Deep in the Heart of Texas...

I'm a lucky girl. Lucky for many reasons, but on this day, it was because of Kama and Chris. I got to meet Kama because she is very good friends with my very good friend, Kasey. Kama is getting married to Chris this Fall, and I get to be her photo girl. Whew! What a mouth full!



As you can see, we did some lovebird pictures in Texas! Home of the 10 gallon hat! And yes, I had to see if I could get anyone to sing "Deep in the Heart of Texas" with me, a la Pee Wee...I did, by the way...all three times I tried! Our shuttle driver even sang the entire next verse for me. What a champ!

Anyway, digressing...Texas was beautiful in early Spring. But even if it hadn't been, check out the cuteness I had the pleasure of meeting:



This adorable gentleman's name is Decker. I tried to sneak him into my suitcase for the flight home. What an adorable little love! Kama and Chris are so very lucky to have him as their baby.

Speaking of love, the love Kama and Chris have for each other is infectious. I had a tough time picking out just a few favorites because the emotions they let me capture took my breath away. They are both so kind and soo funny. And they're both easy on the eyes. I'm so happy to have new friends in sunny Texas. Check out some of my favorties from the day:










Also, thanks for Fogo de Chao (or as Jay likes to call it, "Festival of Meaty Goodness"), the tour of Dealey Plaza, frozen beers, the fun at the Londoner Pub...oh, and for being AWESOME. You are my favorites, for sure!

I simply cannot wait to see you in 5 months! And you can absolutely leave Decker at my place while you're on your honeymoon? Eh, I had to try. :)

Kama and Chris's lovebird shoot reminded me of how much I love to travel and explore new places. If you don't live in the Parkersburg, WV area, don't rule me out. I'll jump on a plane tomorrow to get to you!

The start of a new idea...

Hefty "Thank You"s to Vickie and her family for starting a little inadvertent fire in my brain. Vickie asked me to document her family at a small reunion early Spring, in the Parkersburg area. And I have to admit, I was a bit nervous at first...



For the most part, in recent months, I'd gotten my joy from chasing little kids around and encouraging lovebirds to be sappy with each other. Catching a connection in my camera can be so addictive for me, and I have gotten fairly comfy with looking for connections between people in love. I've also found a certain bliss in surrounding myself with the silliness and purity of children. I know how to find my zones in these two places to an okee dokey extent, and I like to think that's because I'm very happily in love, and I enjoyed the freedom of being a little kid.



But family stories are not as often in my "zone". When there are that many people in one spot, it can be crazy to get all peoples involved to focus together, and to encourage everyone to blend and be sappy, silly, etc. I love my family, and I love Jay's family...and I often love just about every family I've ever met. I really, really enjoy families that are very close. You can feel it when you're around them, and you know how important they all are to each other. And I noticed this at Vickie's reunion.



Photography, to me, is more than a snapshot. I need to find connections in a photo or it's not fun for me. So how can I get this feeling from family hang outs? How can I expand on simpler connections, on a greater scale? This shoot sparked all of these questions, and made me realize some things...

I did really enjoy my shoot with Vickie's family. I think it was amazing to have an entire morning to focus on the ways people connect outside of sappy lovebird-ness. The fire I spoke of before was the reminder that family connects just as amazingly as lovebirds do, and that adults have the same pure joy as children...just in different ways. I plan on spending the next couple of years finding any way possible to get inside the hearts of a family, and then to document this in any way possible-interviews, photos, videos, etc.

I plan on doing a great deal of my exploring within my own family, and have already started my project with my mom, aunt and grandma. I'm hoping it continues to remind me of how great it is to have so much family around me, and that each connection I have is so intricately part of who I am. I'm just glad I figured this lesson out before I missed even more of my family.

As a result of this project, I plan on offering more inclusive coverage of family stories/trees. I really want to start making heirloom family albums for families, and would like to start doing so at a discounted rate to get my ideas worked out.

In my heart, each family will need several sessions to create a more thorough story. I'd like to spend a couple of months with each family, interviewing them, photographing their relationships, traditions and conections, and compiling their memories into hand made photo albums to be passed down through the generations.



I know this is a winded entry, but I have a ton in my brain right now. You can see why I've been putting off writing for a bit, huh? ;) And I still have 10 more biggie stories to share before I get to the small details...

Would love feedback on this. Please let me know if you'd like to be a part of this project, and I'll gladly give ya more details. You must have plans to see as much of your family as possible over the next year, and most of your family should be within 2 hours(ish) of the Parkersburg area (unless you want to put me up for a few days). And, you must really love your family.

Feedback, please. :)

How I got to today...

