Victoria || Phoenix Christian School Senior
Posted on March 5, 2010
I had such a pleasure shooting Victoria’s senior pictures at her family’s dairy in Tolleson. Victoria had her eye on the oat field across the street for some time and dreamed of having her senior pictures taken there. And geez, when I saw the green field I started salivating. You don’t find green grassy fields in the Phoenix area very often. What fun! Victoria’s cousin, Angel, joined us for pics as well. What fun to have such close cousin-friends! It was really fun to scout around the dairy and pic some cool places to take the photos. I think the girls had fun, too! 
meet Victoria:
and Angel:
cousin-friends:
i {heart} faces
Posted on February 23, 2010
when i saw the title of this week’s i {heart} faces blog, HANDS ON FUN, i immediately thought of this image i took of Adelaide’s sweet hands during a tea party we had. to participate, head over to i {heart} faces site.
Megan & Jamie ~ ENGAGED!
Posted on February 16, 2010
I met up with Megan and Jamie E A R L Y sunday morning at the Tempe Center for the Arts. It was my first time to shoot there and it was just awesome… What is even more awesome is that it is the location of Megan and Jamie’s wedding reception in June. Oh yeah baby. Loving it! You know, some people just work so well in front of the camera. Not that they are “working it,” but more that the camera just seems to love them and they are natural and comfortable in front of it. That was the case with my 5D and Megan and Jamie. The session was short and sweet, super easy. I think the pictures speak for themselves here, and i couldn’t be happier to work with this couple in the months to come!
Camden is ONE!!
Posted on February 16, 2010
What a load of cuteness. Seriously. I think I said something like “OMG that’s perfect. Wow. It doesn’t get any cuter than THAT…” about 20 times during the session. It has been so fun to see Cam grow up. He even lived with our crazy family (with his parents of course ) for a month this summer. We have some incriminating photos (that I will reserve for some significant milestones in life… like his rehearsal dinner slideshow for one) of him wearing princess paraphernalia in our house.
Enough talking…. you just have to see the pics!!! We love you guys, Grove family, and are really thankful for your friendship as fellow transplants in Phoenix!
I WON!!!
Posted on February 16, 2010
Thank you all for voting for my image of Kyndle and Layne on Me Ra Koh’s blog recently! You all are the best!!! This totally made my day today.
Definitely check out Me Ra’s blog and check out her upcoming contests. They really are a great way to challenge yourself creatively and technically (depending on the theme) and just to have alot of fun. The photography community is a very welcoming place and a fun place to hang out.
YEA!!!!!!
sugar and spice
Posted on February 13, 2010
definitely what my girls are made of… ones a little more sugary and the other a little spicier. i think from these pics you can tell who is who. these were taken as the girlies dresses up in their respective dress up clothes and proceeded to have a dance party in the living room area. i just love having girls and love seeing their very distinctive personalities emerging. and as the country song goes… when they get the choice to sit it out or dance,
i hope they dance. always.
you can see more of these images on my personal blog HERE.
Kevin and Melodie ~ MARRIED!
Posted on February 6, 2010
What a fun, meaningful, inspiring wedding this was. John, my husband, was a groomsman in this wedding, and I had the honor of shooting the wedding.
First of all, Kevin (a.k.a. Sarge to those of us who went to school together at John Brown University) and Melodie both grew up as missionary kids in Liberia. But they never met while they were kids in Africa. Fast forward many years and one day Melodie saw Kevin’s picture and blog as part of a missionary kid blogring…. She was immediately drawn to Kevin’s “manliness” and ruggedness. But Kevin was headed to the Sudan to do some mission work and Melodie was headed another direction. On a whim, she sent him a message on his blog… something to the effect of “God bless you on your mission in Africa.” And that was all it took. They wrote letters and emails while in separate countries and even continents. After quite some time, they were both in the USA at the same time and during one of the emails back and forth, Sarge Kevin suggested that they continue their conversation over coffee… even though he was in another state at that time than Melodie. But they met, and as cliche as it sounds, the rest really is history. Kevin moved to Liberia last year with a construction company to be near Melodie, who was volunteering for Acres of Hope taking care of many orphans and also doing some counseling.
