I met Melody several years ago in Dallas. We met through a mutual friend who was adamant that we meet (thank you Trina!). We hit it off right away, and I was immediately entranced by her sparkly-ness and dynamic energy. Melody is a clinical psychologist holding her PhD in the same field, a yoga teacher, and the founder of The Embody Love Movement. The way I see it, she is a facilitator for healing through spreading love and wisdom. I am particularly moved by her work with girls and young women surrounding body image and self-love. By founding and growing The Embody Love Movement, Melody has empowered so many young women to not only love themselves and shed negative self-talk, but to facilitate this work out in the world with other young women. I have had the honor to witness her in action in one of her seminars. It was life changing for me even as a 40-something woman!

I am blessed that she is now living here in Venice, so that we can once again connect and collaborate! She is a beauty inside and out and I am honored to know her.

I feel so very blessed to have this woman in my daily life. We serendipitously met over a year ago, and since then she has become one of my dearest friends and soul sisters. Whether we are sailing to Catalina, hanging out having deep talks, cracking up over some silly shenanigan, she graces my life with more than I could ever put into words.  She is an angel on this earth who exudes love and compassion out of every pore of her being. When she walks into a room, it lights up and you feel better for sharing any moment with her. She touches everyone she comes into contact with with her grace and beauty. When I count my blessings, I count her as one of the most treasured. I was so honored to be chosen to capture some images of her as she enters into her 30’s!!

I have known Trevi for many years, and have always been amazed by her passion and honesty. She is a beautiful person in every way. She is an entrepreneur, mama and all around stunning human being! We had a great day wandering around Venice, CA for her sacred portrait session. She wanted some images for her various business ventures and websites. I think we got a great cross section of her many layered skill set and multi-faceted self!

This was one of my favorite shoots all year! Harmony of Harmony Scott Jewelry Designs organized a portrait session in Aspen with a handful of her lovely friends and employees. Everyone showed up in an outfit that made them feel feminine and beautiful. Harmony then bejeweled us all in her gorgeous and timeless designs. The most interesting part of the day for me was that I was still on crutches. I was recovering from achilles tendon surgery. My ladies took good care of me though following me around with my gear, a glass of wine and anything else I might need. It was a fabulous afternoon in the mountainson a perfect Colorado summer day! I feel grateful for all of these lovely women, some of whom I have known for years and some that I met that day. Here they are in all of their loveliness.......

I was so excited to get to drive out to the country and do this sacred portrait session with Leah. I am a country girl at heart, and every time I get the chance to leave the city in my rear-view mirror and head out to the open space (and even into a few hills, which is very exciting in Dallas), I am thrilled! I loved Leah's homestead, complete with an amazing barn, pastures and a menagerie of animals, where her 3 horses were the royalty. She is a therapist that does equine assisted therapy, and is so passionate about her work that it is contagious. She is graceful, tender and grounded. I appreciated our time together so very much! Here are a few of my favorites from the session!

Jenny is a beautiful soul that I am lucky enough to learn from every week. She is such an inspiration to me, which is why I take her yoga classes whenever I get the chance! I feel blessed to know her and was so excited when she asked me to take her portraits. We did a combo head shot, portrait and yoga pose session down in the arts district! It was very fun. She was SUCH a trooper despite the cold temperature!

Being around Karla one cannot help but feeling energized and inspired. Herjoie de vivre is completely contagious. When I arrived and she started pulling out brightly colored fabrics like a kid in a candy store, I couldn'thelp but giggle out loud. I felt so inspired as I followed her around with my camera taking in her light and joyful energy. Karla is extremely creative and passionate about what she does. She creates patterns for local clothing designers, and has lovingly and expertly been doing so for over 10 years. I loved being invited into her studio for a glimpse into her colorful world and her creative process! Here are some images from our time together. She is wearing dresses that are her clients' designs.....perfectly feminine and functional if you ask me!!!

Andrea started Take A Smart Step in 2007, to (in her words)," to educate people about money and to help them make the world a better place". She is smart, funny and compassionate and I loved working with her. Our portrait session was so much fun, and reminded me once again why I love what I do. Getting to connect with entrepreneurs like Andrea is so inspiring!

Gay is a soulful artist who was gracious enough to invite me into her lovely studio. I felt so excited to be able to memorialize a glimpse into her creative process. I am always so honored to be invited into someone's sacred space. As an artist myself, I know how vulnerable it can be to invite someone into your studio. It is a precious thing to share though despite that vulnerability, because sharing our process is like providing a glimpse into our own soul. That sharing can only enhance the lives of others and encourage them to do the same (or so I hope). I love doing personal branding sessions like this, because I get to share, though my lens, the beauty of another, and what they have to offer the world.

