In the Hispanic culture, a young woman’s 15th birthday is an event to celebrate! I was so excited to get to celebrate with Amanda and her family on her special day fit for a princess!
A party fit for a princess!
All the pink decorations! The birthday girl is ceremonially gifted her last childhood doll, and their dresses even matched!!
A special ceremony was held welcoming Amanda from the world of a growing up into the world of becoming an adult.
A special father daughter dance is a special part of the reception.
A mariachi band is a special tradition as well! The music was so much fun! Congratulations on your big milestone, Amanda! Here’s to all that the future holds for you!
I love taking time every January to look back at the year before, go back through the thousands of pictures the last 12 months have produced, re-live memories I may have forgotten about, think about all the clients that meant so much to me, all the amazing opportunities I had to capture memories here in Branson, Arkansas, Kansas City, South Beach, Peru…it was a year of LOTS of miles under car miles and airplane wings! Let’s take a trip back through 2019…
January
January was a month 60 degree weather, sunsets…and 1 snow storm. I got to shoot at the lake at sunset the 2nd week of January and didn’t freeze my butt off. We shot downtown with B-Town Threads for the launch of their spring line and were only slightly chilly in t-shirts. 96 Miles and I had a great time shooting inside Fritz’s Adventure, their love AND talent are two things I’m super envious of! Cat and I spent 15 minutes in the ONE snow storm of the winter and thought we were going to freeze to death. The Blackwood kids and I braved the cold AND the rain to shoot some promo pics for their grandparents to use as marketing material. Moral of the story, you never know what weather January in Branson will send you…so you work with it! January also always gets me excited about the rest of the year and gives me chance to try new techniques and ideas!
March was the month of weddings (from the photographer who doesn’t do weddings!) It also marked the start of Senior Season with my shoot with Grace that I LOVED! There’s never a bad night at the Branson Ferris Wheel (hollow foggy nights!), more shoots with B-Town Threads, a trip to Miami, Oklahoma with the Massengale family and opening shows on the Showboat Branson Belle! Hello, full swing of the 2019 season!
April
Alllllllll the spring sessions happen in April!! Princess sessions with Everlee, birthday sessions with the Edmonson family, B-Town shoots with Emily and Cat, Bark for Life with Diskey the Wonder Dog, Chiefs sessions with Melody and Billy, Dogwood Canyon during peak dogwood season and the spring musical Peter and the Star Catcher at Parkview High School!
May
May saw maternity sessions, proposals, engagements and Silver Dollar City back in full swing! Sweet Ryker made his entrance into the world just a week or two after we got to do his mama’s maternity session (so glad he waited!) Brandon proposed to Kelsie on the showboat (total surprise) and we got to do their engagement session that same week before he went back to South Africa. I got to sing along with 50s music at Hot Rods and High Heels and my favorite 90s Country tunes with Diamond Rio at Silver Dollar City Country Nights.
June
Sunset flights with Chopper Charter, family sessions in Kansas City AND Branson, Lady Gaga at Legends in Concert, Snow White and The Little Mermaid came out to play at the lake, yoga sessions in Arkansas and crepes at the Ferris Wheel. Summer is in full swing!!
July
Extended family sessions at golden hour, maternity sessions in a field behind a bank (hey, don’t judge locations until you’ve shot there!), family sessions and engagements at Table Rock Lake (they looked at me funny when I asked if they wanted to jump in the lake, but they were all for it!), Kansas City trips for family sessions with some of my long-time forever clients, and SUP yoga sessions at sunset. All the summer feels!
August
Dogwood Canyon sessions with families AND the animals (check out the buffalo and the long horns!!!), Mom and Me shoots at Expresso with two of my favorite models, SIX show and celebrating another year with Terry Wayne’s variety show. I got to meet Doug the Irish Terrier (who loves Expresso as much as I do!), and love and kisses under the lights at wedding receptions.
September
September was a month of never slowing down, barely breathing and soaking in every single moment. I made some of my biggest photography dreams come true getting to shoot at Wonders of Wildlife ( THE PENGUINS!). I got to celebrate with some of my favorite Branson families and help announce a little sister coming in 2020. I got to shoot at a Dierks Bently concert and capture the magic of the #1 Hits of the 60s Show as well as Pumpkin Nights at Silver Dollar City. I capped the month with a mission trip to Peru and got to capture pictures in places I never imagined!
