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

. . .Color.

And lots of it, please.

You don't really have to pick a favorite color during Summer.  At least not according to my "Rules of Summer."

(Yes, there really are such rules, maybe it's just in my head, but they are definitely there ;)

Love them all, wear them all, and if you can't pick just one color to paint your nails, then pick 5, or 10! ;)

Any of you gals have fun "summer nail" ideas??  I'm looking for creativity here. . .send me a picture or post a link to one in the comments! ;)

Much Love.

Jessica Shae

Music Love: contest {dallas, tx engagement & wedding photographer}

"Just whistle while you work

Put on that grin and start right in to whistle long and loud

So hum a merry tune

Just do your best and take a rest and hum a merry song."

| whistle while you work - snow white |

I feel like I will forever be behind on the learning curve of music. Brooke Fraser's been cool for. . .how many years now? And I just fell in love with her wonderful music about a month ago. But no matter how late I am to the party, finding new music I like is always a happy little surprise. I love Pandora for that very reason, I'm constantly being introduced to new artists or songs in my favorite genres while listening to my Pandora radio stations :) I have different kinds of music for different parts of the day or my different moods :) I have "early morning I just woke up music" "blog writing" music, "midday pick me up party" music, and "time for bed" music. I loooove country music, acoustic guitar, piano, folk, indie, and a lot of stuff in between ;)

So this is where you come in. I need some new music to inspire me as I work like crazy over the next few weeks trying to get my blog/website finished, and I want to hear from YOU as to what music you're enjoying these days. So part 2 of the contest is you posting a link to the youtube video in the comments or just tell me the title of your current favorite tunes ;) Aaaaand, whoever posts the song that becomes my new favorite wins an itunes gift card!

And I thought I'd share a few of my current fav's that I've been enjoying the past few weeks :)

One of my last interns introduced me to Jillian Edwards and I absolutely adore all her music.

She doesn't have much on youtube, but you can find a lot of her music on itunes.

Mk...I haven't bought this song yet, just so I can still get really excited every time it comes on the radio.

Def my fav country song right now.

Andrew Peterson is another new find of mine, and I really had a hard time decided which one of his songs to post, he has so many good ones, but this is the one that I listen to at least once a day...sometimes more like 3-4 times a day ;)

This one just makes me smile :)

So go for it my friends. I need a few new happy working songs to add to my repertoire, can't wait to hear what you've got! ;) And if you want to get in on the beginning of the contest go here to check out my last blog post!

Much Love.

Jessica Shae

Josiah & Lauren: engaged {wake forest, NC engagement & wedding photographer}

"Carolina girls, sweet southern pearlsYou're so fine, girl you're one of a kindSweet Carolina girls"| carolina girls |



Lauren, is the essence of a sweet Carolina girl ;) I met her when I was living and working in Chicago a few years ago, and her love of all things pink, pearls, and southern, made me looooove her oh so much. She grew up in N. Carolina, and her love of the South runs very deep (don't get her started on the war between the states, and what it was really about...) and I've never met someone who fits the term "southern belle" so well ;) But this story is about more than just adorable Lauren, Josiah plays a pretty big part in it as well.
I actually met Josiah the same weekend Lauren did. We were going ski-ing with a big group of people and Josiah was there as a friend of a friend kinda thing... And I just have to say, I called it! Josiah seemed pretty interested in Lauren all weekend long, talking to her, sitting next to her, riding up on the ski lift with her, aaand cute little Lauren was pretty oblivious to it all. Towards the end of the weekend I said something to her about all the attention Josiah was showing her, and she got this confused little blushing look on her face and was quick to reassure me that she was sure he just saw her as a friend, and she enjoyed talking to him.
I smiled, and then waited for the news (that I was sure was going to come) that they were "a couple". And just a few months later I found out that they'd been "getting to know each other better" for the past few months, and then officially become a couple that Summer. That winter they were engaged and started planning their beautiful beach wedding for that Summer. Lauren actually asked me to sing at her wedding but also asked that I come in a few days early to shoot some engagement pictures for them, because they hadn't had time to do them before then.
So yes, I actually shot these last June, and yes, I realize it's terrible I'm just now posting them :P Last Summer was curaaazy, I traveled a ton, shot a ton, and tried to keep up with blogging about all of it, but wasn't always successful. And the other day I realized that I hadn't ever shared these with y'all and they are definitely to beautiful NOT to be shared, even if they are about 8 months late ;)
We did their engagement session on the grounds of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where Josiah proposed to Lauren, and where Josiah planned to go to Seminary. The grounds were gooorgeous, and I could have shot there all day.


Isn't she stunning!?



Right where he proposed.




















I looooved their outfits that Lauren so carefully planned. Seersucker pants and sperrys for her man, pearls and pinks rose for her. Classy classy.









I have favorite things about each couple that I shoot, and I love getting to watch how different personalities play into how people relate to each other, and how they show love. And my favorite thing about Josiah and Lauren is how gentle and attentive Josiah is to her. He's her protector and quite obviously loves her so much, and she adores him ;)






And we'll end with my favorite shot of the day, hello fairytale love ;)



p.s. Josiah and Lauren just announced that they're expecting a little addition to their family this fall!That makes 6 couples that I shot last year who are expecting, soooo happy for all of them!


