Schwenk Family | Bethany Beach, Delaware
For most of my life, my beach world was the gulf coast of Tampa Bay. Specifically – Anna Maria Island in all of it’s glory. The past two years, I’ve been introduced to a new shore – one that’s become a sweet place of September relaxation with one of my favorite families, the Schwenks.
For most of my life, my beach world was the gulf coast of Tampa Bay. Specifically – Anna Maria Island in all of it’s glory. The past two years, I’ve been introduced to a new shore – one that’s become a sweet place of September relaxation with one of my favorite families, the Schwenks.
While there’s a lot of things I love about family vacation – I mean you had me at beach – I love that it feels natural with family. When you have a bunch of people who enjoy each other, the sun, the ocean, and relaxing; memories are born. We took a morning and braved the wind for family photos and I absolutely love how they turned out.
Using film has made us more intentional with our work and allowed us to slow down to ensure we’re capturing the moments and emotions we want to frame forever. A huge shout out to Lynn for letting us get on the other side of the lens during this Bethany Beach session so we could be part of the family.
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Market People | Lynchburg Community Market | Installment 2
Summer came back for a quick encore this week and I'm not complaining since the sun doubles as my source of energy and my love language. It also means more Saturday mornings at the market donning cutoffs and tank tops before trading them out for scarves and sweaters.
Summer came back for a quick encore this week and I'm not complaining since the sun doubles as my source of energy and my love language. It also means more Saturday mornings at the market donning cutoffs and tank tops before trading them out for scarves and sweaters. Personal work has gained a much stronger voice in our lives the past couple months because we don't want to forget the moments that mean so much to us as we reminisce over the year. Making sure we're documenting what we're passionate about ensures that we keep emotion in all of our work.
To view the first installment of Market People click here.
To view the first installment of Market People click here.
Market People | Lynchburg Community Market | Installment 1
When we're not wedding it up on Saturdays, you'll find us a block away from our downtown loft at one of our favorite local spots - the Lynchburg Community Market. The city comes alive on Saturday mornings and it's an instant community party - one that steps straight into small-town nostalgia.
When we're not wedding it up on Saturdays, you'll find us a block away from our downtown loft at one of our favorite local spots - the Lynchburg Community Market. The city comes alive on Saturday mornings and it's an instant community party - one that steps straight into small-town nostalgia. Not only do we love the market and the people who make it, but we enjoy the opportunity for personal work. It keeps us refreshed and allows us to keep exploring creative outlets as we pause life with film.
Pentax 67 | 105mm
Portra 160+1 | Portra 400 +1 | Converted to HP5
The FIND Lab
Our Engagement Story
It started with The Hunger Games and ended in tears. Mid-movie, I wanted to know if Katniss lived and Nate didn’t want to ruin my experience by telling me. He was operating under the assumption that everyone enjoys suspense. I had lived enough to know that suspense and I were on a permanent break...
It started with The Hunger Games and ended in tears. Mid-movie, I wanted to know if Katniss lived and Nate didn’t want to ruin my experience by telling me. He was operating under the assumption that everyone enjoys suspense. I had lived enough to know that suspense and I were on a permanent break. It doesn’t feel safe – it’s unsettling. Once Nate filled me in (spoiler alert – she lives) I enjoyed a conflict-free movie and Nate learned something huge – I hate uncertainty. This was a big deal because he was currently trying to make our engagement as suspenseful as possible. Classic Planner-Dating-A-Visionary combo. So, we talked.
Getting married is a big life decision and there’s wisdom in discussing huge choices with your future spouse. We talked about engagement; we looked at rings; heck – we’d even discussed an ideal wedding weekend. Life doesn’t arrive in beautiful packages with a timeline of events and I was realizing that our story might not be perfectly outlined like I wanted it to be.
It was now July and we were moving from Vegas in a month. We weren’t engaged and every date we went on I let my emotions run wild with excitement until I realized it wasn’t the moment #instantdevastation. Nate, being the thoughtful and gracious man he is, let me know that we would be engaged within the next two weeks and that we were going on two dates the first week.
On the first date we skipped the dinner we were too anxious to eat and went straight to Leoné Café; a coffee shop on the outskirts of Vegas that didn’t feel “Vegasy.” Nate ordered me a Mocha and I stirred my spoon in the oversized mug to make sure there wasn’t a ring at the bottom. There wasn’t. While I wrangled my emotions and mind to be fully present, Nate drank my coffee. Note: I’ve tried to like coffee and I have confidence it will happen.
By the time he was finished with my coffee, we had settled into good conversation and I looked down to see the empty mug display the proposal at the bottom. He saw my wide eyes and got down on one knee, said incredible things we both don't remember. The suspense? Gone. Hunger? Back. We now had no secrets, no purposeful hiding of anything. It was done and we were engaged. There were happy tears, photos, and a green flag for all things wedding planning.
The best part was that I was getting to marry my best friend – the most amazing man. I love our proposal story. I love that three years ago we decided to plan a wedding in 2.5 months. I love that he was intentional about this process, that he took into consideration how I was wired, and that the ring was customized just for me. I love that we get to take trips back to Vegas to visit Tivoli Village and soak up the Nevada sun.
This time mattered because it was during this season that we started to dive into how we were wired and how conversations or lack of them could either hinder or help us. We also learned that as soon as you get engaged, questions come pouring in. So here's our top two for those stepping into this season.
Soak It In | There’s lots of things that need to get done for the wedding – they can wait. You don’t have to have a date or venue right away. Just celebrate.
Divide Your Time | It helped us to have intentional wedding planning time and date time where we didn’t have wedding talk at all.
So if you're engaged, congrats! You've got this and we're here to help make sure you pause and breathe in the little moments while we take care of the details.
If you're not engaged but you know that a proposal is right around the corner, keep being present. Don't let suspense steal your joy and make sure you soak in every moment.
And if you're Nate, thanks for being incredibly intentional in everything you do - especially our engagement. I'd say yes again; even if it involves coffee.
From our trip earlier this year visiting at Leoné Café
Fuji 400h & Portra 800 | Shot on Pentax 645nii
