BE Photography

Libby | Melissa High School | Senior 2013

2013-05-22T17:38:00.000-05:00

So, I literally remember when Libby was born. Well, maybe not the moment she was born...but I do remember talking to her cousin about the new baby who would be born and take all the cuteness and attention in the family! Crazy, right?! Gah, I'm getting old. But I digress.

Libby is a beautiful senior, and the oldest sister in a wonderful family. I was so excited to get to hang out with Libby and her momma on an incredibly windy day here in north Texas. Speaking of North Texas, that's the university Libby will be attending in the fall! See how I did that? SMOOTH.

Anyhow. Here's Libby!

xoxo Bec

Baleigh | Senior 2013

2013-05-12T18:24:00.000-05:00

Baleigh is a champ. She and her mother met me at 7am to take these photos--just a couple hours before she left to go to the state track meet on a school trip! Talk about an easy going, fun-loving girl who doesn't stress about the small stuff. I'm grateful I was given the opportunity to photograph this gorgeous girl--and be looking for her in the future, because I have got to get this beautiful face to model for me a little more.

xoxo Bec

Katlyn | Senior 2013

2013-05-12T18:08:00.002-05:00

My favorite perk of teaching older kiddos is when I get to see them graduate so soon after having them in my classroom. It really just was a couple years ago that Katlyn was a sweet, quiet girl in my English class, and now here she is, an almost-graduate who is trying to choose which softball scholarship she wants to take. What. a. lady.

Here's Katlyn--a classy, smart girl with the sweetest laugh in the world. I'm so proud of you, girl! I can't imagine how proud your family must be.

xoxo Bec

Laura and Glennis

2013-05-11T16:57:00.001-05:00

Laura's mom (and Glennis' host mom!) helped Jeff and me buy our very first home a few months ago (photos coming soon-ish), and so I was so glad when I was allowed the opportunity to say thank you with a few photos for two of her three girls.

Glennis is an exchange student from Ghana (West Africa), and she's gearing up to graduate (again, she already graduated at home) here in a few weeks. She said her mother is coming for graduation!! If she loves her momma half as much as I do, she must not be able to sleep at night for all the excitement!

Laura works three (COUNT 'EM, THREE!) jobs around our sweet little hometown, and I had so much fun chatting with her while we she smiled so pretty for me. Isn't this girl beautiful?! I just know she is a joy to all who meet her.

Here are these two lovely sisters.

xoxo Bec

That explains everything.

2013-05-07T22:00:00.002-05:00

Once, several years ago, when I was just starting out my writing career, I was asked to write my own contributor’s note for an anthology I was part of. I wrote: “I am the only daughter in a family of six sons. That explains everything.”

Those are the opening sentences of Sandra Cisneros' Only Daughter, a piece we read yesterday in class. She goes on to highlight the dynamics of her childhood Mexican-American household, where she was loved and cherished but not a son. She was the only daughter, and only a daughter. Today we did a simple follow-up worksheet that, hopefully, required more thinking than remembering, if you know what I mean.

Question number seven asked what one, or two, sentences, "explain everything." Here are a few responses I read.

I am the social hermit in an outgoing family. That explains everything.

I am an only child and I’m adopted. That explains everything.

Honestly, I’m trying to figure this out. God has a plan. Everything will pan out. That explains everything.

I am a middle child in a broken and pieced together home. That explains everything.

I am the eldest child in a broken family. That explains everything.

I am not like everyone else; I see and feel and think things differently. This is the answer to everything. I have always felt like I wasn't like everyone else. That explains everything.

I am the youngest in a family of three. The youngest’s opinion isn't always taken into account. That explains everything.

I am the second child of four, but talent went to the other three. That explains everything.

I am the second oldest son, underneath a drug addict brother. I have to be who he wasn't. That explains everything.

I am one Smith amongst two Johnson daughters, because I don’t live with either of my biological parents. That explains everything.

I am who I am because of me. My mom and dad thought drugs were more important than me. My sisters soon followed suit. But I couldn’t. That explains everything.

