As a daughter, it’s an interesting thing seeing how your relationship with your mother changes as time goes on. As an adult, you begin to see her also as a woman, you start to more clearly understand what kind of challenges she may have faced in her life, what kind of sacrifices she made. The parts of you that are maybe like her become more evident, you find that she may understand you more than you realized, that you can relate on levels you hadn’t been able to before.

Suddenly you wake up one morning and realize that your mom — the one who reminded you to always finish your veggies, or maybe pushed you to do well in school, the one who said “you’ll thank me for this, you’ll understand when you’re older” — is not just your mom, but also one of your very very best friends.

I had so much fun capturing this sweet mother-daughter session. Two women who are both so beautiful inside and out, and have such a wonderful bond…

Joyce was one of my very best friends growing up. During snack breaks in high school, we used to buy Flaming Hot Cheetoes and eat them dipped in cream cheese (trust me, it’s the next best dipping combo after frosties & fries). We were tennis partners all 4 years & had a special tennis “high five” we’d do with our racquets whenever we scored. Not that we were actually very good. But that was the fun of it – because Joyce was, and always had been, about having fun and living in the moment.

I always admired that about her. That she was so carefree & laidback – that no matter how hard she worked, she never complained; that even when things were their hardest, she could always smile; that even when she was busy as could be herself, she always ALWAYS found the time to help a friend without a second thought. And because of these amazing qualities, qualities I can only wish I could so gracefully possess, I always knew she would make the absolute perfect mother. Of course her insane domestic abilities couldn’t hurt as well – her cooking, sewing, and crafting skills definitely put my I’m-just-trying-to-not-burn-the-toast self to shame.

About a year ago, when Joyce had just graduated from the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Tokyo, I asked her what her plans were next. Working in a big name restaurant? Teaching cooking classes? Focusing on opening her own patisserie? She thought for a moment, smiled, and said, “I just want to be a mom…”

It is with an extremely happy heart that I share these photos of my friend in one of her most radiant times :)

I love how the recent rains resulted in the prettiest green fields…

I am a firm believer in dreams. I believe that if you can imagine something in your mind, you can make it come to fruition. That if you want something with every ounce of your being, you can dream it into a reality. This was the mantra I repeated to myself when I began purusing wedding photography. I repeated it religiously as I picked up my first camera and clumsily fumbled through the controls and cursed my less-than-perfect photos. I reiterated it when I emailed photographers to second-shoot and received a less-than-ideal response. As I excitedly set up my business email only to log in to a less-than-full inbox – for the first few months, I wanted to shake my first at the sky and whine at the world, but I kept the encouraging words in the back of my mind. If you can dream it, you can make it so.

I love meeting people who are following their own dreams, so when Tammy contacted me with her story I was so excited to work with her! She wanted to move from her self-proclaimed “normal desk job” into a career in sports broadcasting and needed some headshots for the occasion. We fittingly did the session at the Walt Disney Concert Hall (what better location than a hall named after such a famous dreamer?), and as we shot I asked her about her goals and aspirations. Her passion shone through as she talked about her love for sports and her highest hopes for the future. Tammy – thank you for sharing a piece of your story with me and best of luck in pursuing your dreams! :)

The metallic walls of the concert hall are stunning, but I was so enamored by the garden! The lush greenery (complete with the most unique colorful flowers) was such a nice contrast to the mod silver walls!