I love people who are in love.

I know that’s a really cliché statement, but really… when two people still genuinely dig each other this much after 13 years of marriage, it’s captivating! This is my cousin and his beautiful wife. While out visiting family for the holidays, I had this crazy idea to do an impromptu shoot. I had in my head something a little edgier, moody, with just a hint of steam but still really warm and natural. Luckily for me, these two fell right in and were super excited to help me out! In this session, I used a Moment Design method of special questions and interactions to draw out genuine emotions. There is nothing “set up” or posed about this method. All we had to do was find some beautiful light, and then I just helped them remember how amazing their connection already was… no posing required!

I’ll be offering sessions just like this one in 2016 called “Heart-Melt Sessions”. They are 1 hour “mini” sessions meant to capture all kinds of relationships in a unique and emotional way. Couples, parents & kiddos, best friends, generations, and whoever else you can think of. People have amazing beauty and stories inside of them and my goal is not to create these beautiful stories… but to find them.

A special thank you to these two lovebirds… such a hot couple ;D.

This summer I was blessed enough to help two amazing people capture one of the most special days of their lives! I love this couple. Their goals in this ceremony were to honor God and show their children how important it is to seek His will as a couple and as a family. The bride, groom, friends, and family all came together and made this wedding just so beautiful and meaningful. When two people honor God, love each other, and sacrifice for family, authentic loveliness just happens. Thank you much for letting me capture it! A little peek into this wonderful day…

A new location, of course, requires a test session. I love searching out locations by tone where all I see is light and color and infinite possibilities. We had a great time just meandering and exploring and B was looking too cool for school wearing my sunglasses. I love how her casual coolness and untidy curly windswept hair keep me on my photography toes and push my creative boundaries. Like a true photog-kid, she ignores almost all instructions I give her and just wants to simply be. It always stops me and reminds me that my job is never to create what is not there, but to find a way to show the beauty in what has already been created. She is my biggest inspiration!

Summer is winding down. At the end of the school year, a whole Summer seems so long. But every year when school starts again, we wonder where it went. I feel we got a lot in, more than other Summers. There were Popsicles, Looney Tunes, lots of sleeping in, and pool days. My kiddo would live at the pool if given the chance. At any time, in any weather, she wants to be there and wants us there with her. This year has been a little hotter than usual, so we’ve taken quite a few family night swim trips. It’s led up to a few really late nights, but what is Summer for anyways, right?  Next Summer she’ll be a whole year older… and the older she gets, I never know what’s going to stay. So I’m cherishing every bit of who she is right now, and right now going to the pool after dinner is one of the best things in the world. We’ll have to squeeze a few more in before Summer’s over <3 ]]> https://162.241.244.133/~heathhe6/night-swim/feed/ 0 https://162.241.244.133/~heathhe6/proud-auntie-2/ https://162.241.244.133/~heathhe6/proud-auntie-2/#respond Fri, 21 Aug 2015 18:17:30 +0000 http://www.heatherequitzphoto.com/?p=871 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

Hey peeps, this is my new little niece! Eeeeek!….. is she not the cutest?! I’m glad she took it easy on me, even though she was bright eyed and curious the whole time! I’ve never photographed a newborn before… but I can’t let all those miniature details go undocumented! I’m so blessed to be surrounded by beautiful kiddos to go all camera geek on ;D. Congrats sis and bro-in-law, she is just the sweetest!! ]]> https://162.241.244.133/~heathhe6/proud-auntie-2/feed/ 0 https://162.241.244.133/~heathhe6/arkansas-lake/ https://162.241.244.133/~heathhe6/arkansas-lake/#respond Tue, 21 Jul 2015 08:24:43 +0000 http://www.heatherequitzphoto.com/?p=679 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

Right before summer we took our summer vacay to go see my family out in Arkansas. Bridget’s first time on a plane (will post those pics later) and my first time back since I was 16! I don’t get to fraternize much with my awesome cousins, but sometimes there are families who make it easy to pick up right where you left off and these guys and their wives are just the best people ever. They were super generous with their time, it being during the work week and all. They took the time off work and drove us miles to go see all the beauty that this state has to offer. This day we stopped at Beaver lake and the little nature reserve there. It was so beautiful, lake water is different than ocean water in the way it looks and moves. I love the ocean, but I could see myself as more of a lake girl after this trip!

Almost done with this fun session! I am in love with all this joy and laughter, not to mention the fab party styling!

