Love, Me Blog

I know its a little late, but in case you tried to contact me over the holiday, I have been out of town visiting family.  I will be back to work on Monday (tomorrow!) and will return all phone calls and emails then.  Thanks for your patience and I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  If you are waiting on your ordering session, I will be contacting this week to schedule.  All ordering will be completed by December 10th to ensure Christmas delivery.  If you wish to purchase additional prints for gifts, etc. from your session, please contact us ASAP so we can get it to you in time!

Now its 4:40 AM and my brain has left the building

Here’s a sneak peek of a cute e-session I had with one of Mike’s ex-students and our young life girls!  I was so excited that Fricke (aka Kristina (just realized I don’t even know how to spell your name girl!) thought of me for her engagement pictures.  This was my first time meeting John and I was pretty impressed  They really just go together so well and are obviously very much in love.  We had a blast just walking around, chit chatting and snapping a million photos.  This session got me my lifetime membership to the over-shooters of America club.  Seriously, this was such a daunting task … choosing which pictures to post and how to narrow it down.  I think I was just so relaxed I forgot all about the time and lost count of how many 8GB cards I blew through.  

I loved that they brought several changes of clothes and each outfit really reflected something unique and meaningful for them as a couple.  I am nostalgic to the core, so of course I was in LOVE with these ideas.  John, it was so nice meeting you and Fricke, it was so great to catch up.  Thank you both for allowing me to capture such a meaningful times in both your lives!  I pray that the Lord blesses both of you immensely through each other in Him.

** I may wake up tomorrow and realize that nothing I wrote made any sense.  Please bare with me!

Here are some favorites!

They wore matching shirts from Mexico, which is where they both have a heart for the people, the culture, and missions … and hope to live someday!

Next they sported some sweet affliction t-shirts.  At first, Fricke started telling me what UFC was and I had to remind her that my 2 year old daughter hasn’t missed a single pay per view fight night since birth (and even before that if you count the womb!)  FYI: this is not by “my” choice … she has a daddy that’s into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Wow … I didn’t realize I posted so many.  See I told you it was tough to narrow down!  Now, I am off to bed at 5AM to catch a few hours before its time for me to head to an ordering session and spend the day packing for our trip!

Yes, folks, it is 2:30 AM.  I am working as hard as possible to get everyone’s pictures edited and ordered before I leave for El Paso tomorrow.  What a crazy time of year, but even though  I have had many sleepless nights, I wouldn’t trade this for anything.  I truly am so blessed and I LOVE my job.  If you are nervous about the time crunch, please no worries.  Everyone will have the opportunity to order pictures before Christmas.  I am behind on blogging but I will eventually get everyone up here.  I figure you’d rather see ALL your pictures vs. just a few here on the blog anyway.  Thanks again for your patience!  

You may recognize this cute family from a few posts ago.  No, you aren’t mistaken … I have had the privilege to photograph them twice in the last few months!  I have had the toughest time narrowing this session down, but here are a few quick favorites.  I could say a million wonderful things about this family and how all three of their kiddos are complete rock stars … really, so polite and kind hearted … but, my brain is barely working!  So, just know how awesome you are!  

You are going to love this!  I had the pleasure of doing a product shoot for an up and coming business called the Swanky Shack.  This mother and daughter duo gutted an airstream trailer and created a traveling boutique filled with trendy clothes, funky jewelry, home decor and more!  I know what you’re thinking … “Why didn’t I think of that” “How COOL is that?!”  Well, here is a sneak peek of all their fun product line  and the dynamic duo themselves … Julie and Penny.

 This little pig was way too cute to get lost in the collage, so I blew him up BIG.

Keep your eyes and ears posted for more from these two!  I will post a link featuring their website once it is up and running.  If you can’t wait, you can head to Canton on 1st Monday (its a Texas thing!) to get in line for your tour inside the trailer and be the first to buy some fun goodies for yourself and as gifts for the holidays!  I already have my eye on a T-shirt that reads … “The bigger the hair the closer to God”!  How fun is that?

I somehow convinced this GORGEOUS family to come and hang out with me again so I could hang out and photograph them again because they are so fun get more variety for them to choose between at our ordering session!

I loved our second mini session. It was a gorgeous day and they were all so relaxed and easy going.  I got to be more creative with the family shots and I had a great time.  I have so enjoyed getting to know you all and I look forward to seeing you again very soon.  I hope you enjoy your second sneak peek.

These sisters are just stunning.  I love how unique and equally gorgeous they are! You may recognize Kristen as one of the cute cheerleaders I photographed a while back.  She really is so natural at posing.  This time she had a broken thumb and had to hide her big ‘ol cast (seriously her whole lower arm) She did such a great job!!

I love the interactions between them.  You can really tell they love each other by how playful they are!  Every time I made them think I put my camera down, I’d get a fun capture like the one below.  Courtney seemed to really keep the mood light which I loved.