I love this woman! She is a bright and shining example of living your truth and being fully in your body! She is a psychotherapist and an artist...you can check out her website HERE. She is also an amazing teacher and now trainer of the NIA technique, which is a sensory-based movement practice that draws from martial arts, dance arts and healing arts. It empowers people of all shapes and sizes by connecting the body, mind, emotions and spirit. Jule will inspire you to move and shake and relate to yourself in a whole new way. She teaches classes at Move Studio in Dallas and does NIA trainings worldwide. I am so blessed to have her as a friend and fellow traveler on this amazing creative journey oflife! We did a head shot session in my studio with lights and the whole shebang. I don't normally do this, but she needed some specific images, so we went for it. I of course had to have fun with the whole thing given that shooting with lightsmakes me feel all boxed in and freaked out. I made sure to sneak some great shots of her laughing and being silly in between our "serious" shots! She is a beautiful soul! see what I mean............

Pearl is going to be a famous actor one day... mark my words! She has been telling her mom for years (and mind you she is only 11!!!) that this is what she is meant to do. I believe her, and if you met her in person you would too! It was fun to do a second set of head shots for her while I was on the Big Island last week. She is heading to LA soon, and I am sure we will be hearing about her! I also got the pleasure of shooting some portraits for her lovely sister. I always have the best time with this family! We shot all over Waimea town and ended up at an old warehouse which I fell in love with on this last trip.

Olivia is one of those kids that has seemed beyond her years since the day she was born. When you meet her you wonder how old she really is, and then when you find out, you wonder how a senior in high school can have such a self possession and grace that escapes most adults I know. She inspires those around her with her wisdom, peaceful confidence and unique adventurous spirit. I feel so honored to have known here since she was born (her Mom has been one of my bestfriends since we were 13). This sacred portrait session is to honor her transition from high school to college. It was one of a few I did in Phoenix this week. It seems that whenever I visit Phoenix these days that the rains decide to come. Given that I was only there for a few days, this posed an interesting challenge for me. I HAD to shoot no matter what, so we made it work. We went in search of cool window light and overhangs. Olivia's mom was my trusty assistant following me around with a giant umbrella. I definitely put the weather proofing on my camera gear to the test. At the end of the day, we were all loving our adventure, and the shots that we got made it all worthwhile! I wish I could say here are a FEW, but, I just couldn't stop at a few.

I have known this amazing young woman since she was born. Her Mama and I have been best friends since we were 12. My love runs deep for this one, and I am so honored to be able to capture some portraits for her as she embarks upon her new life as a college student. It has been a fun few days hanging out in my old stomping grounds with old wonderful friends. This shoot is one of three sacred portrait sessions I am doing here, and has been the icing on the cake of an already amazing couple of days. Taylor picked the first location herself, and I was so grateful because it was a very cool spot. Its called Agritopia, and is an "urban farm" in Gilbert. It used to be a family farm and is now an amazing community resource. I picked our 2nd location, which was on the side of a road and in a run off gutter nearby filled with cool rocks-typical!! Yes, I am always luring my clients into these strange places full of color and texture! That's why my sessions are always an adventure!

This was one of the most fun shoots I have had in a while. It was a family affair, and the brothers kept me laughing the whole time. It was early morning and we were cold, but that didn't stop us from having a blast in our head shot session!!I love shoots like this that go off without a hitch and you end up wanting to go hang out for longer and get to know each other! I am so grateful for my job because among other things, I get to meet cool people like this!

Amy is one of those people that makes you feel alive when you are around her. Her energy and joy are contagious, and I appreciate her so much! She is a total go getter and has her own business called Solutions from A to Z and she will whip your life into shape in any number of ways! Call her, you'll see what I mean. I am grateful that she trusted me with a very important portrait session commemorating a big transformation in her life!!

I was so excited to have the opportunity to fly to St Louis and take my cousin's senior portraits. We had the best time together shooting and wandering. I feel so blessed not only to do what I love, but to get to take portraits of people that I adore and have known their whole lives....like this lovely one !

I had a great trip to Virginia to photograph this lovely young lady (who happens to be my cool step sister) for her modeling agency comp card. She needed a variety of looks including head shots and full length shots. I love doing portrait photography sessions like this, because we got to try out a bunch of different looks. We also had to shoot mid-day, so it was a fun challenge for me to find just the right light in our outdoor locations!

I had the pleasure of taking some head shots for Women's Foodservice Forum recently, and this portrait wasone of my absolute favorites! I just adore this person, and love working with her! She has the most beautiful smile as you can see! This head shot session was totally impromptu in the midst of a conference I was shooting for them. It was a perfect example of how you can utilize the most unexpected locations to capture beautiful shots using light and unique backgrounds. These were shot outside the conference under and overhang near the catering cart. Who'd have thought??

Jule is the coolest!!!!!!Check her out on her website here! We had the best time shooting some head shots for her, one of which ended up in Origin Magazine when they featured her! She is a beautiful soul and an inspiring teacher of NIA. If you haven't experienced NIA or Jule's teaching, please check out her classes at Move Studio in Dallas.

Jessica needed some new head shots for a school application. I love shooting portraits at the opera house, and this day we had perfect light for our head shot session!