breathe

"I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am. I am. I am. ~ Slyvia Plath

Photos from a time I wasn't able to breathe much at all, bronchitis lungs, baby occupying my center, and a winter of dirty air and little sunshine. On this day I found my lungs clear with the clean, heavy air of green space. I felt sunshine. I felt lightness. I felt alive. Every breath this day was a gift.

A huge thank you to one of my very best friends, Cynthia, for being my muse this cold, winter day.

 

Contax 645 ~ Fuji 400H ~ Photovision Film Lab ~ Shop Gossamer Gown

Brooke & Lane Bridals ~ Utah Wedding Photographer

Bridal photography has a special place in my heart. There's something beautiful about being in this space with two people deeply in love, dressed in the clothes chosen as a commitment. Life won't always be this fancy. Maybe it will never be this fancy again. Life will be painting your new apartment, stains on your shorts, or kids, and spit-up on your shirt. There will be packing for your first big move, dust covering everything, and honestly, that's the kind or realness that makes up a full life. But for right now, cherish this fancy, beautiful, just the two of us times, with gowns, and flowers, and all the promise of tomorrow. It's the foundation of the very, very, very beginning. One day your grandchildren will look at these pictures, as I looked at mine, and marvel at your newness and how lovely you looked. Because what they are really marveling at is two people before they ever knew them, your freshness and your promise.These are magic days!

Gown: Alta Moda ~ Augusta Jones Contax 645 ~ Fuji 400H

Ballerina on Film

Just a glimpse of something beautiful.

Florals: La Fete ~ Gown: Leanne Marshall ~ Model: Sophie Baddley

Cynthia ~ A peak

Floral Sneak Peak

One pretty shot from a recent shoot with Wedding Paper Divas and La Fete Floral.

Maddy and Garrett ~ Utah Mountain Bridals

What's better than putting your wedding dress on once? Putting it on a second time! Maddy and Garrett had such a lovely wedding day, we decided to head out on a "slightly" warmer Autumn afternoon, and do a post-wedding and bridal session in the Utah mountains. There is probably nothing better than the Utah Mountains in the Autumn. Maaaaaybe salted chocolate. I'm so lucky to have spent this happy afternoon with Maddy and Garrett, documenting their almost-year anniversary. What a sweet way to honor their happiness.

Gown: Leanne Marshall via Alta Moda

Courtney & Josh ~ Utah Autumn Bridals

Cou

Kokedama Garden ~ Utah Bride & Groom Magazine Editorial

It was a dream creating this secret kokedama garden on a snowy day with Allison of La Fete Floral. We are incredibly honored to have it featured in Utah Bride and Groom Magazine's current publication. A huge thank you to all the amazing vendors, listed below, who inspired and created with us.

Photography/Creator/Stylist: Green Apple Photography ~ Florals/Creator/Stylist: Allison Baddley/La Fete Floral and Design ~ Cake: Cakes de Fleur ~ Gown: Avenia Bridal ~ Suit: Beckett Robb ~ MUA: April Benincosa ~ Paper Goods: October Ink ~ Lighting: Moonlighting Utah ~ Rentals: Diamond Rental ~ Jewelery: Katie Waltman ~ Venue: Trolley Square ~ Decor: Anthropologie/West Elm ~ Models: Jacee Horne & Stafford Thomas

Laura's Garden Bridals

She's a Championship rider, and is a ringer for Taylor Swift, but what stands out most about Laura is her grace and kindness. Is it old-fashioned to call her a lady? Because's Laura's a Lady, through and through.

Kim and Alex | Utah Mountain Bridals

We went out of town for a few days, and when we got back, the trees were blooming and the flowers were making their grand debut. It's such a happy day when Spring makes it's official appearance. And it's a really happy day, remembering this beautiful session with Kim and Alex. The day was really rainy (remember how it rained forever last year?) and Kim's dress had layers upon layers of hand beading, and so we stayed carefully put in one beautiful mountain spot, and made some lovely, summer magic. Can you believe Kim hand beaded this amazing dress? From the gorgeous flowers by Lizy Bowden/Lizy's Lilies, and the a super fly man bun, I was in love with the entire session!

