Martin & Micah Noel | Engagement

I'm about to share with you some pictures of two very special people. Though I've known Micah Noel for the past seven years or so, I met Martin just a year ago when he ...

I'm about to share with you some pictures of two very special people. Though I've known Micah Noel for the past seven years or so, I met Martin just a year ago when he was visiting from Austria (yes, Austria ;-) to meet Micah Noel's family. The two of them met while studying at a Christian institution in England a few years back, and since then it's been so neat to watch their relationship grow and mature into what it is now! From the time we met her and her family, Micah Noel's life has always radiated with a certain beauty that can only grace the face of a woman who has entrusted her everything into the hands of the Lord. Even amid all the many sudden health conflicts she's had to endure this past year, Micah Noel's heart continues to just ooze with a special kind of joy and peace that she finds in Christ. Her example of gentleness, character, and femininity has made a such an impact on the lives of many!

One thing that makes Micah Noel and Martin's relationship so beautiful is the way they so patiently and contentedly lived their lives before they met. They knew God had the perfect person in mind for the other and that He would bring that person along at the perfect time (in this particular case, their "perfect person" was in a more unexpected place than usual ;-). So they waited in expectation for what God had for them - marriage or not - and still lived their lives with purpose and service to their King, knowing that doing so is a goal that lasts a lifetime no matter what season of life you're in or what your relationship status is. And because of their decision? Now that they've met each other, HE continues to be the center of their lives and their relationship together.

To sum it all up: I love these two. =) I had SO much fun getting to know them better as a couple and watching them interact with each other during the shoot, and I'm so glad I was able to have them be a part of my first engagement session! His 'just-for-her' looks, her excited laughter... It was all so sweet and I felt so privileged to be there to capture it. Martin and Micah Noel, thank you once again for spending that hour with me in front of my camera!

See? I said we had fun... ;-)

Preview: Martin & Micah Noel | Engagement

I can't can't wait to share these! Until then, here's just a peek into Martin and Micah Noel's beautiful + fun engagement session!

Colorado Skies | Personal

A little later than planned (don't we all love "technical issues"! =), but here's the starry skies I promised in the post about our trip! I haven't experimented with...



A little later than planned (don't we all love "technical issues"! =), but here's the starry skies I promised in the post about our trip! I haven't experimented with night-sky photography much, so when we went to Colorado (and the mountains made for some breathtaking scenery... in case you didn't know ;-) I knew it was the prefect place for me to try it out!  I was SO amazed at how beautiful the skies were every. single. time. the 30-second exposure stopped and a new image appeared onto my LCD screen. Even though the long exposure reeled in more light for the resulting images than you could see with the human eye, it looked just as amazing. I only wish there was a way to capture it all exactly the way it was in person! The open sky so vast and twinkling with starry clusters rolled out above you as far as the eye can see; the low, thin clouds that hovered slowly beneath them; and! to top it all off - the silhouette of mountaintops on the horizon. The perfect backdrop for some experimentation. =)

Being there and experiencing the beauty of Colorado, and even now looking back at these pictures on my computer screen - I am reminded of what an absolutely amazing God I serve. Isn't it enough that He created such wonders for our eyes to behold? That He knows each star by name? But He is so so much more than that. He doesn't change like the clouds do as they move across the sky; He is never-changing, always-constant. He can't be contained like the stars in a galaxy, or be created like His hand created the universe; He has always been, always will be. He isn't subject to the boundaries of nature, night and day, any season; He is omnipresent, able to do anything He wills in any way He wills. And yet... He stoops down low enough to love us. With that love that is indescribable. 

It's kind of like the way you feel when you stand beneath the stars at night out in a wide and open country field here at home in Missouri... or looking out from a window in a cabin atop a mountain in Colorado.

You're speechless.

That big yellow star? Saturn! One of the reasons I made up my mind to get the tripod out and take these. ;-)

This here below is a compilation of 15 photos taken 30 seconds apart. Isn't it crazy to think that the earth is rotating that much in just 7.5 minutes!?

Family Trip 2013 | Personal

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, 

from everlasting to everlasting  you are God."

~ Psalms 90:1,2

We haven't been on a family vacation in a long time (long being 13 years or so ;-). Colorado has been our planned destination for the last few years, and this summer we finally...