12.05.2012

The Durham Family


DurhamBlog_1.jpg
I love every chance I get to meet up with the Durham family, and this time was no exception.  The weather was amazing and the kids were as cute and entertaining as always.  It's so cool to see how Noah, Elizabeth, and Michael's unique personalities keep developing more and more each time I see them.  Here are a few of my favorites and a little holiday cheer to get the season started off right :)
DurhamBlog_2

DurhamBlog_3

DurhamBlog_4

DurhamBlog_5

DurhamBlog_6

DurhamBlog_7

DurhamBlog_8

DurhamBlog_10

DurhamBlog_9

DurhamBlog_11

DurhamBlog_12

DurhamBlog_14

DurhamBlog_13

DurhamBlog_15

DurhamBlog_16

DurhamBlog_20

DurhamBlog_17
DurhamBlog_19

DurhamBlog_18
Thanks again for letting me join your family for the afternoon. As always, I had a great time and can't wait for the next time!

11.15.2012

Arin, Matt, & Cash


AMCblog_1
One of my favorite parts about photographing families is seeing the different types of interactions between them and capturing those pure, untainted emotions.  Enter Arin, Matt, and Cash.  We met up this past weekend (on possibly the most beautiful fall day imaginable) for a few pictures, a few laughs, and a little glimpse into their awesome family dynamic.  As I went through their session, I was struck by just how clearly Cash adores his parents.  The way he looks at them, the way everything they do makes him smile and giggle.  And his adoration is returned 110%.  This family has something really special.  I love how you can see their mutual love so clearly in every image. Here's a little peak...
AMCblog_2

AMCblog_3

AMCblog_4

AMCblog_5

AMCblog_6

AMCblog_7

AMCblog_8

AMCblog_9

AMCblog_10

AMCblog_11
I love love love this one
AMCblog_12

AMCblog_13

AMCblog_14

AMCblog_15

AMCblog_16

AMCblog_17

AMCblog_18

AMCblog_19

AMCblog_20

AMCblog_21

AMCblog_22

AMCblog_23

AMCblog_24

AMCblog_25
Thanks for letting me hang out with your family.  I had such a great time meeting you and getting to know your amazing family!

10.31.2012

on the road

I've been really blessed in my life to have had the opportunity to travel to some really awesome places.  At 25, I've gone to places that a lot of people only dream of, and I am sooooo thankful and aware of how special that is.  Recently I started thinking of all the places I'd seen, which opened up my mind to something even broader, all the places I hadn't seen in my own country.  I'd traveled all over Europe but never across the US.  I'd been to the Caribbean on close to 10 different occasions but not once had I seen a prairie.  So this fall I let my wanderlust get the best of me and took advantage of some free time to do a "cross country" road trip (ok my schedule wasn't that relaxed, so we had to make it a half cross country trip).
My original thought was to grab the dog and a bag and head out with no plan, stop wherever I wanted, camp out, whatever worked.  But my voice of reason (aka my mother) persuaded me it might be a little safer, not to mention better conversation, if she joined along instead.  So off we went on our week long adventure, doing whatever we wanted, seeing whatever we could, and taking lots of pretty pictures :)

We started out in Northern Va, headed through West Virginia (had to go to Beckley, WVa of course), Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, all the way to our final destination of Oklahoma, and then back through Arkansas, Tennessee, a side trip through Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee again, and then back up trusty 81 and home. Here's my attempt at chronicling our trip through photos:

Good old VA.  My mom's backyard really shows each season perfectly.
RTBlog_1

RTBlog_2
On our way out of VA we saw a sign for "Humpback Bridge" and pulled off.  One of the many treasures we accidentally stumbled upon.
RTBlog_3

