Your history, your love, your life as art...

I guess I could say that the fine art genre of photography is what captivates me the most but the emotive side of my subjects is a close second. I really think you can't have one without the other if your subjects are people. I am super passionate about the feeling a portrait conveys and I think that is achieved by authentically capturing the moment but ultimately created during the post processing efforts.

For a long time I thought there was no real way to photograph a family authentically and get the art I wanted out of each project I take on. As it turns out, family photography can be real, passionate, and just as captivating on camera, portraying the real essence of the people and their unique love story.

This family session was so incredible to shoot because the love among the three of these beings is UNDENIABLE. You would think they knew something more about this life then the rest of us. The mother has a kind peace about her that bleeds confidence with no offensiveness. I would say her faith has everything to do with this gift. The father is slightly guarded on hello, extremely funny after hello, gracious and polite...truly rare, I think.  And that baby girl, well I don't need an explanation, just look at the photographs. Beauty inside and out is the ultimate eye-candy. I hope you enjoy this session!

 

 

a wonderstruck witness

My husband and I are expecting our second little miracle in about two months which makes this post extra emotional for me. To preface, when I gave birth the first time around I kept my eyes closed the entire time, it was a focus technique I learned during hypnobirthing classes that quite frankly worked wonders to shut the world out. But what an incredible life experience I didn't realize I was visually missing, until I was blessed with a request from a woman I used to know as just a girl. 

Not long after I had my little boy, I was contacted by this old friend from elementary school, someone I had not known since those pigtail, playground days. Based off a few Facebook photos of my family she asked if I photographed other people or just my own. I revealed short tales of wedding photography life, my lack of marketing efforts, my desire to photograph the real every day life, and jaw dropped when she asked to put me on her list of people who might be able to capture the birth of her third baby girl. While birth photography was something I had on my bucket list of experiences to have, I don't guess I ever expected it to come into fruition. Especially because this last year has been one of really pushing myself to photograph anything and everything in search of an artistic voice, with less focus on establishing a defined genre for my work (both I am still confused about, alas).

Heather is her name. She will never really know the gift from God she was to me. I saw a miracle happen. I saw a life become a reality. I saw something I missed and may have not been blessed enough to see again. I saw a relationship between a husband and wife of strength, compassion, humor, familiarity, and intimacy that made me love my husband more. I witnessed a family who defined authentic love at every age and every dynamic. I reconnected with a friend that I knew when I was eight-years-old, as if we had been walking the line together. The unspoken bond of motherhood.

But above all, I saw my child in hers. I was a wonderstruck witness. I got a moment back that I missed, in a way. These photographs are etched in my soul and I am forever grateful for her beautiful life. Happy (almost) first birthday Adley Wren.

Enjoy this glimpse of a wonderstruck witness.

brotherhood

If there is a chance you've ever doubted the ties that bind, this photo session might shed hope on the power of family. Knowing them personally might make me a little more emotionally attached to this session, but the authenticity of the love and the hugs and the secret telling and the exploring, all surrounding a tiny new addition to a quad of brothers is, well, moving. The momma is a friend of mine who I am constantly taking mental notes about parenting, though she has no clue I'm repeating her words in my head so I can write them down later. Just today she was sharing a story about telling one of the boys that he had the power to either rub off on other people or be influenced by other people. She did it in a way that held the compassion and understanding of a war nurse, and the result was empowering her son to make the right decision for himself...seriously you would be taking mental notes too, even if you didn't have kids. She is completely unaware of what a true family success her little world is. Her family is real and so is their bond and I love them! Enjoy their beautiful story!