The Barn at Three Oaks :: Courtney & Ryne

Courtney and Ryne. Oh my goodness. How many wonderful things can I say about them? Umm, I could go on for several days. I knew I was going to like Courtney from our email conversations, and then she got out of the car for our session and said, "So we are super awkward, but we'll try to be good." I burst out laughing and replied with "Ummm, have you met me? I'm the queen of awkward." Future besties? I think so. These two filled my camera with sweet moments, gorgeous and happy laughter and Ryne even told us a few jokes.

Courtney and Ryne have been together since high school *SWOON* we all know how I feel about high school loves. You can totally tell that they are 100% in love with each other and completely comfortable being themselves, which obviously makes my job not only crazy easy, but wicked enjoyable. With the laughter and the joking and the slight jabs at each other only to make me laugh - I would say that the afternoon was well spent.

The sky was absolutely perfect, a beautiful clear blue with bright sunshine that made my heart happy, with a little 'fresh' breeze that made Courtney look like a supermodel on camera - in reality we were all freezing our fingers off. Or was that just me? My wonderful friend Shayna Greene is the manager at The Barn at Three Oaks (which is absolutely stunning, incase you're in the market for a wedding venue) and she invited us to come and use the barn and it's 140 acres for Courtney and Ryne's engagement session. And I have to say - it completely blew me away.

Maybe I heard barn and thought of my grandparents barn that used to have a horse in it and smells like garden tools and a tractor. Regardless, I wasn't expecting what I saw. Anyway, back to business. Let's continue looking at these breathtaking images that fill my soul with happiness and make me want to hug people. 

Some of my favorite things about Courtney and Ryne's session:

• Courtney's laugh. It is easily one of the best photographable laughs of all time. Also - she doesn't have a bad angle when she laughs (or at all). Which is amazing to the photographer in me, but annoying to the jealous girl in me. I'm still obsessed with you though Courtney.  
• Ryne's quiet humor. He might not have been as forward as Courtney, but he was whispering little things to her and all of a sudden a laugh would come out of her and I knew Ryne was telling jokes.
• The weather. It might have been cold, but when the sky is that blue and the sun is so bright, you just ignore the suffer and enjoy the moments that are being captured on camera because they are so perfect and lovely.
• The way they looked at each other. It was like two little love eyed emojis watching each other all day. It was so sweet and it gave me all the feels. 

A Gorgeous Georgia Bridal Shoot

I have been relentlessly trying to get my photography business jump-started down here in Georgia.. So I went to all the local bridal shops and handed out my cards and chatted with the shop owners. I knew I needed new work, and thought if I could set up a bridal shoot I might get a few shots that could be good for my portfolio. One of the shops I went to was Uptown Gowns and I fell in love with their shop, the dresses and the girls that run the shop are the nicest. They donated a dress to me almost immediately and the owner, Candy, from Southern Glam Salon & Boutique put me in touch with one of her hair and make up artists, Kaila (who also happened to find me my model). Can I just say that I love the people down here? Everybody was so willing to do whatever to make this shoot happen and it totally payed off.

My model, Shayna, myself, and Hannah, from Uptown Gowns went to this beautiful retired horse farm (that asked to remain unnamed) and of course it started to storm. On the inside I was freaking out, and wondering if I should just call it, because I desperately did not want to ruin this dress and therein my relationship with Hannah and the Uptown Gown girls. But I decided that 100 photos were better than zero photos so we went on with it. I am absolutely thrilled that we waited out the storm, because the clouds were amazing and the light was so even and perfect. I have drooled and obsessed over these photos for weeks and I figured it was time to finally share them.

Thank you to all the people who helped me put this together, I am so touched that y'all would go above and beyond to help me make my vision a reality.

Diamonds, Zeus, Peonies and Patriotism

T and I have been married for five years. Holy smokes, that seems like a long time, but also not that long when you think about how much time we have actually spent together. Army life makes for a tough marriage, but like my favorite country singer Dierks says "The hard times put the shine into the diamond" and I really couldn't agree more. 

This year was kind of special for T and I, as it is the SECOND anniversary we have actually spent together. Year one he was in Afghanistan. Year two, we were together, in Venice. Year three he was in Poland. Year four, Ranger School. Year five, he was coming off a 30 hour walking shift with ranger students. So he had a blissfully short nap, and then I made him cook me dinner and we snuggled on the couch and watched SVU. I got to wash his disgusting army clothes and kiss him goodnight twice. While this may sound boring to some, I was happy simply to have him under my roof, where I could look at him, hug him, and request a calf rub.

He let me drag him to an amazing triathlon training with some really great people on Sunday, and then I let him drag me to a gun show. See? Compromise makes for two happy people. We had a great weekend, and as I have done for the last two years, I took some photos of our wedding rings together. As a wanna-be wedding photographer I try to create work that can be used for my portfolio on a regular basis. Obviously this is kind of tough from time to time, but since the rings are always handy they seem to be the most consistently photographed object I own. 

Zeusy was my first attempt (Year three: T was in Poland). Every dog-owner has seen the adorable picture of the dog with the rings. My best buddy made that possible for me as he is probably the most well-behaved pup on the planet.. Yes, I am very biased. Yes, sometimes he's a monster. But he's also the cutest ever.

Year four I found myself in Portugal with a girlfriend, but a few days later I found myself at a farmers market with peonies that looked just like my wedding bouquet. Considering they are easily my favorite flower, and they were dirt cheap for a dozen of them, I bought them and let the smell remind me of our wedding day.

This years may be my favorite. Insprired by T's patriotism (also the 2nd 4th of July together), the finding of a wedding invitation and a recent article about "off-lensing," I made these lovelies. I may, again, be biased, but I think this years ring shots are the best selection yet!