christi.

i love how friends connect you to other people in their lives who then become your friends too. it is awesome. tis the story with christi and i. she is roomies with my friend kelsey, and thereby we have seen quite a bit of each other in recent months. woo. so she invited me to do her grad portraits too. i got the chance to work with her a few weeks before on a special j. shipley photography project (coming to a theatre near you soon), so i knew we would have a blast doing this lifestyle photo shoot. and we did. kels and brendon (christi's bf) came along and hung out with us as well. ah, loved it. here is what we came up with. wooo.

happy birthday ma!

today is my mama's birthday. yup. and it is kind of a big deal. 50. wow. you wouldn't know if you looked at her or saw how she lived her life. she kicks all of our butts at the gym. true story. if you know anything about us shipley's you know we like to play. so today, for her 50th birthday she is snowmobiling. bad ass i tell you. she loves it. i wish i could be home to share this day with her. but as i told her this morning, it is a year of celebration and at least a month of full-on spoilage, so her breakfast in bed will come soon enough. ha. she deserves it after all she was done for our family and the lives of those who have had the honor and pleasure of meeting and getting to know her. (ah, i am cryin' here...).

you see, ma is a servant at heart. she gives. she shares. she encourages. and she is ever present and consistent. one of the things i most appreciate from my childhood is that my ma was there. she was present physically and emotionally. she chose to be at home with her chillns. there was nothing sweeter to a wee lad than seeing my mama in the big blue suburban waiting to pick me up for the bus stop. or better yet, just herself and perhaps bodie at her side. my ma has always been there for my family and for me. every time i call. she answers. she listens and advises in a way that is really quite profound. she a gracious woman who without fail loves unconditionally and whole-heartedly. i am so blessed by her. and am so grateful to call her ma. here's to you, MA! may your 50th year of life be the best one yet. may you continue to know how wide, how long, and how deep is the love of God. may the Lord bless you and keep you. may he make is face shine upon you and be gracious to you. now and forever. will all of my heart, i love and adore you. have a wonderful day!!! thinking of you and wishing i could be there to celebrate with you...

green.

wednesday, february 18th was a day of green for me. and some brown too. in other words, i spent the afternoon frolicking through the foliage and muddied landscape of the butterfly refuge. it is my new favorite place. the butterflies fly. a mass exodus of sorts. and then perch themselves high above the soil clinging softly to the branches of eucalyptus. tis a fascinating process. i very much enjoy the butterfly. so cute. so delicate. so incredibly, well, incredible. so i watched them flutter about their merry way and of course snapped a few shutters of the butters. love em.

then, i wandered about the refuge. through the groves. across the meadow. down the cliffs. my eyes wide. my voice quieted. my ears in-tune. my camera in hand. i wandered and i noticed. have you ever just stopped and tripped out looking at and thinking about the simple intricacies of a flower? or per chance, marveled at how the soil texturizes when it dries or wets? have you ever watched a lil bur-dah (said like bambi, anyone?) frolic about the fields of grass? do it. it is mind blowing. and relaxing, i tell you. i felt much like a small boy again. you know, tapping into that knack for adventure and discovery. for exploration. mmm. and then you pair that with a creative spirit and you are bound to come up with something cool. worked for me anyway. ;)

now, i would love to show you all of my photographic musings from my afternoon with the butterflies and fields o' grass. but, i can't. sorry. you see, these photos are part of a fine art collection purposed for the new luxury units at the montecito inn. i can't very well spoil your dinner, now can i? so you will have to wait. and come see them for yourselves at the grand opening in march (details to come soon). and of course, i will give you a insider look here on da blog soon thereafter.

also, i will have something else oh so green to show you soon. very soon. i know. i am kind of annoying with all the mystery these days. deal with it. ha. as they say, it is worth the wait. fret not.

kelsey.

she was an insta-friend. we met through a few mutual friends, had great american writers together, and in one way or an other, ended up becoming besties. funny how friendships begin and grow. this one was on the fasttrack. we went from not knowing each other at all merely a year ago, to hanging out quite often. i enjoy her. kesley is one of the most genuine and compassionate people i know. she cares so deeply for people and particularly her friends. i am incredibly blessed to have her in my life and cherish our friendship. anyone who knows her feels the same. she is just that amazing. it was her birthday yesterday and she graduated from college in december. plus she helped me a ton on a few j. shipley photography projects. SO, we for sure needed to do a photo shoot. and that we did. gleefully. she laughed a lot. and so did i. what fun. yay for kelsey q.

marc + jenelle: their story.

marc grew up in denmark and jenelle in cali. they both have a passion for travel and missions. it eventually brought them together. yup. she was on a mission trip and he just so happened to one of the interpreters at the camp. they meet and well, the rest is history. they started dating long distance, and soon thereafter marc moved to the US to be with jenelle. now, they are getting hitched. how cool is that?

we did their engagement shoot here in santa barbara, and we decided it would be fun to play up their love for travel and adventure. i thought it would be awesome if we took a retro approach to it and brought along a polaroid camera and a map of sb. marc brought a legit yellow suitcase with various stickers marking the places to which he has travelled. this series of photos is one of my favorites. well that and the shots "under the boardwalk"...ah that was a precious moment. i nearly cried as i was taking (and editing) their photos. it is so evident that they are deeply in love and are excited to share the rest of their lives together. so, so cool. i can't wait till their wedding in august. ahhh, they are the best. i adore them. already :). here is their story...









their entire online gallery can be viewed here.

carly jo.

i love meeting new people. and i love doing photoshoots. so i got to do two of the things i love most when carly jo came up from la to do her headshots. what i blast we had. we started out at the santa barbara courthouse and then headed up to the mesa. despite being crazy busy, i was so excited about the images that i had to edit them and show you a few. so alas, here they are...