Gracie

i love the name gracie - an extension of grace.  those that know me well know that i love virtuous names.  each of my girls have virtuous name of sorts.  my oldest imani  (means faith in swahili) mackenzie grace, twin a: nia grace and twin b: nala iman (an extension of imani or faith).  so i think just by default i was in love with gracie at first sight.  oh my word...what a total doll.  but beyond that, she's an absolute sweet heart.  her parents have done a terrific job with her in all aspects.  if i were closer, i'd babysit her anytime.  she's got style, is respectful, knows how to smile with her eyes, can work with wind in her hair, and knows just what to do get the shot.

how adorable is she??? 

you either have it or you don't...and she definitely has it!  she's an old pro at this modeling thing...don't be surprised if you see this beautiful face on america's next top model in a decade :)

i still have lots more images to work through, but i had to share these!

52 fridays 07 | 52 new / beginnings

this week's theme is new.  last weekend i did something new and completely out of character.  i met up with 25 other girls for bloom's face 2 face workshop having met none of the girls in real life.  this would be new.  every bit of logic told me i was crazy, but for whatever reason, i went.  i won't lie and say that i didn't contemplate backing out - worry over not being a "real" photographer, worry over being out of my league, and admittedly a wee bit of "not fitting in".  but that wasn't my purpose in going.  i wanted to go, because i honestly am passionate about my newly found hobby and i really have  desire to get better.

in dallas, i got out of face 2 face so much more than learning more about photography though there was plenty of time and opportunities for that.   i feel like i connected with many of the girls, and crazy enough, i'd call several of them "friends".  so today f2f also represents the beginning of new friendships.  ask anyone, i don't use that term loosely.  face 2 face was full of inspiring girls with sooooooooooooooooo much talent, and while yes indeed was out of my league, no one made me feel that way. 

brenda and kristy worked so hard to make face 2 face such an awesome experience.  they have put together a great team of moderators that kinda led the way this weekend and i truly couldn't be more grateful.    i feel blessed to have been apart of the workshop that ended in shared knowledge, exchanges of cell phone numbers, hugs, and even tears.  it was incredible.

this week i'm posting a few pics of two stunning teens that served as senior models for us.  these girls are absolutely gorgeous. i loved how sweet and yet confident they were.  mostly, i loved how connected they were as friends.  my friends mean the world to me and seeing the relationship between these two in the short time we had with them, made  me 1) miss highschool and 2) miss my besties.

so new...this is a totally new experience for me.  i'm a momtog afterall and for the most part have only taken pics of my girls. 

new...i loved it.

k...really...they are gorgeous, huh?

more workshop shares to come when i get the energy to go through them all.   i accidently deleted a memory card full of images and i'm praying my friend, breeze will be able to recover them.

now, for the not so new.  if you've been here before, you know the drill, click on over to the blog of Kelly Baxter | Seattle Natural Light Photographer to see her take on new/beginnings.

see you next friday!

52 fridays 06|52 love

1 corinthians 13:13
and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. but the greatest of these is love.

i admit and probably don't have to.  this picture wasn't taken this week (if you look below, i've already blogged it), but this week has been a very busy one and by the time this post is published i'll be off to dallas for the bloom face 2 face workshop!  but in truth,  all that I see when I look at this image is love.  mackenzie loves her sisters so much - i think you can feel the closeness and love here between her and nia.  i hope and pray that never changes.

1 corinthians 13:14
love is patient, love is kind...

now here is a shot that i technically took this week - on sunday.  i was practicing backlighting techniques and when going through the images, i fell in love with how intense mackenzie's gaze was here.  i absolutely love that girl.  having her in my life i know that love is patient and kind. she is so patient with me letting me practice.  she has no real interest in getting in front of the camera, but she does it for me. seriously, i couldn't ask for a better daughter.

i had bigger plans for this week, but time or lack there of got in the way.  there will likely be many weeks like that, but i'm committed to this project and plan to keep shooting in the time that i have available.

now keep the circle going and head on over to Kelly Baxter | Seattle Natural Light Photographer's  blog.  she blew me away last week!  did you see that train shot?? can't wait to see what she has in store for love.

see you next friday!

52 fridays 05|52 motions

yay!  excited to be back this week.  last week, i was snowed under and my left brain thought that meant that  i couldn't shoot right here at home!  i'm going to go back and do the signs theme at some point.

as reflected below, we are still snowed under.  at this point, we all have cabin fever and starting about a week ago, i realized how much i missed going through the motions of normalcy.  my everyday routine. i missed heading out the front door to get the mail.   i missed just driving down my street.  i even missed waiting in traffic for my exit.  i missed heading into the office.  crazy a bit, huh?  well here in tulsa, things shut down when we have major snowstorms like this.  our city just wasn't prepared.  don't get me wrong, i enjoyed getting to snuggle with my girls a bit more, but cabin fever is starting to get the best of all of us.

funny how we take for granted the parts of day where we are just going through the motions...

i'm glad that temps are warming up this weekend and things will return to normal.  i was back on the road today and it felt like home :)

i am excited to see what the other ladies have come up with for motions - i know several of us found this one difficult.  keep the circle going and head on over to Kelly Baxter | Seattle Natural Light Photographer's  blog.

new here, and wondering what 52 fridays is all about?  read here and here.

hope to see you next friday!