Bridgette | Lifestyle Headshot Portraits | Los Angeles Portrait Photographer

So there was this girl. I barely knew her. Had had more interactions with her on facebook than I had in real life. You could tell she was on a journey--soul searching. She embraced the quiet moments, reflected, sat still, appreciated little things, appreciated people--she loved them and served them and thought deeply. 

She is also a fantastic actress.

I didn't know where she was in her career as an actress but knew I would like to meet her and capture some of the spirit. I felt drawn and appreciative of the way her life made me want to sit still too. 

So on a whim, I connected with her during one of my trips to SoCal. I asked to treat her to a lifestyle headshot session. Hit or miss, we would get a diversity of emotions...Then traffic argued and fussed and light left quickly and we kept ourselves confined to her yard. We laughed. We thought of ranges of emotions and type-sets to capture. And my favorite ended up just being her. The ones with her down on the steps of her home...deeply authentic. simple.

The time post-shoot was spent sipping on homemade iced tea from mason jars, sitting on her bohemian couch in her quaint white bungalow in the heart of LA. I listened to more of the story I had tracked with in snippets over the years...and it was more special in person. We talked about patience for the right things. We talked about the beauty of not knowing. We talked about surrender and faith and loving others despite our own confusion. We bonded over authors and books. We shared stuff the other hadn't read or heard of. I met her dog Lucy. I. Love. Lucy. And now we are friends.

So here she is. My beautiful friend Bridgette. 

"Creosote Buds 1" | Desert Plant Wildlife Photography | Texture Tuesday

Spring is side-stepping as summer smashes through the doors this week with a very confident, unapologetic triple-digit forecast. And i suppose it's a good time to bring back Texture Tuesdays...because since slowing down to really find pieces of this hostile desert that I love--that i genuinely think as beautiful--I've been surprised...and wooed. 

There is this bush called the Creosote Bush.  When its leaves get wet it releases a smell that all Arizonans know to be the signal for RAIN. Often it's buds are little tiny yellow balls, but in the spring, when the desert bursts to life, the fruit appears as small, white, fuzzy balls. 

Creosote Buds 1 | Desert Photography | Texture Tuesday | Fine Art Panels: 20" x 40" Giclee Canvases $225 set

Nathan + Emily | Mt. Baldy Engagement Session | Shades of Blue, Creek Beds and Giddy Innocence | Southern California Wedding Photographer

430am rolled around quickly. I met Emily in PJs and giddiness with my hair/makeup arsenal prepared. We got fancy and mapped out concept and wardrobe for our early morning session in the Mt. Baldy foothills--the same place Nathan proposed one month prior.

I've known Emily since she was 4 years old. I was a clown at family birthday parties. I have watched her become an incredible woman and someone who I can truly call a friend...and soon to be sister. She is marrying my brother--a man happier and more free than I have ever seen him. 

Their affection has ripened these last few years. The wait has been long and sometimes hard, but the way they love each other more freely--laugh deeply and anticipate each other--makes my heart smile like a thousand bursting suns. Delayed gratification...patience...the arduous task of waiting for the right time. the right heart. the right place.......God is so, so good. | LKM 

Doug + Brienne | Urban Color & Sea-Spray Sass | La Jolla Engagement Session | San Diego Wedding Photographer

Our afternoon was spent in a variety of obscure locations around San Diego. Doug & Brienne met and dated in this incredible city and wanted to tell their engagement story in its context. So there is green and there is city and there are small coffee shops with perfect views and cliffs and secluded shores with singing seals and sea-spray that glittered in the setting sun. There was laughing and twirling and snarky banter and sarcasm and arm-punches and lots of kissing and sunbeams in the middle of parking lots and chai and large over-sized trucks honking at the wardrobe changes made in the back of cars. 

I love these moments. I love the silly and the sweetness. I love that Doug & Brienne let go; relaxed, trusted, flirted, laughed and let the sun set on a pretty wonderful adventure of an afternoon. Only one of many, I. am. sure.  | LKM

PT 3 | Joey + Christiana | Barefoot Bride, Katniss Braid, Peaches & Cream | Minooka Park Picnic Wedding

Joey + Christiana // Minooka Park, Waukesha Wisconsin Picnic Wedding // Part Three

If you missed PART ONE go HERE or PART TWO go HERE. Or if you want to start at the beginning, check out their precious Waukesha, Wisconsin engagement session HERE.  

Joey + Christiana share their highlights...