Their story gets even better… Right before Melodie was air-vac’d out of Liberia to London because of some severe health issues, Kevin proposed. I have a feeling life is going to be somewhat of an adventure for these two.
The wedding was a fusion of Liberian culture….. and snow. Lots and lots of snow. Not so African, but definitely adventurous. Especially since we all traipsed out in the freezing cold to capture the african-inspired-wedding-turned-to-ice in real time. Brrrrr…..
Melodie incorporated many of the precious Liberian children who have been adopted by loving families here in the USA. It was so precious to see these children dressed up and participating in their own fairy tale of sorts.
As for us JBU (John Brown University) alumn, we had a ball together. I love photographing friends and helping freeze-frame some of the most significant moments of their lives for all time. I love seeing the jokes and laughter… I love seeing God fulfill their greatest dreams. I found myself smiling behind the camera over and over again, shaking my head even at times, remembering the early days and how none of us ever dreamed we would see the day Kevin Sarge got married. (you would have had to have been at the rehearsal dinner and the after party to understand why… ah, the stories, the stories)
Kevin and Melodie, I am SOOOOO thrilled for you guys. I am so thankful we got to be a significant part of this momentous occasion. Although I mourned the loss of the sunlight and warmth with you, Melodie, I so appreciated your “hey, who cares! I AM MARRYING THE MAN OF MY DREAMS TODAY” attitude. I loved watching you interact with your brothers and sisters and kids from Liberia. There was no room left for doubt about where your hearts are…. I pray God’s richest blessings on your marriage and life together!
Here are just a couple of my faves from the day… you can see more on my facebook page!
PLEASE VOTE!!!
Posted on February 4, 2010
SWEET!!! Another contest! This time I am asking you to vote for my photo in someone else’s contest. :)
A couple of months back I entered a photo into one of MeRa Koh’s contests… I just got a sweet email message from someone I didn’t know who voted for my image and I was like “WHOA! I made it!” So fun. So if you have a second, could you check out the finalist images on MeRa’s blog and vote?? That would be awesome. Of course I would love for you to vote for my image (the first one but really, there are some sweet images there that will tug at your heartstrings… go with your gut. THANK YOU!!
DID I FORGET TO MENTION THAT A RANDOM VOTER GETS A C A M E R A?????!!!
This the is image I submitted… still an absolute fave of mine for capturing real, raw emotion. You can read all about the contest theme and understand why I chose this one.
Baby Maxwell and Family
Posted on January 28, 2010
And now they are four…. What a beautiful family! Remember THIS SHOOT?? Well, it was a pleasure to meet the newest member, little Max. And he turned out to be as stinking cute as his big brother and was so fun to “work with.”
Here are just a few faves from their session…
Jennifer & Christopher ~ Engaged!
Posted on January 18, 2010
Or rather, as they refer to themselves… Jenny and Topher. These guys have SO MUCH FUN together! It was really awesome to watch a couple that is obviously crazy in love with each other laugh so much together… I found myself smiling behind the camera as well as in front of my computer as I processed these. What a great building block for the marriage they are preparing for. Jenny and Topher, your pics are so FUN and real… I hope your wedding day is half as fun and memorable as this session was. I tell every client that the BEST images are always, 100%, hands down, you being uniquely YOU and this particular session is a perfect case in point… you guys danced together, sang together, jumped and ran together, kissed, hugged, and even smiled with your eyes (top model style, oh yeah!). Love it!
I tried to narrow down my favorites, and actually I did leave out a few faves because I think Jenny and Topher have some special plans up their sleeves for these images and I don’t want to spoil the fun.
Blessings to you guys these next couple of months of wedding planning! Have FUN!
Beautiful!! Awesome location and LOVE her cute blue shoes!