At our last shoot Courtney pretended like she wasn’t really into the whole picture taking thing, but this time she really just lit up in front of the camera and I was so happy to get her natural smile.  Isn’t she so cute?!

Thanks again for letting me steal you away for more pictures.  I hope you love them!!

Thank you ALL so much for your patience during this crazy time.  I know I haven’t been posting as much but its for good reason!  I am working tirelessly to get all these proofs ordered so you can see ALL your images. Here’s the list for what’s up this week.

Faciane Family Part 2

Swanky Shack

Shabay Family 

Fricke & John

Fellers Family

Chloe & Kourtney

Skye WS (can’t wait to share from the WS I went to last weekend!)

And because all posts are WAY too boring without a picture, here’s a peek from my time at the WS this past weekend.  I learned a valuable lesson … (NEVER attend a WS during this time of year!  Oh, and I learned lots of other fun stuff too )

I just love these two.  They have been dating for a long time and are so fun and comfortable with each other, I love it!  When Jen said she wanted me to take their engagements I was so excited.  I really wanted to show off their personalities.  As you can see, Matt is hilarious and even after 5 years, Jen still just giggles at him non stop.  (and she’s not the only one.  I had a few bust out laughing moments where I literally couldn’t keep my camera up near my face) Jen and Matt are getting married in December, so I photographed them back in August for the first time.  August and Texas are two words that should NOT go together.  It was blazing hot, and we all pretty much knew right away a re-shoot was necessary.  But, we played anyway, and since the pressure was off, we tried all sorts of fun things.

I must mention that the locations are all meaningful to Jen and Matt.  I really wanted to shoot at familiar places to tell a story (my favorite thing to do). So, our first location is Keller High School where they first started dating back in the day! They both were stud basketball players, but I wasn’t creative enough to not make that super cheesy  Here are my favs from Keller.

Matt longboards, so I had to incorporate that somehow.

Jen and Matt “playing” house.  lol.

Soooo … fast forward to a few weeks ago.  Our second location was in Denton, which is where they both graduated from UNT (and STILL liked each other … a LOT).

I love love what they wore.  They are both always so stylish and make sure you check out the shoes.  They are both shoe fanatics … especially Matt.

Ok, now I HAVE to share these.  During the shoot Matt got POOPED on!!!!  lol.  Seriously, I was cracking up.  It happened at one of my favorite spots so I’m not telling where because I can’t give it up for a little bird poop.  Good thing it happened at the end of our shoot. Sorry Coker, but man it was funny.  Enjoy.

Love you guys!  Can’t wait to see you commit your lives to one another and I’m so excited I get to be there

Nope.  They are married … and have been for two years.  Its uncommon for couples to get photos taken after getting married, but I think it is SO important (and not just because I am a photographer).  I think most people have all these pictures of their engagement, then the wedding and then they wait until they have a baby before getting pictures again.  For most people there are at least a few years in between that go undocumented “together”.  And those are some fun years!  I wish Mike and I had done this too (I’m already working him for our 5 year anniversary next year ) Let’s face it, there is usually one person in the marriage that enjoys snapping pics while on vacation, etc.  Sometimes, its the girl and sometimes its the guy, but whomever it is, they are usually absent in all the photos (or you try to take those awkward someone in the photo takes the picture by holding the camera at arms length where your faces are all smooched together and you have at least eight chins between the two of you)  Mostly, you just end up with lots and lots of “scenery” type snapshots or pics with your significant other strategically placed in the lower right hand corner (you are obeying the rule of thirds!) looking less than pleased because they are sick of being in pictures by themselves in front of mountains, sunsets, and statues.  

So, follow Callie and Matt’s lead, give me a call  and go get some pictures taken with each other, not of each other.  If you are reluctant, give Matt a call, and I’m sure he’ll tell you it was painless and actually kind of fun (and I’m sure it scored him some HUGE brownie points with the wife!)

Speaking of Callie and Matt, can I just say …  I LOVE LOVE LOVE you guys!  Seriously, this was a favorite session and I loved photographing them as a couple.  I will admit I was a little nervous, not knowing if the whole googley eyed, we are in love thing would still be there …  I mean, it has been TWO whole years!  Seriously though, I was unsure because I remembered how I was when Mike and I got engagement photos (me always cracking up at his not so funny jokes, sorry honey) and I think we would need a little more direction now.  But, it was so relaxed and fun and they were complete naturals. I felt like I was just following along on a date night. And, it is so obvious they are very much still in love.  

Matt called me up and scheduled a session with me as a surprise for Callie (insert awwww, how sweet here).  Callie had apparently hinted by showing him my website more than I’m sure he cared to see.  I think its such sweet and thoughtful gift and one I hope they will cherish for many years to come.  

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites.  Enjoy!

I’m so glad we decided to go to a new location and keep shooting until the sun went down (literally).  I got to play with my new lens and dof (depth of field) and I love the results.  

Isn’t this kiss so cute