canon usa

Failure is not an option, its critically necessary

That is a dark way to start a post probably but I truly believe it. We can only grow in the hardest times. These times can be in a season of doubt, they can show themselves in a time of conflict, and sometimes we find ourselves in a dark state when things seem to be going exactly as planned. So how does that make any sense? Well I should start by saying anything written here on my site, is my opinion alone and either from my experience or observation. I think its pretty easy to know when shit has hit the fan and when we are in a time of doubt but how does this express itself when everything seems to be going well? This is a personal experience and one that takes us removing some distractions and hearing ourselves truthfully. We have to listen but honestly listen. We have to take our guard down even to ourselves. We have to be open to seeing how we can improve our work, our situation, and our circumstances. Only when we are open to the idea of growing even when things seemingly are going our way. When our work feels the way we want it to, When we are open to the idea of growing, forever looking to improve can we then extend ourselves to be what we truly are capable of. 

So go make something, mess up a lot, and make it again. Only then will you grow and I want to be there for it!

"The Out of Doors" with Natalie

Man, I am pumped that I am still able to write daily. I know it is still only a few days in, but this is harder than it looks. I do think that it will be beneficial, and maybe even a little therapeutic. Today I want to brag about a young lady that I had the pleasure of meeting because her parents are true MVP’s. Sam and Kate are truly some of the greatest, funniest, most competitive people I have ever met in my life. We don’t even call them friends anymore, they are family. Sam has taking care of one of my boys in the E.R. and since Jaryn knew Sam he knew he was safe and in the best hands possible. Kate and Sam went out of there way multiple times to deliver things to our house when Natasha was at her sickest, cussed me and laughed with us in our years of doing life together via CrossFit and Spartan races. We even had memberships to the same pool. Hell Sam and I were both incapacitated when I tore my achilles and he had to one up me and blow his knee out. I say that because that is how I met their girls, and today I am specifically talking about Natalie! She is a senior ( with bad knees of her own lol ) at Science Hill and truly a joy to spend time with. She loves vintage music, I mean 60s, and 70’s and love what she has aptly names, “The out of doors”.

Meet Natalie- shot with my vintage Pentax 50mm 1.8

Since she and I share the love for being outside I offered up some of my favorite outdoor spots, and she quickly chose my favorite.. wanna guess? Carvers Gap! We had a fantastic time laughing, hiking, taking photos, and catching sunset while feeling like we were on top of the world! She truly is one of a kind and man I am so glad to have got to spend this time with her. Getting to know her deeper and seeing her unfiltered and truly herself. I picked her up, so I could see her mom because Sam was out of state and stood our other friend Matt and I up for dinner. LOL Just kidding, he was in OH helping his mother in law who had hurt herself but still, jerk move dude.

Ok, photos, lets go!!

I love senior sessions and portrait sessions in general. I am pumped to share other images soon! What do you wanna see next??

Sweet 16 Session

Life is funny isn’t it? We take jobs where we meet people and unknowingly make life long friends. I am not great at making close friends because of my type 9 personality but I do have a plethora of them. One of the friends ( of many) I made while working for Lowes was Eric. He worked in appliances and I was in delivery. through working together, I have had the pleasure of meeting his family, capture his mother -in-laws wedding, taken photos of their children, and most recently was honored to capture Pasley’s sweet 16 photos as well.

If you read yesterdays entry, you know I hope to write daily but to also be precise and short with my words. I hope the photos bring you joy, inspiration, or encourage you to call your favorite photographer to schedule a session today.

We took these at Bays Mountain Park in Kingsport, Tennessee and all images where taken with my favorite camera- My Canon EOS R3