Cassady high school senior, Courtney, had her photos taken at the Oklahoma State Capitol building. I’ve watched her grow up, it feels like, as I’ve been doing her family photos since she was in 8th grade. How special to get to capture such a milestone for her.
If I could pick only one highlight from 2022, it would hands down be this experience right here. I worked with Wahoo Running and Michelob Ultra to capture moments at the Philadelphia Marathon, and the entire time I just kept thinking, I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to get to do this! We did an entire shoot for Ultra at the Rocky steps, got to run the half marathon on Saturday, then bounce around Philly on Sunday capturing the full marathon. I hope I can be given the opportunity to do more of this in the future.
One of the big transitions I made this past year with family sessions was moving away from the one hour sessions and just doing 30 minutes. I found along the way that when kids are involved, attention spans don’t last, and the ability to smile and continually be asked to do things they don’t want to do is short lived. In the end I’ve still been able to deliver 40+ images from those sessions, and everyone was happier all around. There were still a few families that hour sessions were necessary (usually when there are more than 2 kids, or extended family), but this below shows what can happen in just half an hour.
Spring started off with one of my favorite families ever. I photographed this girl’s birth way too many years ago, and now she’s starring in the big sister show. Such a joy to be at a place where I’m photographing multiple milestones in families’ lives.
Here’s to more. More than just pretty photos. More than just words on a page. Here’s to being the life-giving, soul-inspiring, light-shining beacon of hope this business is called to be.
The journey to parenthood is often a hard fought battle. Its not as easy as making the decision to start a family, and within a few months you’re on your way. For some, its years of trying, testing, clinics, fertility specialists, and so on. And when that miracle happens after all those years of waiting, the joy of that blessing is rich beyond your wildest dreams.
August settles in like a sad cloud. Not an interesting cloud, not a dark cloud. A sad cloud. It's just gray, and it blocks the sun. There's no rain with it, it doesn't move with the breeze. There is no breeze. It just sticks, like the sticky film that defines August air in the southern summer. And that sticky, boring, useless gray cloud hovers.
After losing my original pumpkin soup recipe, I found something that was somewhat similar, so I took pieces of that recipe, combined it with what I remembered from the original, and true magic was born!
Several weeks ago we were experiencing a long streak of absolutely beautiful weather. And then the night of this session it all changed! It was drizzly, cold, windy, and cloudy. It’s a good thing the Paseo District is so full of color and joy - it made the dreary day come back to life for these fun family photos.
At the beginning of October our family was driving out in the boonies to a pumpkin patch. On our way I spotted a cotton field in full bloom and just about nearly made my husband stop that instant so I could go frolick in it. I’ve never seen a cotton field so close to where I live and I was giddy!
And so, I continue to run. I’ll continue this streak so long as there is a pandemic, and likely it won’t stop there. Heck, it may be 30 years from now, I’ll be coming in from a run on a family vacation and the grandkids ask me why I’m still doing it, and suddenly this piece of me is really a piece of history. It’s a story of how the world changed, and how I fought to keep my heart from becoming jagged in the process.
My sweet, beautiful, full of joyous energy friend, celebrated her birthday waaaayyyy back in February before the world turned upside down. And I’m so glad her big day happened before everything because we seriously had the most fun throwing confetti, eating cupcakes and popping champagne.
EVERY ADULT DESERVES PARTY PHOTOS.
So let’s do more of these, friends. I’ll bring the cupcakes and bubbly and we’ll have more fun than you’ve ever had taking photos.
I could go on and on singing the praises of Wahoo! Running, and I think anyone remotely interested in getting better at running, or finding local friends to run with, should consider coming alongside us. You won’t regret it!
Unless you do the annual beer mile. But even then, you’d only regret your life choices for a short time. Ha! But really, watching this race unfold was SO FUN and I can’t wait until next time.
Hawaii feels like an absolute lifetime ago now. Looking back at these photos now I can hardly believe we were actually there. SO MUCH has happened in the past 6 months.
It was full steam ahead literally the second we got off the airplane back home. We picked up Robert’s kids, and just like that we all lived together.
