The Patinos

This post has been a long time coming! Between moving, getting a puppy, starting a new job, and lots of photography gigs, I'm super behind on posting to the blog! Here are the long awaited favorites from Sarah and Daniels wedding. I got to see them this weekend in Blacksburg and they are enjoying their marriage. If you want to check out all of the pictures from their wedding, the password for the proofing page on my site is: Blacksburg 10. Enjoy!

Macklan is 2!

I was given the opportunity at the end of July to capture Macklan just before is 2nd birthday. We spent the late afternoon running around Centennial Park in Nashville. It was great to photograph him again and to spend time with his parents, Scott and Kecia. As always, it was tough to pick out a handful to share but here a few!

Gooch Bridal Portraits

The Gooch-Patino wedding was a success this weekend and I can finally post some of Sarah's bridal portraits. She was a beautiful bride with a gorgeous smile. Check in soon for a tease of the wedding!

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Bredow

I finally finished editing Tiffany and Ben's wedding this week. However, I'm still working on getting them loaded to my website for proofing. It was such a joy to be a part of their day and I had a blast working with Makenzie of Makenzie Lynn Photography. I pulled out some more of my favorites from their big day. Check back in the next day or two for the password for viewing.

Tiffany & Ben

I spent the weekend in Paducah, KY photographing Tiffany & Ben's wedding in collaboration Makenzie Lynn Photography. We had a great time sharing photography duties for the day and were able to get some great shots together. I've been busy editing and still have a lot to do. Here are a couple teasers from the wedding. More to come soon!

April 16, 2007

I'm not very eloquent with words especially in a post like this, bear with me.

Its hard to believe that today marks the two year anniversary of the shooting at Virginia Tech. In some ways, it feels like 4.16.07 was last week however its pretty easy to try to convince myself that it never happened. This week has been more difficult than I imagined it would be. My heart has been so heavy. I remember one of the students at Tech talking about grief, described it as the ripples in water when you throw in a rock. Right at the center the ripples are tight and close together, but as they move out they get farther apart. The hard days are getting farther apart but they still exist and I definitely have had some hard days this week. Today, I'm choosing to remember the 32 and to celebrate life.

That first week, all I could do was take pictures. I didn't know how else to deal with the pain. I took over 1,000 images during that time. I have these photos on my website, but I wanted to share them with you again today. These photos are a small glimpse of that time.

Please remember the families of the 32, their hearts are heavy and aching.

beloved.

I've decided to begin using this blog not only as a way to share my photos but also as a way to share my heart more openly. So here we go...

The past 5 or 6 years have been pretty monumental in my life. The Lord has been teaching me so much about what His love looks like and just how much He truly loves me despite the mistakes and choices that I have made that aren't exactly glorifying to Him. As I've been learning about His love, He's been using the word "beloved" to teach me. I've been having a blast as He's been revealing His love to me more and more each day. I will always be His beloved and His love for me is unconditional, no matter what, I'll never be able to get away from it! As I've been grasping the concept of the word "beloved," I decided to make a commitment to accept the name He has given me and the love He has for me. I chose to make a public commitment to it by having one of my sister's friends tattoo it on my foot! I know that many will disagree with this decision, however, in the few days I've had it, I've already been able to talk to complete strangers about God's love because of it! Praise Him! I handed my camera to my sister during this event. Here are a few moments she captured for me.

{that isn't bruising. just extra ink.}