why i don't take sports photos

my friend megan is the freshman volleyball coach for platte county, so i thought i'd run up to practice and take some photos of the girls practicing and megan coaching.

first of all- freshmen girls are hilarious. they were trying to come up with team cheers for times during the match when they either did really well or the team made a mistake. they were cracking me up with some of their ideas- but in the end they came up with some good stuff, i'm excited to see it in action.

secondly- i realized why i stick to photographing people that aren't moving at the speed of light. i'm just not very good. i caught more of the in between emotional stuff rather than the good sports action. perhaps it's because i understand emotion, or i just don't understand sports, or maybe it's just that i'm too darn slow- who knows. but i wanted to share the good the bad and the ugly. if anything just to let you laugh and me- it's okay go ahead.

thanks tory, haley, bree, drea, montana, ali, madison, sidney, and sidney,dana trisha, and megan for letting me hang out during practice! it was great to meet you guys and i can't wait to come to your games! (sorry if i misspelled your names, but at least i remembered right?)

Coach Jaros



Drea thought incorporating the "urkle" was a great idea

Sidney was all about rhyming ace with race for some reason- even made up a dance



see what i mean?



Coach Patterson bringing it in

sassy style

look at Cheyenne!!!! isn't she BEAUTIFUL?!

she has such a cool style. she goes from all out preppy to funky with a quick change. she's so no fuss but definitely won the award with most outfits. she was so fun to shoot because she was up for whatever and was pretty low stress not to mention hilarious. i have tons of pictures that i love, but these were the ones i edited first so they win.

still teary

each and every wedding is precious to me. i view each as unique, holy, and important. this one was no exception, however as i sorted through the images today i had to stop (3 times) and compose myself.

there were 3 things that made this wedding over the top incredible.

1. it was their wedding. granted they had a lot of help from friends, and family however you could see that each decision, like it or not was ultimately theirs. from converse shoes, a letter written in crayon,  a shear dress, all they way to the song Hunter sang at the reception this wedding screamed Hunter and Ashley.

2. they had fun! i begged ashley for a serious picture and she just couldn't do it. she was having the best day ever- why be serious. i guess they just realized ultimately they were going to be husband and wife and at the end of the day no matter what disaster might arise and that's pretty exciting. (no disasters by the way)

3. they were serious about the commitment they were making and saw their wedding as a blessing, not a show. very cool.

i had such a hard time deciding what images to post because i really wanted to tell their story- and 10 images couldn't cut it. so welcome to the longest post ever.

bubbles bring smiles

parents just know their kids.  little jacob came to see me at the farm last night, after showing him the tractors, the gator, listening to cows, and just running around his dad ran to the car for his favorite thing, BUBBLES!   after that he laughed and laughed.  

he carried her shoes!

i'm a big fan of gentlemanly gestures- you know, opening doors, walking closest to the street, handkerchiefs, etc.  it's not that i can't do things myself i just think it shows a certain thoughtfulness.  unfortunately i don't witness too many guys doing these things, maybe it's because they worry about offending us, who knows. sometimes i get so disappointed when the simple things that could make someone feel so special aren't thought of, i wonder if chivalry really is dead.

but then someone goes and renews my faith in the gestures of my grandfather! while shooting engagement photos for andrea and jorge, andrea's feet started to blister, the price we pay for sassy shoes.... so she took them off and jorge carried them. not a huge ordeal, he probably didn't think much of it, but i noticed from a distance and it was sweet. (notice tiny white specs in the last picture)

(click photos to enlarge)

cute, cuddly, carson

i met carson for the first time last night. he is a doll baby. he wasn't super excited about me being there at first, and was all about cuddling with his mom and daddy which completely melts my heart. after some fruit snacks, etc he warmed up to this stranger a little bit and played so i could capture his cuteness.  mr. carson has a lot going on in his life- just turned one, going to be a big brother soon, walking like he means it, cute as a button, and rockin parents to round it all out. enjoy some favs