Geersh I love my babies. Even if I'm stress eating because of them. I simultaneously hate and appreciate the pain they are going through--the pain they share with me, and all the everything-and-so-much they hide. I hate it because there's a part of me that thinks they don't deserve it. I appreciate it because I know there is an element of hardness that is essential to navigating adulthood, and hardness comes via experience. I hate it because I am scared of just how hard they might become. I appreciate it because I know they will be able to love others through the same struggles. And so closes a Tuesday. Caught somewhere between beauty and pain and exhaustion and the deep-down feeling that this job still matters.

Also, for once, I hope that the papers I picked up, incomplete off the floor, were tossed there due to laziness, rather than avoidance.

xoxo Bec

Sweet Girls | Surprise Gift

2013-04-29T22:32:00.000-05:00

I went to high school with the momma of these two cutie pies, and I had such a great time getting together with them as they did a mini photo shoot as a surprise birthday gift for their daddy, who is active military. I am so excited and proud to have the opportunity to capture a moment in the lives of these sisters. Time flies, and sometimes photos are the sweetest reminders we have of how things once were.

If you recognize these babes, shhhhh!!! Don't tell! :)

xoxo Bec

Mary | Senior 2013

2013-04-28T18:29:00.000-05:00

I have to admit...at one point in this photo session, I got so excited that I burst into a weird dance-high walk-something that was probably more embarrassing than most of my behaviors...which is saying something. But GUYS. This session with my dear friend Mary was absolutely phenomenal. Please share your love with this wonderful senior who is getting ready to head to ITALY through the Rotary Exchange program! Can you believe it?! In the fall she will enroll as a senior in a high school somewhere in beautiful Italy, and I cannot wait to hear what kind of adventures she has.

Heeeere's Mary!

xoxo Bec

Bowman | First Birthday

2013-04-23T23:17:00.001-05:00

I have loved Bowman's parents for as long as I've known them--I think we're quickly approaching a decade!--and my goodness gracious, that affection has definitely duplicated itself with this sweetheart of a little boy! When we all met up for these photos, Bo was asleep in the car. His dad pulled him out of the car seat, and I gave him a little double-hand-wave as he woke up. THAT LITTLE BOY REACHED FOR ME and let me hold him for AT LEAST THREE OR FOUR SECONDS (before he realized what he had done and dove back for his dad). We are best friends.

Happy birthday, big guy!

xoxo Bec

SMU Belle Tones

2013-04-16T22:33:00.002-05:00

Confession.

I'm in love.

Seriously. This is the second year I've been able to photograph these phenomenal young women, and I LOVE THEM I WILL SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS.

Here is a video I shot at the end, as these ladies were sweet enough to sing me a song or two. Please admire the music rather than critiquing the skills of the videographer!

This is a first-round, way-too-late-but-I'm-excited, there's-more-to-come draft. We kick it off with a few girls who wanted head shots, and then take it to the house with a few fun group shots. Enjoy!

xoxo Bec

Morgan | Senior 2013

2013-04-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

Well, some people just get all the good looks, now don't they?

Morgan is a senior at the high school I happened to graduate from (go dogs!), and I was so excited when she approached me about taking her senior portraits. This is what I knew about her at the time: she's as cute as a button, she's ridiculously athletic, and she's always down for a good time.

After spending an hour or two with Morgan and her mom, I found out I was definitely right! Bonus: she has such a fun sense of style! This girl is a gem and I am so excited to see where, and what (that's right, she has options!) she decides to play in college.

xoxo Bec

Summer | Senior 2013

2013-04-08T23:45:00.000-05:00

So...you're not going to believe me when I say this lady is a senior in high school, not college. Seriously. High school. Eighteen. Believe it. Isn't Summer such a natural beauty? I really enjoyed hanging out with her and her mother as we explored the area around our new house (that's right, we moved!). They trusted my judgement and we laughed a lot, which always leads to great photos! ...well, that and sweetheart seniors with super cute puppies!

Enjoy!

xoxo Bec

Magnificent

2013-04-04T15:25:00.002-05:00

I'm a late bloomer, I've decided. I didn't struggle with acne, body image issues, or peer pressure until mid-college. SUPER DUPER. Love it.

And, by the way, I'm still in the middle of all three of those issues, plus a few extra. Anyone else out there?! Surely I'm not alone.

So, acne. It sucks. Let's move on.

