A Look Back

2015 was a BIG year for me, both professionally and personally.

In September, Derek and I decided it was time to start trying for another baby. With our crazy amounts of stress between 2 jobs and a toddler, plus housewife duties, honey-do lists, and just plain life, I was sure it would take me a while to get pregnant; Stress-free is not how I would describe myself lately. Well, surprise, God gave us another child just a few weeks after we decided we wanted one! I feel so blessed to have had 2 relatively wonderful pregnancies so far, and only had to cancel one wedding (still a bummer, but I was able to do it just before the contract was signed, and gave her almost 10 months to find another photographer). Call us crazy, but we’ve decided not to find out the gender so in just 5 months, we’ll be getting another life-altering surprise and I can’t wait!

I decided to take on 12 weddings this year, and before January was even over, I had ended up booking 16 (plus all the engagement and bridal sessions that go along with weddings). I hosted a workshop for professional photographers in Oklahoma—an all-inclusive 3 day retreat with a styled shoot at the end. The year was crazy, hectic, hard, and FAN-flipping-TASTIC. I traveled all over Texas, Oklahoma, LONDON, Mexico, Phoenix, Chicago, and loved absolutely every minute, trying my best to push away any mommy guilt of leaving my (very independent) toddler with her daddy. Derek, of course, never punishes me for doing what I love, and I’m a lucky girl to have so much support. The people I met along the way, the photos I took, the projects I’ve started (and have yet to complete) continue to inspire me and remind me to keep traveling and keep setting ridiculous goals.

I have so many photos to share from the year, but for now, I’ll just post a few of my favorite memories. Here’s to another great year in 2016!!

With joy, Lizard.

Fresh Year, Fresh Start

I have hopped on the “tidying up train” … Or perhaps I’m just nesting. Either way, I’m excited for another fresh start! I’ve been so blessed in my business in the last couple of years, and this has allowed me (*cough* FORCED me) to begin saying “No” to some things that tend to pull me away from my (much too specific) career goals. One of my biggest time munchers in 2015(besides laundry) was managing my SEO for my wordpress blog. It seemed like every time I gained some ground with Google, the silly thing would break and I’d have to re-design everything immediately. A very long, painful, story short, I don’t have time for that headache anymore and so I’m starting with a clean slate on this blog. Simplifying. Tidying Up. OK, nesting. I can’t think of a better way to kick of this blog than to reveal my photos from my first TELOS workshop’s styled shoot.

This was definitely my most favorite styled shoot that I’ve done, and of course I couldn’t have pulled it off without a few people. Alex and Olivia, my supermodels, THANK YOU! Thank you for getting up at a horrid hour to prepare for a sunrise shoot after driving all night into the very edge of the Oklahoma woods! An equally huge thank you goes to Amy McCord of Flower Moxie for creating the most jaw-dropping bridal bouquet I’ve ever seen in my life. I gave her complete creative freedom and she did not disappoint. Lastly, thank you to former Bachelorette star, and current newlywed Desiree Hartsock for understanding my vision and publishing my photos on her blog. Someone should warn her, I feel like we’re friends now and shall henceforth refer to her as Des, my bff.

This workshop and styled shoot has been in the works for the better part of two years, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how everything turned out. Inspired from paintings by Daniel F. Gerhartz, I wanted to use colors found easily in nature to create a breezy, ethereal vibe. After deciding on hues of pale blue, green, ivory, and copper, I found THE dress by Milamira bridal. In the last few years, the wedding industry has seen a growing appreciation for a unique wedding gown, and brides are becoming more and more bold in their style choices (which is FANTASTIC news for photographers and stylists!).This shoot was set in the untouched woods of Watson, OK during my Telos Workshop. I themed it as “I’m the Lucky One:” A morning brunch wedding, which felt light and whimsical.  This photoshoot was, in a strange way, artistically therapeutic for me—Since I hosted the workshop and styled the shoot alone, I had complete creative control. Anyone who knows me knows how out-of-hand that could have potentially been (wink), but I managed to stick to my color scheme and really pull at my interior design roots to make decisions and stick to them. It was incredible. I used pennies to really get the copper accent to come across, and the theme “I’m the Lucky One,” just really seemed to work on multiple levels for me.

We began shooting at sunrise to really set off those hues of blue and copper. After an early-morning drizzle, we moved inside to a gorgeous Cedar-planked wall to shoot the tablescape, dripping with local moss and “lucky” pennies. The table was set with several goodies from sister companies Anthropologie and BHLDN, and the shoot was complemented by custom invitations with genuine copper leaf by Pearly Gates Designs. The whole workshop and styled shoot was a huge success, and we couldn’t have asked for better lighting, decor, or models! I can only hope this shoot has made you drool and feel inspired and excited to get married, to style a shoot, or just to get outside and explore!

With joy, Lizard.

(vendor credits below)

Venue: River’s Edge Cottages

Invitations: Carrie Hawkins of Pearly Gates Designs

Olivia’s Dress: Milamira Bridal

Alex’s attire: H&M

Alex’s Wire Bow Tie: Handmade and I’ll have a tutorial up soon!

Olivia’s Hair: Also DIY and tutorial coming soon—it was SO easy!

Bouquet: Amy McCord of Flower Moxie

Table and Décor: Anthropologie/BHLDN

PS-Behind the scenes GIANT thank you’s go to my workshop attendees who made this whole thing even work, Emily Hullet who catered all of our meals, and my hubsy extraordinaire, Derek, who took care of our daughter and helped me with tons of little details for the shoot! I live my dream every day because of him <3