I’ll never stop picking up the camera

Because it shows me, gives me proof, of love over and over and over again

I do this because love deserves proof. Not the kind that asks you to pretend, the kind that lets you be yourselves and still looks beautiful. I know it probably sounds cheesy but I want the deep breaths before vows and the head-back laughter during the reception. I want the tears that surprise you when your dad hugs his, now, son-in-law and the joy that rolls in when your best friends pull you into the middle of the song. I want the quiet and the loud, the whole thing, because that is what real life feels like.

My favorite photos are where personality seeps past the knowledge of a camera and where love forgets to pretend it isn't burning bright. A big brother figuring out how to hold a bottle without spilling while he feeds her and studies his newborn sister like she is the moon. A veil lifting in the wind and no one rushing to pin it because it looks alive. Lipstick on a paper cup between hugs. An aunt brushing lint from a suit with quiet focus. Shoes abandoned under a chair because dancing wasn’t happening in heels!

It's the

little things

i notice the sweet things that say the most

My job is to make it easy to be yourselves. Kindness first so safety can follow, safety first so joy can run free. When you forget the camera is here, the photographs become what they were meant to be:  

warm, honest, and yours.

There’s more, too, though. Without a doubt, I don’t think I could be the kind of person I am or create the kind of art I do without giving credit to Jesus. I am who I am because of him.