these last three by hannah :)

on monday Kiley and I took a little roadtrip to meet Hannah. on the 45 minute drive we listen to a bunch of music and had one of our long talks while ki directed me ;) lets just say someone was very impatient to get there “when are we going to be thereeeeeee”?!? .  i wasn’t quite sure how it was all going to turn out, after all it was our first time meeting an online friend. but I hoped it would be amazing.  It ended up being one of the best nights ever! the three if us clicked right away and I felt like we had all been friends for years. we took a bunch of pictures (what do you expect from 3 girls who are passionate about photography?), laughed like crazy, drove to get fro-yo ;), instagraming the whole time. we have decided that no matter the obstacles of miles and busyness that there will be many next-times! you may have noticed that my b&w addiction is back with a passion, have a favorite?

Last thursday our family drove to the arboretum. it was the perfect day and the light was just amazing. when we arrived we ate our excellent picnic dinner that my Mama made. we wandered around, stopping to smell the flowers and take some pictures. It was a great way to start off my parents anniversary weekend! I’m so happy I went because I almost didn’t. The light was perfect and the time with my family was even better!

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him” 1 John 3:1

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8: 35, 38-39

May 20th 1990.

my gorgeous Mama and handsome Dad committed their lives to each other. the passages above were a special part of their wedding ceremony, carefully chosen to reflect God’s love. A lot of my Mom’s friends had told her that she was being too picky that she was never going to get married if she didn’t lower her standards. But she waited patiently and God brought her My Dad. From everything they say and do, I have no doubt and neither do they that they waited for God’s best and now he is richly blessing them!

May 20th 2012.

My parents are as much in love as they were 22 years ago. Their marriage is founded on and centered in Christ, so through thick and thin it is strong! I want my  {Lord willing} future marriage to be like that of my parents, strong and founded in Christ.  Because I know that without Christ at the center no marriage will be truly a happy and God glorifying marriage!

I’ve heard a lot of people say “my pictures would be better if I had a Canon EOS 5d Mark II or a Nikon D700″ or “If I could only get a Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 I think i would be as good as (insert name of popular photographer)”. “you use a lens hood? hmmm i defs need to start using mine because I love your pictures”"UGHHHHH not having a full frame camera is just horrible, i don’t think all of my potential is showing, now im never going to be able to shoot weddings” Okay so maybe I haven’t heard all those things, but I have heard a lot. Camera envy is very common in photographers and photographer wannabe’s. I can’t say I’ve never been guilty of it either.  But one thing I try to remember is the camera doesn’t make the picture good! You do. You could give a inexperienced photographer a 5d Mark III and a seasoned photographer a point and shoot and who do you think would take the better picture? There’s so much more to photography then the click of the shutter. Photography is an art not a science. You can get everything just “right” and still end up with a bad picture.  and the art doesn’t stop after the shot has been captured, the edit is almost as important. I have seen so many blogs and many more pictures by people who have SLR’s and the picture and the style of edit doesn’t “flow”. the only way to get better is to practice, practice, practice, not by buying a new lens or body. Now I’m not saying that a new lens or body won’t help at all. I have plans for a full frame body and a 50mm f/1.4. But the reason I want those things isn’t to make me a better photog but to increase my options. You don’t need to have tons of money to be a great photographer! I have seen amazing quality pictures come from one of the cheapest point and shoots on the market. Don’t limit yourself by the camera you have, experiment, shoot in manual if you can, experiment and take thousands of pictures.

What do you think?

almost summer.

waking up pulling on my new favorite shorts, not caring about how messy my hair is. these are the days. freash breeze floating through my window as I finish my science homework. 9 short days until school is supposed to be over. spending a little time reading for pleasure and not for school. going through old pictures of mine to find my favorites. I think the saying is true that my favorite picture is the one I will take tomorrow. i love these days.

now I’m looking forward to tomorrow, for one never knows what God will do tomorrow! :)