Meet Kyra. She’s a competitor swimmer. And like most athletes, she’s focused and determined and knows where she’s going.

She’s also…VERY PHOTOGENIC.

Her red hair, blue eyes, gorgeous smile and amazing sense of style definitely helped, but more than that, Kyra has an amazing personality that shines through even at the moment you meet her. She’s confident, funny, light-hearted, intelligent and amazingly polite.  I love politeness. It says a lot about character. Especially in a day and age where common courtesy is all but gone.

We photographed her just in the nick of time—the next day it soared up to 105 degrees in the Sacramento Valley! It started to heat up pretty good towards the end of our shoot and Kyra was a trooper.

She’s a swimmer, remember? Trooper is her middle name.