blissfully engaged , familiar love , first look , in expectation , personal , with this ring
2018 in review // wedding + family photojournalism
I’m going to share with you some of my favorite images from the course of 2018. I am so unbelievably thankful thankful thankful to all the people who trusted me to document their lives this year. I know these moments are precious, I feel it in my bones, and I never take that responsibility lightly. I witnessed the very first day of many families, the additions of new life into the world and homes. I captured the momentous and also quite a bit of the everyday. With my camera I documented stories of love, hope, growth, waiting, beauty and joy. So much joy. What a beautiful year spent photographing some of the most beautiful souls. Thank you all.
It started off with Jessica + Ryan’s Hall of State wedding
Included a whole lot of families photographed in their homes (my favorite place to photograph families)
Shai + Brent made Dallas look real good for their engagement session.
My first ever round of mini sessions at The Lumen Room were so much fun that I planned a second round of mini’s just five months later. Here are some from the first round:
More state park weddings in 2019, please. I so enjoyed Adi + Julian’s relaxed and intimate Huntsville state park wedding.
I got the honor and privilege of photographing several previous brides’ and grooms’ welcoming new babies into their families!
I documented Jacob + Liz in their first home before they jumped into a brand new adventure together.
In April I flew to South Carolina for Emmaline + Nikita’s engagement session on Duke University campus.
Aanchal + Nick had two full days of wedding celebration complete with mariachi + barat!
Esther +Â Trevor’s SMU Perkins Chapel + Filter Building wedding day was a dream dream dream.
I so enjoyed shooting at The Darkroom studio for the first time for Taylor’s bridal portraits.
I don’t always get to do birth photography with my wedding schedule but it just so worked out for me to be at little Ella’s birth and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Taylor + Johnny’s Brik wedding with Cloud Creative Events + Everly Alaine Florals was dreamy as all get out.
Annnnnd then came the second round of mini sessions at The Lumen Room (shot while I was 32 weeks pregnant).
Emmaline + Nikita’s wedding was my first Russian Orthodox wedding ceremony to photography, which was so fun. I so enjoyed their portraits + reception at Hotel Crescent Court.
Jessica + Kolby’s Cliff House morning wedding was such an absolute delight.
And I wrapped up 2018 with Katie + Kyle’s Oklahoma wedding at Southwind Hills.
If you’re still reading, GOOD JOB! It’s a longgggg post, a whole year’s worth, in fact!
 To end, I could think of no better way to further illustrate how much I value documentation and preserving memories than by showing that I do the same for my family. This year we were so blessed by the addition of baby boy Jones Cedar to our family. Here are a few of my favorite images I’ve captured in my own home over the past couple months since his arrival.
blissfully engaged
blissfully engaged: katie + kyle // oklahoma city rainy rooftop engagement session
Okay, okay, okay, it’s been three months since I’ve posted to the blog. IN MY DEFENSE THOUGH, I have had a child in that timeframe so that’s a pretty dang good excuse for being behind on blogging, ammiright? But if there is a reason to come back to it, it’s that maternity leave will be ending tomorrow with Katie and Kyle’s wedding and I just realized I’d never gotten their rainy day Oklahoma City engagement session up here. We had game-planned for a sunny (hot) June evening but a huge rainstorm blew through OKC just an hour before we had planned to get started. We rolled with it, changed locations to a hotel rooftop bar that we could shoot indoors until the rain chilled out and turns out I’m completely obsessed with the images we got that day of the city lights reflecting off the watery midtown streets.
My most favorite memory from this day was when Kyle opened the champagne *but* it wasn’t as big a POP as envisioned so he shook it and tried again and guys, I’m not exaggerating when I tell you it went everywhere. Katie’s hair was wet, her dress had champagne all over it. My camera lens had champagne all over it. When you look at the photos, you can see champagne dripping off of Kyle’s hands. Their reactions were hilarious and made some of my favorite photos from the day.
Katie and Kyle, cannot wait to meet back up with y’all tomorrow for your wedding day! My wedding day wish for y’all is may there be plenty of champagne to celebrate but may none of it be dripping off your clothing (but if it is for any reason, you had better believe I’ll get some photos of it).
blissfully engaged
blissfully engaged: allie + connor // fort worth sunrise engagement session
It required a 5 AM wake-up call for this summer sunrise session in Fort Worth with Allie and Connor but I’d take that alarm over and over again to spend another morning documenting HOW. MUCH. FUN. these two have together. It is always seriously such an absolute ball to spend any length of time with Allie and Connor and I’m already counting down the days to their wedding next January.
