My fellow photographers will appreciate this guy's name - Kelvin! Isn't that the coolest name?? Kelvin's sweet wife, Yosondra, encouraged him to do a photo session for his upcoming birthday. The three of us explored downtown Selma this afternoon and they finished their night with a date at the Tally Ho. So sweet! 
Let’s talk about online galleries! When I first started photography, I delivered all photo galleries on a CD. A few years later, I upgraded to USBs. And a couple of years after that, online galleries. Online galleries made it possible for me to deliver your photos to you as soon as they’re ready instead of as soon as I could get to the post office. Even better than delivering your photos online is that you have access to my professional print lab! You can literally order high quality prints directly from your gallery with just a few clicks! If you have decorated your house with prints from your gallery, I would love to see them! Post them in your story, tag me, and I will reshare them! 
Want to make the most of your engagement session? Make it a date night! Engagement sessions are so much fun and you get to spend quality time with your new fiancé and the one other person that will be with you your entire wedding day - your photographer. After you’re done with your session, go to dinner just the two of you. Even if you just go to Taco Bell, go to a place that’s meaningful to you both. Being intentional about this time together is a perfect way to relax and take a break from all the wedding planning. 
This isn’t something I had planned on sharing, but based on the dozens of women that called, texted, and messaged me after I shared about our miscarriage, I think it’s worth sharing. You don’t really know what to do or how to feel after a miscarriage. People rarely talk about it and you feel isolated. I want to share the things I did after my miscarriage that helped me begin to heal. Maybe one of these things will help you too! 1️⃣ I cried - a lot. After Weston’s grandfather died, our pastor told me that there is no wrong way to grieve and he reminded me again after our baby died. 2️⃣ I wrote about my experience. My desire was to just get it out of my head, but I felt the Lord telling me to share it online. I struggled with whether I should or not, but I finally did it. Immediately after posting, I felt like a huge weight was lifted. Galatians 6:2 came to mind - “Bear one another’s burdens...” It was as if every person that read my post was bearing the burden with us. There were dozens of women that reached out to me who had experienced the same thing. Some had never told anyone else. 3️⃣ I focused on other people. I was halfway through my Week of Giving posts when I had to have a D&C. I didn’t want anyone to know what happened (yet) and I didn’t want to stop midway through, so I forced myself to keep going. God knew I would need something to distract my overanalytical mind after the trauma I had just experienced. How great is it that He knew I would have surgery in the middle of a week where I encouraged people to donate their excess? It felt so good donating hundreds of items to people in need literally days after we lost our baby. 4️⃣ I read. I read my Bible, “Loved Baby,” and “Held.” The latter two are devotional books that were gifted to me (thank you, Jenna and Rachel!). Don’t think that I picked up these books the day after my surgery and pretended everything was okay. It was over a week before I read my Bible. I had been reading daily for most of the year and was so proud. But the days immediately following my surgery were hard. I was not motivated to do much of anything. Reading all three books helped me realize...(second half in comments!) 
What’s the one thing you would grab from your house if you had to evacuate quickly? My answer used to be my photo albums, but I have so many now it would be impossible to take them all. We had severe tornadoes rip through the South yesterday. I was obviously concerned about my family, but there’s one thing I didn’t have to worry about last night - my photos. Of course I took precautions and placed my albums and digital photos in a safe place, but I didn’t have to worry about whether they would survive a tornado. Why? Because I use 3 different methods to store them - a cloud service, an external hard drive, and prints/albums. Please back up your photos in multiple formats and multiple locations! 
Are you getting married in 2021 or 2022?💍 You may want to go ahead and contact your wedding vendors - especially your photographer! 😉 I have a few open dates left for 2021 and I’m only taking 8 more weddings for 2022! P.S. I give referral perks if you refer a bride and groom to me and they book! 
Scott had a busy day today! Fishing this morning, senior portraits this afternoon, and now he's enjoying his senior prom! Be sure to check back Tuesday to read about his session, see more pictures, and watch a behind the scenes reel! Which of these photos do you like the best?