It's springtime for Dearheart!

I unofficially went into photography hibernation for the winter...but once the weather warmed up [temporarily], I got back to shooting relatively regularly.
I've had the pleasure of reconnecting with people and meeting some new ones, and the opportunity to shoot headshots, senior portraits, graduation photos, families and some pretty dang adorable babies! :)  

I've got nine more days of school left and then I look forward to having a much more open schedule for shooting.  

I just signed up for two more photography classes at TCC this summer:
Photography Level III & Wedding Photography.
I'm excited :)

Snowy photo shoot remembrances {family}.

Once upon a time, before Christmas, I was asked by an old friend to take family photos.

It was c-o-l-d and snowy and windy, but we braved the elements, used the light we had and ended up with these great images of the sweet White family:

They even had a warm apple pie for me as a parting gift!

Yummmmmmmm :)

Senorita Hot-Legs {bridal black & whites}.

My sweet friend and partner in crime, Kaley married her dream guy two months ago today :)
[HAPPY TWO MONTH ANNIVERSARY, YOU TWO LOVEBIRDS!]

Before her big day, the wedding venue gave us permission to shoot bridal portraits there...and of course, we took advantage of that.

One gloomy, rather frigid Friday in December, we piled in the car after school, hurried to Bekah's house and did the fastest wardrobe change and make-up application we could before what little light there was went away.

Thank goodness for lovely, classy friends who let me take their photos:

Love you, girl.

Babes. {newborn}

A while back, I had the opportunity to shoot little Miss Harper's newborn photos.

She was only five days old at the time and had more props and wardrobe changes than any baby girl I've ever encountered :)

She needed heating pads and blankets and touch and bottles to keep her happy, but she was quite a trooper!

First, a behind-the-scenes look:

And now, some of my favorite shots of the precious little one:

I pray that Harper will grow up strong and full in the knowledge of God!

Take care, little one.

Home for the Holidays. {travel}

When you live 1,930 miles away from your "home" and family, visits are few, far between and sweet.
From the moment I step off the plane onto that famous PDX airport carpet, something is different.
The air is cleaner, the greens are greener and my heart is happy.

I spend my days in Oregon watching millions of episodes of "What Not to Wear" that my mom DVRs throughout the year, seeing all my high school friends [and their ever-expanding brood of gorgeous children], making memories with my family and exploring the natural beauty of a very un-Oklahoma-like land.

Also, I occasionally make my parents smile for the camera.

Until next time, lovely place I once lived.

Much love.

Seasons change. #dearheart

Well, they do!
Here in Oklahoma, the colors of fall are here for a short time, so it's a bit hit & miss when it comes to fall photo shoots.  We caught the tail end of the foliage in the following two shoots, but beggars can't be choosers ;)

Kaley and I have known each other for a long time now.  We met in college & lived on the same floor, had lots of classes together, shared an apartment for two years and now we teach at the same school!  We kinda like each other ;)  So, it was natural that she and her fiance should be the subjects of my first engagement shoot.  I had a wonderful time traipsing around Turkey Mountain with them and I'm very happy with the results!  Less than a month until wedding day, you two :)

The next day, I got to spend time with the lovely Hunt family at Stuart Park & the Gilcrease Museum.  I met Hilary during a production at the Broken Arrow Community Playhouse and have had the pleasure of calling her a friend, shooting her maternity photos and then newborn/family photos once Miss Margot was born.  I hadn't seen Margot since she was just a few days old and was so excited to see her at seven months old, gummy smiles and all! :)  

And now, rather suddenly, it's winter, the world is white and magical, the Christmas season is upon us and I will be home in Oregon in less than two weeks!

What a wonderful time of year to be a photographer :)

Life is Short. Take lots of pictures.

Life has gotten rather exciting lately for the slowly-blooming, itty-bitty business of Dearheart Photography :)

First of all, I missed my first anniversary...but I'm blown away by the fact that I've been officially pursuing this dream for over 12 months now.  Business ebbs and flows, but I am incredibly grateful for clients, supportive friends & family members, and plenty of opportunities to learn and grow and change.  Here are some of the awesome and recent developments:

• I made the decision to get my Photography Certificate at TCC and couldn't be happier about it.  I am crazy excited to finally get some formal training, to fill in the holes I have and to develop myself further as a photographer.  I started my first of eight classes last week and can't wait for next Wednesday :)
• I joined a meet up group of Tulsa digital photographers and hope that my schedule will allow me to join them in one of their excursions soon!  I still have so much to learn, and know that rubbing elbows with seasoned photographers will only make me better.
• I bought a reflector and am excited to experiment and improve my photographs!
• I got brave and entered seven photos in the Tulsa State Fair.  It's totally random and I don't expect anything to come of it, but I'm proud of myself for doing it!
• I am back to work on my website and hope to launch it before the first of the year :)

And now, I shall leave with some shots from my recent photo sessions.

Home Sweet Home...was a long time ago.

I'm a wee bit behind here in the blogophere.
I'll ask you to forgive me as school has started and I am once again a workin' woman.
But let's catch up, shall we?

I got to visit the glorious state that I call "home" for two fabulous weeks in July.
My time there was filled with wonderful people [and babies--who are, of course, people themselves...but super adorable little people and therefore get special mention], trips to the pool, exhilarating hikes, tiring bike rides, breathtaking views, clean mountain air, sandy toes, What Not to Wear and relaxation.
It refreshed my soul.

Upon my slightly bittersweet return to Tulsa, I decided to fulfill a dream and got my own kitten :)
His name is Oliver [Ollie for short] and even though he wants to gnaw on my fingers and knock things over, he is precious and I'm entirely smitten.  Not that any of my Instagram followers would know...

Pretty quickly after that, the days started to fill up with teacher-y preparations and events.  Of course there was also time for friends, lunch dates, fireworks and drive-in movies :)

Then there was a random and rather spontaneous trip to Texas to return to my old stomping grounds [Teen Mania] to see the class of CCMers I met on the New York trip graduate, as well an excuse to go back to campus after six years aaaaand celebrate the ten year anniversary of CCM.  It was fun!

We started school [my fourth year of teaching--how nuts is that?!] on the 19th and this year is filled with all kinds of new adventures and even more surprisingly, some consistency!  I am at the same school and in the same grade level as last year and while that may sound like nothing to you, it's never happened to me before and I am grateful.  But to keep life interesting, there is a new classroom, a new position as lead teacher and an OSU intern for the first two weeks :)  I have a sweet bunch of kiddos this year and things are going swimmingly thus far.

Labor Day is around the corner and will launch one of a few upcoming trips this fall--St. Louis, then Columbia, Missouri just a few weekends later for Kaley and Bekah's half, hopefully an October jaunt to Arkansas with the lovely Chelsea, and fingers are crossed for a Fall Break adventure to Florida with my fabulous friend, Lauren.  

If that wasn't enough to stay busy, I begin training next week for my second half marathon, am staying involved at church with babies, singing, photography, small groups and running, and am filling my weekends with the pursuit of photography :)

Life is good and I am blessed to live it!