busy, busy, busy. [personal.]

whew. finals are right around the corner, and life is busy. between preparing for finals, going to review sessions, making sure all assignments are in and complete, finishing all the papers and presentations that professors believe are so appropriate to have due right at the end of the semester, wrapping up ARTISTS stuff for the semester (and getting started on preparing for the fall semester), moving out of my room for the summer, and making sure I'm ready to go to Nicaragua, I've kind of got a lot going on.

that being said, I hope that my faithful followers (whom I am SOOO thankful for!) are willing to extend a little grace when I'm not posting as often for a while. and I hope that the people whose pictures I've taken and haven't finished will extend even more grace, because I know they're excited and waiting patiently. I'm excited too, because they're looking really great! but, due to the circumstances, they're going to have to take a little bit longer. unfortunately, school (and all the other chaos) must come first. rawr.

I'll post when I can, and hopefully you'll hear from me soon! I've still got Stephanie, the roommates (Lauren, Rachel, Kaitlin, and Mattie) and more up my sleeve!

love, love, love.

pure beauty - monika l. [bryan/college station, tx portrait photographer.]

Happy Wednesday, friends! Today, I'd like to introduce you to Monika.

For those who followed my last blog, or know me in real life, this face might be familiar to you. She is one of my dear friends. I've known her for a year and a half or so now, I suppose. We really became friends over the summer, when we lived together for three months.

Let me tell you, I learned about sides of this girl that I had never dreamed existed.... like her passion for sponteneity and learning new things.... Over the summer, she decided she wanted to learn how to knit, so she just did! She bought some needles and yarn and made a hat. She also tried out making her own beads, for jewelry making, and they turned out AWESOME. Aaaaand she made the best apple pie I've ever had.

I learned about her sneakiness and creativity when it comes to prank wars, but in the same breath, her passiveness in staying neutral the entire time... When Stormie and I were at war with each other, be it through pranks or Facebook comments, Monika took both sides. When I was out of the house, she'd help Stormie put my shampoo bottles in the freezer, and when Stormie was gone, she gave me a boost so I could reach her light in her room to take the lightbulbs out.

So, interesting fact about this shoot... when we were shooting, we saw and smelled smoke coming from a tree. We went over to it, thinking there were people barbecueing behind it or something, but lo and behold, the tree was on fire!

It was one of those trees that's more like a large bush, where its branches touch the ground completely, and the grass underneath its branches was all on fire. Occasionally the flames would rise up and touch the branches, and I was kind of afraid the whole thing would just go up in flames.

It was actually a really small fire, but it was still a fire, so we called the fire department. It was actually kind of embarrassing, because they brought two fire trucks and a police car for one itty bitty fire...

I am so blessed to call this fellow chocolate-lover, animal-lover, and creative crafter my friend and my sister in Christ.

That's all for today, friends!

love, love, love.

sneak peek! [bryan/college station, tx, portrait photographer.]

Good morning, friends! I hope this Monday finds you well :)

I want to share with you some pictures I took yesterday afternoon of some dear friends of mine. I am not even close to being done with them, but these are my favorites so far, and I couldn't resist posting them :) you'll probably be seeing more of them in the future ;)

Like I said, this was just a sneak peek, so stay tuned, and the rest of these will be posted soon!

I hope everyone's Monday is simply wonderful!

love, love, love.

ps - I know this is probably quite a stretch, but if there is aaaaaanyone out there interested in scheduling a shoot with me, I suggest you do it soon! I have a limited amount of time before I leave the country for the summer, so if you're interested, better do it now! There's no time like the present! ;)

pure beauty - maggie m. [fort worth, tx portrait photographer.]

Ohh, happy Friday, everyone! It certainly is for me, for many reasons, but especially because today is the day that I can share these pictures with you!

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to my dear friend Maggie.

Maggie and I have been friends for about a decade... about half our lives at this point, which to me, is pretty incredible. You don't find friends like that very often. She is the Peas to my Carrots (a nickname we earned in middle school because no one ever saw one of us without the other - we were basically attached at the hip.) Then high school and college happened, and our lives have taken us in different directions, we have still remained close friends.

I got to see her a couple of weeks ago, and we didn't even really plan on a legit photo shoot. We had a Chik-fil-a picnic in the park, and a couple of cameras, and it just kind of happened.

I told her to go stand on the rock, and this is what she did. Goofball.

Maggie is one of the silliest people I know, and trust me when I say, I know silly. But one of my truly favorite things about this girl is her genuineness (that word sounds funny, but I promise it's real.) She is so real and genuine and honest about herself, so she's one of those people you feel comfortable talking to about ANYTHING, which is awesome.

Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.

I am so blessed to consider this "reardfon" my friend. Here's to another 10+ years, my dear. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

love, love, love.

ginni & alan [dallas, tx engagement photographer.]

Happy Wednesday, everyone.



I'd like to introduce you to some of my new friends, Ginni and Alan.



You see, as many of you know, I was an intern for Jessica Shae a few weeks ago, and Ginni and Alan were some of our fabulous models. Though they've been married for a while now, we pretended this was an engagement shoot. They're friends of Jessica's, and they generously offered to let us practice with them.



And I'm so glad they did.



I really enjoyed hanging out with these two (soon to be three!)
Alan is from my hometown of Fort Worth, and Ginni and I share interest in yoga and piercings. She's actually in training to be a yoga instructor - how cool is that??



