pure beauty - mattie g. [bryan/college station, tx, roommate photographer]

Happy Thursday, friends! And welcome to the new and improved blog! I worked on it this weekend, and it's mostly done... but there is still some tweaking to be done, so be on the lookout for some more changes! I hope you like it :)

Ahem. Back to business. I think we can all agree that I have some of the most beautiful girls that God ever graced the planet with for friends [their hearts reflect His beauty more than their faces; I know it's nearly impossible to imagine, but it's true.]

Well, four of my stunning friends, most of whom I'd never had the privilege to photograph, have decided to be roommates next year. [I think their house will simply explode with all that gorgeousness, but that's another matter.]

Not only did these dazzling ladies decide to live together, but they decided they needed roommate pictures for their new house [as if the poor house could accommodate any more beauty...] and they decided to ask little ol' me to take these for them.

I mainly took group shots, so I'll post a ton of those later, but for now, I wanted to share with you a few individual shots I took of each of these girls.

This, my friends, is Mattie.

There are so many things that I love about Mattie, but my favorite thing about her has to be - HAS to be - that her heart is totally on fire for Jesus. He is truly her rock, her redeemer, and her reason for anything she does. He is where she finds her strength, and that is totally encouraging and challenging for me. She is one of those people that can mention his name in every conversation she has with anyone, which is something that I struggle with, and I think it's awesome. She is a woman who truly knows the power of prayer, and when she prays over me, it is always such a blessing. God has been good to her when life was not, and because of that, she sings His praises always. I am so thankful to have her in my life, to be this example for me.

That's all, for now, I suppose. But stay tuned! I have the rest of Mattie's roommates coming up soon, as well as some more of this beauty...



I know this was a post about Mattie, but I couldn't resist giving a sneak peek of Autumn's shots from last night. They'll be up soon!

Have a great weekend, friends!

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.

first post! [bryan/college station, tx portrait photographer]

Hello, big beautiful world! And welcome to my new blog :) I am still tweaking all the little details of my new little corner of the web, but I thought I'd get started by posting some pictures I took last summer.

This is my dear friend, Kaitlin. One reason that she and I are such good friends is that she and I both LOVE flowers. (There are multiple, much more significant reasons, but I think that reason alone is good enough :)) So last spring when all the wildflowers started blooming, what choice did we have but to go out and take some pictures?

Isn't she pretty? She belongs in a field of flowers. :)

As the color of her hair may suggest, this redhead is truly on fire. She is one of the most intense people I’ve ever met. She’s simply bursting with passion, love, joy, spunk, and spirit. Her loyalty and generosity know no bounds.

She’s always laughing about something, usually a prank she’s pulled. Her daredevil antics keep everyone laughing. I’ve caught this girl coloring her two front teeth with permanent marker (which turns out to be not quite so permanent.) She’s also quite the little monster, threatening to set fire to/run over/eat any cat that crosses her path, black or not - bad luck for the cat to cross Kaitlin’s path!

But all in all, this girl is a true sweetheart, and I am so blessed to have enjoyed such a beautiful friendship with her.

That's all for today, friends!

love, love, love.