The Jackson's : Thanksgiving Portraits

Marriage is wonderful. If it's your thing, it is a bond between two people that leads to so many memories, learning experiences, and cherished moments that you will savor for a life time.

James and I's family are just about everywhere you can imagine - California, Philadelphia, Oklahoma, Singapore, the Philippines... and those are just our parents and siblings! In some sense, we absolutely love this. Our childhood experience of constantly traveling and seeing the world continues to this day as we bounce from continent to continent visiting family members. But on the flip side, we often find ourselves yearning for the typical "American" family structure where your relatives are just down the street from you, or within a couple hours drive... which brings me to my first point. Marriage is wonderful, BUT, switching on and off for holidays just plain sucks. We always find ourselves wishing the travel time from one family members home to the next wasn't 28 hours by plane, or we could call on Scotty to beam us up asap and take us to our next family member's home.

For thanksgiving this year, it was our turn to spend it with my immediate family. Now the trip to Singapore was just a wee bit too far for us to fly, so we were just SO incredibly grateful that my sister flew in from Oklahoma and my amazing and determined parents flew in from Singapore. We truly had the funnest time taking them around, feeding them more meat and bbq than is socially acceptable, and spending lazy mornings on our couches talking and making memories.

My mom and I were set on getting some family pictures done since us being all together is such a rare occasion. So after pleading and forcing kindly asking, going through a few hundred clothing options, and getting everyone outside, we set up the tripod and just LOVE the results. My favorite pictures have and always will be the accidental ones - cue the picture below :)

Enjoy some of our favorites from our impromptu family shoot!

 Happy Thanksgiving!

With Love • The Jackson's & Linton's

Phil & Laura : Blacksburg Engagement

After a rainy week in Blacksburg, Laura and I were a little nervous as we chatted back and forth about the nearing thunderstorms predicted for Saturday. Mother nature seemed to favor an engagement shoot though, because the weather was simply perfect as we made our way through the hills at Heritage Park and admired our beloved alma mater, Virginia Tech.

Throughout our friendship, Laura always spoke so favorably of Phil and we couldn't have been more thrilled when he put a ring on it - a gorgeous one at that! Phil so clearly loves and adores Laura, and I cannot wait until their wedding next May - Here are some of my favorites from the day!!

 Laura and Phil - thank you for trusting me with your photos and I couldn't be more excited for the adventure you are about to begin!

Mandi : Pet Photography

Meet Mandi - a girl full of passion, integrity, and giggles, and momma to two amazing horses! Mandi and I transferred to Virginia Tech the same year, and her loving nature has had me hooked as a friend ever since. We were even thankful enough to have her in our bridal party at our wedding, so she holds such a special place in our hearts! Long story short, she's simply the best.

Meet Leo on the left, he is a GIANT - last I checked 18 hands and still growing! Trouble is her sweet, blue-eyed baby on the right; he'll always have such a special place in Mandi's heart, but he is off to the next great phase of his life very soon and that called for some memories to be captured! Not only is Mandi drop dead gorgeous, but her two four legged friends are the goofiest guys ever and it's awesome to see Mandi around them - she's so in love with her babies!

We went out and about the property of Flanagan Stables in Christiansburg, VA where the horses are boarded, along with two of our good friends in tow to help get those horses' ears up! Photography, girl time, horses, and some lovely sunshine was the perfect combination for a Sunday afternoon - enjoy some of my favorites!

 Love, love, LOVE those rafters and how they photograph!

And then the horses nuzzled, and it was simply the cutest thing ever.

Trouble boy, you are a stunning horse and have SUCH a personality! Looking forward to hearing future stories about your next great adventure!

Roanoke SPCA : Event Photography

Yesterday I was SO thankful for the opportunity to shoot the Roanoke Valley SPCA's Tail Chaser 5k and dog walk at the beautiful Wasena Park in Roanoke. It was definitely a new type of event for me, but the fact that it involved dogs and running was right up my alley! If anything, it was weird for me to not be at the starting line, but meeting tons of new people and getting to be behind my lens for a more "full time" event was such a breath of fresh air.

Living in Blacksburg, I have to admit I rarely make it to Roanoke outside of traveling to and from the airport. Every time I go however I always wonder why I don't take advantage of this wonderful city more! The forecast was certainly a dreary one, and admittedly had me a little nervous whether the event was going to happen at all. As always though, pet lovers from all over the area showed up in high spirits with their beloved canine companions. From dachshunds to huskies, just about every shape and size of dog sported their event bandanas and were ready for a great run!

For more information on the amazing team and animals behind the SPCA, please check out their website at http://www.rvspca.org/. Having a rescue dog myself, I can guarantee you that adoption will change your life for the better!