Black Plastic and Thick Glass

One of my dear friends is graduating college!
... and I had the privilege of shooting her graduation portraits.

Wedding planning has been consuming every thought and spare moment of every day lately and this shoot was a much needed break.
I just can't explain what happens when that camera is in my hands.
For a brief moment I lose my flesh. I lose my worries, my concerns, my opinions, my struggles..
I take shelter behind black and something happens deep within my soul.

Grass is greener, skies are bluer, smiles aren't forgotten, and pain is not unseen.
I take shelter behind black plastic and thick glass and wait for God to meet me there.
There He takes my hand and opens my eyes, showing me what He's made, what He sees, what He wants seen.

I've been given a gift and I've wasted a lot of time doubting, worrying, and feeding my insecurities with it rather than thankfully taking it, shaping it, and growing it.
Handing photography over and letting God take it to a level that will impact, effect, and infect people with glory for God has always been a dream but I've never been ready to take that risk. Afraid of failure, I've never been ready to hand it to Him and trust Him to make it happen.

Well.. I'm done. I'm handing over my fear, my doubt, my anxiety, my insecurities.
Life's too short and God's too big.

I don't know what's around the corner and what role photography will play in my life
but this I am sure of... It's His to do with what He wants. And I'm ready for it!

Can you say BEAUTIFUL?
Thanks Aub for letting me capture your sweet beauty.
Love you forever xoxo

Who woulda thunk?

Almost directly in the middle of this picture is a building. An apartment complex that I lived in when I was really little. The place I met Aubri, the place Genieva lived first, the place where home videos of me throwing tantrums on the floor were taped, the place where my fondest memories of my Dad were made, the place where Tony was introduced into my life, the place where I remember watching lightening in the parking lot with my grandpa.

Fast forward 18 years..
I'm standing on a hill looking into the past, playing all these memories in my head. I stand and smile a moment longer before I turn to the house behind me. Today's the day. My wedding dress is ready. A girl only wears one wedding dress in her life and mine is ready and waiting for me. Waiting in the house on the hill. The same house that looked over those same apartments and chubby cheeked girl 18 years ago. Who would've thought?

I'm such a sentimental sap lately.. I just can't help it. My chubby cheeks couldn't help but smile.

and I say HEY! HEY! What a wonderful kind of day.

The other night B and I were talking to some friends about shows we watched when we were little. The first show that came to my mind was Arthur. I LOVED Arthur. I watched Arthur religiously. I'm pretty sure I can still recall ever single episode. It was totally a family thing too, we all loved Arthur. At the first sound of the theme song we all came running from our rooms to watch. You would think the love for the show would dwindle as years went by but... no. Being the oldest of 4 there was always someone in the appropriate age group to be watching Arthur.. so the love continued. It's been a while now (about 5 years. I'm 22.. you do the math) but after that conversation I was totally reminded of how amazing of a show it was!

Is it weird for 2 almost married adults to put the Arthur DVD's on their wedding registry?

... I think not

You got to listen to your heart
Listen to the beat
Listen to the rhythm, the rhythm of the street
Open up your eyes, open up your ears
Get together and make things better
By working together!

Having a Ball

The theme of our wedding has caused my eyes to be opened to the wonderful world of all things vintage. While creating the feel of our wedding I did a lot of research on vintage pieces trying to figure out which were most appropriate for our vibe. Well.. I have a feeling my new interest is going to be something that sticks around long after the wedding. I have fallen in love with the grimy, magical, whimsy of vintage collections. One element of our wedding is jars. I'm on a constant hunt for jars. I pop into every thrift store I pass for a quick look for some good jars. When I first started looking into jars I came across a jar collectors website. I perused the site and quickly learned a few things about jar collecting. First I learned that the "it" jars to collect are Ball Jars. I was immediately captivated by these jars. Every jar hold so much history and the good ones are the most beautiful blue color. "Ball Blue" to be exact. I'm a sucker for history, color, nostalgia, and it was no surprise that I fell so in love with these jars. I bought my first Ball jar a couple of months ago but it was the common clear jar and it was missing its original zinc lid.

Brett and I heard of a private estate sale happening in Poway this morning so we decided to pop in and check it out on our way out of town. We walked in and I about drooled all over my shirt. There were so many neat little treasures for such great prices. After some browsing I turned the corner and lifted my eyes to a cabinet. My eyes began dancing as they focused on all the stunning hues of "Ball Blue". I carefully picked my favorite, because I couldn't afford to buy more than one, then cradled it in my arms for the remaider of the time.

I'm so excited to have my first blue Ball Jar... I say "first" because I'm already searching for the next:) It's so cool to have such a piece of history.