Lori's 39th Birthday Portraits | Dayton, OH | Something Old Dayton

Last week I had the honor of capturing portraits for a friend’s thirty-ninth birthday.

I first met Lori back in December when my husband and I hosted our very first Friendsmas, but it wasn’t until after Anthony was promoting the boudoir mini event I co-hosted back in February that we started talking about putting something together for her session. After a couple of weeks we finally set a date, started piecing together and finalizing details. The morning of her session, a little birdie told me it was her birthday - so I packed up my equipment early and made a pit stop at the store to buy her some cupcakes and the cutest little floral arrangement to make her session a little extra special.

While my hairstylist Alli and makeup artist Camille did their magic, all of us talked about guys - mostly my husband and her boyfriend, the nostalgia Alli’s bomb playlist was bringing us, and I went through the tote of clothes Lori brought to her session and put together some outfits. After Alli and Camille left, we changed up the music to my favorite mashup of all genres of rock and got to work - you can listen to my playlist on Spotify!

After a couple of casual and serious poses into the session, Blister in the Sun from the Violent Femmes came on. I had a crazy idea. I asked Lori if she danced or liked to dance. Slightly confused, Lori shrugged and nodded. I told her to dance and ensured her to trust me after receiving a confused “why?” look from her. Lori shrugged her shoulders again, said okay, and she did her thing. You can tell how happy and free her soul was in these images.

For the rest of our session we pretty much just kicked back, relaxed, and hung out with my favorite studio mascot - Fred the Deer.

Studios + Rentals: Something Old Dayton | Hairstylist: Alli J | Makeup Artist: Camille