7 states in 20 days: travel || dallas, tx engagement & wedding photographer

A few weeks ago my family took the longest vacation ever known in the history of man (or maybe just the longest one we've ever taken. ever.)  Over 20 days we drove across 7 states, made 2 emergency room visits, hiked + camped in sunshine AND rain, saw the grand canyon for the first time, heard the mormon tabernacle choir in concert, came within about 20ft of a bull elk, and spent an inordinate amount of quality time with each other in the car.  You know, just normal family vacation types of things. From the mountain tops to the flat desert, to the ocean and the tops of the Grand Canyon every single bit of it was an incredible testimony to the creativity of our Creator.  It was lovely, and I came away from the trip with the happiest memories, and some of my favorite travel pictures I've ever taken.  Enjoy. Winter Park, Colorado

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah



Salt Lake City, Utah
Tahoe, California

San Francisco, California














Grand Canyon, Arizona







Much Love, Jessica Shae

pause: personal || dallas, tx engagement & wedding photographer

Last fall, God gave me this weekend.  It was a pause, a breath in the midst of a very busy, ever changing time of life.  It was just one day really, one day of soaking in all the little moments.  Of noticing the changing leaves, loving how the chilled autumn wind made my nose red and my cheeks flushed, and relishing how lovely it felt to have my chilled fingers wrapped around my tall pumpkin spice latte.  And  at the end of the day sitting cozily by the fireplace in Panera eating soup from a bread bowl while enjoying the company of a dear friend.  I remember so much about those moments, even though it happend more than 365 days ago.

I thrive on action, deadlines, work under pressure, and I love living life fast.  I have a hard time saying no to people or projects, which means that life is usually very full if I have any say in the matter.  So breaks are not usually something that I schedule.  But thankfully, God in His infinite wisdom usually schedules them in for me :)  They're usually unexpected, and at a time that I would probably be thinking I should be doing something else.

So right in the middle of last weekend, which was promising to be the busiest weekend of this year, I had a 4 hour break.  I was in Denver for about 2 & 1/2 days, and in those days I had 2 portrait sessions and a wedding to shoot.  After breakfast with two friends on Friday morning I realized that I had about 4 hours before I needed to head to my first portrait session.  I had the option of finding the closest starbucks and trying to get some editing done, or, taking off into the mountains in my jeep wrangler that the rental company had so kindly given me as a free upgrade :)

And so I decided without really knowing where I was going, that I was going to the mountains.  I just drove, and took whichever roads looked the cutest.  (Yes I just said that.)  I rolled the windows down and let the wind make an absolute mess of my hair.  I sang along to country music, and talked to God about lots of different things.  I pulled my car over on the side of the road at random points whenever I saw something that needed to be photographed.  I had lunch at an adorable little bistro in some mountain town, sitting on their outside patio enjoying the sunshine and the sound of the happy little stream that ran alongside the restaurant.

During lunch I wished that I had thought to bring my journal with me, but then realized that it was nice to have nothing to do.  Not even journaling.  And after 4 short hours it was time to head back down to Denver, and jump into non-stop weekend made up of 2 portrait sessions, a rehearsal, a 12 hour, verrrry cold, beautiful wedding, church with friends, and then a flight back home.

And as much as I would hardly ever choose them for myself...I'm so grateful for pauses that allow me to rest, and help me to realize that sometimes a life lived slow is so much sweeter than a life that is constantly rushing to the next thing.

Much Love.
Jessica Shae

Peter & Meredith: preview || castle rock, co engagement & wedding photographer

10.8.11 || castle rock, colorado

More coming soon!

Much Love.
Jessica Shae

Summertime is for... {dallas, tx engagement & wedding photographer}

. . .going away.

I'm sitting in Starbucks right now typing this up, looking out the window at a gorgeous view of the Rocky Mountains.  I rode my bike here about 30 minutes ago in the 58 degree weather, the whole time riding alongside a happily gurgling river.

My family is taking our first real family vacation in yeeaaarrs this week and it's the happiest thing.

They headed up to Vail, Colorado last Thursday and I flew up to meet up with them Saturday after finishing up my internship.  We're here until Saturday and it's going to be a week full of reading, journaling, hiking, biking, movie watching, sweatpants and hoodies, no make-up and messy buns, and lots of memory making.

I'm so grateful for a week to stop all the normal day-to-day activities, a week of no editing, or emailing, or (after this!) blogging.  So now you know why things will be a little quiet around here for a while, I'll be back refreshed and ready to jump back into normal life in about a week!

Much Love.

Jessica Shae

Tom & Ashley: wedding {three trees chapel, co wedding photographer}

Settle in folks, because it's story time.

Tom and Ashley's wedding is probably the most personal wedding I've ever shot...

so you get an equally personal story to go along with it.

I was 12 & 1/2 almost exactly the day I met Ashley.  It was my first "job interview" and I was super nervous.  She ran a greeting card company out of her home and was looking for someone to come over a few afternoons a week to help her with parts of the business.  She hired me on the spot that day and what started out as about 12-15 hrs a week sitting at her kitchen table stuffing envelopes and hot glueing  buttons + sequins onto the front of cards, turned into 5 years of helping design, create, and ship out some of the most intricate expensive greeting cards you've ever seen.

It was during those 5 years that Ashley lost her husband through a set of very unexpected and horribly painful circumstances.  And because I was working with her out of her home 3-5 days a week I was there to see alot of the very personal side effects of what happened.  And while it was one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen, it was also one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed.  I watched as Ashley's mostly happy "normal" life was turned upside down in one day's time, I watched her go from being a wife, to being single, from being a co-parent, to parenting alone, I watched her go from running her home business as a side business, to making it full time (while homeschooling two children) because it had suddenly become her only income...

But most importantly I watched as Ashley, through many tears and much heartbreak, never stopped trusting that the God who had ordained that she walk through this, had a limitless supply of the grace needed to walk through it with integrity.

Fast forward 5 years to about 8 months ago when I started hearing + seeing things on facebook about this handsome guy named Tom that was slowly becoming a part of Ashley's life.  I remember being oh so happy for her and then when they announced they were engaged I definitely did a little bit of happy crying for her.

Tom lost his wife a few years ago as well and the pastor at the wedding spoke on the story of Ruth and Boaz, because of how meaningful it was to Tom & Ashley.  A story of loss and heartbreak, but also of healing and redemption, and of loving a second time--so similar to their story.  After hearing how God has brought each of them through such heart wrenching circumstances and, as they put it, turned the painful into beautiful, I counted it an extreme honor to be able to document their day of joy.  Thank you both for allowing me to be there for such a precious happy day in your lives, blessings on this fresh new start God has given you together!

Much Love.

Jessica Shae