Love isn't just about the big events, like the first time you hold hands, the first time you say "I love you," the proposal. Love is really about all the little moments all strung together: the everyday, the glances of admiration, cuddling while watching Netflix, sharing an inside joke and making each other laugh. The biggest take-away from my opportunity to see Kyle and Jess' love was the power of these "little" moments.
A little glimpse into a fun, last minute lifestyle session with some friends.
Oh goodness, are these two absolute troopers and absolutely in love! Alex & Jo braved the brutal cold with me last weekend and absolutely slayed their engagement session! I'm head-over-heels with all of the smiles and joy. *insert googley eyes here* We were all excited that this crazy, fluctuating weather gave us snow just when we needed it, too! It totally made the cold worth it. That and hand warmers. ;)
I was driving home from an interpreting assignment and enjoying the beautiful snowy, country roads when I found this pretty location. When I arrived home, I happened to find that my husband surprised me by coming home from work early. It didn't take much convincing and we were out the door back for some Christmasy photos.
Ethan, Kayce, and I spent our evening around the cute little town of Cedarville, Ohio. Ethan requested Cedarville because it has a special place in his heart as being where he had done his family portraits throughout the years as well as his high school senior portraits. We had fun making it a new adventure for him and Kayce together now that they are engaged. :)
Jordan and Shantel's wedding and reception were held in two different states! Luckly, the commute between Idaho and Oregon wasn't a long one since it was right near the state line. ;) I absolutely loved photographing in the Pacific Northwest, one of my favorite places I've ever been.
While there were so many special details and special moments in Jordan and Shantel's day, I think what encompasses their day is the love and support from each and every person, not only the bride and groom. The moment that stood out to me the most as the best example of this was when Shantel, her bridesmaids, mom, grandma, and other special women in her life all gathered around to pray for her and Jordan before the ceremony. That is where the love, and life, and joy overflowed. Multiple people prayed, and at the end every single person there was crying. You'll see a photo with each of them holding a kleenex; that was not staged in the slightest.
Steven and Jessica are two of the most down-to-earth and caring people. They deeply love each other and their absolutely adorable little boy. Seriously, SO adorable! But this session focuses on just the two of them (the little one didn't join us on our camping trip). We had such a great time adventuring through the area, first to Muskallonge Lake and then took a short walk over to Lake Superior. You better believe we took a few breaks to dip our feet in the water, collect rocks in the hopes of finding some agates (This area is supposed to produce really good ones! We didn't really know what we were looking for, however. haha), and to sit on the beach and enjoy the sunset.
I've been dying to share Clint & Veronica's backyard wedding in California. I mean, we even made a trip to Yosemite two days after! How could I not be itching to share those images?! Well, now I can because they have been published by "It Started With Yes!"
Katie allowed me to get creative with the light from the sunset and I absolutely am in love with the results. It doesn't hurt that Katie's basically a model of a mom. By the way, that works for more than just her appearance. She is such a great mom to her little boy and I'm so excited for the mom she will be to her new little girl. (Oh, I maybe should have said "spoiler alert" in case you hadn't seen their adorable gender reveal session yet. Oops.) Katie said that she's excited to do everything boys vs. girls. I think that life ahead of them sounds wonderful for the Kings. And I can't help but be excited to say that the newest King is a princess. ;)
Family photos are such a precious thing in my eyes. They may be a luxury, but I can't help but think that everyone needs them, even to document the little things like playing on a slide. Thank you to the King family of now four for allowing me the honor of capturing these moments. I hope they are something you can look back on for years to come and remember all the little moments as your children were growing up that were filled with smiles, laughter, and even the tears that brought you growth. You are such a beautiful family inside and out.
I also got pretty excited when Peter and Rachel agreed to adventure with me to Oak Openings Preserve MetroPark in northern Ohio. I had fallen in love with random photos of it that I had seen on different social medias and hunted through Google Maps for it, looking from street view to satellite view to some geo-tagged photospheres. I mean business! haha We found and fell in love with it. :) (Apparently, we weren't the only ones to hunt for this amazing location; when location scouting, we ran into someone from Australia who was also specifically looking for this spot!)
Yosemite—goodness gracious it's beautiful. And we saw it on a foggy/snowy/rainy/cloudy/sunny day. I would definitely suggest going to Yosemite, as I'm sure you've heard before. Yes, all that everyone has said about it is true; it is an absolute must see! My heart is excited for the day when I can be as cool as my cousins and hike Half Dome. Really, I'd take just seeing it again. :)
At the beginning of the year there was a photo contest held by Shoot & Share that had photographers participating from all 50 states and 120 countries with a total of 225,207 photos entered into 25 categories. Yeah, that's some stiff competition!
It's been a bit since the contest and finding the results, but for some reason I've just been enjoying this myself. That's kinda silly. So, please join me in the excitement that I did so well in such an amazing photo competition alongside so many amazing photographers!