Their love for each other was such a beautiful thing to watch while we were shooting. I love how gentle and tender Alan is with Ginni, and I love how she can't take her eyes off him. Is there anything greater in the world than a love like this?



I don't think so.



That's all for now, friends.

love, love, love.

spring is here! [personal.]

So, it is friday. And I am behind on editing photo shoots. What else is new?

And because it's friday and because I am behind on editing photos and because I have a small portion of my life that's not dedicated to portrait photography (though, really, it's pretty tiny).... we'll do something a little different today.

First, I want to share with y'all the meaning and message behind pure beauty. It's the name I'm giving to the series of photos I've been doing lately.

See, I'm in an organization at school that seeks to glorify God through our creative endeavors and the gifts of creativity He's given all of us. But really, it's more than an organization; it's a family. The men and women in this group are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I believe without a doubt that He hand-picked all of us to be here, in ARTISTS, together, to grow with and learn from each other.

The group of girls in ARTISTS is especially close-knit. Being an only child, I always wanted siblings. If I had only known that when I got to college, I'd have more sisters that I could have ever asked for.... but seriously, these girls mean so much to me. We rejoice in each others' triumphs and encourage each other through dark times. We truly do life together.

I cherish these women so much. Seriously, there are no words for the beauty that pours out of them. I see it in them, and they see it in each other, but because this world is a cruel place, it's hard to believe it about ourselves.

We look in the mirror and see what the world sees - skin that's too flawed, teeth that are too crooked, a nose that's too big, bodies that aren't the right shape, one eye that's bigger than the other, hair that's too frizzy, too stringy, you name it, when the world is looking at us, nothing is good enough. The world sees the skin that covers our true nature, and that's not good enough, so what's on the inside must not be good enough either. When the world looks at us, we are simply unlovable.

But that's not true. That's a lie. We are creations that are more beautiful that this dirty, nasty world deserves, because we are covered in grace and purity. We are redeemed and called and treasured and blessed. We are adorned and adored and anointed. We are beyond worth; we are priceless. This is a truth that is so easy to see in others, but we are masked from seeing it in ourselves. pure beauty exists to remove that mask.

pure beauty is my way of showing my sisters the truth - they are beautiful. It is my hope that God is using this series to reveal that to them, to reveal the beauty that others see in them, the beauty that He sees in them, that He placed in them. They are all different. They are all distinct. They are all unique, with their own unique stories and their own unique struggles. They all experience suffering, and yes, they all make mistakes. But they all serve a God who is bigger than anything the world can throw at them, and they are covered in His grace and anointed with His love. They all are treasured and cherished by Him. They are new births, created in His image. And that, my friends, is pure beauty.

This project is something that I've wanted to do for a while. God laid it on my heart several months ago, and recently He struck a match and put it under me, so this is what I'm doing. It's for His glory, not mine.

Phew. Glad that's off my chest.

I think heaven must be a lot like Texas in the spring.

I learned the other day that bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas, naturally don't grow north of the Red River. How cool is that?? Our bluebonnets are pretty loyal... and full of Texas pride ;)

no, these really aren't the best pictures, as far as composition goes. but man... wildflowers are some of my favorite things on the planet, and the lighting was simply divine, and I couldn't keep myself from pulling over on the side of the road when I was coming back to school from being home last weekend.

I suppose that's all I have for now. Have a good weekend, and I'll be back on Monday!

love, love, love.

PS: to my new readers/friends: thank you for reading/commenting/following! Y'all are sweet. It's exciting to me to have readers that I don't really know, because in the past when I've blogged, my only followers were maybe a small handful of my close friends. This is still a baby blog, but I am excited to see it grow, and I thank you for wanting to share in this journey with me! Y'all are awesome!! :)

pure beauty - kait s. [bryan/college station, tx portrait photographer.]

little world, meet my friend kait.



kait is a dear friend of mine. she reminds me a lot of sunshine. she always seems to have the cheeriest smile on her face, and it is simply beautiful. whenever she walks in the room, a grin always magically appears on my face. I don't know how that happens, I guess my smile just knows she's there because her smile is so friendly.
:)



fun fact about kait: she knows how to make balloon animals! is that cool, or what?? :)





yeah, all my pictures are stuck to each other today.



the field we were in had dandelions, and, just because she's cute and silly and likes to have fun, kait picked a dandelion and made a wish. and because wishes are good things. :)



beauty.

that's all, friends.

love, love, love.

pure beauty - stormie m. [bryan/college station, tx portrait photographer.]

friends, meet stormie.

if you ever saw my tumblr (or know me in real life), you probably know this girl. sweet, spunky, silly, and stunning are some of my favorite words to describe her (plus I like that they all begin with the same letter of her name ;)) we have been there for each other through a lot, so I know I can count on her for anything. you don't find a whole lot of people like that, so I feel pretty lucky. :)

have I mentioned how lovely I think redheads are?

have I mentioned how lucky I consider myself to have so many friends with red hair that don't mind me obsessively snapping my shutter at them?

both are true.

we had a super short shoot this week. I picked her up from work on the day that my lens came in the mail, so we made a little detour on the way to her house and stopped at a green green field. though she was technically my captive, she was very cooperative. ;)

I love tattoos. I think they reflect so much personality, and they carry so much meaning to the individual. Stormie's is no different, and I think it's absolutely beautiful.



those blue eyes... gorgeous.



that's all for now, friends.

love, love, love.