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While some of my friends agreed that was a beautiful sight to behold, they weren’t as familiar with some of the other thoughts running through my mind as I stood in the light rain snapping photos. Knowing water was pooling up but could drain off that Delta field, but also wondering what the weather would be like for the next several days. I turned to my cotton expert friends to ask them whether there are good and bad rains. A quick message thread on Facebook made it possible for me to check in with a few growing regions. I’ll put some of the photos I took that evening (no filters or editing!) along side the comments my friends had..

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I know. The "then" is pretty ghastly (not the adorable family - just my terrible photograph!). The funny thing, though, is that I received SO much praise and encouragement from family on those first photos.

I remember setting up a slideshow to show off my first photo shoot (the session in the "then" photo above, which was with gracious family members, thank God!), and my family ooh-ed and ahh-ed and told me how beautiful the photos were and how much potential I had.

But like I said, it's so, so humbling. It's easy to forget our beginnings. It's easy to forget that we ALL start somewhere, and it's not at a place of perfection. It's a place of amateur fumbling, guessing, making all the wrong choices, making mistakes, displaying our weaknesses. And constantly pushing to learn, grow, and get better. That's the key.

I am so guilty of judging beginners too harshly, and this morning's little "exercise" pushed me right back in my place. If friends and family had been completely honest with me instead of so damn encouraging, I would probably not be where I am today. I would have shriveled up into a little ball of shame and embarrassment and lack of confidence in my amateur abilities, and I never would have grown.

I love to photograph families and children interacting naturally, tender moments between couples, and real, genuine smiles. My photographic style is soulful, sweet, authentic, and artistic. In each of my sessions, my goal is to achieve both traditional (posed) shots and also candid, more natural looking shots - your family and your love in action.