This is my dad, my sister, and I. When you ask me to think of a picture of us… this is the one I think of (I’m on the left). We are waiting on the curb of Main Street, Disneyland for a parade. We always had the good seats because dad always taught us that if we want the best seats in the house, we have to sacrifice for them. In this case sacrifice meant to sit and wait on a curb while other kids were riding rides. We did plenty of fun stuff and there was no lack of riding rides during the day, but there was a lesson learned while waiting for those parades. If you want something, you put in the “hours”.  My dad put in a lot of hours, learning and working his way from a trade mechanic to a programmer in the aerospace industry working both in firms and freelance… which he still does to this day. Even in the 80’s when the aerospace industry was suffering, he survived because he developed a niche for himself as being proficient in his trade. He always told me,

“Whoever and whatever you work for, you are in the business of you. (Your Name) incorporated. Build your business, make it successful, run it honestly, and whatever it’s job is… do it well.”.

Because this idea was seared into my brain since junior high, I’ve always felt I have the chance to do something, to make something, and be successful at it… as long as I am willing to put in the hours and dedicate it to God.

This is my dad now. As always, he has found a way to be successful and proficient running “his business” both professional and personal. This one is called John Gates, Wine Enthusiast and Foodie Incorporated. True to form, he put in the hours reading book after book of techniques and pairings and even got certified and is very successful at this hobby. But, also true to form, he found a way to run his business honestly by being true to who he is (which is different than anyone else). I love the pictures below because these are characteristic of my dad. On the left he is standing over the BBQ in bare feet, watching carefully and proudly over his new scientific method of getting the coals as hot as humanly possible which is way hotter than is probably necessary… but hey, whatever the job is, do it well right? On the right he is giving me a great piece of advice, which typically has a punchline.

The last picture is my favorite because it shows a little of his rebel story. My dad is missing a finger because of an accident in the work room in his mechanic days, but it has never stopped him from being the fastest typist I know and also a very efficient guitar player. With this hand he is testing the scorching heat of his experiment (because if it doesn’t burn him, it’s not hot enough?), and the other hand is holding a blowtorch (which I think says enough). This night he was searing steaks using both the charcoal and gas grill as well as all the info he has gathered about beef, wine, chemical fire, and how they work together. These are the most amazing steaks ever, much better that any high end a-la-carte restaurant. In the end, could he go to one of those restaurants and buy one? Yes.

But there is satisfaction in the task, putting in the hours, achieving the goal, blessing people, and learning something new.

This is a consistent pattern of how my dad operates and everyday examples like this show us how we run our business. Not only professionally, but personally as well. Are we willing to be responsible for ourselves? Are we willing to put in the hours it takes to not only build but maintain integrity? Are we willing to sacrifice our hours to learn to do our job well? I want to be willing to do these things whenever I set out to work. Whether it’s keeping a house, fixing dinner, being a mom, or capturing meaningful photos for clients. I want to represent God well and bring Him glory through my business, and I am grateful and blessed to have a great business model to work from: John Gates, Awesome Dad and Teacher by Example Incorporated.

Thanks Dad <3. Happy Fathers Day!!

Storytelling Sessions are all about capturing your favorite life moments and documenting your kids favorite activities, hobbies, and places is a great way to start.

This mom really wanted to capture something that her and her son love to do together, something that shows where her son is right now and what he loves. Most of the time when you tell kids that they are going to “get their picture taken” they groan because they know there’s going to be a lot of sitting, a lot of smiling, and a lot of “behaving”… with maybe a nice treat at the end. But these sessions are the opposite of that and they actually thrive on nurturing what is most important. This kiddo was ecstatic when I told him “If there’s something you love, or think is totally awesome let me know because I want to take a picture of it”. From that moment on he was excited to have me there and excited to show me how much he loves what he’s doing. He told me about the important parts of baseball and the things that make it fun. It’s like getting a peek into his future memories and 30 years from now they will still be the same. He will be able to look back and see what was important to him in a way that triggers a flood of memories… the smell of grass, morning air, a baseball glove, the prize in a bag of Cracker Jacks.

His mom got an inside glimpse of what it’s like to see things through his eyes and just how much of a positive impact these “normal everydays” are making on him. Those times together encouraging him, rooting for him, helping him to be his very best… it’s because they are normal and everyday that makes them such a huge impact. Never take for granted what you do with your kids everyday, because these are the things that will help shape them. They will hold on to these memories and see that you were there right beside them. Capture your story and be present in it.

This man did this…

to help me have this.

Thank you, Unknown Soldier for your sacrifice. I am grateful for what I have.