When one is a little girl she dreams many things concerning her wedding day. Naturally, the imagination is stirred from images of her own mother’s wedding day. It is a mysterious, delightful, celebratory thing that captivates the small mind like little else does. When I was small I imagined I would wear my mother’s wedding dress. Wear it I did, along with my sister and my dog, as my mother was gracious and casual with her gown. I am certain that by 10 I had already worn it to over a hundred wedding celebrations on our balcony. I realize now that even if one does not wear the actual dress that belonged to her mother on her wedding day, it is the presence and participation of one’s mother that completes the childhood vision of a wedding. It is a rare and lucky bride who is so blessed as to have her dress actually sewn by her wedding day hero. Elizabeth is one such girl and her gown was lovingly made from scratch by her mother. Yes, there are thousands of hand-sewn crystals stitched all over the dress. I was amazed by this feat and am so grateful I had the opportunity to see and photograph this incredible gift.

“What are men to rocks and trees?” -Jane Austen. What a landscape we had to work with during Lexia’s bridals! I think perhaps only a bride could be taken seriously amidst such splendor. For Lexia’s bridals we took 3 gondolas to reach 11,400 feet and thankfully had a perfect evening. I wish I had the words to describe how fortunate I felt to be a part of this time in Lexia’s life. All I can say is that she is a woman who has been given beauty for ashes; to be with her in this time of such great joy is something I will never forget. I am honored and humbled to have heard and witnessed the testimony of God’s faithfulness in her life. Thank you Lex for taking me on this adventure – you are beautiful and a delight to my heart.

Angela was married this past weekend in Salado, TX in the church her Grandfather designed decades ago. It was a perfect day to be married and she has to date received one of the most glorious sunsets I have ever seen on a wedding day. All of those fine images will be soon to come in the weeks ahead. For now, I have her bridals to share. Ang and I have known one another for what seems ages upon ages. We survived the gauntlet that is undergrad art school together at Baylor. Countless times we stayed up late into the night processing images – hovering over trays of developer and fixer and laughing about all of the wild things that make you crazy in college. This all the while trying to not get caught for locking ourselves in after hours – thank goodness photo labs are such caves. Critique after critique and photo class after class we finally split ways when Ang went on the get her masters in Fine Art Photography and I remained to, well, you know. I ran into Angela at a Coldplay concert a couple of years ago and she looked different – she looked in love. In that giggly, unbelieving way she told me of her boyfriend, her wonderful boyfriend. We both smiled and knew he would be much more than that. It was an honor to be a part of Angela’s wedding day and to take these pictures of her late one summer evening as we moved towards the wedding day. Congratulations Angela!

Happy Birthday to Me. I am so very glad that someone dreamed me up and let me loose.

To everyone who has loved me well over the years – I am so grateful for each of you. Thank you.

And thanks to you, Dad, for getting me fireworks for my birthday every year. :)

Foundation Workshop – I have so much to share about this experience, but for now, here are some of the images I shot during the 4 day workshop. My assignment was, as I am sure you can tell, a tattoo shop.