Some of you may remember a session I did last year with a very special little girl. Her name is Desi Robinson, and I'm thrilled to have gotten the opportunity to work with her again.

I discovered Desi when Matthew Simmons and I were shooting a wedding together last year. Desi was the flower girl in the wedding, and after the ceremony I told Matthew that I really wanted to do a shoot with her. I told him that was going to ask her mother for permission, and lucky for us, Renee said yes! Thus began our awesome adventure with little Desi Robinson.

Our first shoot with Desi was done in our studio. Matthew photographed her first, doing some more conceptual portraiture, and then I photographed her afterwards, in a more fashion-based style. She did an amazing job with both, and while she was very quiet and shy, she was a stellar little model.

We decided we wanted to work with her again this year. I knew I wanted to do something more with her, so I started brainstorming ideas. I found a dress online, while casually browsing one day, and as soon as I saw it I KNEW I wanted to photograph Desi in it. The rest of the plan fell together pretty easily. I knew I wanted a more elegant environment to go with the dress, so I set out to find the perfect location and I came across East Ivy Mansion. Matthew and I went to visit it before booking the venue and I couldn't believe how perfect it was. So we finally had a plan, a location, and a shoot date. We were also able to get Ashely Stevens on board for hair and makeup with us! We were set for a killer shoot.

Once again, Desi did an AH-MAZING job. But aside from her awesome, natural modeling skills, and the gorgeous images we produced together, the thing that stuck out to me most was how much more open she was than the first time we worked together.

Shortly after I published Desi's first shoot, I wrote and posted a blog titled, "Why Having Your Portrait Made Is Important". It told the story of Desi's struggle with self-confidence and self-love and how her first photo shoot experience helped to turn her around. What I saw the second time around was the result of her being more comfortable and confident in herself. She was talkative, playful, happy... it was AWESOME. It made my heart so happy to see this kid already growing into an incredible human being.

I hope to keep working with Desi in the future, if for no other reason than she is just WAY too much fun to be around. But more importantly, I want the opportunity to continue watching her grow into her own. She's a REALLY smart, funny, gorgeous kid and she's probably going to take over the world.

You just watch. ;)