Thanks to Meagan Betchel for waking up super early to do Allie’s hair and make-up before our 7 AM start time — ‘ppreciate you!
Allie + Connor, y’all are awesome. Keep up the good work.
Well you guys, this blogpost is going to be an extra special one because this was the wedding day of my brother and now sister-in-law. And man oh man, these two mean so much to me. As I was looking back through these images for this post I was laugh-crying at how happy they were on this day and how truly extremely grateful I am for them to have found each other. Beyond the bride and groom themselves having my heart, my husband was a groomsmen, my daughter was a flower girl (you’ll notice a slight mom bias in how many photos of her ended up in this blogpost but sorrynotsorry hahaha), the wedding took place at our Uncle James and Darren’s backyard + these were some of the last photos ever taken of our dear Pap before he passed away just two short months after. Last year was the hardest one I had lived through for a variety of reasons but Jacob meeting Liz and their subsequent wedding 11 months later was (and will always be remembered as) the bright brightest spot in all the hard.
A collection of five photographers, including and primarily myself, actually contributed to telling this wedding story and I’m thankful for each and every unique perspective they brought to telling it. Jacob actually was the groomsman/videographer at mine and James’ wedding eight years ago and there is something so special to me of having the wedding video being from my little brother’s perspective of the day. So Jacob not only gets wedding images from the perspective of his big sister, but many more loved ones as well. There wasn’t a set second shooter because it was such a small, intimate backyard wedding plus James (my resident second shooter) was a groomsmen/brother-in-law so he wasn’t always available. Although I was the main shooter, the groom himself + James tag-teamed groom prep time, during family portraits that I was in Hannah Higgins stepped in (she hadn’t planned to but she showed up early and I preferred someone who already knew how to work a camera over a random relative haha). When Chris Newby showed up for the ceremony I held out a second camera and was like, “WANNA SECOND SHOOT?” He said yes and captured some really beautiful moments during the ceremony — super appreciate for you, Chris! And then James photographed the reception exit (and snagged one of my most favorite send-off photos of all time) because he’s a good husband and because Juniper hadn’t napped that day (you’ll see a photo of her towards the end running wildly through the front yard having stripped off half her flower girl outfit hahaha) and just needed momma to hold her so how was I supposed to turn that down?
All this to say — it was a really, really sweet day and I’ll just let the photos do the rest of the talking (edit: I actually ended up inserting a lot of sisterly commentary into these, my bad). It started on a bright November morning in Stephenville, Texas.
Jacob and the groomsmen had stayed just a couple of blocks over from where the wedding would be so Jacob took a morning stroll over (his film camera in hand) after getting ready.
All of the beyond stunning florals were done by Scott’s Flowers — the best in all the land (and I don’t think that’s just niece bias talking).
Jacob was only a LITTLE giddy to see his bride soon. You’ll notice that he and Liz both are super-expressive and there is literally nothing I love photographing more than people whose faces show every ounce of joy + excitement they’re feeling in that moment.
IT’S LIZ AND I LOVE HER!!!!
Okay I know it’s a GIF and it’s moving but really try not to miss how Jacob had tears in his eyes before he even turned around to see Liz for their first look. Just the fact that he was mere moments away from seeing his bride was enough to bring on the tears.
These are all my siblings (I’m in the floral dress hugging my 6’8″ baby brother) and I love them all so. Our sister was actually in between round of chemotherapy for the leukemia she had been diagnosed with earlier that year and we hadn’t known if her immune system was going to be strong enough for her to fully take part in this special day but we are so thankful to the Lord for her being strong enough to be present + of course take part in the sibling hugs this day entailed. We certainly do not take that for granted.
Chris snagged these next few of Jacob walking into his wedding ceremony like “IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING??”
Both Liz + Jacob were struggling to hold it together during the parental prayer at the end of the ceremony.
I’M LAUGH-CRYING AGAIN LOOK HOW HAPPY THEY ARE TO BE PRONOUNCED HUSBAND AND WIFE OH IT’S JUST SO SWEET I COULD BURST.
Juniper didn’t care if he was the groom, she was NOT having any celebratory post-ceremony kisses from her uncle Jacob hahahaha.
I’ve literally never seen my momma happier than dancing to “Loves Me Like A Rock” with Jacob. (MAYBE her happiness matched this at the births of her grandchildren, but I’m not even 100% sure of that hahaha)
That’s my sweet dad blowing bubbles at them from a foot away.
Oh what a joyous, joyous day it was. Love you, Jacob and Liz!
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