maternity // amber & blaine

oh, these two.

i was lucky enough to second - shoot amber and blaine's wedding about a year and a half ago, and thankfully, amber and i kept in touch. so when she told me she was pregnant, i was BEYOND thrilled for her! there's something so sweet about being involved with a couple from wedding-babies-family (for most, i don't do a lot of family sessions) - so i was so happy when she was as excited as i was about doing her maternity session. 

there is a joy that seeps out of amber and touches everyone that she's around. i think that's one of the reasons she's so radiant in these photographs. she loves the Lord and everyone in her life with her whole heart and it totally shows. she has the kindest soul of anyone i've met in a very, very long time. she's sweet, nurturing, humble and just all around lovely. i love this little lady and i'm so proud of her for who she is and the mama she's going to be. and blaine? he loves amber so much. and not only that, but he's going to be a seriously wonderful dad to eliora. he'll encourage her to dream big dreams. between the two of them and their big circle of friends and family, that little girl will be filled with so much love, she won't know what to do with herself! 

here's a snippet of our mini-session.

**i've been getting a ton of requests for maternity sessions recently, i *do* still offer them in 2015! if you think you want to book one, shoot me an email through my contact form. must be able to shoot on a weekday.**

anniversary // autumn & josh // georgia wedding photographer

to say that autumn and josh are special people is putting it lightly.

not only are they freaking awesome wedding photographers, but they have amazing hearts, and are totally adorable.

when autumn emailed me, after we instagram-stalked each other, asking me if i'd be open to driving 3-4 hours to shoot in an abandoned church that's a historical building in a tiny town in georgia, i said YES without hesitation. that was the beginning of our amazing friendship! 

my first impression of autumn was her care package she sent me, before we even met each other. she sent me some home-made granola, and a pack of three cd's burned with her and josh's favorite songs. just because. i knew we'd be friends.

i didn't actually meet them until they came into town (from pennsylvania!) to do the shoot. and once we met, i felt like i've known them forever. and actually, i have. autumn and i pieced together that we actually went to high school together way back when! so random.

i could write paragraphs about how much i love these gentle souls, but i'll leave it to the pictures to do the story-telling. we did this as an anniversary shoot for these lovebirds, and they do it so well. autumn had another excuse to wear her amazing wedding dress and josh was such an awesome guy to make pictures with. he's quiet, really funny, has such kind eyes and totally cares about people he meets. you can tell.

there are no other people i'd rather be stuck in a car with for eight hours. love you guys.


BEST OF 2014.

i always get super emotional when i start pulling for my end of year posts. 

to be honest, i have a pretty terrible memory. so going through my hard drives and revisiting each and every session is like going through a flip-book of my year and seeing those moments of beauty, of vulnerability, of wonderful light, the stories of love. the personal triumphs and failures. of revisiting people i miss and don't get to see, and places i've visited far away from my little nook in charlotte. (btw, i still cry every time i hear "resolution" by matt corby, or "ends of the earth" by lord huron. thanks to two of the most emotional ceremonies i've ever witnessed!)

i love it and i hate it. and it always makes me hope for a better, for a bigger next year.
....but we all know that bigger isn't always better - so instead, my wish is for a more intentional year. i've already begun creeping towards that, from having an open and honest heart and picking my 2015 couples (you are all already amazing, by the way) to making small business moves towards a cleaner process & refining my brand.

i'm getting really FREAKING excited about my life in the next year. 
(with that being said, i'm still booking a handful of weddings. if you're getting married outside, if you've read my philosophy page and feel like our hearts are a good fit, if you're a wandering, adventure-seeker, let's talk.)

but before we even get to 2015, i want to reflect on 2014. it was a great year.

personal triumphs (business and personal):
+shot an incredible international wedding in mexico with my bestie paige jones.
+was blessed enough to photograph an amazing wedding in big sur/carmel valley, california.
+was featured on green wedding shoes again(!!), as well as cottage hill and ever ours. 
+traveled to santa barbara with four of my bff's and went to photo field trip. learned some tricks from some photography heroes (sean flanigan, benj haisch, ben sasso), met a ton of awesome new friends. 
+shot a wonderful elopement in charleston.
+had to really learn the meaning of trusting in the Lord. financially, finding work, keeping faith in myself and my business. this was perhaps the toughest but most rewarding lesson.
+became dear friends with so many of my amazing couples. and really found my place in my photography community.
+traveled, traveled, traveled. and loved every minute of it. 
+learned to turn down couples. this may be a weird one to most, but for me, it was really big personal success. i learned it's more important to click with my couples, to be as excited about their wedding as they are my photography. it's okay to lose out on some money (lots of money, actually) to be able to give my full heart to each couple. tough lesson, but a great one.
+was featured in a two print magazines, mywedding's first ever print edition and also had a small feature in carolina bride.
+soul searched and really learned what the creative process of shooting and loving on my couples means. to me. 
+moved into an awesome apartment (solo) and bought a new car. 
+ate Japanese food with my couples after half of my shoots. you don't even know how happy this made me.

okay. here we go.
oh, ps: here's 2012 and 2013 if you missed them.

(this is a super picture-heavy post. i literally sat for hours and just couldn't cut this down any more. i'm sure all my friends who only blog like, 30 images a wedding want to kill me right now. cheers!)