Recently I got a new computer (YAYY!!) and backup hard drive, which is making me sort through all of my old files and images as I transfer them from my old computer..In doing so, I had this random realization of how important it is to look back and remember where you came from. It’s so easy to get discouraged in the world of photography, because there are a zillion other photographers doing the same thing! But I think this principle applies to other areas of my life too.

I took these pictures of some of our good friends a while ago — long before I had a blog, and while some of them I’m still really proud of, some of them make me thankful that we have the ability to grow and change as we learn…Embarrassing fact: I actually shot all of these in a weird color balance mode so they were hard to edit..I will NEVER make that mistake again. I know so much more about manipulating light, exposure, framing your subjects, using negative space, color balance, etc. than I knew then and it’s crazy to think about the fact that these probably took me five times longer to edit than the time it takes me to edit a session now! BUT, it’s also cool to revisit these BECAUSE of the fact that I didn’t know so many “rules” then..it’s fun to see the foundation of my current style coming together and they’ve reminded me to be more creative in the way I shoot today! It’s also a good reminder for me to never stop learning! PLUS Liz and Daniel are such a beautiful couple inside and out that I couldn’t resist posting them..

Looking back at these has also made me so thankful for the friends that the Lord put in my life this year…when we moved to Richmond after we graduated we didn’t have a lot of friends here..It was so hard to leave our big community of friends at college! We spent a lot of time visiting different churches…the first time we visited the small group that we still go to now, I met Liz and knew right away that we would be good friends! Liz and Daniel actually got married two weeks after us! They’ve been such an encouragement to us in our faith and our marriage this year, and we’ve had so much fun trying lots of new things in Richmond together…we are so thankful for their friendship and don’t know what we’d do without them here!

Liz and Daniel never really got engagement pictures taken, so we decided to take these on U of R’s campus where Daniel proposed!

I loved this tree!! so pretty.

sooo beautiful Liz.

I love walking around the University of Richmond, because it sort of makes me feel like I’m back in Germany!

Liz has really good style..

…and she’s SO naturally beautiful.

and THIS is the very spot where he popped the question!

We love you Liz and Daniel!!