on the farm.

A few weeks ago the boy and I headed to his parents’ farm for a quick little visit. I have blogged about the farm before (here, here, and here, to name a few), but this place has started to take hold of a little piece of my heart. It can be rather desolate and empty at times; the only noises you hear are cows, birds, and the occasional farm equipment running, and the dirt roads around the farm seem to go on forever. Evenings and mornings there can be absolutely stunning, and even though I have photographed a decent amount there I feel like I have barely scratched the surface. On top of that, it changes so much depending on the season that there is always something fresh the photograph. Late spring and early summer are probably my favorite times to be there (which also tends to be true of most locations for me), and since this has been a mostly cool and fairly wet spring/summer so far, things were extra beautiful (aka very green and lush). Earlier this spring however, the weather was not so ideal. The higher temps and lack of rain left the wheat (my favorite part of the farm) very short and not as great as normal for photographs.

The day that we got there was cool and rather perfect early in the evening, so we sat out on the deck for a while before the sun dipped low and things got too chilly. Scott practiced guitar, and I wandered the farm taking pictures in the beautiful light. It was lovely.

 

Katie + Luke

Over Thanksgiving break (which was ages ago, I know) I was lucky enough to be able to get together with Luke and Katie to shoot their engagement photographs. I have been friends with Luke and Katie since 10th grade or so, and they have been dating for just about as long. These two are some of my favorite people, and so I was ecstatic when they asked if I would photograph them. We decided that our hometown of Stillwater, Minnesota would be the best location for our shoot, since it was where we did our growing up and where their relationship got its start. They are two of the most laid-back, easy-going people I know, and were complete naturals in front of the camera. I rarely had to direct them, and we spent the entire session laughing despite the bitter cold of the evening. We ended the session in a local coffee shop to warm up and thaw our fingers, though at that point we were mostly just catching up and laughing about the old days.

So, without further ado, meet the wonderful Luke and Katie!

Darren + Mary

A few weeks ago I drove from Kansas to Lexington, Kentucky to shoot the beautiful wedding of Darren and Mary. When I was in Lexington going to school for my undergrad I worked with Darren, and I was so excited when they asked me to be a part of their big day. The wedding took place on a beautiful summer afternoon, and was probably the most laid back wedding I have shot yet. It was so very obvious that these two are completely in love with each other and it was such a joy to be there to capture it. So, without further ado, meet Mr. and Mrs. Henderson!

 

Congratulations once again to Darren and Mary!

307/366 – Father and Son

I shot some family pictures for my brother and sister-in-law this afternoon. I love so many of them, but I cannot look at this one without smiling. I love seeing them both as parents, and how much love they have for this little boy.

178/366

I am very behind on posting, so I will be trying to catch up over the next few days.

*Monday, July 2
My fiance got into town on Monday (which is why I haven’t been posting). I hadn’t seen him for 2 months so needless to say it was a happy day.

61/365 – Ben & Molly

I shot my first solo wedding today! My good friend, Ben, got married today, to an absolutely amazing woman I might add. I was lucky enough to be asked to shoot the wedding for them, and had such a wonderful day with them.

I didn’t know for sure if I would feel up to getting this posted after such an exhausting day, but I decided I didn’t want to be an extra day behind since I will be unable to post for a week now (because of a camping trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, for those of you who didn’t see yesterday’s post). I didn’t even go through all of the pictures to decide on one, just some of the ones of just the lovely couple alone, and absolutely loved this one. I just did a super quick edit so I would have something to share for tonight.

Now I am off to get a couple of hours of sleep since we are off early in the morning to start our trip. I will be back in a week to share some (hopefully) amazing pictures!

197/365 – Quality

Tonight my church (Southland Christian Church) had an incredibly great service.  I am so excited about what this church is doing and where we are headed. It is so evident that my church, and more importantly the people of the church, are absolutely passionate about Christ, and doing what He has called us to do. The leaders of the church are absolutely dedicated to doing one of the most important things Christ asks of us, to love. It is so exciting, and so refreshing to see people once again focused on the most important part of Christianity.

After the service I drove to my new favorite spot in Lexington. I think this place is going to be a regular place for me to visit and reflect. I need to start bringing a notebook and sketchbook for some quiet time with God, I am so excited about what  he is doing in my life right now.

Anyways, this was a sign near where I ended up sitting for a while, and I just thought it was mildly ironic that it said quality.

(If interested in checking out Southland and the message from tonight, head to their website where you will soon be able to listen to the message, titled 5)

71/365 – Tie

This was from the wedding on Saturday. It was just a gorgeous evening, and we finally got a chance to sit down. I didn’t have a picture yet for the day and so I took a few of my boyfriend’s (Elliot) tie as we sat and talked.

13/365 – A rose by any other name

Today was another “meh” day for me. Maybe it’s just the rain. That said, this is all that I could come up with for today. Also, all textures that I have used in my photographs thus far have been thanks to flickr user skeletalmess.