Happy Spring!

Dress: Custom made, Michelle Golightly Flowers: Lizy's Lillies Suit: Zara

Marie Antoinette | Melissa Blackburn | Utah Valley Bride

I feel incredibly lucky to have been asked to contribute to such an incredible, intricate and beautiful Marie Antoinette themed shoot last year. Melissa Blackburn designed and created each of these exquisite dresses, and the shoot was a testament to her immense talent. I'm so excited to share these photos with you and I will link the other photographers who participated down below. It's fun to see how everyone interpreted the scenes differently and in their own unique way. An amazing shout-out to Tinge Floral and Sweet Tooth Fairy for their hard work and beautiful florals and sweets, as well as all the other vendors listed below. And if you want to see more, Mikki Platt's images of the editorial are currently in Utah Valley Bride! Now let's all eat some cake.

Thank you to, Dresses ~ Melissa Blackburn | Creative Directors ~ Melissa Blackburn, Jefra Starr Linn & Mikki Platt | Florals ~ Tinge Floral | Sweets ~ Sweet Tooth Fairy | Make-Up ~ Kissable Complexions | Hair ~ Bethany Loveless, Jessie Ward, Kali Wengreen | Table Styling ~ Karli Elaine Events | Cake ~ Cake-a-licious | Backdrop ~ Penny Jones | Prop Styling ~ Rosie Jarman/My Dear Lizzy | Props ~ Hale Center Theater | Floral Head Piece ~ Brittnay Jepsen/House that Lars Built

Contributing Photographers: Heather Nan, Mikki Platt, Kiera Eve, Crystalyn Nilson, Jefra Star Linn, & Nichole V Models: Katie McDermott, Jacee Murray, Michelle White, Kelsey Lund Murphy, Amanda Larsen, Shaquel Farr, Rosalie Badger Long, Ashlyn Anderson, Chloe Thompson, Sarah Miskin, Suzy Clawson, Camille Romriell, Dani Braun, Chris Clark, Hank and Slade Blackburn

Sarah | JSMB/ Garden Park Bridals

Sarah is a beauty, through and through, and as my sweet Lucy would say, she looks like a Princess. If you can believe it, these were taken in December...in 50 degree weather. I couldn't have asked for a more magical afternoon. Thank you Sarah!

Beautiful dress custom made by Penelope's and lovely flowers by Amy Curtis!

Abandoned Mansion | Film Editorial

“Love her, love her, love her! If she favours you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces – and as it gets older and stronger, it will tear deeper – love her, love her, love her!” -Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

I've always loved the darker side of things. Wuthering Heights was the first book that I really remember inhaling (anyone else read like that?) I like stormy days, and songs in minor, wandering souls, and I've been a lover of fairy tales as long as I can remember. Early spring tends to bring this side out of me, and Allison, of La Feté, and I were inspired by the darker side of fairy tales, with a little Great Expectation mixed in. We wanted a shoot that was haunting, emotive, and follows the journey of a girl, neglected in her wedding finery, waiting for her lost love.

There are so many stories I want to tell about this shoot, which we secretly dubbed, haunted mansion. From my assistant falling into a rotting pool of water, flowers three days late, some blood and near fainting, there was definite a bit of misadventure going on as well. But that is what makes what we do such a great adventure. Read below for all the amazing contributors, who lent their talents and gifts to our labor of love!

If you'd like to see, Abandoned Mansion was featured on Magnolia Rouge! Eek! Also, I wanted to send a lot of love to Allison, La Feté. She has been an amazing collaborator, friend, artist and soul sister. There was a lot going on during this shoot, and she still created the most beautiful world. Thank you Allison!

Many thanks to,

Model: Amanda Larsen, for being embodying our concept, being a beautiful soul inside and out, and putting up with a whole lot of crazy, all while maintaining happy spirits. You are amazing! Florals/Stylist: Allison Baddley from La Feté MUA: Flavia from Versa Artistry Invitation Suite: Pink Piggy Design Cake: Tauri with Pippa Cakery: tauri@pippacakery.com Cake Stand and Tablescape chairs: Maison Boutique Chaise and broken chair: Lynette with Refined Vintage Assistants: Kate Lovell, and Jenny Bradley

Catherine and Jama | Park City Mountain Bridals

A beautiful evening, with two beautiful people. I love Catherine's custom dress, and pretty hair wreath and florals, by Lizy Bowden.

