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Take Me Back Tuesday: Epic Fails, Yummy Light and Arkansas

May 28, 2013 Posted in Take Me Back Tuesday

Oh, Internet. Dear, Internet. Sweet, Internet.

Epic Fail.

With a mix of technical difficulties, a crazy five days of travel and an insane road rage encounter this afternoon (that is a story for another day), my blogging calendar has suffered. I have been determined to blog three days a week: Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Consistency!! However, sometimes things happen. Like life. So, my epic fail is that on this Take Me Back of a Tuesday, I am just now posting. Oh well, better late than never!

I have so much ‘Take Me Back’ness to post right now (yes I just said that) but not enough time to put it all in one. This past weekend was a blast and I’m pretty sure I put about 700 miles on my car. Not to mention, she came back looking like she had spent some time in the Sahara. You see, I headed out last Friday with 10 other friends and we spent Memorial Day weekend enjoying the Ozark mountains of Arkansas and Missouri. Having spent 3 years of my life and 6 summers there, I felt like I was home. Life was slower for a short while and nature soothed my ‘big city stricken’ nerves. More on that soon!

Sunday night I headed to the great state of Oklahoma to photograph a wedding on Memorial Day which was a blast. More to come on that as well! With all of that travel and craziness, I am spent and hence, my Epic Fail. It may be 6 pm and I may just now be posting but life goes on.

So, in the name of Ozark Mountains, epic fails, blogging calendars and Mother Nature,

I say, Take Me Back!

(When we got to our cabin on Friday night, the location was breathtaking and SUCH a refresher from the concrete of Dallas. Not to mention the light was all kinds of YUMMY! So, of course we HAD to take some portraits. Duh.)

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Melissa + Zach | A Second Year Anniversary Session | Dallas, TX

May 24, 2013 Posted in Portraits,She Said Yes,White Lace and Promises

Ok, Internet, this is my new favorite thing! Melissa and Zach hired me last year to do a special project they started and I was thrilled at the idea! Both of them really wanted to document the years of their marriage in order to show their kids as well as remember all the places they had been and the life they had lived together. With that in mind, they started an anniversary photo shoot tradition. Every year for their anniversary they do a shoot and incorporate significant things from that year of their marriage. How fun is that?!?! Last year, for year number one, they had me take pictures of them in their first apartment just doing things they loved like cooking, reading and drinking coffee. We also photographed them opening up the cards written to them by their guests at their wedding. Without realizing it, they had incorporated the ‘First Year anniversary gift’ of paper. This year they decided to go with the theme and add in the ‘Second Year Gift’ of cotton so we had some fun with cotton candy. I was SO thrilled that they invited me to stay up with the tradition and couldn’t believe it had already been a year since the first! What’s even better is that they decided to put on their wedding attire in celebration. For all you married couples out there, I think this is SUCH a fun idea. How great to actually get to put your dress on again and relive a bit of what it felt like on your wedding day. So romantic.

Melissa and Zach, thanks for continuing to let me be part of this awesome tradition and even more, to witness the growing love of your marriage. It is so fun to see how much you care for each other and are still committed to your marriage two years in. Here’s to many more anniversary shoots for the two of you!

I am obsessed with this location!

One of my favorites. 

Favorite shot of the whole session. 

Celebrating two years of marriage with the traditional gift of ‘cotton.’ 

One of the significant events of year two of marriage was that Zach made a trip to India with his seminary. He brought this back and so we added it in to the shoot to remember. 

My favorite tree in all of Dallas. 

I will finish with these because last year we started this tradition of holding up the number of years of their marriage. Once they get past ten, they may need a little help holding them up. I have some ideas about who could help them with that! 😉

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Take Me Back Tuesday : Praying for Oklahoma

May 21, 2013 Posted in Take Me Back Tuesday

Today’s post is unplanned and not truly a Take Me Back. I had a post planned but today it just doesn’t seem fitting in light of  the horrific disaster that happened in Moore, OK yesterday. You see, I am an Okie. Born and raised. I love that state and the people in it. It is home.

Yesterday, a mile wide tornado ripped through a city that I drive through every time I visit my friends and family in Oklahoma. It is just north of where I went to college and just south of where my grandparents live. It is not a foreign city you see on the news but a place very close to my heart. As I watched the news this morning and looked at the rising death count as well as the jaw-dropping damage, tears fell from my eyes in sorrow. In times like these of heart-wrenching devastation, my heart inevitable turns to the promise that preserves life. The hope of something greater. An eternal glory untainted by the devastation of this world. The hope that is in the promise of a Savior. Some may find it confusing that I would be able to trust in God in a time like this but truly, it is my trust in God that gives understanding in such tragedy as this. Without the hope of that promise, we are left with nothing BUT devastation. With His promise, we have the anticipation of an eternal home that will be worth ALL the pain and sorrow.

As Psalm 27:13-14  says, “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.”

Let us not despair in our desperation and loss but look to the Lord as we wait in expectation of His promise for we WILL see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Let us all pray diligently for the lives affected in Moore, OK today and the days to come as they pick up the pieces and mourn the lives of those lost.

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Behind the Lens: The Wedding Hangover

May 20, 2013 Posted in Behind the Lens

Ok, Internet, it’s Monday. Usually Mondays don’t hold the same disdain for me as they do the rest of the world because my weekdays are never the same. Monday isn’t always the ‘day you have to return to reality’ for me. However, today I woke up feeling like my body might have been run over by a semi in the middle of the night. In fact, I was pretty sure of it actually. Fatigue was paying its weekly visit and a case of the Mondays was knocking at my door.