Body image. I know I'm made in God's image. I know my body is a temple. I know several things taste better than skinny feels. I know discipline feels just about as good. I'm actually in a pretty positive phase of this issue. This category is okay for right now.

But peer pressure. Or rather, the pressure to please the peers. And superiors. And underlings (that's what my students are getting called today. It's a testing day. I'm cranky. :). Sitting in my classroom today, in three or four hours of utter silence, watching my precious underlings test their little brains out, ol' Satan had a chance or two to tug on my ear and whisper stupid, horrid lies that seemed a lot like the truth.

You took 14 minutes on a 10 minute break. They'll talk about you for that, for sure. The principal will probably hear, and start to doubt your professionalism.

You should be a better teacher by now. Why are you still making rookie mistakes? Everyone else is near-perfect. You should be even better than that. You're an embarrassment.

You should be able to control your student's behavior better than this.

Why haven't you gotten the house packed up yet? You know you want to paint and everything. You've had time. Now it's never going to work.

You need to help your mom and dad more. Their frustrations and scheduling issues could be fixed if you were more available.

You're the only one of your adult siblings who hasn't visited your grandparents since the accident. Way to go, super girl.

Why don't you call your long-distance friends more often? And siblings? You're the weak link.

UGLY. Disgusting. That's how I felt.

And then, like a storm's first rushing wind, came the lyrics from the song a dear friend sang at our wedding:

Give me one pure and holy passion/
give me one magnificent obsession/
Lord, give me one glorious ambition for my life/
to know and follow hard after You.

And I remembered...I have responsibilities. I have the ability to be successful. I have a job to do and relationships to keep up and students to ~~boss around~~ teach. But all those tasks and jobs and whathaveyou are merely elements of a greater journey, and in that one, there is only One to please. If a coworker or friend or anyone else is displeased with me, I need to balance that against what, and who, my Lord has called me to be. If those two opinions are in line, then I have some corrections to make. But if they are different, I need to go with the Opinion that matters.

That's all I've got to say about that. Thank you for tuning into my daily therapy.

xoxo Bec

Rose | Senior 2013

2013-04-01T17:05:00.000-05:00

This girl. THIS girl. This girl has shown her true colors over the last year and a half--the only time I've known her--and let me tell you. These colors are radiant.

For me, she is friend, sister, and inspiration all wrapped up in one cute little package. Talk about someone who is willing to sacrifice herself for what she believes. Her story is far from mine to tell, but the bits I know are intoxicating. She has worked her little booty off this year in order to graduate early, and we cannot wait to celebrate, along with the rest of her families, that day. She deserves every good thing that comes her way.

Here's Rose. Isn't she lovely?

xoxo Bec

Cassey

2013-03-28T23:31:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, we just need to remember who we are, today. Dog bites and long legs and all. So when you need to do that...please call me. Like Cassey did. :)

xoxo Bec

Admitting my weaknesses

2013-03-26T11:03:00.000-05:00

So. My first post on this blog was in the fall of 2010, about two and a half years ago. This is the first photo I ever put up:

Let's please take a minute to celebrate Carrie's beauty and ADORABLE STAR TATTOOS. I love this girl; she is gold.

Let's also take a minute to be thankful for the fact that through no talent or magic of my own, I have gotten a little bit better at taking portraits. Here's one I posted recently I'm particularly proud of:

Eden is devastating and beautiful, yes? Yes. This photo is not perfect. I would like for her face to be lighter. I would like a little more softness. But I love, love, love this, because Eden is devastating and beautiful.

Let me lay out for you a few things I've learned in the past few years.

1. How to work my camera. We're talking ISO, aperture, shutter speed, white balance. I have more to learn, but the "no flash" setting on my camera hasn't been used in ages, and I'm very glad about that.

2. How to make photos bigger on my blog. May not sound like a big deal, but I much prefer it. So there.

3. Posing. Still not perfect, but we're talking major improvement.

4. Patience. Not worrying while I'm working. Enjoying myself. How to give immediate, encouraging feedback.

5. A little bit about marketing, and what battle is worth fighting. I work with high schoolers every day. You'd think it'd be super easy to recruit for senior portraits. HEY GUESS WHAT THAT'S ILLEGAL. Totally can't use my position to pressure kids into hiring me. Major bummer.