Dear You,

I know I've been a bad friend. I've been the gal who said she'd stop by and visit here, but "stuff" got in the way. I've let you down, and I'm soooo sorry! I do have photo evidence, though. I have proof that these things happened...many cool things and many crazy things. I intend to fill you in on every bit of stuff that's happened over the past coupla months that brought me to today. Life-changing stuff, sweet stuff, silly stuff, photo experiments, new friends and the bestest photo sessions...

To begin, Max would like to help me show you how we feel about this:

The Best Month!

Yep, this is exactly what happens when I'm invited to an 80s party...if you have a minute to check out my mini-album on Facebook, there are a few more ridiculous images there. But why do anything at all if you can't enjoy it? :)

This time of year is, for a bunch of photographers, the best time to pick up new skills, learn new photo tricks, and meet new people. The rest of the year can sometimes get so crazy that we are working, working, working. But for now, it's time to learn and hang out. Yay!

I'm also super excited about all the new friends I've been meeting at the conferences and workshops I've been lucky enough to be a part of...including the 3-day workshop I'm super-pumped about next week: BLEND

Speaking of new friends, conferences and workshops...from this coming Saturday, I'll be out of town...until the following Friday (March 21-27), and I'll be sure to post pictures documenting the whole experience. Saturday through Monday sends me to Dallas, TX to photograph my wedding friends, Kama and Chris. My only photo-request is a 10 gallon hat, and I'm keeping my photo-dorky fingers crossed! Then on Monday, I'll be swinging over to Santa Fe, NM for BLEND. Yippeeee!! I'll be learning and shooting with some of my favorite photo heroes of all time. I'm still pinching myself about the whole experience.

Also, a special "Awesome" goes out to Mr. Danny Leary , for giving his "Complete Wedding Photographer" class on Monday in Huntington, WV...and for being the beginning event of the new Pro-Photo group, "Oh, Snap!". Oh, Snap is a fun little pet project I've been wanting to start up for a while now, and finally had the push to get it going. There are soo many amazing photographers in WV, and I didn't think we were hanging out enough. So, this is my little contribution to the love of photo. ;)

Michele Coleman posted a fun slideshow from our first lunch/class on her blog, if you want to see the photo-peoples in "hang-out" mode, check it out. I do apologize for the crazy alligator, though.

For constant MWP updates, be sure to become my Facebook friend. I'm kinda addicted to that place.

Renee and Chase...

Crisp Breezes. Wind. Loving Kisses. Dancing Laughter. Holding Hands. Still Moments. :)

Every time I look through Renee and Chase's lovebird pics, I'm moved. Sure, I know them. Sure I was there. But I hope when you look through their images, you'll see past their too-cute nervousness (they were convinced they couldn't take a good picture-but I secretly think they're undercover supermodels) and see them for what I see in them-that this is what love looks like when you really "get it". The adoring looks they gave each other...sometimes fleeting but still so potent, the laughter so unbridled, the way they held each other...the way their eyes just danced about. They reminded me a lot of me and my Jay-and reminded me of the giddy peace I have every single day. It's so great to find that in others and help them see it, to identify it, to share it.

I thank my stars every morning for having the chance to document reminders like this, that good love is all around us.

The Adorable Edmands Twins turn 1 :)

I have been so lucky to be such an involved-ish part of Andrew and Kayte's lives so far. I've seen them more than some of my own family in the past year, because they're growing so quickly. And here we are already, at their first birthday. I don't see how it's possible that they've reach one already. But I got to be an honored guest at their first of many huge blowout parties...I didn't mean the cheesiness there...it just happened. Just like when you see these two and fall in love...you have no choice-it's compulsive.

And man.....they're cute. Seer iii oussss lyyy cute. Sure, all babies are cute, but these two know how to take the cake. I said it...it's officially out there. Come on, how often do I have the chance to work in cheesy humor while working...okay, you got me...

But you have to admit they're fantastically cute. I love how they treat me like they really know me in the images...Kayte even climbed up on my lap while I was photographing her. I could eat them both with spoons. :)

Happy birthday, beautifuls! Can't wait to see you again. :)







Ahh!! Clown cupcakes!!

Ms. Olivia...

I don't do many senior sessions...but when I make an exception, it's for really amazing seniors. :) When I spoke with Olivia (actually, texted is more like it), we pretty much figured out that she wanted something different. She wanted to travel around Marietta, have fun, be outside...and I was giddy. I really enjoyed myself, photographing Ms. Olivia-every single part of the day was really fun. I hurt a little from laughing all day. And you could not even tell how chilly it was in these pics, cause this mama was on fire! Check 'er out....