"For where thou art, there is the world itself, and where though art not, desolation." - William Shakespear

I'm going to challenge you to try something. Try and walk into your next photo-session, whether it's a family shoot, a wedding day, or even a set completely devoted to your little baby with a complete change in mindset. Try not to research Pinterest for ideas or walk into the room with a list of things you're hoping the photos WILL be. Try and hire a photographer who considers themselves an artist and then challenge them. This session wasn't like every other session - although I do a lot of them like this. These days most of our clients allow me to take the reins but I usually have to ask. I want to have the paint brush, the piano, the clay. I want to walk into a situation with the ability to express a moment, understand the light, explain the feelings but sadly these days most of our industry spends their time simply replicating what they've seen before. We're bombarded with clients who know what they want before they even meet us, and then instead of us being willing to create for the sheer sake of it being what we're good at we spend most of our time trying to interpret "want" and coordinate it with talent. So - why was this session completely different? Because I didn't give Katelyn much of a choice. I didn't ask what they wanted or how they wanted to feel. I didn't go into this session wanting to please them (though of course that was something I was hoping would happen). Instead I was in a unique situation with Katelyn and Dusty because I shot their wedding two years ago in Florida and they already trust me. They have faith in the process and they're willing to listen - so this session was all about creating. I took the opportunity to take a brand new camera (thank you Bedford Camera) toss it in my bag with simply a destination and an idea in mind. That idea was to soak up the beautiful light of a dreary day and for a split second turn Arkansas into Iceland.

Keep your ears open around photographers these days and you'll hear all kinds of talk about "golden hour". I feel like a broken record asking photographers to stop using this super cheesy way of saying almost sunset but it's true - it's easy to shoot then. It's warm and soft and pretty and it makes everything melt like butter in front of the camera and yet - it's easy. Easy is fun - but it's easy - and I've always found that I get the most creative when it's not easy. So this shoot was going to happen rain or shine - and if you know me very well you know I'm serious about that. I love shooting in the rain and I'm not afraid to get a little messy if I need to. The dark clouds and incredible location gave way to everything I had hoped for in this session and already hoping I knew the answer I mentioned getting these two in the waterfall as we wrapped up the shoot on the prayer that they wouldn't say no. I can sincerely say that this session may be my favorite in the last year simply because I felt so free to just enjoy the process myself. I got into this industry because I love light and love people and this was the perfect chance to mix the two in a way I thought would be pretty visual.

A huge thank you to Katelyn + Dusty for making this session possible. It's not easy to fly up from Florida to a photo-shoot with a photographer who won't even tell you where you're going until the day of the shoot. It's not easy to trust that photographer when he says he wants you out in 40 degree water or when you're laying under a water fall and you can feel your makeup dripping off of your face. It's not easy to commit completely to the idea that art happens when the artist has the freedom to create - but these two did it and the end result is completely beautiful. So proud of these images and of my amazing couple's who allow me to call this work.