Taylor Family Portraits

These guys are close to my heart (and many. many others' too, for sure!). I didn't know this at the time I took these, but they had not had professional family portraits done ever! Ever! But now they have beautiful, love-filled portraits for their home (and family!).

This was a super quick, slightly freezing photo sesh in their cute back yard. There was a lot of laughing, and beautiful smiles. Family portraits don't have to be a pain to plan for; they can be spontaneous and quickly thrown together.

Kayleen, Maternity Portraits

This is my lovely cousin, Kayleen. Yep, I'll claim her! We're 5 months apart and grew up on opposite sides of the pacific ocean, but somehow we stayed good friends through the years. She's seen me at worst, for sure, and still claims me too! We've both moved around a lot since we've started families of our own, sometimes even living in the same state at the same time! That's always fun for us!

Marsing Family, Winter Family Photos

I adore this family. I've been taking pictures of these kiddos for about 7 years now! We've done train tracks, gardens, and canyon parks (to name a few places) so this time we tried something different! SNOW! I guess it was meant to be because that morning we got a LOT of snow! 

How Professional Images Actually Help Your Memory

Professional portraits are considered an investment because while we are told our brains save everything we hear, see, read, feel, smell, taste… we have not yet mastered the skill to recall those things at will and with utmost clarity. Try remembering the details of a face you haven’t seen in years… can you do it?

Without high quality images, I wouldn’t remember the details in the baby blue eyes of my now 9 year old - whose eyes have incredibly turned a shade of gold and green. I just couldn’t! Without high quality images, I would hardly remember the mischievous grin,and twinkling eyes of my younger brother who passed away over 10 years ago at age 20.

Images keep long distant relationships alive, and connect us to people we may never see again in this life (or may have never even met). Images keep stories real and memories closer to our mind’s reach. I despair to think how many priceless, precious moments have been lost to oblivion because no one bothered to record anything referencing them. How much more do we cherish the images of our babies - once they’re grown? How much do we cherish images of the best times of our lives - when those times have long since passed?

It is far too easy to let time slip away thinking there is nothing significant about that birthday, that family get together, that random road trip, that whole year, or that Halloween costume. Or have you already experienced the pang of regret that you didn’t get pictures while she was still around or when you went to that one place that ended up meaning a lot to you…

“I wish someone had gotten a picture…” Have you ever thought that?

Now let’s get your pictures taken!

Why I LOVE Family Photos!

Creating timeless family photos is like...
Unleashing a little bit of magic -
that mostly looks like the family you spend so much time with and know so well -
with a hint of other worldiness
that makes you realize how amazing your life really is and
how lucky you are to have these
perfect-for-you people
in your life.
As if your looking through a window you never noticed before and think,
“Yes, I know them, and I can’t believe how beautiful we are together.”

THAT is what I love most about family photography. That is when I know our time and efforts together were successful!

Hello, Old Friend!

Apparently the last time I posted anything was in 2014. THAT'S embarassing! With all the different social media platforms available I've been rotating through them... and my blog was sorely sorely neglected. I'm sorry.

But not to worry, I have been taking pictures! To see some of my recent work, you can visit my website aliciastates.smugmug.com, facebook or instagram (@photosbyaliciastates).

Here's a little something recent to brighten your day!

Family Fun

I'm still behind on sessions! This is from a session in November just before the winter really set in! It was dang cold but these kids were exceptionally well behaved and we got some great images during this mini session!

This one is my favorite since it is so spontaneous and fun! It makes me smile :)

I'm back... and ready to rock and roll!

I have a few shoots to preview here, but for now I'm just going to put this beautiful family up. This winter has been rough for me... creatively and mentally/emotionally. It's like this every year. I just can't seem to find a way to enjoy being out in the cold! I think (hope!) that for the most part, we're past the ridiculously cold temperatures... I can work with 30 ish degrees (still ew, but that's my compromise!). 

My point is, I'm back! My creative side is unleashed and ready to rock and roll!

Fallon Family, Utah Family Photography

 

What a fun family! It was so refreshing to have a session with a family that was so easy to work with (mind you, I'm used to chasing 3 little boys around all day so anytime I get a break from that, I enjoy it while I can!).

What made it so easy?

Well, they were making each other laugh the whole time! I won't go into detail but it was per-i-tty funny (just trust me)! Plus they've got the bluest eyes and really great smiles!! Not to mention the natural way they interact... it was easy to get great shots.

I am super pleased with the images we got, and feel honored that I was able to be their photographer!

Precious Eternity

My aunt was sealed in the LDS Temple to her husband and their son in July and wanted some pictures for the very special occasion.

It was a fun, easy going photo shoot at a beautiful park and what a beautiful time of year! Everything was so green and they are so happy it just radiates throughout all of their images!

AAAHHH I just love this family!

{Gonzalves Ohana} Kaua’i meets Utah Photography

       

 

Another beautiful  family from Kaua’i braves the crazy and unpredictable Utah weather! We really hoped to take  some fun pictures in the snow… but snow is no where to be found! I can’t complain too much because I’m really not a big fan of the cold!  We  made the most of what we had and it really didn’t matter what the weather  was like because these little darling stole the show!!!

Thanks you guys! It was so fun to chat and catch up since it’s  been way too long since we came home for a visit!  Hope to see you all really soon!!

{Emi & Kiki} Happy Holidays!

I am in love with these pictures! We were hoping to find a spot with snow and a river… and we found a spot with  snow and a river! Peeerfect!

I hope you  are all enjoying a wonderful Holiday Season!

{Evans Family}

   

This shoot was quite the adventure… freezing cold weather, wild deer…. but how dang cute are those kids? I’ll tell you - so dang cute. I especially love action shots of kids just playing and being… well, kids! Capturing the smiles and laughter is what I love best. Brittani and Sean are the sweetest couple, and such great parents in my opinion. We braved the cold and you would never guess it was 33 degrees that day! I swear kids are  immune to anything that could stop them from having a good time! If they wanna have fun – they have it! Oh, the things we can learn from children!