GIFT

this is a gift I had made for my brother and his wife for Christmas this year. They loved it...and so did I!

Blank Project Canvas Print

Unique party invitations and greeting cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

out of order....A preview for Jocelyn:

A B and RCAR -I- Family Photography

Alicia is a friend of mine who I will always hold close to my heart. She was my very first roommate. We moved into our apartment 1 month out of high school. We have had a lot of ups and downs, and were AMAZING friends because of it. A LOT of my favorite memories are with her! She much like me, grew up and started a family. Her and Benito and an ADORABLE little boy, Riley. We've already decided that our little ones need to get married when they are older so that our kids will have awesome in-laws.  Thats all besides the point...This fantastic family now lives in NY....and they came to visit. We HAD to do pictures....

Life has been crazy...

Not in my wildest dreams did I image I would pick up a camera and fall in love with photography the way I did. EVEN MORE, not in my wildest dreams did I image so many people would fall in love with MY photography. I love it. I have been soooooooo busy with it. I still have my 8-5 job. BUT someday I hope that I can do photography full time. For now I am saving and investing my photography money on my business. I bought a new website..have you seen it?


Photography By April Smith

I ordered new business cards!

AND I bought a new camera and lenses. (D300s and I love her!!) and my husband surprised me by buying me my dream camera bag...Meet Belle

My time has not been busy JUST spending!!! I HAVE BEEN SO BUSY with photo sessions, working on the website, NOT updating my blog (SORRY...i'm fired!) did I mention raising two young kids, plus taking care of my husband and the house. I wouldnt trade it all in for anything!!! I LOVE IT!!!!

I will try and get some of my most recent sessions uploaded later today and tomorrow.

And a special congratulations goes out to Ali, Asaf and London who welcomed baby Berlin and to Tabatha and Justin who welcomed baby Savanna (there maternity pictures will be posted soon...so cute!)

Red Means LOVE

AND I AM IN LOVE with a Red Camera bag by Epiphanie Bags. (I am in love with all their bags!!) I have been on the search for the perfect GIRLIE camera bag. I found it and I NEED it. I literally find myself on their website DAILY staring at the bags, trying not to drool Guess what...beyond-snapshots is giving away one for free!!!!!!!

All I have to do is post an image that shows red. I LOVE my little girls red boots...so what better picture?

I really hope i win this bag....wish me luck!

Baby "J" -I- Newborn photography

Oh baby "J". This was my first experience doing a shoot with a new born baby BOY. Oh is he cute. He was 2 1/2 weeks old when we did this shoot. And let me tell you...Baby "J" has amazing aim. I was pee'd on 3 times and we had a few issues during the shoot but it was soooo fun and the pictures turned out great. I hope you enjoy:

Marshall Family -I- Family photography

Do you remember the Marshalls Maternity session:

Well....Baby J Offically joined the family. What better time for BIG family get together for pictures?! I dont know what the actually count was on the amount of people at the house, but I think we have like 16?! maybe more, maybe less. It was a lot of fun. Here are a few of my favorites...

"M" Family...a few more...

 

 

I love this family. So I had to share a few more pictures......

BUSY as a BEE

My kids are obsessed with Bee's right now. Not a love, more of a hate toward bees if they are real. Every fly is a bee. Which can be interesting at times. Not fully sure why I found the need to share that but I did. I have been Soooo busy lately. Between my "8-5" job at the doctors office, my photography, being a mom of two girls and being a wife, I rarely have time to just SIT....sad thing...I LOVE IT! I have become more and more confident with each session. I have found that the past few sessions, I just shoot. I dont even think about what I am doing, its becoming almost second nature. I feel most at ease and comfortable when taking pictures, it has become a true outlet for me. I've started saving money from my sessions to upgrade. Its going to take awhile but I WILL own the D300 or D700.

With all this being said, since I have been BUSY AS A BEE, I have been neglecting my blogs. So....pictures from my recent session will follow......

Dawn -I- Glendale, AZ portrait photography

Back in November (I think it was November) I did a maternity session with the Marshalls. Dawn has a new grandbaby. That's right the Marshalls had baby Joseph one week ago. Dawn came all the way from California to visit with the new baby and she was sweet enough to want to share some time for a mini session with me to get some photos of herself for her hubby. She was such a nice lady and I enjoyed her company a lot. Ok ladies can you believe she has 6 kids?! She looks great doesn't she! Dawn I hope both YOU and your husband enjoy the pictures!!! You're beautiful both inside AND out!!!

"M" Family -I- Glendale, AZ Family Photography

Meet the "M" Family. You may recognize little "M". Her name is London (oh how I love her name) and she was the subject of one of my first sessions! Mommy "M" is pregnant with another little girl, due in March. And London just turned 18 months. What better reasons to have a session?! I will post more pictures once mommy and Daddy approve. but for now...Enjoy these:

Lucy -I- First Birthday Photography

LUCY IS TURNING ONE!!!! I met Lucy back in November when Lucy's mom and dad did their wedding party pictures with me. She was MISERABLE in November. She cried  and wanted nothing to do with pictures. BUMMER! She was sick so its to be expected! Let me tell you, for her first birthday pictures Lucy was a DOLL! She is such a sweetheart and she photographs so well. She brought her new puppy with her too, they even shared some cake!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY!!!

 

 

exciting

All kinds of exciting things going on. After my Boudoir session my email has been blowing up. A lot of people wanting to book sessions! I am extremely excited about it. I am really busy the next few weeks, but don't be afraid to contact me, I can always squeeze some more in :)

Also, tomorrow I am doing another Session with Too Strong Apparel.We're doing photos of the clothing for the website. They should all be up by Thursday night. On Sunday Joe "Deisel" Riggs is fighting on Showtime and Too Strong Apparel is his sponser!

Lots of big things coming my way. I am thankful for every session I book and I am thankful for everyone who has believed in me! THANK YOU!!

Jessica -I- Boudoir photography

Seriously, this was such a fun session. It was my very first attempt at boudoir and I am so happy Jessica was my first client. She is so outgoing and made it fun. I had visioned my first boudoir session having a tutu. Don't ask me why. But I thought a cute, short, sexy, flirty AND black tutu would be so fun. Why buy one when you can make one? So I made my first tutu for my first boudoir session. Jessica worked that tutu. She loved it and had a hard time taking it off. I definitely see more tutus in the future!!






I had so many fantastic pictures and I wish I could share more, BUT some are a little more then Jessica would like to show the world wide web...sorry. If you want to see some classy yet sexy photos, then book your own session :)

Sami -I- Senior Portraits

Sami is my husbands 3rd cousin. She will be entering her senior year this next school year. Every January her and her mom venture from South Carolina and come to visit the Arizona family. Sami and I planned on doing some sample senior pictures for her. Of course they plan their visit the worst week EVER...We had the worst storm we have ever had this past week. Arizona actually had tornado warnings and reports of some touching down. Anyone who knows Arizona weather...this is very weird. We received over 4 inches of rain in one week. The day we had planned for pictures, I think we received almost 3 inches of rain. Either way we were determined to take a few pictures, rain or shine. I am thankful for the 5 minute break from pouring to sprinkling and for my mother in laws super cute bedroom! I think we did good considering the weather conditions:

Too Strong Apparel - Joe "Diesel" Riggs

Here are some more of the pictures from my shoot with Too Strong Apparel with MMA Fighter Joe "Diesel" Riggs. check out Too Strong Apparel. And keep an eye out for Joe's fight on Showtime later this month.