A few weeks ago, my friend AJ, of AJ Pastor Productions, invited me to come along and second shoot friends of his for their anniversary. We also had the opportunity to go to Longwood Gardens, which is one of the most beautiful places and so enormous! Kara and Jeremy were so pleasant to meet and I enjoyed getting to know them and helping AJ with random stuff.

This past Sunday I ventured out to the shores of New Jersey to photograph this lively bunch. Each summer these two families come out to the shore to enjoy each other's company and soak in the sun after a year of hard work.

A lot of what I do is outside of the realms of photography. I spend hours making sure things are running smoothly for those that lead out in different ministries. One of those ministries is the Pennsylvania Youth Challenge. It is comprised of a group of about 28 students who work during the summer as literature evangelists. They go door to door selling books and praying for those who need it. They work hard through the heat and after spending a day with them I can understand why prayer is so essential in their work. It's hard getting the door slammed in your face, even as someone watching from the road!

Well it has been a little bit but here are the photos from after the ceremony from my aunt's wedding in the beginning of June. Despite the rain we had a good time and there were a lot of laughs and dancing. With Steve around it is bound to be a good time!

Being a photographer will always give me the opportunity to know new people, but it is when you get to know more about those people that the blessings really start to flow. Pastor Tara was the one that gave me my current job as a secretary for our church and I have learned so much about small business, ministry, and leadership through the experience that I wouldn't trade for the world.

Well love is definitely in the air during this time! I would love to know the story behind June weddings. One of those weddings I had the opportunity to photograph was for my dad's little sister, my Auntie Ames. We aren't that far apart in age so it is pretty awesome to have an aunt that I can talk photography with. Her laugh is contagious and she has such a warm and welcoming heart.

So earlier I showed you some photos from this lovely wedding in Bennington, VT. Now for the wedding ceremony and reception!

They weren't lying when they said the flower girl had practiced. Adorable.

Relationships. So often we see so much pain in this world and yet there are still relationships out there that are thriving and growing. Beautiful friendships that stick through the good and bad times. This is a true depiction of the love that God has towards us. I had the pleasure of getting to photograph a milestone in the lives of two people who have this type of deep friendship.

Documenting milestones is important and being able to photograph little L's first birthday for my friends Ranny and Pat was special. With all the craziness of preparing, setting up, and making sure everything is in place it was nice to be able to stop time and be able to give them something they can look back on and remember with fond memories. The party had to move inside because of the colder than expected temperatures but I think the theme went well with where we were. The carpet matched! Here are a few photos of how it looked before the party got started.

I probably should get out more. Any chance I get to photograph a family during my busy schedule, I enjoy discovering new locations. Since moving to Philadelphia I have gotten to see so much just in the last year and half. Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph this beautiful family in the Valley Forge National Park, which is free to get in, by the way.

Chris and I are privileged to have friends that are like family. The awesome thing about being a part of the family of God is that you literally feel like blood relatives. At least that is how I feel. Ha! Heather and Phil have been friends with us since before we got married and Saturday nights used to be our ritual hangout time before we moved.

With spring in the air, the hustle and bustle of wedding preparations are starting to unfold. During the winter, we spend our time working to stay warm and happy through the cold dark days. I, on the other hand, try to find opportunities to still get out there and photograph people despite the gloom. I look for ways to bring color and life to the otherwise gray. These two made it easy for me bring life to winter.

For the last several months I have been working amongst a group of young people doing something completely different than what they are, but still  getting to know them. Our church, where I work, holds a school called REACH Columbia Union Urban Evangelism School which is of a different entity but of the same mission and goal. These students come for a year to learn about urban evangelism and to gain a closer relationship with Jesus. They learn both in the classroom and out in the field.

I am thankful that the fall and winter months are somewhat warmer here in southern Pennsylvania. With that comes more opportunities to photograph families! In the late fall of this past year (time goes by so fast!) I photographed the VinCross family again for their Christmas card.

This past fall, while I was working on revamping my site, I had the opportunity to photograph the Stones and their sweet little boy. New families are always fun to watch and see their excitement despite the change of pace.

While out in CO I got to spend some good quality time with these three. We don't get to see each other very often so I was especially thankful for these times.

Without going on and on with words, I will let you just experience the pictures themselves. These were taken during the reception of Lee and Hillary's wedding. It was a relaxed, beautiful, and memorable time of course!

If beauty and love could be visualized and talked about through one word, it would be through "simplicity." Not that being simple is plain or undermined. Not in the least. Sometimes we get carried away with the grandeur of elegance that we miss where love comes in with sweet surrender and makes two people join together with gentleness and grace.

Being a photographer has been an extreme blessing for me. Yes I get to be creative and draw your attention to beautiful things, but that is only a portion of what really brings me joy. This past Sunday I trekked out to Harvard Square in Boston Massachusetts to photograph a couple I met through my church, REACH Philadelphia. I briefly became acquainted with Anika before she headed off to New England to finish her residency, so it was a pleasure to get know both her and Bryant during this time.

A lot of what I do is for ministry. This past weekend I made sure to get some photos of these four girls being baptized. I am not sure about you, but when I look at these photos I am thankful for my faith. I am thankful for the joy that there is in Jesus. Despite our sin He makes us into amazing people. He grows us every day whether we know it or not. If there is someone who finds it hard to believe that God exists or that He truly brings joy into hearts, despite the evil destruction in the world, look at these faces. Look at what I have found. There I see Christ putting His signature over it all.