The kid with the long hair.

I’ve seriously missed working with this kid. It’s been way too long!!! I was so excited to hang out with him yesterday and get some new shots!!

Thanks for being so cool E!!

Can we just say, E has THE best hair ever!!!

Sometimes you get those shots, where your model is just being himself, belting out a song, and you get a great capture!! Love this kid!!

The boy in the hoodie

This young man is always a blast to work with!! I loved this location for some portrait, and the rest were his ideas!! He’s super creative!

Y O U T H F U L L N E S S

I love working with Elijah. I love the outcome of the photos we take. They are always more than I have imagined. To see my ideas in my head come to life, it’s amazing.

Youth in the sunshine

"It's a beautiful thing to mature into yourself - to accept the world that we live in and make it vibrant, colorful, and beautiful" - Hayden Byerly

This boy right here is growing up to one amazing kid!! He has an amazing heart, he's compassionate and thinks always of others, he's got amazing hair and he's a ninja boss!!

"It's up to you whether you have a good day or not - not anybody else. It's about saying; 'You're going to have an amazing day'. Self-Confidence goes a long way. Be confident in who you are." Gavin Casalegno

"I try every day to make a little difference in someone's life. Not something catastrophic, but just simple tokens of gratitude." Brandon Larracuente 

"When you're a boy and you're young, the world is a wonderful place." Montell Martin

the cool senior of Franklin.

I had the privilege to work with this beauty again last week. I took some photos of her a few months back, and she contacted me again to take her senior photos. 

And again, I had a blast working with her!!

I love it when my clients let me also add my creative flare to the photos. The photo above, I held a pair of sunglasses up to the lens. The photo below, I had a piece of brown paper, full of holes up to the lens. I love playing around with different things, holding them up to the lens, getting a different look or feel for certain photos. 

This photo above was another cool shot with the sunglasses in front of the lens. 

The above shot I think is one of my favorites from this session. This was taken in a tight spot, next to this old storage building, and a tree. I used the tree for my advantage though, holding one of the branches with leaves up to the lens. 

Maya, stay cool, stay cool!! You are unique, beautiful and amazing!! I'm so glad I have had the chance to photograph you twice this year and I hope we can work together again in the near future!! You rock!

T R A C K

I had this idea for Elijah for a while and was happy to accomplish it. I thought he would be perfect for this session, since he’s been on a track team for the past couple of years. 

The day we planned to do this session was a beautiful day. We packed the car up and we were about to head to the location spot, and all of a sudden it started to rain really hard.  

We waited a while to see if it would let up, but ended up having to wait around one hour. We ended up going to plan b for location, away from the rain. This location worked out just fine for us. It’s always good to have a plan b with your location, when you never know what the weather is going to be like. The weather app said it was sunny and warm, but when we looked outside, seeing the dark clouds and the raining falling, we knew we had to think of another idea, or wait until another day. 

The light was pretty good too, right after the rain. But…..we were attacked, literally attacked, by mosquitoes like crazy!!! We were fighting them off left and right. I would snap a few shots and than have to smack my arm, to get them away. We got some good shots…but we had bites on our arms and legs.

I can’t say it enough, I love working with this kid!! He always enjoys being my model in many of my shoots, and helping me see my ideas and creativity come to life in the photos.

Thank you again E for helping out, even if you had to fight off the mosquitos!!! You’re awesome, kid!!

the cool kid of Franklin.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to work with Maya. I had been wanting to collaborate with her for a while now, and we finally had some time. 
I have known her and her family for a number of years now. And I’ve taken photos of them in the past, but it’s been a while. 

I started scouting locations for this session a while back. I wanted to find some new cool places in Franklin, TN. that I’ve never shot at before. It’s always good to find new and fun spots to have your sessions at. I have a few regular places I go to, but for yesterday, I wanted to find new places. 
Some of the places we ventured to yesterday will be added to my list of future session locations! And I’m sure I will find more  down the line. 

One of my favorite places we found was this cool old general store, Davis General Merchandise. About a month ago I drove around and found all these cool old general stores in the area. All were still up and running, except for this one, it had closed down a couple months prior to our visit. It wasn’t until later that I realized, this would be an awesome place for photos. 

Another place I found was this white wall, with cool old windows and vines growing all around. It totally makes for an awesome backdrop!