- The father-daughter dance.  That was one of the best/worst moments of the reception.  My dad and I are extremely close and have been through a lot together.  We were both in tears as we danced to "I Loved Her First..." As a little girl I always told my Daddy I would never get married because I just wanted him to be my man forever. Also...My dad, who has had a long, miserable, and at times severely debilitating journey with Lyme's Disease, felt a little better for the day.

- The weather was absolutely perfect-- for being such a bipolar weather month in Wisconsin, it really was the ideal May day... warm but not scorching, and (wonder of wonders) not a drop of rain.

- The Maid of Honor's speech.  My dear friend Heidi recounted, to my horror, my former days of staunchly "preaching" 1 Corinthians 7 and singleness for the mission field.  I'd stuck a sign on our dorm room that said, among other things, "As for me and my dorm, we will not text boys."  When Heidi and my roommates discovered that I "liked a boy" and was in fact guilty even of texting him, they had ripped the sign into little pieces and stuck it all over my desk...

- My awesome, crazy, wonderful Uncle Rick (gnarliest busker at places like Arts Alive! in Humboldt Country, Nor Cal) and his legendary 'stache not only made it to the wedding, but fulfilled the years-long dream that he might be able to bring his accordian and place during the reception. 

- Along those lines...the song from "Fiddler on the Roof" and being lifted up in the air on our chairs during said accordian-playing-- did NOT know that was going to happen!

- The cake fight. That was great.

- The motorcycle getaway. We love our motorcycle ride dates.

And just to add one more fave.... Joey is an amazing artist who hand crafts and repurposes all sorts of industrial pieces. He made Christy's ring....out of melded silver and GUITAR string...

::CLIENT REVIEW::

 I'm so thankful for the friendship made with Joey + Christiana and am honored to have been trusted with their precious, precious day. Here are some final thoughts from the Kuhlows regarding their experience with LKM. Excuse the shameless horn-tooting. Or embrace it....because I sure do. It's the stuff of survival in this industry.

Q. What were you looking for in a photographer?

A. Good quality pictures with modern composition. I had been following Laura's pictures for a long time and didn't even consider anyone else!

Q. What was your experience with LKM's customer service?

A. It was great! She flew all the way out to Wisconsin to accommodate for our wedding, and worked with us taking our engagement pictures the day after our wedding. Laura always stayed happy with us through all the stresses and was phenomenal at helping us feel relaxed and comfortable with her during the shoots. It was a great privilege to have a friend shooting our wedding :)

Q. What were 3 highlights of having LKM shoot your wedding?

A. The easy laughs. Always comfortable (no awkwardness). Phenomenal pictures and albums for a great price!

Q. How did your pictures turn out? What were your favorite things about them?

A. Pictures turned out great :) I like when pictures look phenomenal without looking fake. I know a lot of editing took place to get the pictures where they are, but the end result still looks very natural with no awkward effects that distract from the content of each picture. (woo hoo!)

BLESSINGS JOEY + CHRISTIANA!

I hope this year has been rich and beautiful and mind-blowing and extravagantly full of His mercy and joy. | LKM

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PT 2 | Joey + Christiana | Barefoot Bride, Katniss Braid, Peaches & Cream | Minooka Park Picnic Wedding

Joey + Christiana // Minooka Park, Waukesha Wisconsin Picnic Wedding // Part Two

If you missed PART ONE of Joey & Christiana's wedding day yesterday, go HERE. Or if you want to start at the beginning, check out their precious Waukesha, Wisconsin engagement session HERE.  

Christiana is a beautiful spirit of a woman. I asked her and Joey to offer their narrative of their wedding day. I'd much rather hear her highlights...especially considering how many little moments she remembered and meant so much to her...Here is their recap...

Guhhhhhh... It's so impossible to pick a favorite moment during the ceremony! The moment that might take the cake though, was between "I now pronounce you man and wife" and "You may kiss the bride..." Adam (the officiant) paused between the two statements and Joey was already leaning in to swoop me up...... haha :)  Joey's favorite moment: "Her coming down the aisle."

We loved how well Laura organized everyone and made us all laugh... no one was sick of the picture-taking because she really made it fun with all her social skills and energy!  As for the photos of just us as a couple after that... We love how well the pictures captured the greenery of springtime in Wisconsin.  We're especially in love with that one taken by the trees and water between "prompts" where neither of us is smiling...!

Stay tuned for PART THREE..