So, that's good news and all. Very practical. But here's what I want to learn.

1. Art

2. Balance between deep color and minimized contrast

3. How to market for the kind of models I want. I want to shoot families, babies, couples, etc. It's fun and I love getting to celebrate life with you folks. But I live for high school seniors. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. And it'll probably change. But right now, I love those seniors.

I also have a confession: I am not a natural artist. I have to work pretty hard at this. I bust my tail to do what others seem to do effortlessly. I've gotten to the point where I can be consistent with simple, straightforward work, but try as I might, I do not naturally think like an artist. But I want to. And I think it's something that, to an extent, can be learned.

I'll tell you what I am fairly natural with--people. My first major was human relations. I changed quickly when I realized what that actually meant. In retrospect, I meant to sign up for sociology. That's what I thought human relations would be. ANH, wrong! It all worked out though, and I have plenty of relationships with humans as a teacher. Puh-lenty. But anyways, I like making people laugh and think and feel good. So that's something I bring to the table with photography, with teaching, with friendship. I am so not perfect. So so not. But I do have a natural bent towards desiring the best out of myself and wanting more. In other categories, it's easy for me to get lazy and decide "this light will do," or "that's pretty much the pose I wanted," or whatever, but if I sense that someone isn't more comfortable, genuine, empowered, courageous while they are with me, I am distracted and disappointed, and work for something better. I worry about how people feel because of me. My job is to turn that worry into productivity and betterment, and I am satisfied in that work.

But what about the art? What about the natural bend of a woman's arm, the side-smile of a cocky teenage boy? The difference between eyes up and eyes down? The difference between looking at the camera and looking into the camera? That's hard for me. And it's hard for me to admit my weaknesses.

So. I guess there's always work to do.

New Years resolutions a little late, I guess.

xoxo Bec

Luke | Tom Bean Senior

2013-03-16T12:14:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I realized that I really needed to find a young man or two to help expand the masculine side of my portfolio. I put out a Facebook call for help, and boy are my friends wonderful! Luke's mom contacted me via a recommendation by a shared friend. Let me tell you--this was perfect. Exactly who I needed, exactly what I had hoped for. Luke and his mom were fun and easy to work with, and I think the relaxed atmosphere is evident in Luke's face.

Mommas, please take the time to have great senior photos taken of your boys! I know they don't get as excited about it as your girls do, but if you find the right photographer (who can help facilitate an easy-going atmosphere), the result will be permanency in your memories. This is a precious time of life--don't let it go by undocumented.

Alright. Speech over. :) Here's Luke.

And of course, one with Mom!

xoxo Bec

Nothing tastes as good as oppression feels

2013-03-11T11:35:00.001-05:00

Where is the line between discipline and obedience?

Have control of your life. Diet, you western-hemisphered woman. Your self-expectations are the most important. Second only to your ability to react to silent, screaming critique. DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? WHAT CAN YOU DEMAND OF YOURSELF? You are beautiful the way you could be in just a few weeks! Nothing tastes as good as oppression feels!

What's the balance between beauty and humility?

"You're beautiful."
"Thank you."
*prideful monster*

What time do we celebrate, in comparison to a lifestyle of self-sacrifice? When do we acknowledge the wreck that is earth? When do we vomit our pain for our friends to see? Why shouldn't we smile gently and fight ruthlessly? When do we stop to breathe? Who decides what we battle against, and for? Who determines the spoils of victory?

Which will give?

Eden | Senior 2013

2013-02-26T20:56:00.000-06:00

I have been waiting for this session since last summer. We waited for Eden to get her braces off, then we waited for the weather to get better, then we waited for my sister (her future sister-in-law) to find a wedding dress...

and here we are.

And the wait was worth it. Here's Eden.

Masterful hair and makeup by Tara O'Bannon
Dresses accumulated from Etsy and Buffalo Exchange. Contact me if you would like to rent one for prom!

xoxo Bec

Risk-taking and Cinderella

2013-02-24T20:20:00.000-06:00

So I saw this little gem the other day on Pinterest:

(from here)

...and so we went for it. Here's a little preview of my time with Eden yesterday. We shot a couple weeks ago too...and I'm really excited about the whole collection.

