Brooke Rugger Chic | Missoula Senior Photographer

Living in Montana can sometimes be challenging for a natural light
photographer. But most of the time, it gives me the most amazing
photographic opportunities! Missoula is an old school city, with unique
buildings, great landscape, and super fun and awesome people.

I felt extremely blessed and had so much fun with this shoot! This
beautiful young lady, Brooke, was in charge of picking the location for
her session. She wanted unique and not commonly used, something totally
different from the "normal" session sites. So, what better then an old
dilapidated abandoned railroad track running through the heart of "Old
Missoula" and through some crazy coloured residential area!

Brooke totally brought this session to life. She's an awesome rugby chick,
who brought chic and stylish all together! It really wasn't hard at all do
"my job". As a photographer, I'm not afraid to get up and personal for a
session to make sure that I capture their best features. Brooke used her
own incredible sense of style to accent her sharp stunning blue eyes, and
intertwined golds and creams to bring out the fall colours that surrounded
us. Pulling together her amazing fun and life filled personality and the
rich crisp fall atmosphere, Brooke rocked her session, and I'm certain
she's going to go far in life!

"Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind... don't matter" ~Dr Suess

CHIC CRITIQUE COVER CONTEST | Missoula Fashion Photographer

WOW! So I'm not gonna lie, I'm REALLY REALLY excited about this! I get to share this image with everyone as not just a beautiful young lady, but a potential for the NEXT COVER MODEL for Chic Critique Forum! The magazine Chic Critique is doing a contest for photographers to share their work and have it featured on their cover! Each image will be judged by a professional and a panel of Celebrity Photographers, so we know that care will be taken in choosing "THE" image!

So it is with great pride, that I enter this image. Taken in the lovely river that flows through the Rattlesnake Wilderness of Montana, this young woman shows the poise and beauty that runs through the veins of this rugged state.

©VioletRay Photography for http://chiccritiqueforum.com Cover Contest

Kyleigh Senior Session | Missoula Senior Photographer

Kyleigh came to me with ideas of her session. She wanted clean and
country. She wanted to stand out from all her classmates, in form of theme
and location. That got me REALLY excited because I live out in the country
of Florence, MT. We planned her session in her almost 3 weeks in advance,
and started praying that the smoke would all clear out! (Montana and Idaho
have been under extreme fire conditions since June!) When her session time
finally arrived though, the fires of Montana were in full force and
socking my 5 acre parcel of land in with heavy smoke. Kyleigh and her mum
were worried but I just kept reassuring them it was okay! I told them,
"lets just look at this smoke as a natural haze. A nice light diffuser.
It's going to be FINE!"

And it was!!! Each one of her images just naturally glowed! I'm so proud
of this young lady! She really let her inner beauty shine, and I'm also
thankful for the smoke. Not very often you'll hear a person say that...
but without it... this session wouldn't have been the same!

Enjoy the beauty and remember that each individual is beautiful! Inside and out!

Blaine Senior Session | Missoula Senior Photographer

I love senior sessions. Each individual is so unique and fun! This young man on my blog today was such a blast to shoot. Blaine is a HS senior at Sentinel High. He has a love of the outdoors, La Crosse, and life in general! I was absolutely enchanted by his beautiful smile and the way it reached his eyes!

Blaine wanted a country setting for his session. Something natural and open. Full of colour and vibrance, the Bitterroot River was a perfect spot. He even got to bring his sweet dog, Savannah.

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."

Enjoy and Happy Tueday!!! ©VioletRayPhotography.com 2012 Missoula Senior Session

Kenzie Senior Session | Missoula Senior Photographer

Monday morning ended up being a beautiful and perfect day for a hike up the Rattlesnake.... and a Senior Session!

Kenzie, a bright and enthusiastic senior from Sentinel High School, had taken the time to do her homework and found the perfect shooting location. She knew what she wanted for unique senior images, and she got them!

Going for "all natual" and bold look, she, her parents and lil bro (and me!!!!), hiked into the Rattlesnake Wilderness to enjoy the beauty of the river and trees.

"Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart. ~Kongzi"

McCormick Family Session | Missoula Family Photographer

This session is a blessing to my heart. I met this family 2 years ago when they were up in Montana visiting family and friends just before Lucas was deployed with the ARMY.

Now all home and safe and sound, back together, this beautiful family was back in town and I had the best and most wonderful pleasure of getting to do another session for them!

The summer here in Montana has been very warm, but it made it possible to head down to a quiet little campground on the Bitterroot River and we walked out into the middle of it on a little island and had the greatest time just talking and laughing as we did the session, and I chased little Beau around trying to get "just one!" LoL!

"When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses".  

                                                      ~Joyce Brothers