Much Love,Jessica Shae

Flip-flops: personal {dallas, tx engagement & wedding photographer}

When I was little I told my parents that sometimes I woke up with flip-flops in my stomach, and it meant that something exciting was going to happen that day. Usually it was something I already knew about so I woke up expecting the happiness that was coming that day. But sometimes I would wake up with "flip-flops" in my tummy when nothing exciting was planned. . .and announce to mom that "something exciting is going to happen today!" And I firmly believed that my stomach knew something that I didn't. . .and waited expectantly all day for the "exciting" thing to come along.

Confession: I still wake up with "flip-flops" in my tummy.

But this morning I knew what they were about, internship week #2 starts today! It was a mixture of excitement and "Oh My Lands, I hope I can think of something to teach them this week!!" Haha, I kid I kid. . .kinda ;) I definitely have things to teach them, I just hope I can make it come out in co-herent thoughts ;) Hannah flew in from Washington State last night, and Jayne drove in this morning from College Station, TX. . .time to get the party started!

I bought some flowers to brighten up the Jessica Shae office/brainstorming room.


We started off with yum food. so SO important ;)


My desk is on it's best behavior...


We'll be having story time with Jessica later on ;)


It's supposed to be in the upper 70's/mid 80's all week. WElCOME SUMMER!(yeah, forget spring, we're just jumping right into summer;)


Starting things off with a little Brooke Fraser, she's my new find, (I know, so behind the times;) and her song "Love is Waiting" SO BRILLIANT.


Oh, hot pink socks with rolled up skinny jeans...to impress my interns with my awesome fashion style ;)


Me, and my flip-flopping tummy.



Ohhhhh, it's going to be a funnnn week!
Much Love.

Jessica Shae

Intern week #1: recap {dallas, tx engagement and wedding photographer}

Ahhh...at last a post about my darling interns ;)

It's been two weeks since these four darling people left me, and it feels like just yesterday they were all crammed into my little office/room with laptops and cameras. They came with 101 questions, and with so much creativity, ideas, hopes, dreams and goals that I wanted to bottle it up and keep it on my desk for mornings when I wake up and feel absolutely none of that at all. And now it's less than two weeks before the next batch gets here, and then two weeks later, my next group! Interns are soooo fun! ;)
I have to admit was kind of nervous about this week. I had a general idea of how I wanted the week to go, what we were going to cover, and what I wanted to accomplish, but ultimately, I'd never done this before, so I had no clue what to expect :) And lemme tell ya, these girls were the best guniea pigs everrrr!!!And we had SO much fun.If you haven't watched our intern video yet, please gooooo do that right now, because it is pretty awesome, if I do say so myself ;)
But enough chit-chat, let me introduce you to the real rockstars of this week, my interns! The last full day of the internship they got all gussied up, and we went out and did a shoot of THEM, so they would have pictures to use for their brand new blogs they'd just spent all week designing ;)


Allix(spelled with 2 "L's" and an "I" ;)She was my girl with the laid-back personality and some of the wittiest humor I have ever heard. She kept me in stitches all week with her wisecracks and quoting of movies (complete with correct accents). She was my youngest intern with the least training of us all, and she put me to shame with her creativity and passion, and how fast she picked up on things! And I've loved watching her over the past two weeks go back to E. Texas and plunge right into building her business. Everyone go check out her blog-io! ;)








And now my Rachel Leigh darling...I have to start out by saying that I looooved Rachel getting to be here for my first internship. She's been a blog reader practically since I started I think, and a faithful commenter on my blog posts. I got to shoot her senior portraits last Spring, and she came to my one day workshop last November. She's been such an encouragement to me, and I've loved watching her grow in her photography these past few years, and it was such an honor to get to be a part of it's continuing growth! :) We quoted Nacho Libre all week, and I almost wet my pants laughing (TMI anyone!?) several nights in a row while she told us stories that I then totally mis-understood and . . . yeah, I guess you had to be there!?It was funny, I promise.I looooved how Rachel's brand came out, simple and graceful, with an extra dose of happy, just like her ;)Go check out her new blog!














And last but not least, the Koehn sisters!(Koehn, pronounce Kane ;)Hannah and Carissa are from my area, we go to the same church, and it's been fun to watch them start their photography business over the last few months! And I loved how their brand came together! Their business name is "once upon a time photography" and their love of telling peoples "stories" and vintage typewriters" came together to make a suuuuper cute fun brand ;) These two are always laughing and smiling, and it was such a bonus having their smiling cheerful faces here everyday! Go check out their super cute blog!p.s. I'm secretly jealous of their blog wallpaper--it's so awesssome!


Hannah


Carissa























Now everyone, for reals go read their blogs and leave them some comments! Everyone can always use a little extra dose of encouragement and love ;)

Much Love.Jessica Shae