More to come soon, my little pretties!
xoxo Bec

Tate

2013-02-20T20:30:00.000-06:00

Almost exactly a year ago, this little guy set up shop here in this world, and hasn't looked back since. My sister is his almost-aunt (wedding this summer, folks!), and so through that connection, I've been able to watch this little boy grow and grunt and cuddle his way into the hearts of his family and all those he meets. I know God has a plan for every single life, but I know that I know that I KNOW that this boy will move mountains. Watch and see. God's faithfulness is in every part of this cuddle bug's story.

xoxo Bec

Jenny and Tye

2013-02-12T14:26:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I get nervous when I hear of couples who move quickly from dating to engagement to marriage. Speedy wasn't our style. I don't think it's bad, it's just hard for me to wrap my mind around. Of course, my understanding is certainly not the standard for differentiating between good and bad ideas. I just love that a relationship that lives in the "dating" phase for a couple years provides plenty of time for natural adversity and struggle (inevitable. it's just a matter of when), and there's no legal commitment to stay together. It's a choice.

My sweet sister Jenny and her fiance Tye have had an even longer dating relationship than Jeff and I did, and I can see how the Lord has had His hand all over that. They've seen each other through educational decisions, job changes, huge family changes on both sides, moves, and much more. Times have been so, so good for these two, even if their circumstances haven't always been easy. God must have been preparing them for something truly wonderful in their marriage, and I can't wait to be privy to their story.

If I've done half the job I'm supposed to, I'm pretty sure that love and goo will just ooze out of these photos at ya. :) Enjoy.

xoxo Bec

Baker

2013-02-11T18:39:00.000-06:00

Okay, so every baby is a miracle, right? Actually...by some definitions, no. Which is a little distressing to admit. BUT, stick with me. If a miracle is supposed to be a surprise and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws, then we should all be thankful for children who enter our lives in a non-miraculous manner.

I'm sure Megan and Austin would have, on one hand, much preferred that sweet Baker would have come about in a more natural or scientifically acceptable manner, but on the other hand...a little baby who comes despite the odds and strikes against him, but obviously through the divine gifting of the Lord...who could ask for more?

Meet Baker. He is absolutely a dream.

xoxo Bec

Baby Fulcher

2013-02-04T09:42:00.000-06:00

Super Bowl Sunday was absolutely super for me, as I was able to spend my early afternoon with this beautiful new family! I normally have a firm rule against working on Sundays...but to make this happen...heck yeah. I can be flexible.

These folks drove in from across the metroplex and graced our little household with their sweet presense. I was so glad to see an Aggie friend and meet the two men in her life. Enjoy!

xoxo Bec

Eden: A Process

2013-01-23T22:31:00.000-06:00

Now, I'm not so sure Eden is a process. She seems pretty well settled into her awesome self. Rather, this project is a process, and these photos represent phase one.

To introduce Eden, I'll start by saying that I consider three people to be the standard of my improvement as a photographer. Two are my sweet baby cousins, Miles and Oliver. I've been photographing them since their wee infant days, and though their cuteness defies impossibility and increases exponentially every day, I feel like my growth as a photographer (albiet more slow!) tracks alongside them a bit.

The other person by whom I can measure myself (check out the grammar in this sentence!) is dear, sweet Eden. This is the third time I've photographed her, and my oh my, I am so grateful and humbled for the chance to prove to myself that I really am improving. Eden is genuinely one of the most beautiful women I know, and she has been so sweet as to model for me a few times. I feel like her natural beauty and organic soul are more obvious in this shoot than ever--which, to me, indicates that I'm growing in the right direction.

Eden is a SENIOR! now, and this is phase one of her senior portraits. We were going for romance with these. The future will be a bit more edgy. :) Stay tuned.

dress: vintage, Buffalo Exchange, Chicago
flowers: Jan Barstad
hair/makeup: Eden Carter

xoxo Bec

Eden

2013-01-19T18:33:00.001-06:00

In a world that is so full of disappointment and dread and hurt, I am so grateful for moments like these.

“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, “Dear Jim: I loved your card.” Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, “Jim loved your card so much he ate it.” That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”
― Maurice Sendak

More to come. I'm dying of happiness, so it may be a little while.

xoxo Bec