I HAVE A NEW BLOG

Hello everyone! If you haven't checked it out yet or discovered that I have a new blog then you HAVE to check it out! It's way better and it's where I'll be updating all my posts from now on. So if you have THIS blog bookmarked, you'll need to change it to the link bellow! Check it out and leave a comment...

www.defininggracephoto.com/blog/

See you over there soon!

I wish I could show you...

I wish I could show you all a sneak peek from a recent bridal session. The bride was stunning! We took her pictures at a couple different locations including a horse pasture filled with buttercups, a field in front of an old rusty house, and we finished the evening at Wild Life Pond. The lighting was great and she was so fun to photograph. I was so pleased with how these pictures came out...there are some gorgeous shots!
I say that not to "toot my own horn," (I feel really cheesy saying that..."toot my own horn"...corny I know but you get the point), but I say that to let you all know how beautiful she was and IS...on the inside and out. AND how great God is that he blessed the shoot with some good lighting and locations! By the end of the shoot I felt like I had a new friend and I am thrilled to be shooting her wedding this June!! Which, by the way, is why I can't show you her bridal's yet...not until AFTER her big day! But after June 5th you can expect to see some beautiful pictures of a very precious girl!

But for now you can take a look at Graydon's first time strawberry picking! I love strawberry season....YUMM!! Hope you enjoy!








This is a picture of my mom and her best friend picking strawberries. It was not just Graydon's first time picking but also my mother's friends first time picking!! I love how timeless this image feels...even in color!

Engaged and in love

There are a lot of things I love about life...but my favorite thing and what it is all about is relationships. True, meaningful, loving relationships. It's what we were created for, to be in relation or community with one another... That's why I love photographing people so much. Friends and family have often asked me what I prefer to photograph, families, children, babies, or weddings. I really can't answer that question because I love photographing and witnessing ALL those things. There is something so special about each one.

This past weekend I had the honor of photographing a young couple in love. What was so awesome to see about Austin and Stephanie is that they were not ashamed to allow their love for one another to shine through for everyone to see. He was so tender with her and treated her like a princess...and the way she looked at him in return was the stuff that story books are written on. These two are high school sweet hearts who, several years later, are still head over heals for one another. My husband and I are so excited to be able to document their love once again On January 1st when they become husband and wife. Thank you so much to the two of you for sharing these moments with us and trusting us to capture them for you.

It was very hard for me to narrow it down to just a couple of my favorites so I posted a few more than I normally do...hope you enjoy your extended "sneak peek"! Let me know what you all think!





How goOorgeous is this girl?! Quite an attractive couple the two of you are!













Ok, I love this one because it shows a little of Stephanie's playfulness and you can just tell that Austin enjoys watching her. Way to give me a bit of sass...you know how to work a camera girl!



This is one of my favorite pictures of Austin... Stephanie is not the only one who knows how to work the camera!







A quick outfit change and a 10 minute drive to a different location and BAM...



The lighting God gave us for these shots was incredible! Seriously, I did minimal work to this photo...it's very close to how it looked straight out of the camera...One of my favs!









May you always look so peaceful in each others arms...

Senior Session

So yesterday I had the privilege of meeting Matthew. I really enjoyed my time with him and his mom. He is an avid golfer and enjoys the outdoors and was so super sweet and funny! Because of his love of golf we decided to start at Walnut Creek Country Club and go from there. Here are a few of my favorites from the afternoon. Thanks for being such a gentleman, you were a lot of fun to photograph and I enjoyed getting to know you a bit! Hope you enjoy your "sneek peak"!!!







What a great smile!! Matt, you have some of the nicest teeth I've ever seen!

Happy Easter...

...He has Risen! Well it's officially spring...I can tell by the gross layer of pollen that I'm greeted with every morning when I go out side. This is my first spring in North Carolina and all I want to know is where in the world does all this pollen come from?!? Seriously, one day it was gorgeous and cool, 65 and sunshine, no bugs...then BAM...the next day there was a covering of light green dust on EVERYTHING and with that pollen came all the bugs!! Spring in Dallas did not have this, so you can understand my perplexity of this situation.

ANYWAY, sorry about the tangent. With spring also comes a freshness of new life and discovery and that is even more prevalent raising a two year old. I seeing all the flowers bloom and hearing kids playing in the streets now with the warmer weather. But my FAVORITE thing is watching Graydon play and discover...so I thought I would share with you all a bit of my joy in watching him.

I'm hoping that you all can push your spring time allergies aside, (as I have to), and enjoy the freshness and new life of spring. This Easter Sunday, or at least maybe sometime this week, take a walk with your spouse, be sure to hold hands, or grab an ice creme cone with a good friend and take in all the flowers and enjoy watching the neighborhoods come to life with children playing...it'll do you good! Trust me! Happy Easter to you all, and happy Spring!




















This was Graydon's first Easter Egg Hunt! My sister's church, Faith Alliance puts on one for the community every year...Here are a couple of my favorites, including two with his cousin Jordan!







So sassy...this is totally Jordan! I love it!





LOVE these next two!!!





Hope you all are having a GREAT Easter weekend!!!

Graydon is TWO

...I can't believe how time fly's!! I realize that's a bit cliche and we hear it often, but man...just two short years ago I was holding a tiny little baby and crying at how overwhelmed I was to have the honor and responsibility of caring for something so precious.

We take time for granted way too often and it is such a gift. Most of us don't make time for the stuff that lasts, the stuff that matters. Everyone is always sooOOoo busy. The truth is there will ALWAYS be something that needs to get done, another dish to wash, or two more hours of overtime we could squeeze in. But time passes and you CAN'T get it back. My father-in-law always says "you make time to do the things you really want to do"....and he's right! If I really want to watch the new episode of the Office, then I'm going to make a point of watching it. If I really want to check out the sale at Old Navy then I'm going to try and find a way to squeeze it in while I'm running errands.
I realize having said that, sometimes I need to re-prioritize day.

I have a TON of work I should be doing on the computer. I have a new web-site and new (way improved) blog that I have been trying to work on, as well as family photos I've been meaning to process and organize. But those things are not more important than my son. So I work on client's photos and blog when I can and choose to laugh with my son while rolling around on the floor in a tickle fight instead...I can always work on that other stuff later, but tickling, laughing, and cuddling Graydon is something that in a few more short years from now I won't be able to do...mostly because it won't be cool to snuggle with your mom when your 10 or 12.

My point is that we could all stand to take some time to do the things that are important to us...reading more, journaling, catching up with old friends, turning the TV off and talking with your spouse, exercising, or tickling your two year old before more birthdays pass and your wondering again, where did the time go?

We spent Graydon's birthday weekend in Myrtle Beach with my family...it was nice to get away. I hope you enjoy these pictures from the beach and of him enjoying his strawberry cake. AFTER you take a look at them :) stop surfing the net, log off facebook, close down your e-mail, turn your computer off and go take the time to do something that matters!









This was the view from our balcony...not bad eh?













Jeremy took this one of me in "action"!





My sister and her friend goofing around.





Thanks to Venessa (my other sister...the one with the baby just above) for taking this picture of my beautiful family...I am so blessed! Have a great Wednesday!