{Kelsey} ~Take One~

I had the pleasure of taking Kelsey's senior portraits a couple weeks ago, and I can't tell you how rewarding it was!

She is such a beautiful girl, inside and out. It was fun to get to know her better, and honestly, I saw a glimpse of my 17-year-old self in her. She's ambitious and a little shy, but it doesn't stop her from talking about what she loves. Thank you, Kelsey, for giving me the opportunity to get to know you better and reminding me of myself when things seemed much simpler; it has given me a new sense of hope, and driven me farther in my pursuit of photography!

{Brock+Necia}

Hello Lovely Followers :)

It's been a very long time. Many of you know why, but for those of you that don't, my mother was killed at the end of May. It's been a long and grueling process, that is nowhere near over, but we're moving ahead slowly. I mention this in the same blog as my new photo post because it was this new post that re-reminded me of my passion for photography, and I wanted to thank the lovely Necia for thinking of me when she was looking for a wedding photographer. I may have been documenting her wedding day, but she facilitated a greater joy for me than she'll ever know. Thank you, Neesh.



















Congratulations to Brock & Necia Phillips! I wish you many many years of happiness and few tears, if only ones of pure joy. God Bless you two.

{Confession Time} Look Ma! No Hands!

Yes friends, I have a confession to make... what is that, you may I have only shot in RAW once before {well, now twice before} in my adventures as a photographer.

But I'm finally taking the plunge and going completely to RAW for the forseable future- I think this will be an amazing opportunity for growth in my photography and my editing... and I'm scared but excited!

I liken photography to learning how to ride a bike... with "Auto Settings" on {these would be the training wheels} it's easy to get a semi-decent shot, and you don't have to worry too much about under/over exposure and you have successfully preserved the memory. But when you take the camera off "Auto" and turn it to manual, you can begin to tell your camera what you would like it to do, how you would like it to capture the memory, and how you want to save it so you can really preserve the feeling of the moment later {this would be like learning how to ride your bike with no hands, or learning how to do tricks with it}. Anyone can ride a bike, but can they ride a bike off a jump with no hands?
Just like anyone can point a camera and shoot, can they really manipulate the camera to catch the emotion in a grooms face when they're seeing their bride for the first time as she walks down the isle? Enough to move the viewer of the photo and allow them to feel that emotion?

This is why I'm moving solely to RAW. To try and take that emotion to the next level. Look ma! No Hands!

100 Fan Celebration Contest!!!

We've done it! With your help we have 100 Facebook fans!

To celebrate, I'm giving away a free session {1-2 hours of shooting and a free disc with print release of 30 of your favorite images!!}

To enter, go to my celebration note on Facebook and Share it on your wall! Then leave a comment below the note! Yep that's all!

Contest ends at 9:30pm MST Friday, February 4th!! Must be in the Missoula area or willing to travel for the session! Session time can be used any available time in the next 6 months!

1 Winner will be randomly chosen from the comments below the note and announced by Saturday at Noon! Good luck!!

My Beautiful Home!

This is a series of photos I took on Friday evening and made into a panorama... I LOVE Missoula!
{click on the photo to get the full effect!}