RTBlog_4

RTBlog_5
We did a very scenic tour through West Virginia (who knew how awesome that state is?!).  This was at one of the scenic overlooks of the New River that we stopped at.  This is my trusty sidekick :)
RTBlog_6
Next stop in WVa was the New River Gorge.  How awesome is this bridge?  It's one of the most famous places in the US for bungee jumping and extreme sports.  If I ever get the urge to jump off a bridge (harness attached), this will be the place I go.
RTBlog_7
We took some side roads through the coal  mining towns in West Virginia and came across the most serene, beautiful sight.  This was where 3 different rivers converged and somehow created this perfectly still, amazing body of water.  So cool.
RTBlog_8
We ended up spending the night outside of Louisville, Kentucky the first night and got up first thing to check out Churchill Downs (home of the Kentucky Derby).  We couldn't go in but the riders were working the horses around back and we were able to sneak around and check it out.
RTBlog_11
We were ready for a break in Indiana and happened to come across a sign for a Monastery, so of course we pulled off.  How stunning is this place?!
RTBlog_10
Our final destination was Oklahoma, mainly the Tahlequah area, but we decided to spend the night in Miami and head further in the next day.  While there we stumbled upon some info for this farm on Lake O'The Cherokees and went for a gorgeous ride.  We both love riding and figured what better thing to do in Oklahoma?  Hands down my favorite thing of our entire trip.  The view of the lake (Oklahoma has some massive bodies of water!), the trails, the sweet smell of horses, the pack of dogs playing around our feet, coupled with an awesome guide made for an amazing morning.  I didn't want to leave!
(I didn't take my camera on the ride, so I don't have any pictures of us on the horses of my own)
RTBlog_13


RTBlog_14
Our main stop in Oklahoma was the Cherokee Heritage Center.  Our family has some Cherokee blood-you wouldn't know by looking at me though you can definitely tell looking at my mom, so we thought it would be cool to learn a little more about our heritage.  The Flint Worker there, Tim, is the Cherokee National Treasure in Flint Work and was making the most incredible arrows.  He was so passionate and talented that you just wanted to sit there and learn from him all day.
RTBlog_15
 
RTBlog_16
Everyone in Oklahoma was so awesome (and really in every state), and it was so beautiful and cozy there that we didn't want to leave.  On our way out we were greeted with this amazing sunrise.  Made it that much harder to go!
RTBlog_18
This mill (Pughs Mill) in Little Rock is featured in the opening credits of Gone With the Wind.  Pretty cool random find
RTBlog_19
We did dinner in Memphis at Rendezvous (ammmazzing) and took a walk down Beale Street for some music.
RTBlog_20
Tupelo, Mississippi turned out to be quite the little gem!
RTBlog_22
Call me naive, but I'd never seen cotton fields before.  We pulled over at a gorgeous field in Northern Alabama.  It looked like fresh snow.
RTBlog_23
We made a detour into Lynchburg, Tennessee to check out the Jack Daniels Factory (duh!) and then shot up to Nashville for the evening.
RTBlog_24
We've both traveled good old 81 about a million times and our last leg of the trip was just a straight shot up it, so we decided to stop at something that we'd always passed off as kitschy, the Natural Bridge Zoo.  Man we'd been missing out!  The Zoo was so cozy and intimate, but still had the beautiful wildlife that you'd find at the National Zoo.  Definitely a great stop if your bored on the road from Virginia Tech to Northern Virginia.
RTBlog_26

RTBlog_27

RTBlog_28

RTBlog_29
I was recently asked for some pictures of sunsets for a function I was attending and realized that I had almost none from the past year.  So for this trip I made sure to get a picture every day.  Here's a little montage:
Day 1: West Virginia/Kentucky border
RTBlog_9
Day 2: Missouri
RTBlog_12
Day 3: Oklahoma
RTBlog_17
Day 4: Mississippi
RTBlog_21
Day 5: Nashville (we had some rain clouds, so this is the sky at what should have been sunset.  Still gorgeous in my opinion)
RTBlog_25
It was so cool to get out and actually see the country. Not to just fly over it on my way to an end point, but to enjoy the destination.  Until next time...
 
Peace, love, and bliss-A
It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see

-Thoreau

Labels

Followers