October
October…the month for photographers that’s comparable to April for tax accountants. So much love, so many smiles, so many memories, so many sessions! Kansas City, Big Cedar, Branson…a wedding; newborns; seniors; All. The. Dogs.; families and hayrides. I love EVERYTHING about this season!
More families and senior sessions, sunsets, shooting for Shoji Tabuchi, the Oak Ridge Boys, and getting to celebrate a new coffee shop (Finley Farms is definitely a new favorite!).
Remembering October wouldn’t be complete without remembering the epic proposal I got to help with at Gaston’s Resort. Faking a stolen plane, a proposal on the runway and a helicopter flight home…Michael pulled out all the stops…and I am SO excited for this couple to celebrate forever together!
November
Hello Christmas card season! I LOVE this time of year getting to capture magic for everyone’s Christmas cards!! I got to help celebrate engagements, newborns, Christmas shows, fall theater productions and of course one of my favorite trips of the whole year to It Factor Live. I got to offer lifestyle sessions to all the VIP mastermind attendees at the conference as well as update Brad and Casey’s portfolio as well!
December
I was so thankful this December to purposefully get to take some time and enjoy the Christmas season and all the magic that goes with it this year. Magical nights at Silver Dollar City and Christmas parties with some of my favorite medical staff. I also got to help welcome in the new K9 officer to the Branson PD. And my favorite way to celebrate the end of the decade and the beginning of a new decade, ringing in the New Year with my friends and the crew at the Clay Cooper Theater with the biggest balloon drop in town! Here’s to 2020!
And that’s the year in a VERY short and abbreviated way! Every year I ask myself…could the upcoming year be as full of as many adventures, opportunities and excitement? And every year…the answer has been yes. I can’t wait to celebrate 2020, capture events, memories and all the excitement this year has in store!
You can’t celebrate 90s country music without singing along to every Diamond Rio song! Meet In The Middle, How Your Love Makes Me Feel, What A Beautiful Mess, In God We Still Trust, Norma Jean Riley…the list goes on!
One of my favorite things about Diamond Rio concerts is that they sing EVERY hit! It’s a 90 minute whirlwind of every single one of your favorite songs, non-stop music! You won’t leave a concert without hearing that ONE song you came to hear!
Marty Roe, Gene Johnson, Jimmy Olander, Dana Williams, Brian Prout and Dan Truman have been singing together for over 30 years, they have 22 Top 10 Singles, have sold more than 10-million albums, are Grammy award winning and are 6-time Vocal Group of the year! These guys are SO talented and SO much fun in concert!
When you make a sign asking for a picture…you might just get one!
Silver Dollar City always has an AMAZING concert line up and I love seeing Jack and Sherry Herschend enjoying them from the front row!
It’s busy season in full force again! All the shooting, all the editing, ALL the coffee!! It’s been watching the season take shape the last few weeks, excited for what this year brings to Branson, and TGC Photography!
If you’re looking for new things coming to Branson this season, check out Landshark Bar and Grill on the Branson Landing! Landshark celebrated their grand opening the end of February, and has been a great addition to the rest of the shopping, dining and entertainment at the Landing! Owned by IMCMV Holdings Inc. (the same company which owns Margaritaville!), Landshark has an amazing view of view of the Landing fountains right in the middle of the excitement! With a great food and drink menu, a fun family friendly atmosphere and lots of live music, Landshark will have you feeling like you’ve got your toes in the sand all year long! Fins up!
Amazing view of Lake Taneycomo and the Branson Landing fountains from the patio at Landshark Bar & Grill!
If you’ve been a frequent cruiser on the Hwy 76, you’ve surely passed by the Grand Palace. Home of all the biggest names in town since its building in the 1990s through its vacancy in 2008. It was bought by Kuvera Partners in 2014, and after much discussion, ground breaking has occurred for Branson’s newest indoor attraction, The Aquarium On the Boardwalk, set to open in 2020!
The Grand Palace Theater has seen some of the biggest names and concerts in Branson! It has been empty since 2008
It’s going to be another great year in Branson! Get ready for the adventure!
TGC Photography 