Dreams are made of Vintage Dresses

Ok, so... I want to get a lookbook account. I have way too many clothes, and don't have much to do with them except to wear them. I want to start doing a self portrait project with the many items of clothing that I own which are vintage inspired or thrifted.

So... this post is primarily to show the people of lookbook.com that I am worthy of an account. I don't have many self portraits, being that I just got my new shutter release in the mail, but I'm hoping to post a LOT more (especially upon receiving my lookbook account!). I expect that I will also feel a bit of regret in the near future when I realize I didn't actually NEED to give away that ruffle shirt of flowy skirt that I never wore--but now I will have more reasons to go thrifting and make up for the loss :)

So hopefully, this post will give them a taste of what I can provide to the site :)

Enjoy!

My First Maternity Session.

I really love what I do. I really really do. I want to do this the rest of my life.

Yesterday was a really special day for many reason. Many firsts, many very intimate moments, many memories made. Yesterday I had the honor to photograph the Maternity session of one of my very best friends from High School whom I nearly grew up and learned many life lessons with.

Looking back at our friendship up to this point was bittersweet. Time has gone by so fast that it seems like our teen years together just slipped out of our hands in one blink. But oh, the wonderful memories. A true friend that I will have the rest of my life, through thick and thin.

I wanted to take an opportunity to do some good preparation for this shoot. I wanted this one to be different and unique compared to every other maternity session you see. Something that really defines Liz, and something that clearly shows her connection with life itself and her soon to be motherhood with a wonderful baby boy. Something that really really shows that deep emotion.

I truly feel that this session turned out exactly how I imagined it would--and maybe even better. To be honest--sometimes I struggle during shoots. I feel like I don't know my clients well enough, and it's hard to really bring out the real them. But I could easily say that this shoot opened my eyes a bit. I learned that I need to just sit back, relax, and let it all happen. We are all human, anyhow. We all have our concerns, but at the same time, we all know our place in this world. Do it and live it.

From now on, I will make it my best and biggest goal to really get to know my clients. I want to really bring out the true self of my clients. It shouldn't be restrained to a simple hour. How do you get to know someone in that short of time during a scheduled session? I want to talk more, learn more, and be more human with them. Then maybe every session will turn out like this:

Jeff

Where I live, there is no camera store. None!! It's kind of bad, but at the same time I love it because it gives me a great excuse to go out of town and visit the beautiful city of Colorado Springs. I went there to get a filter problem fixed, and a few new lens caps that I had lost (me losing things? go figure!). Well, while up there I decided to hang out with a good fellow photographer friend of mine for a bit before I went home. We just hung out, took a few pics, and got some delicious boba tea. I've decided that every time I go to the Springs now, I am going to get some of this delicious drink that my good friend Megan first introduced me to (I will be taking some vintage style photos for her very soon).

Anyway, here's some cool shots of Jeff that we got, along with a couple very awesome lit nature shots. Enjoy!

The Jones Family

Last week I did a family shoot for a friend that I went to high school with. This shoot was a lot of fun and very different from shoots I have done before. When Amber contacted me, she knew exactly the photos that she wanted, but in one large variety. Specifically, we focused on her family--which consisted of herself, her sister, her cousin and parents, as well as her steady and his two GORGEOUS little girls! As family photos, she wanted some with the entire group as well as individual photos between the different relatives within. This family was so fun to meet and we had a great time during the shoot. Nonstop laughing and playing, which was great for a session! Here are some of my favorite pictures captured from that beautiful overcast day:

Favorite from my vacation

Spending a week in Nashville with Sarah Barlow gave me several other opportunities. One which was very special to me was to be given the opportunity to travel with my grandparents. My grandparents are very gracious and decided within the last month to drive me to Nashville so that I would not have to fly on a plane. What a relief! Not only a relief, but a very wonderful experience. When I was a child, I was very fortunate to have these two as my grandparents. My summers consisted of what seemed to be endless traveling. As an 11-year-old, I was away from home for two months at a time, visiting several places all over the U.S. via RV. I have to say, the BEST way to travel is in a motor home. No wonder why so many retired people do this... what a life it is to have to be able to just leave whenever you want to.

As a young child, I loved every single moment of traveling with my grandparents and have many fond memories of the places we visited together. However, I always say that I do wish I had the ability to travel as much as I did when I was a child, because as a child I don't think I appreciated the beauty around me quite as much. So, on this trip, instead of watching movies in the back of the RV or reading magazines while going down the road, I sat in the front seat the whole way and soaked up EVERYTHING we saw. Oh. My. Gosh. I didn't realize how beautiful our country could be. There is so much lush and green country the further you go East.. who would have imagined?! I was so inspired and I like to describe my awe as an over-stimulation.

Anyway, being as into photography as I am now, I decided to post some of my favorite photos I took while we were driving down the road. I actually got some good ones, I think! When I was a child, I had a simple film point and shoot camera. I recall loving photography even back then, and have some saved photos that I took on past trips that I might share in the future! But for now, enjoy...

We followed the train tracks the whole way! This photo was taken somewhere in either Kansas or Missouri.

Highway 400 I will never forget. Lush, green farms and orchards everywhere. A wanderlust's dream.








About to cross the Mississippi..







The People who made this possible: I love you Grandma and Grandpa, THANK YOU!