today's post is some personal favorites

from my photo shoots.

 I kind of need someone to pinch me. 

sometimes when i'm getting ready for a session,

or home at my desk editing, i can't believe

this is my life now.

how could i have know when i closed my home decor store in 2008

that life would lead me down a path to a job i loved 

 at a photography studio? then when

my boss/friend decided to close her studio...

to warily taking the leap to try photography myself?

for however long this lasts, i feel beyond blessed 

to again have found a passion that allows me to own my

own business, set my own hours, be creative and do something that

i feel makes a difference in people's lives.

i think this was what all my other career paths were leading

me to all along. 

i think this will be my last job. i think it really is what i want to be when i grow up!

 : )

i culled through files from the last year or so and pulled out some

special favorites from the massive amounts of photos i have saved. 

so here's a look at some of them~

you have no idea how much love a heart can hold, until you hold your first born child.

this is my favorite kind of family photo. the love- it's just right there.

black and white favorite

the little arm just hanging over momma's shoulder, melts me.

when this senior took off her glasses for me she looked completely different.

i love glasses, but they do hide a person's eyes. loved this view.

this photo shoot wasn't even about her, but how could i not take some photos

of the sweet little cousin?

born way early and with a big old surgery already behind him... i was in love.

jumping for pure joy~

i know, right?

i rocked this little one's daddy to sleep as a child and now, wow,

he has his own beautiful child.

i am so intrigued by pregnancy, it's like i never experienced it myself~ hehe

charmer from the moment we met

a father, in love with his brand new son

i hope that years from now, when his family looks back at this, it will

 will be even funnier then it was the day i took it.

: ))) 

i love the details of a wedding

his hair, those eyes.. .just stand there please and let me capture this moment 

it was very special to me to be a part of this announcement. this couple waited a long, long

time to have a baby and they were going to announce that they were 

expecting...not one but two babies.

twincesses!

during an engagement session this dude risked throwing a handful of snow right in his girl's face~

(brave? stupid? funny? mean? mmm~ yes.)

does anyone else see micheal jackson in this compelling face.

a family that knows how to have fun~

it wasn't until i uploaded this image, that i noticed the family dog

was in the shot. mose, you made the photo better. good dog.

i rocked this girl to sleep too.

she's my daughter~

one of my favorites

birthday balloons

this balloon, this night, these photos and this precious family.

it was heartbreakingly sad, yet healing...in memory of their daddy.

completely unaware of her own beauty, and i think it came from inside.

give me a little boy in a sailor suit any day

when i arrived at this home for their newborn shoot, mom was upstairs feeding.

she invited me into her private space and i love this image so.

(why wasn't anyone taking this kind of photos when i was 

having my babies??)

my girl on her wedding day.

i played with an edit where i put her bridal bouquet around her face.

unprompted, my senior just leaned back and shut her eyes. loved the catch.

sisters.

this was the one and only moment this little punkin stood still during his shoot.

moving hair and a poetic overlay~

this is my doula baby. i was her mama's birth coach and got to take

her very first photos. win-win.

love my senior sessions.

our photos are the legacy we leave.

please take the time to print your photos. 

* two photo labs i suggest you try are:

nationsphotolab.com

&

artifactuprising.com

take care and be well,

xox, beth

raaar~

i got a new camera and i'm taking a lot of pictures of nothing,

and everything.

it's a steep learning curve for me guys.

this is my 3rd DSLR camera and you'd think it would be second nature by now,

but it's not.

every time i upgrade it's all different and there are

new bells and whistles that i want to learn how to use and it's hard.

bokeh is one of my very favorite camera effects. 

*it's a blurry background in photos.

if you understand camera settings at all, it's the aperture

of a photo.

(the f-stop).

here's a bunch of photos that i snapped,

a lot of them are flowers.

why? well two reasons. i adore flowers, i mean adore...

and i don't have any sweet little people running through my house anymore

that will just do their cute little kid stuff and

not even notice i'm taking pictures.   : )

 this is a fun variety of morning glory i grew this summer

  this is the gorgeous wedding invitation to my friend jessica's wedding.

it's new years weekend in antigua guatemala.

can you even stand it? 

i wish i could say i'm going, but i will be attending their

minnesota party next summer and hopefully jess 

will put her gown back on and have flowers in her hair and

i'll toast she and tim properly at that time!

i have been doing more photography jobs this summer and haven't really

had time to blog a whole lot. i haven't forgotten, really i haven't.

for any of you who have followed the story of joey and rory feek,
the movie rory made of their life was shown in theatres around
the country tonite (and there is one more chance to see it in oct.)
my friend jill and i went and i had my pack of kleenex ready but
didn't expect to need them till the end maybe? i think we were less than
5 minutes in and i was already crying.
it was beautiful and heartbreakingly sad and if you can, catch it
in october. it's just the most beautiful true story of
an angel here on earth, joey died this spring, much too young (she was 40),
but in those 40 years she taught so many people so much
about living a faith filled simple life.
she was even more beautiful on the inside than she was
on the outside.
rory also writes a blog and it's a good one.
www.thislifeilive.com
check it out,

*our family is remembering elizabeth jean wencl today with love,
she also left way too soon.
1983~2003
elizabeth's family took the sourest lemon that life has
to offer, and somehow made lemonade out of it.
they have kept her memory alive with nothing
but grace.

a friend just lost her brother and another has a brand new grandbaby...someone i dearly
love is having some serious health problems and i just learned of another
new baby due in march. this life will never be predictable so~ 


let's try and be kind to every single person we meet.

to qoute glennon melton: "life is brutiful"
xo, beth