the most lovely leslie

She's beautiful, confident and amazing. She is my go-to woman . . . it doesn't matter if it's a business question, or a parenting rant, or an I'm having a terrible day and I'm coming to see you day, she is there. She is Leslie Lukas, who is mom to Henry and Jackie, and wife of Joe. Every morning after she wakes up and brews her beloved Keurig, she strolls into Main Street Floral in Ennis, Montana, tying bouquets and arranging arrangements, effortlessly, with grace and humor.

Let me tell you about Leslie on a personal level. She is one of my very best friends. She provides me a perspective on things that is so refreshing and admirable, and she puts me in my place when I need to be put. She carries herself with an elegance that is truly admirable, and yet if I could burp, she would compete me. She is the first person who successfully got me to consistently wear green eye shadow, one evening in Jamaica while we were getting ready for dinner. Oh, and she flew all the way to Jamaica with me in March for a wedding I was photographing . . . I know for sure because she deserved a vacation, but also because I know she didn't want me traveling there alone. I can't think of a time I walked away from one of our gatherings without thinking, I freaking adore that woman.

Besides being full-time fabulous, Ms. Lukas represents Leslie Lukas Weddings & Events. She is also an Asset. That, to you, my friends means that she not only is an exceptional planner and floral designer, but she is part of a major network of women who are slowly and accurately trying to take over this small town and get on an Oprah show with our wisdom, humor and alliance among one another. Most importantly, we have all happily embraced the mentality that we have to shift our sails . . . that weddings have become much of a do-it-yourself project in the realm of a recession, and because of the desire to maintain control over such an important, monetary event. Leslie is not only offering Do-It-Yourself Floral Design classes, but she's super excited to show these beautiful brides of the Madison and Gallatin Valleys (and beyond!) that what you will eventually spend at Michael's while feeling pretty confident you're saving money, is most likely way more than you would spend when you ask the hands of an experienced woman to work within your budget. Oh, and by the way, Leslie has been featured in Bride's, Elegant Bride, Sunset Weddings, Martha Stewart Weddings, The Knot, and Town and Country Magazines, among others.

Beautiful. Confident. Amazing.

the art of parenting

You hear it all the time. There is no tougher job on this earth than that of a parent. You also hear there is no tougher job than that of a mother. Then you hear there is no tougher job than that of a stay-at-home mother. Then you hear there is no tougher job than that of a single mother. And I, my friends, am all of those. And let me tell you . . . it is tough. It is tough for a thousand different reasons that are unique to each parent.

I woke up this morning in a complete, totally random, weird, unpleasant, horrible funk. The kind of funk you know is not going to fly with anyone else living with you, and the kind of funk you know is going to get in the way of being a good, solid mother today. I pouted, my eyes filled with tears a few random times, my stomach ate at itself. I couldn't even think about dinner, and that is when you know something is seriously wrong. And when I'm feeling this way, which I can happily say is rare, I am spending much of the time just trying to identify my feelings so I can begin to address them. At some point in the day, I realized that parenting is actually just as much an art and a style and a process that hopefully creates well-behaved, well-mannered children who grow up and want to be good people. And it hit me that it was a reflection of me.

I am not, by nature, a patient person, and it is by far the biggest lesson I am learning. If I discipline the dirtlickers without patience, I walk away from the situation feeling completely depleted, and drained. And I think to myself, you handled that like a child. And the cycle begins. If I were more patient, my children would be better behaved. If I were more structured, they wouldn't need so much, because they would know what to expect and when. If I were more of this, they would be more of that. If I were more of that, they would be more like this. It is endless, and exhausting. But the realization is priceless, and I promise these two shorties that I will be a better woman, so that I can be a better mother.