Kim and Alex

Photographing these two lovebirds today! That dress? Those flowers? Amazing!

Flowers: Lizy Bowden

Gather Editorial

Sometimes you get lucky enough to meet a kindred soul, a la Anne of Green Gables style. I'm so lucky to have met Allison Baddley, owner of La Fete Floral and Events. Allison is an amazing talent, and we have been collaborating together on a little project called, Love Elements. The premise is simple. We want to create simple, beautiful inspiration, based off of three elements. For our first shoot, we wanted to focus on wheat, persimmon, and gold. Allison says it beautifully below. A huge thank you to Laura Miller, of You Doll Design for the calligraphy, and Beckie Winston, of Maison Confisserie and Boutique for the beautiful jewelry. Read below to read Allison's eloquent description.

For our first Love elements collaboration, we were inspired by the word “Gather” and wanted to showcase autumn’s natural bounty.  We liked the idea of gathering a big bouquet of golden wheat straight from nature, so obvious to us our first element was going to be  - WHEAT.

From there, we decided that we would like a natural looking model with wheat colored hair in a simple wheat colored dress. We liked the idea of using her natural beauty with a pop of orange red on her lips and darling orange booties. Our thoughts again went to the rich colorful fruits of the season and our 2^nd element came to mind - PERSIMMON.

Even though the model is a natural beauty, we still wanted to add some sparkle to our shoot and we looked to Beckie Winston, the owner of Maison Confisserie & Boutique for something delicate and pretty that represented the gold found in autumn.  She donated the simple, yet amazing earrings and bracelets for the shoot and we decided that they represented our last element perfectly – GOLD.

The love element story – Everything about our story was inspired by our 3 Love elements. We decided that the Utah Mountains were the perfect setting because the backdrop is breathtakingly stunning this time of year.  Also, we instantly thought of the sweet and beautiful Elizabeth Pynes to use as our model.  She has never modeled before and has such a sweet quality about her because, believe it or not, she has no idea how beautiful she is. The story follows the simple path of a young girl in love.  She is out for an autumn stroll with the intent of gathering nature’s harvest.  Along the way, she gathers a bountiful bushel of golden wheat and also makes an autumnal bouquet and adorns her hair with flowers.

Credits: Florist: Allison Baddley/La Fete, Calligrapher: Laura Miller/You Doll Design, Jewelry: Maison Confiserie et Boutique

Elyse and David | Sundance Autumn Wedding

I first met Elyse when she was 14, and I was newly married. I was so honored to share in Elyse and David's beautiful, beautiful, day. These two together are magic.

Beautiful flowers by Tinge Floral.

Katie and Chris | Utah Bridal/Groomal Photographer

Coming soon to a blog near you! Katie and Chris's rainy, romantic groomal session up in Alta. These two are amazing!

Katie's Dress: The Brides Shop

mountain elopement, three | Utah Elopement Photographer

My heart explodes a little when I see these images. I love them so much. Life should be filled with adventure and love. I was reading, somewhere, that happiness comes from trying new things. Putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, where the outcome isn't a guarantee. The adventure is the spice, the challenge that broadens your horizon. That's how I feel about these. So many adventures here, with beautiful, wild souls. That wraps up our Mountain Elopement! See the other installments here and here. Thank you Kate Lovell, Valen Hunter, Kali Chris and Rachel and Blake. Muah! Muah! Muah! I think I owe Rachel and Blake a lifetime of hot chocolate. For reals.

Mountain Elopement part two | Utah Elopement Photographer

Part two of our collaborative, mountain elopement. It doesn't get any sweeter or simpler than a girl, a boy...a dog.

Stylist: Kate Lovell Florist: Valen Hunter, Flower Afternoon MUA: Kali Chris Models: Rachel Howell and Blake Balkman