christopher + hannah || couple

I've known Hannah for....oh, goodness. Years. I don't even remember how we met her family. She was home schooled, and you know how home school families just kinda meet up and roll? Yeah. It was something along those lines.

Anyways--now she's getting married! To Christopher, surprise surprise! We'd been waiting for the news to be announced for forever, too. Just kidding--but you know those matches where you are positive something's going to happen for so long, and--finally--the "something" does happen? Well, yep. I guess you could say that's what happened.

I was thrilled to be asked to shoot their engagement early this month, and I can't wait for their wedding in December. Which (shh!) might see me once more with camera in hand. They're gonna be one beautiful couple, amen? Married couple, that is--they already are pretty cute.

xo,
lucia 

..and so i shot a wedding.

Wedding Shoot Vlog from Lucia Marie on Vimeo.

pc & edits- raquel

pc & edits - raquel

This Saturday, I shot a wedding. My first ever. It was delightful and stressful and exhausting and traumatic and exciting and wonderful and totally unlike anything I could have imagined, all at the same time. I don't think I would have survived without Starbucks, either--just saying. Oh, and also MANY thanks to my sister, Olivia (who is a pretty familiar face around here, dontchaknow), for being our official chauffeur for the day. Raquel and I only felt our youth in that point. 

There were mishaps. A lot of them. And, as I said in the Vlog, I almost had a heart attack at one point. But, we both made it out alive and smiling, if a little sleep-deprived, and we'll have a follow-up post chock full of our mistakes and adventures (and the fruit of our labor) up soon. 

For now, I'll just let the photos and video speak for themselves--but I'm positive Raquel would agree that three words pretty much summed up the wedding day: coffee, just-keep-smiling-just-keep-smiling, and rush. Oh, yeah, and granola bars. Those were pretty vital (okay, so that was more like a paragraph, but you get the picture...)

Let's just say I'm head over heels for wedding photography, and I'm stoked for what the future holds. And love is pretty. Amen. 

xo,

lucia

p.s. (thank you all so much for your prayers & thoughts regarding the day! my facebook was full of sweet notes which made me smile--and your comments on my last post were so sweet. love you all!)

p.p.s. (yeahhh, I'm kinda weird in the videos. let's blame that on excitement + sleep deprivation, okay? okay.)

kindling of autumn

A match has been lit to the end of this summertime, and as the flame slowly eats away at what is left of this season, it in turn begins to kindle Autumn. We have not yet felt a nip in the air, but simple colors hint at what's to come: the green of ripe corn in the garden; the red of plump tomatoes on their vines; the lush dark purple of late plums; the faint orange hue at the tips of leaves.

Nights are now filled with a steady flow of study, talk, homemade applesauce, and preparation for the weeks ahead. A wedding was celebrated last Saturday; I was asked to be the reception photographer. As the light began to fade, I dashed around with my camera, sweating (over the fact that my ISO is rather pitiful in the pitch black) and snapping and smiling at the beauty of it all. I discovered all over again how right it felt--despite night photography not being my forte with my current equipment. It just felt good.

Tonight, the summer edition of Kinfolk is sitting on the coffee table, borrowed from a friend, giving final reminisce to the closure of the season. On the horizon is my first wedding as main photographer. Think of me on the 22nd, friends, and pray that I would have calm, rest, inspiration, and no malfunctions. I can scarcely believe such an opportunity has come my way so soon, and I thank the Lord for blessing me with a chance to work hard and capture someone's special day.

May you be refreshed, friends, and cheered, as autumn is kindled and a page of new adventures is unleafed.

xo,
lucia

p.s. (congratulations to Raquel, winner of the July photo challenge. I will now be taking a few months' break from the photo challenge because of limited time, but you can view her winning photo and the other finalists' photos here.)

when the little girl grows up too fast.

Once upon a time, I was a little girl. It was a long time ago--ten years, they would like you to think. Those days are now swathed in a pink haze, accented with sparkles and echoing of laughter long past. Even a time machine could not bring me back to those exact moments; those places where all that mattered was why Mommy was gone and whether there were enough Graham Crackers for a snack today.

Why don't I remember growing up? Why couldn't I have paused my life, just for a second, before I made the switch from picture books to pulsing diaries; baby dolls to wistful dreams; lopsided hair bows to unfriendly mirrors? Ah, impossible wishes fallen short in the course of a fast-paced life. Because "growing up," I'm told, is an unstoppable, unpardonable, and entirely innocent crime which all have or will in the near future commit.

I wonder--why is it that I "remember" being a little girl? Aren't I still? Is seventeen so old? The world has created such havoc of the process--plastering young faces with the clay they call beauty, whispering lies in small ears,  and thrusting phones into hands that still tremble in the dark. The eyes that should yet be bright with the wonder and curiosity of being new to life's adventure are becoming as glazed as the screens they follow day and night. Age six is the threshold, and all too soon childhood is left behind forever--never to be regained.

Who is it that has determined such a line of division? Why must my childhood be stunted at the decree of a world which knows no better than I? I believe that today is the day I will claim "youngity" for myself once more--I will throw off the cloak of "too old," and remember that I am still a little girl--perhaps out of pink and night lights, but still at the threshold of an innocence that would be foolish to forget.

When a little girl grows up too fast, the world which pushed her will regret its haste.

"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.'"

[Matthew 19:14]

amara // portraits

These past two weeks have been the busiest, photography-wise, than they have ever been in my life. I crammed three senior sessions, a sister shoot, and an engagement shoot almost back-to-back--add that to CLEP test prep and Cross Country practice, and you've got one tired girl. 

But photo shoots are one thing I can never run out of energy for, no matter how often I do them. And I thought it was about time I shared some of my recent work with my blog readers--because I really have been unintentionally neglecting you. That said, meet Amara.

Amara and I really have only "officially" known each other for about a week and a half; she is a friend of one of my friends, and asked me via Facebook if I could do her senior pictures (has anyone noticed that Facebook is a rad free advertising campaign? I have done zero advertising whatsoever, and still they come!). Needless to say, we hit it off right away and I hope to see more of her in the near future!

Amara has such a natural, untouched beauty--just like her name (which I adore, by the way). She's also an amazing soccer player, and though I haven't known her very long, comes across as someone who appreciates the little things. And so, without further adieu--Amara. 

I hope everyone is having a lovely "last-of-summer." I am trying to appreciate even the melty popsicles and chlorine and sunburns while I can.

xo,

Lucia