The Ability to Be

Right now I'm sitting in my grandparents nice, cool House. We just returned from a lazy trip to the pool. Earlier today we had hot dogs and hamburgers, salad, beans, etc. The ability just to be is something I'm so grateful for. That ability wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for, among many other things, the military. The ability to sleep at night knowing I'm safe is something so very few have...yet I do. To all those who served, or have served, in our military you have my heartfelt thanks. To those of you who have lost a loved one who was defending life, liberty, and country, there are no words, no way for me to be able repay the great price you have paid, but please accept my deepest gratitude anyways. I owe so much to you all...may God bless you...I hope I will never take for granted all you have done for me. With deep gratitude, Kimber

Chris and Becky: Engaged!!

I've known Becky for as long as I can remember.  Her family went to our old church for awhile and her parents babysat my siblings and I fairly often.  Becky's Mom led one of our church plays that we kids were in and we stayed overnight at their house once and "helped" Mrs. Parks make chocolate roses (using Hershey Kisses and red plastic wrap :) to take to Mama when my new baby brother, Seth, was born.  The older we got, the less we saw the Parks' but we still loved to stop by their house and say "hi" whenever we could.    It seems like just yesterday that we were playing dress-up in their shed, having Mrs. Parks read her special books to us (Max Lucado's Wemmicks being one), and playing "Narnia" with Becky's brother, Stephen, and sister, Jessie.  Good times!

Anyways, it had been about 2 years since we last saw the Parks'.  My grandparents had gone to a movie earlier this spring and saw Becky and Jessie at the theater.  Becky told them that she was engaged and to put a bug in my ear about doing her wedding pictures.  I was excited but didn't hear anything from Becky for a few weeks so I almost forgot about it!  

Then Becky called one day and said she still wanted me to do her pictures!

I met up with Becky and her fiance, Chris, last week.  We went and took pictures at Chimborazo Park and some other scenic spots in Richmond.  I had a great time!  Chris and Becky are so easy to photograph and they were more than willing to do anything I asked which made my job SUPER easy!  (It doesn't hurt that they're one gorgeous couple too!)

The picture on the left is the very first picture I took...told you they were good!  :)

 Becky and Chris wanted to take pictures at Chimborazo Park because that is where they shared their first kiss AND got engaged!!  Actually the place where they're standing in the above pictures is where they had their first kiss!

This place is where Chris proposed.  I got to hear the proposal story from both sides and there was one part that made me laugh...as Chris was getting down on one knee to propose (or maybe he was already on one knee...I don't remember the exact details), Becky snatched the ring box out of his hand, cutting his proposal short, to see what the ring looked like! :) 

I loved the brick, pillar-adorned gazebo at Chimborazo!

Mr. Chris told me that his grandparents have a picture of them kissing right around this area.  So he and Becky wanted to get a picture of them re-creating that photograph with each other!

Love this light!!

Aren't they a beautiful couple?!!

Nice, Becky!!

I haven't shot around Richmond before, so it was so much fun looking for great photo spots!  This brick wall covered with ivy was perfect for some pictures!!

Checkin' out the hottie. :)

Love these!!

Chris and Becky's rings were beautiful!!  Becky's ring was just flat out gorgeous and I loved the four words inscribed in Chris' ring:  God, strength, faith, and honor.

There you have Chris and Becky!  I'm really looking forward to their wedding in August!!

Kimber :)

Coming Soon: Chris & Becky are Engaged!!!

I have so many favorites from this engagement session that took place this past Wednesday!  I can't wait to share them with you all but here's a quick picture that just happens to be one of my *many* very favorites from the shoot:

My "Style"

So, I'm sitting here wondering what in the world this post is going to be about!  Earlier this week, I thought I would be posting engagement pictures, but the shoot was rescheduled for this coming Wednesday, so I have no new photos to share (they'll hopefully be on here next week, though!).

That being said, I've decided to share some of my all-time favorite pictures and talk about "my style".  I'm still figuring out what I do and don't like as far as photography goes but I think I'm starting to realize what I love.

First of all, I love color!

I love bright colors...

...and more muted colors.

But I love colors nonetheless!

I also happen to love black and white...sometimes it just fits a picture so much better than color!  I think that black and white pictures convey more emotion than color.  Here are some of my favorite black and white pictures:

When I'm editing photos, I have the hardest time figuring out whether or not a picture should be black & white or color!  I'll switch a picture to b&w and then back to color at least 3 times before I can make a decision!

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I'm finding out that my favorite pictures are the ones with the most contrast in them, as well...I like a dark background with a light subject (or vice versa).  It just makes the pictures grab your eye!

 I think my love for contrasty pictures is also why I love silhouettes:

The little moments are another thing that I love to capture:

I definitely am not a fan of family formals, for instance.  It's so boring and everyone just wants to get to the reception to eat and congratulate the new couple!  Who wants to stand in a group and smile for 20 minutes straight?  I definitely like to keep family formals during weddings limited (but I will do whatever the couple wants)!  I'd rather snoop around and catch surprise moments than force someone to stand and "say cheese!".  Maybe it's my tendency to be shy but I love the moments that come spontaneously...those are a whole lot better than something that's been forced (in my opinion)!!

That's another reason why I like spur-of-the-moment pictures, like these below (I didn't suggest any of these!):

 

So, there you have a quick overview of what I like...and hopefully you have a better idea of my photography "style"!

Have a great weekend!
Kimber :)