carried away. Haha. So without any more rambling on my part, I give you Katy’s Senior Photo Shoot.

Look how purdy that Schiaparelli bracelet is…

I love this series and her awesome pok-a-dot dress. So fun.

Two of my absolute favorite shots…Gorgeous!

Commence crazy, AWESOME, EPIC hair that she totally rocks often at school. Katy’s that cool and can totally pull it off.

One of my favorites shots ever a-la gorgeous door-light in an antique store.

After the retro-esque shots around Main Sreet in Bishop, we headed out into nature…we found a dirt road along the power lines, and had to get a few shots among the sage brush. It was quite windy and there were terrifying sounds coming from the wires, not to mention the odd static charge when I would get near her. It kind creeped me out so we didn’t stay long.

I’d spotted the tall grass along 395 eons ago and had always wanted to shoot there. Yet I didn’t want it to turn into a cliche grassy field shoot. I think we pulled it off.

Finally, we ended with a few shots in an grove of trees. This is my (and my auntie’s) favorite shot from this series…