.:since june:.

I was inspired to update. It's been quite some time. I am now a photographer fulltime for a company in town taking pictures of their properties (they build, develop, manage, maintain, etc affordable housing in Missouri and other states). It's been a blast so far. I've been there a full two months as of tomorrow! My job is to travel all over to take photographs and then sit at my computer all day and edit them. This is what I did in college to avoid my studies!! I never would have thought I'd be blessed enough to get hired to do it!

But, of course I still do wedding photography on the side. I almost have more weddings in 2009 than I can handle, so that's a good thing. And, as of recent, I have begun doing more portrait/family photography. (I've done 4 family portraits in the last 2 weeks so those will probably follow later.) So here's what's happened, in photos, since June (in no particular order):


My favorite photo so far since June. Emily & Ky. Their wedding photos to follow in this blog.


Becca & Josh's wedding was so fun. Both bride and groom were so relaxed leading up to their simple wedding on Rebecca's farm out in California, MO. Nature was definitely a part of this ceremony. We loved it!





My dear friend Mazvita is now serving fulltime with a ministry on campus called The Rock. We had to take photos for her newsletter. Isn't she striking? Her and her Halle Berry haircut, she calls it.
We returned from Mexico in July (see photos below) where we had met this white cat that Brian had dubbed "Hungry" that was adorable and meowed with a sad, melancholic meow. We were told not to touch the animals there so we were both sad. So Brian begged me for a week after we got back to get another kitten. Thus we made a trip to my parent's farm the next weekend and ended up with: Mr. Mostly Mittens. Shows a little of his progression. He is so onery! But he loves to snuggle, which makes Brian happy. (See photo below of Mr Mostly Mittens tucking himself into Brian's chin in his first week with us.)


Our church took a trip to Mexico and I got to serve as a translator along with another woman from our church. Life is much simpler there, and simpler opens up a whole new category of photography. I was like a kid in a candy store with my camera!







I was stunned. This is a real cardboard house (though I think it was just partly made of the cardboard and palattes, thanks be to God!) in a neighborhood we were ministering to in Acuna, Mexico.
After Rebecca's wedding Brian and I were inspired to go hiking at Devil's icebox and capture a few nature shots. It was so cool, we found this leaf just suspended in midair by an invisible string of spider web. It felt like we were in the Matrix!


As I was once over the LBC Gospel choir at Mizzou by some miracle, it's so fun to still go to their concerts and reminisce about those good ol' days as I sing along. This one was no exception!



John, our faithful lighting instructor (who is teaching us basically out of the goodness of his heart) has such an incredible wealth of knowledge about photography. Brian especially is soaking it in (I'm a little jealous of auditory learners!). This photo is from our second workshop with a three light set up in a theatre on Mizzou campus. (Another photo of Brian to follow below.) After our first workshop a month ago Brian decided that he had learned so much that he wanted to start doing photography! I never thought I would see that day! You may see some of his images on here soon enough.
This is a barn Brian and I saw on our way home from Emily & Ky's wedding in Hannibal. It was beautiful and I just had to get a picture. You always want to stop but never do. This time I did. And I'm glad. It feels so... postcardy to me, eh?My parent's horses. This first one, the white horse Sandy, is clearly sticking her tongue out at me. It made me laugh!
Fourth of July in Jefferson City. I forgot my tripod at home so this is a photo with a long exposure carefully balanced on my knee while I tried not to breathe... Thus the capital dome isn't as crisp as I would have liked it to be...

Yes, that is a pair of chocolate covered strawberries on a Texas-shaped grooms cake (who was from Texas, if you couldn't guess.) What is it with Texan pride? Why don't we have that much pride in Missouri? Emily & Ky were so flexible as we ran around for SIX HOURS before the wedding taking all sorts of photos. It was a blast and we got some AMAZING shots (see the very first blog photo for proof!) They looked like models and the lighting was absolutely perfect. I felt spoiled.






Who knew that your shutter could move faster than a flash? I didn't! Until this past weekend in Brian and I's second workshop with John
My first attempt at senior photos (and on the fly at that). Ben was a patient subject but we are definitely going back for a round two indoors once all of our lighting equipment comes in!

I took a business trip to Atlanta for my company to shoot some of their properties in Georgia. As I forgot my tripod in my car (it's seems to be a recurring habit) I had nothing to brace my camera on to get beautiful night shots with long exposures. Thus I light painted!! (There is no digital alteration or touching to either of these pictures, the latter being my hotel.) I love it!


My first engagement session of 10.18.08, Ashley and Eric were great about following me all around Columbia as I dragged them everywhere. We got some really romantic shots that I love.

My shoot with Allison & Alan was later that same day, but in St Louis. Forest Park really yielded itself to some striking images. They were such a classy pair it was hard to get bad photos even if I wanted them!




Next stop: Indianapolis!!! Brian and I are going to a Pacers/Celtics game on Saturday. Hopefully, if the mood strikes me, I'll have some pictures to show for our trip!