Giving Back - The Hope Benefit

A night of giving back for MoeCakes Photography and many other special people.

Hosted by Friends of St. Jude and Texas Young Professionals

The Hope Benefit was an evening of raising money to fight the battle of childhood cancer.

An all around fantastic evening.

Thank you Susannah and Mia for contacting and trusting me to capture the evening.

For a more intimate peek at my part in the event.... click here.

F is For Friendship - iheartfaces Photo Challenge

I have to admit every time I see the new theme for an iheartfaces Photo Challenge, my mind begins to wander through the hundreds of images I have cataloged in my collections.  This month was no different.  F is for Friendship....now what do I have that truly encompasses that word...friendship?  My daughters together, absolutely have LOTS of those.  My daughters and their friends playing, yep have that too.  Clients, couples, family members, friends...yup have it all.  So what do I choose?  And do I feel it is worthy of the "challenge"?  My wandering began to slow...well really, it stopped.  It took me back to an evening in May.  We had recently moved into our new home after returning stateside.  The moving vans had been with us all day, kids were finally asleep and it was time for the parents to relax.  My best friend was in town helping out, my first time seeing her since our return home.  I was sitting on a lounge chair across from this duo and was clicking away, not really knowing what the conversation was about or what I was actually capturing on the other end.  I just knew it's wasn't often I had my two best friends (husband and girlfriend) in front of the camera.  It wasn't until I loaded and looked at them the following day that I caught my breath.  An instant smile took shape on my face.  To me, this image is the definition of friendship.  And personally knowing the relationship between the two made me actually laugh out loud.  It is SO them.  Is it technically a picture of perfection?  Nah.  But I just can't pass up the candidness and honesty of the emotion between these two.  Is she my best friend?  Yea, she is.  But will I ever question the strength of the friendship seen above?  There is no doubt.

This is my choice for this month's challenge. 

F is for Friendship.

 (If you follow my 365 you've seen this reel before.  And as a storyboard, it just steals my heart.)

To learn more about iheartfaces & see more entries from the Friendship Photo Challenge

www.iheartfaces.com

Also linked with:

Becoming The Trobaughs

Brian & Brandilyn Tie the Knot

Remember this shoot a few months back?  Go ahead refresh your memory and click here....

It doesn't matter how big the wedding, how expensive the dress, the number of guests...

It's all about the

LOVE.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves!!  

It's all starts with the

DETAILS.

You know, the

LITTLE THINGS

that mean so much.

It all leads up to one moment.

That girl feeling

BEAUTIFUL.

And walking down the aisle

to the man she

LOVES.

And becoming one as

MR & MRS

Now the party

BEGINS.

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Trobaugh.

I wish you nothing but

LOVE & HAPPINESS.

iheartfaces Photo Conference - Southfork Ranch, Dallas, TX

This weekend I was lucky enough attend a Photo Conference for women, put on by iheartfaces.  This is a website/blog/etc. I have followed for a long time and was thrilled to actually get to meet the faces behind the site, have hands-on training, AND get some tips and tricks by some of the most successful women in the business....Kelly Hampton - SUCH an inspiration and Sue Bryce - Oh. My. Goodness....she is a GOD!  (Just to name a couple...)  And if that wasn't enough, it was held at Southfork Ranch, which allowed for some wonderful backdrops and meant a weekend with my bestie.  But wait, there is more!  As an added bonus a great childhood friend (and owner of Katie Ramey Photography) flew in from El Paso -- it's been YEARS since we saw each other last!  

Much of the day was spent listening and learning, but for a short time in the afternoon, I did get to shadow (along with several other ladies) a very well known Dallas Wedding Photographer named Amy Karp, through a "couples session".  What a treat!  But, because there were several cameras all trying to get 'that' shot, I simply had to work with what I had and decided to simply capture the experience directly from my perspective behind the lens.  

Southfork Setting

Katie Ramey

Couples Session with Amy Karp

All images ©MoeCakes Photography