Joey + Christiana | Barefoot Bride, Katniss Braid, Peaches & Cream | Minooka Park, Waukesha, Wisconsin Picnic Wedding | Part One

Joey + Christiana // Minooka Park, Waukesha Wisconsin Picnic Wedding // Part One

The morning of Joey & Christiana's wedding I woke up early and experienced Wisconsin. I drank in the green and siphoned it straight to my soul...

Joey & Christiana wanted their wedding to be simple. full of people. full of Jesus. full of celebration. They wanted people to have so much fun and thought outside of the box to keep things super personal--unapologetically raw, real and amazingly memorable. 

Christiana got ready in the dorm rooms at New Tribe Bible College where she and Joey met. One of 10 kids, she had family participating everywhere. Joey asked her to specifically wear her "katniss braid" and going barefoot was a non-negotiable. Mom zipped up her dress. Aunt did her makeup. College roommates laughed about old memories and the whole morning was a collision of nostalgia and anticipation. 

I asked Joey & Christiana to share some of their thoughts about their First Look...

The "first look" was a great decision.  We're so glad we did it and would definitely recommend it to other brides and grooms!   I love keeping tradition immensely, but we also knew we would regret it if we waited for Laura to shoot all the "couple" photos after the ceremony when our time with family and guests was too incredibly short as it was.  With the first look, we still got to have that sweet, once-in-a-lifetime moment and it was so much better with just the two of us in private anyway.  The most beautiful thing was getting to pray together alone.  That was a simple moment I will always cherish.  It was very reassuring to come to God together on that day as we had hundreds of times before, and a great way to connect with God together as well as mentally and emotionally put everything in perspective before the whirlwind day began...

Part Two coming soon...

If you haven't seen Joey + Christiana's engagement session, go HERE. 

Andrew + Jen | Big tree. Red Bike. Seaside Tackles. | Manhattan Beach Engagement Session

I grew up with Andrew. Him and his crazy antics and awesome laugh and free spirit--I was over the moon to meet his sweetheart who matched him (and then some) in the laughter department. Their engagement session spread out all over Los Angeles. We met first in Glendora at Big Tree Park. A place that was nostalgic for them--a frequent home of cuddles and sweet nothings. Then we ventured to Manhattan Beach where they put on their date night outfit and stepped even closer to each other. They walked along the boardwalk, danced on the pier, snuggled on life-guard stations, told stories, raced and tackled each other in the sands as the sun dipped behind the evening haze. 

I texted Andrew shortly after our session while going through images, "I think I am excited for your session for a really special reason. You guys progressively seemed to fall into each other as pictures took place. Posing gave away quickly to moments enjoying each other...and...and you look strong Andrew. You look strong and overjoyed and giddy all at the same time...and I watched as Jen leaned into that and let that happen." There is this real authenticity that I particularly love about this session... | LKM

Joey + Christiana | Motorcycles, Green Trails & Railroads: Milwaukee Engagement Session | Destination Wedding Photographer

A little background...Last May I was in Wisconsin and I never got to share the images from that weekend.

I went to school with Joey in the Philippines 14 years ago. It was incredible to hear pieces of the journey into manhood that has ripened his strong soul since i last saw him. He and his sweetheart Christiana were getting married the day after they graduated college. (Efficient right?! :) Due to crazy schedules we decided to actually shoot their engagement session the day AFTER their wedding. One amazing 3 days of life changing experiences and I got to be a part of it. Watch it unfold before me. Capture the pieces that caught my attention. 

Joey & Christiana wanted to shoot their engagement session in a park where they often went running. The meandering paths amid abandoned railways and the nostalgic buzz of cicadas were still and welcoming. The sheer amount of green and fortitude found in the trees was effortless; everywhere. 

We ended our time out on a bike route that Joey & Christiana often frequented to detox from their studies. Their keen sense of adventure is ripe with expectation and I'm confident that the few fist pumps and longing looks captured below tell a story that has only just begun. | LKM

Monique | Wonder, Wilderness & Wildflowers | Tucson Maternity Photographer

Monique has spent the last 8 months nurturing this little life. There have been ups and downs, scares and hospital visits. She has fought for baby Hannah; praying long and hard for Little One to stay in the oven as long as possible. Knowing that this was her last pregnancy, we wanted to make this session special and staged in a setting that would allow Tucson terrain to strut its stuff. My good friend, Dana, treated mommy to a make-over and as Monique walked up to our meeting spot--she was glowing, content and so incredibly beautiful. This session is really special to me. This lady, particularly gives so much. often.

Motherhood really is such a journey--full of wonder, wilderness and wildflowers.