It was impressed upon my heart to write this blog when I was feeling my most vulnerable as a photographer, as a creator, as a mom...as a human. As much as these stories are about couples, and as much as we dream about adventures and epic images, the journey is often deeper than that.

Winter often feels brutal in our beloved PNW--we know its coming every year but manage to tune out it's hum, running through grassy fields and hanging out in EPIC late fall sunsets. This year has brought frigid temperatures and quite enough (I'm done with it) later-than-usual snow. Sessions are short and few and far in between and I find myself going absolutely stir crazy and anxious to shoot, especially when I first meet a couple like Bailey and Anna.

Often times I find my couples through social media, and through social media is how we most often get to know each other before our first in person meeting or shoot.

Bailey is the type of spirit that you can feel through her IG feed--effervescent, funny and sunny. Anna, her girlfriend, is ridiculously fashionable from her coats to her shoes, a quiet voice of reason and equally hilarious. Together they are a force.

It was freezing, and I do mean in the 'teens freezing. We ran back and forth over and over to my Jeep to warm up before running back out again, climbing under and over fences to get these images. The in between times we talked about goals, about family, about really candid things like anxiety. Real life shit.

You can get to know so much about the humans around you, even just in an hour. A photo session is never just a session to me.

I want to be clear that as a human, I don't always feel inspired. Days like today I am scrolling through literally hundreds of images, all beautiful, and feeling like I've failed each and every person I've every photographed. Feeling like I could be better. Feeling like I should be better. More relevant. Trendier. Days like today feel like a defeat, at least momentarily.

My goal this year was to be more vulnerable in everything, and so I am. I have a hard time NOT being open. The art of capturing memories is such an important job and I feel so extremely lucky to do this. The images we create together are amazing, but wouldn't be possible if not for those in-between times, warming up in the Jeep, seeing pieces of your heart and sharing some of mine with you. Getting stuck in the fence (ok, just me).

Amazing is not equal all the time to mountain tops. Adventure does not have to be anything but a quiet road. Epic is the ability to get closer, lay in the grass, forget the temperature, get your dress dirty, to go with the crazy flow, to snort laugh, to cry.

For anyone who is feeling the same way as me, get out. Make connections. Take a deep breath. Stop being so hard on yourself. Break out of the box, and in all things, be patient with yourself.

So even on those days, I remind myself not to skip the journey. I really thank you for trusting me. Cheers to so many adventures to come this year.

PS spring--holla at ya girl.

When I first opened the studio end of the year last year, I didn't exactly know what would come of it. It had been a total dream of mine to have a blank space to create.

I had a vision for this shoot, and it changed the day of...in the best way possible. With a total dream team of talented vendors, the day transformed into something seriously  up there with unicorns and fucking glitter explosions in the sky. Everything just CAME together, totally different than planned but took beautiful shape.

We laughed so much, watched as Selah danced delicately to music, shared coffee and absolutely fell in love with the insanely gorgeous Laurel dress (ummm hello, those sleeves) that pulled everything together.

Check out all the whimsy and warmth from this day below. A little spring wishing for you to look forward to.

(and for all of those looking, please see the talented vendors linked below, most are linked to IG).

Vendors:
Dress: Honest in Ivory
Model: Selah French (selahfrenchofficial)
Hair: Katie (theglo_getter)
Make-up: Courtney (lashandmake)
Florals: Beth (snapdragonflowerfarm)
Studio: Paper Tiger

Here we are, February of a new year, and I had promised myself I would focus on blogging more. And why not, you know? I love my job so much, and I fall deeper in love with the people I meet daily, but often time is a factor (and there's never enough of it). So thank Spokane for it's overabundance of snow today so that I can finally sit down and blog my first wedding of 2019 featuring Kendal and Ian.

I feel extraordinarily lucky that I get to do what I do, and Kendal and Ian were no exception. From our first meeting, to their engagement session (blogged last year), to the moment I left them on their wedding day, I felt thrilled to be a part of telling a little bit of their story.

It was not warm (like...at all) and in between clouds, rain and freezing winds, we dashed through the alley behind The McGinnity room for pictures and back in.

The McGinnity room offers a special sort of warm and moody, with a killer ambiance that can't be beat. Romantic, fun, and gorgeously crafted, their open floor and stunning bridal room are one of a kind.

From handcrafted desserts to Bird Box jokes to an epic glow-stick jump rope dance battle, this isn't a wedding I'll soon forget.

You can see all this and more below, in a story that has some beautiful images, but not nearly enough words for how radical it was.


featured vendors:
The McGinnity Room (venue)
Evelyn Mauro (makeup)
Marcella's Bridal (dress)
Honest In Ivory (earrings)
Combat Gent (suit)