I had the joy of shooting some friends’ wedding last night and it was just that…a joy. I had a blast and the day was beautiful! Once again, I was reminded why I love what I do and how blessed I am to be doing it. I went to bed exhausted but happy. Today I woke up though with what I call the ‘wedding hangover.’ (don’t worry…it’s just a phrase). Mmmhmmm…it’s an inevitable side effect of every wedding I shoot. You see, when I get in to ‘work mode,’ I can’t get out of it. Once wedding days start, I am in THE ZONE, people! My heart, mind and body are all poured in to that day and capturing it the best way possible. Ask my second shooters and they will tell you, I go hard and I don’t stop until the end. Hence…the wedding hangover. As soon as the music stops and the send-off is complete, I start to come down from my ‘photographer’s high’ and the crash sets it. Without fail, I wake up the next morning with my body screaming in rebellion, ‘No more wedding hangovers!’

Well good thing it’s mind over matter because there are many more ‘wedding hangovers’ to be had and they are all worth it! I just may spend the rest of the day a little more sluggish than usual…

Happy Monday!

(Since every post is better with pictures, here are a few of sneak peek detail shots from last night!)

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Lauren + Devin | A Montgomery, AL Rehearsal Dinner | Little Red’s Schoolhouse

May 17, 2013 Posted in She Said Yes,White Lace and Promises

I was there when they met. I had just moved to Dallas and went to visit Lauren at her seminary, Dallas Theological. That morning had been crazy because she ran out of gas on the highway…at 730am…in DALLAS! That equals not good, Internet. I managed to get a can of gas and bring it to her…ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY. A crazy first introduction to the joys of Dallas traffic but it was a memory. The memories of the day didn’t stop there though. No, we were able to make it to class a little late and we ran in to some of her friends. She had never met Devin, but some of her friends made sure to introduce them…for ulterior motives. Little did we know that Devin’s friends had picked Lauren out as the ‘perfect girl’ for him and they had schemed the whole thing for the two of them to meet. As soon as the introductions were done, it was passed around that there was a group going to Billy Bob’s (a famous country dance hall) in Fort Worth that night and that we should come. We headed to her house, debated going or not, neither of us feeling that up to it, but finally decided we were both new to the area and needed to make friends. So, off we went. I’m not sure Lauren has made very many life-altering decisions like that one…cause well, the rest was history. All night Devin looked for opportunities to talk to her and gain her attention and gain her attention he did. He asked her out on the ride home, which is a funny story in and of itself but I’ll spare her the public embarrassment…you’re welcome, Lauren.

I ‘just happened’ to be there when he proposed and what a glorious day that was! Devin asked her to marry him in the most beautiful gazebo last summer and she said yes without hesitation. I may have looked like a total creeper hiding behind the bushes but well…I’m used to looking ridiculous to capture special moments!

And I was also there when they committed their lives to one another before their friends, family and most importantly, before their ultimate love, Jesus Christ. Lauren and Devin allowed me the great honor of photographing their rehearsal dinner before their spring wedding in Montgomery, Alabama. While I love to shoot weddings, I cannot express how much I love shooting rehearsal dinners. It is the time during a wedding celebration where the bride and groom’s closest friends and family get to share stories, enjoy laughter and brag on the people standing before them. Lauren and Devin’s friends and family didn’t disappoint as countless numbers of them stood up and celebrated the lives of two wonderful people. I found myself tearing up behind the camera as toasts were given in honor of their character, their love for people, their selflessness and their unwavering faith. It was a night of sweet tears, joyous laughter and happy celebration!

Lauren and Devin, separately, you are two VERY special people. I can only imagine how much more wonderful the world will be because of your union. I’m so very glad that I’ve been able to witness such a beautiful relationship…from the very beginning. Thanks for letting me be part of such a special weekend!

Happy Friday!

Praying… before anything else. 

Lauren spent several summers at Kanakuk Kamps in Missouri and several people she had worked alongside traveled the long distances to celebrate with her. Including my own preggo sister!

Mylee is a sweet friend of Lauren’s and was her flower girl. And yes…I genuinely mean friend. I love this shot of the two of them. 

This sweet bridesmaid had her child just a few weeks before the wedding and still made the trip. What a trooper!

Even though it wasn’t the real deal, these are two of my favorite shots from the night!

They had their dinner at this wonderful little restaurant. It was tucked away in the country and used to be a little one room schoolhouse. 

I LOVED the details they had done. So cute and so fitting with the Alabama/Southern theme. 

Are these not the cutest little signs?!?!

Praying before dinner with their family patriarchs next to them. 

Toasts!

These are Devin’s two scheming friends that made it all happen. I believe they are retelling the story here…hence the laughter below. 

Lauren’s best friends from college getting to share about how special she is in their lives. Yeah, this is probably when the tears behind my camera began to flow.

Getting to speak to his bride-to-be and tell her how excited he is to marry her. Favorite moment. 

I’ll close with this one from the wedding…Lauren, you are truly a beautiful woman, inside and out. You radiate the love of Christ and because of that, you love others well. Devin is a blessed man! Even though I see you more outside of our city than in it, I, like so many others, am blessed by every moment in your sweet presence. Oh…and here’s to rockin’ red lipstick!

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