And if you are familiar with my photography, I tend to enjoy shooting through things or holding things up to my lens….pieces of plastic, a piece of broken crystal, a prism, pieces of colored cellophane, etc. I love adding texture to photos this way, I love getting these unique looks shadows in some of my photos. 

Maya, thank you again for hanging out with me and getting some amazing photos!! You’re awesome!!! Can’t wait to work together again in the future!!

the nomad.

So I had this idea for a while now, for this personal project with E. And honestly, in the end, it came out a bit different than the idea I first had, but I'm totally happy with the outcome!

An idea first came to me while watching a movie, I saw this type of tent set up, kind of old and torn. I jotted down the ideas in my head at the time and added more ideas over time. Once I saw the final outcome of the photos, the way the photos are, with this 'tent' and my amazing model....to me, if gave off that nomad feel to them. 

A nomad is one who travels from place to place, maybe even living in a tent or something outdoors. That is just how I feel these photos give, that nomad feeling. 

There have been many times where I felt like a nomad, as I traveled the world. I know I spent a lot of time in Madagascar, but even over there, I was traveling around at times...sleeping on church floors, in tents, on the floor of bamboo huts, wherever we could find a place.

I know I have said it time and time again, but I seriously LOVE working with E! He's the coolest kid in town! I'm seriously thankful for him and his family, and so happy I can document his life as well as his siblings from time to time. And I hope they will continue to let me document their lives for a long, long time!

And he has the coolest hair!! I've always loved his hair!!

"But if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?                                  And if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like you've been here before?" - Pompae by Bastille

Style and class.

The other day I had another photo session with Fitahiana. I'm glad he loves getting his photo taken as much as I love taking photos! He's a great model!!

This guy really has style and class, just like you see in his photos!!

"Don't give up because of what someone said. Use that motivation to push harder"

"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world" - Robin Williams

"Find something you are passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it" -Julia Child

"Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go who we think we're supposed to be and embracing who we are" -Brene Brown

I also got a couple creative shots with Fita, or as what I call them, artsy fartsy!

"I try to avoid the ordinary" - Bill Murray

"Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art" -Ansel Adams

another day. another session.

I had fun yesterday with Fita again, taking a bunch of photos. I'm glad he is always open to the ideas that come to me. And he also has some of his own ideas as well. 

"Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we're supposed to be and embracing who we are" - Brene Brown

"Don't think about what can happen in a month. Don't think about what can happen in a year. Just focus on the 24 hours in front of you and do what you can to get closer to where you want to be"

I LOVE this shot above!

He's seriously a natural in front of the camera!! 

Everything is going to OK!

A Creative Mind.

"The best people posses a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed." - Ernest Hemingway

Fita came by his aunt's house, where I was staying, to do some photos. Before he arrived, I took time to look around and try to find things I could use to get some more creative textured photos this time. I found some different windows to use, and I was glad he was open to being my model for the day!

When I first took this shot above, I wasn't really sure about it, with all the clouds and shadows. But once I started editing it, and looking at it more, I started to love it more and more. 

Creativity is a state of mind brought about by creating.

This shot above, as well as the one below were taken through a frosted window. I had seen some photos using some type of glass like this, and I thought I would do a little experimenting with it and see what I can get. 

"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night" - Edgar Allen Poe

F I T A H I A N A

‘Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the common place, the slaves of the ordinary.’ -Cecil Beaton

Fita is 15 years old now and I remember when he was just a little baby. I know I’ve told this story before, but when was a toddler, around 2 or 3, he would love visiting me. One time when I went home on furlough, he still went to my room trying to find me. 

Later on, when he was around 5 or 6, he would come over and talk to me after he got home from school and tell me all kinds of stories. 

Of course there was a time where I was absent and didn’t see him for a number of years. When I saw him back in July after I arrived, I almost didn’t recognize him. He’s grown into an amazing young man. 

I was visiting him and some of his other family the other day. I brought my camera gear along, hoping to get some photos of the kids playing around outside. Later in the day, he asked if we could do some photos. We both had different ideas for the photo session, and I was very happy and satisfied with many of the photos. He’s a born model!!

"Home is behind, the world ahead, and there are many paths to tread through shadows to the edge of night, until the stars are all alight." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

"With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity"  - Mark Twain

I hope the best for you Fita, and I hope you can accomplish the things on your heart!