Anne thoughts: personal || dallas, tx engagement & wedding photographer

[…Overhead was one long canopy of snowy fragrant bloom. Below the boughs the air was full of a purple twilight and far ahead a glimpse of painted sunset sky shone like a great rose window at the end of a cathedral aisle.

It's beauty seemed to strike the child dumb. She leaned back in the buggy, her thin hands clasped before her, her face lifted rapturously to the white splendor above. Even when they had passed out and were driving down the long slope to Newbridge she never moved or spoke. Still with rapt face she gazed afar into the sunset west, with eyes that saw visions trooping splendidly across that glowing background.  …When three more miles had dropped away behind them the child had not spoken. She could keep silence, it was evident, as energetically as she could talk.

…She came out of her reverie with a deep sigh and looked at him with the dreamy gaze of a soul that had been wondering afar, star-led.

"Oh, Mr. Cuthbert," she whispered, "that place we came through--that white place--what was it?"

"Well now, you must mean the Avenue," said Matthew after a few moments' profound reflection. "It is a kind of pretty place."

"Pretty? Oh, pretty doesn't seem the right word to use. Nor beautiful, either. They don't go far enough. Oh, it was wonderful--wonderful. It's the first thing I ever saw that couldn't be improved upon by imagination.  It just satisfies me here"--she put one hand on her breast--"it made a queer funny ache and yet it was a pleasant ache.]

(excerpt taken from "Anne of Green Gables")

It was dusk, my absolute favorite time of day and as I drove past this stunning scenery I knew I had no option other than to stop enjoy the view that was before me.  Or, to use another Anne phrase I needed to "drink deep of the enchantment of the dusk."  The scene was nothing extraordinary, but the cotton candy clouds reflecting on the water that was quietly rippling from the ducks that had just landed, the soft grass and tall reeds waving gently in the breeze, combined to created a scene that took my breath away and gave me a "queer, pleasant ache" inside.

Beauty is such a funny subject to muse on...while there are some things that most anyone will agree are beautiful, other things are a little more subjective, and left up to the viewers opinion.  As a photographer, and consequently as an artist, beauty is something I'm forever chasing, and quickly learning that it's a lot easier to find than some may believe.  The Creator of the universe is not stingy with the way He has enveloped the world around us with extraordinary beauty.  When you finally start to notice and can see the beauty in what is often categorized as ordinary--in the face of your Target cashier with a weary smile, or in the way the afternoon light slants across the floor through the blinds, in soft breezes dancing through the grass or rain sliding down your window, a little boys grubby face, and everyday sunsets--life becomes a scavenger hunt of sorts, with beautiful discoveries waiting to be noticed wherever you look.

I took the picture above with my iPhone, it's poor quality and it will never be a huge print on my wall, but it's a favorite because every time I see it I get that same queer little ache remembering the beauty of that sunset.

Much Love,

Jessica Shae