The Assets: Me

In my life, there are three groups of people who surround me every single day. Some of them challenge me, some of them inspire me, some of them love me unconditionally. The first group is, of course, the shorties. Ava and Stella, my two little dimpled children, who visually are seriously two of the cutest children I have ever laid eyes on, let alone given birth to. The second is Joe, my love, my very best friend. He is the reason I believe in that old cliche to marry your best friend, because when the friendship is there, I believe the respect is there, too. The desire to protect, not hurt, and to take accountability, so that when you do let each other down, you bring them back up. The last group is my Assets. My very best girlfriends, with whom I would be lonely without. Everytime we get together they ask, when are you going to start an Assets blog? And I say, tonight, tonight, tonight! Because I have so many stories to tell, and we experience amazing things together. But I've discovered everything I experience in life is one book, not several, and here I blog not just the weddings and the portrait sessions with strangers I only meet once, but the experiences I have personally as well. I cannot seem to separate it all, and so I won't. Last night, some of us got together at the beautiful home of Leslie Lukas to eat, drink, be merry, and talk shop, and I got the idea to bring my camera to take individual photos of each girl for their own personal and business use. I turned the camera over to the girls as well to snap a few of myself, but this particular photo of me . . .



was taken by him . . .



Henry Lukas is six years old and fierce with that camera! As Elsa said, he captured my signature hair flip perfectly. :)

I do not need much of an introduction at this point, as my life on this blog and my old blog have been an open book. But if you didn't already know, I am the Asset who is the most sarcastic. I talk non-stop and am quite bossy. I am in love with cooking and entertaining, so I host the most. I love my wine red and my ribeye rare. I am the newest business owner of the group, but not the youngest. My two favorite appetizers that I almost always make are caprese salad, and bruschetta with goat cheese and honey. The very first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning is what to make for dinner. I think texts and emails that don't have smiley faces in them seem rude, and I cannot understand how people can type the word "thanks" without an explanation point at the end. And if I am having a horrible day, I drive to Ennis and sit on Leslie's deck, whether she's home or not.

I'm very excited to incorporate this part of my life into my blog . . . these girls define friendship exactly as it should be. We are better for having one another. We are the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, but way cooler. Enjoy this chapter, because it's going to be a really, really good one. :)

tasha + wade: 7.16.10

I get asked quite frequently if I only shoot beautiful people . . . and the answer is yes :) Tasha and Wade are absolutely no exception, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending this day with them. It was hot in Huntley, Montana, with temperatures lingering right around 100 degrees. After Tasha put her dress on and curled her eyelashes one more time, it jumped to 200.



Backing up a bit . . .



Tasha is hands-down, straight up GORGEOUS. Watching her transform from beautiful and casual to beautiful and wow was a photographer's dream . . .



Tasha and Wade decided to do a First Look, which as I have said a thousand times makes the day unfold all the better. You get married, walk back down the aisle, and the rest of the evening remains unposed.



I am loving all of the oranges and yellows I'm seeing this summer! I've incorporated them into my home decor and wardrobe, also . . . but more about that later!



My grooms are just as handsome . . . could this couple be any more beautiful?







Tasha and Wade, I genuinely enjoyed my time with you . . . thank you for your kindness, warmth and a wonderful day! Click here to view more from this very special day. Much love!

teresa + jeff: 7.10.10

I am such a sucker for people-watching . . . and for figuring out how people move together, and get along, and how they work together, and how they allow each other to be themselves, and watch admirably. When I met Teresa and Jeff later last year, I was smitten by their reality that hunting season was beginning, so we had to shoot their engagement photos on a weekend Jeff could part with his gear. And while we were shooting, I was noticing that Teresa was completely smitten by him, and his humor, and I loved more than anything their rapport, and their respect for one another. Teresa and Jeff live just outside of Missoula, so they are a couple I don't get to spend time with other than when we are shooting, but I know they are amazingly wonderful together, and loving, and that they do what we all should do when we are in love - bring out the best :)

Good girls for doing makeup in natural light :)







Gorgeous - and a little nervous about a certain few thunderstorms.





I'm pretty much madly in love with this photograph . . .



And this one . . .



Married!



I am so obsessed with yellow right now, but more about that later ;)



The couple got married at The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, which provided some very fun structures!









Jeff and Teresa, thank you for a beautiful day and allowing me to witness your wonderful love . . . best wishes and much love to you both!

42 is the new 30 . . .

Oooooh, Stephanie. One of my most favorite brides turned wonderful friend. I am pretty convinced we were Thelma and Louise in our past lives. She is warm, funny, and laughs harder than anyone I know, and when she does, all you can do is smile. She is strong, sexy and confident. And she is 42.









I can't always post boudoir photos out of respect for my clients' privacy, so I'm very grateful Stephanie let me show you all how beautiful she is, and how beautiful 42 is when you take care of yourself, both physically and mentally. I am so blessed to have clients who I not only get to take wonderful photographs of (I hope), but who inspire me, and who I walk away from excited and inspired to truly live life everyday, to love harder, and to laugh louder. Thank you, Stephanie. Much, much love :)

before they were married . . .

They were engaged!

Summer months are filled with beautiful weddings, and I have neglected my beautiful engaged couples, whose weddings are later this year. I show up at these shoots not knowing these couples quite yet, but loving what each shoot has to offer, and what each couple gives to me as far as their trust, and confidence. They are all so different, but all so wonderful, and I am feeling the desire to push myself beyond what I know, and what Montana offers me, to take my photographs to the next level, and to take my clients to a new level of excitement and joy when viewing such important moments in their lives . . .

Kenzie and Joey were such a fun couple - 100% about being goofy rather than being posed, but enjoying a few quiet moments as well . . .







Holly and Jeremy were genuinely so wonderful, such a good-natured couple who could all of a sudden work it in front of the camera ;)







And Laura and Bryce were a darling couple who I will have some fun with next weekend!

back to good

Oh, blog. It has been so long since I've written when the words just end up on the screen, with few deleted and fewer thought through. It has always been something I've done well, and yet this wonderful business and the editing it entails keeps me from adding what makes it so passionate for me . . . writing. As I sit and edit through hundreds of photographs while the girls make Joe and I birthday cakes in the mud (his was in June, and mine December . . . they are a little late), I can't help but think far, far back to the two things I knew, above anything else, about my business. The first was that I wanted to blog it all. Every photo shoot, every photograph of my girls, every story that had substance. And I did, and it took me to an amazing place. The second thing I wanted, was to simply photograph my couples being them. Interacting, kissing, snuggling, running off into a field and laughing and collapsing with joy, catching their breath. So I did this, and sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. And when it didn't, I would pose them. I was reading blogs like a madwoman, and buying magazines I never read, for ideas, inspiration, and poses. And for some time, my style fell far from photojournalistic, and it fell to editorial. It worked, and my couples were loving how sexy they felt, and how they were getting images of themselves no one else would take. I was elated, and happy, and bringing something new and fresh to their vision. But then, something happened. I fell into a major rut. I was bored with posing, and I was wanting real. So I stepped outside the box I have been living in, pulled a lens I never use for portraits out of my camera bag, and went back to my roots. And it is good. It is very, very good.

kaitlyn + logan: 6.26.10

Kaitlyn and Logan were my third wedding in a row this past June, and second of those two held at The Woodlands at Cottonwood Canyon, one of this valley's most beautiful venues. This group was wonderful to work with . . . Kaitlyn was nervous and a little teary at times, but it was incredibly refreshing to see her relaxed and very, very happy, with lots of big laughs :)

The girls got ready with lots of good, loud music, and McDonalds :)



And the guys got ready with - what else? - beer :)



Handsome Logan! I love how Kaitlyn wanted him to have his sunglasses during the ceremony.



I love this moment :)



A couple simple portraits . . .





And a beautiful first dance.



Click here for a slideshow! Kaitlyn and Logan, thank you for a wonderful day. Much love and happiness to you both!