Matt and Mandi | BELOVED

The way he looks at her, you'd think no one else existed. Not even me with a camera. He loves her, and she loves him, and they aren't afraid of sharing that with one another.
Mandi, who happens to be an incredible photographer (Utah County peeps, check her out) mentioned that she wanted to do a Beloved session. She does a beauty campaign, and I thought it would be fun to have her do some fun shots of me, so we traded. But hello, I totally got the better end of the deal. Awesome pics of me, and awesome pics of them FOR me. :) tee hee.
But really, it's such a neat experience for me to be part of a couple's love for just a little bit. I'm always reminded of the respect we must give one another in order to make things work.
Thanks Matt and Mandi!

Mandi and Jeff | Beloved

I know it's been a while since I've blogged. I can only apologize! It's been so busy around here lately, which has been good, but I've had to take some things off my plate to keep up. Blogging has been one of those things. I do hope you'll forgive and enjoy the post today!

I knew Mandi way back when....when I was a high school-er. Oh boy! The bad memories she must have of me. We had friends in the same circles, we had some classes together, and we probably even belonged to a couple of the same clubs (NHS..anyone?)...still, we never really hung out. We reconnected through Facebook and I've gotten to know her much better through that and her blog. Oh. My. Word. I wish we would have hung out. She is hilarious. And talented. And beautiful. And she totally inspires me.

Mandi really values beauty and people and laughter, and Jeff. They have a happy, wonderful marriage and they really wanted to capture some great images that they could hand down to their children and grandchildren as they grow old. They wanted them to understand how truly happy they are together. And how much they mean to each other. She told me that in the last ten years they only have one semi-good picture of them together and they really wanted just ONE that they could cherish. I think we got a few more than that for them. What do you think?

She felt...Loved | Beloved | Utah Relationship Photographer

I love relationship photography. I feel it is what fulfills me most, and what I do best. I love when emotion seeps out of people. But not everyone feels easy in front of a camera. Not everyone feels comfortable, or knows what to do. That is part of my job. Helping people find and embrace it.

I recently had the opportunity to photograph Kelli and David. Kelli is a great photographer who works with Sprout Photo. Kelli told her husband that for her birthday she wanted a 'feelings' session with me, and didn't really tell him much else (but to be fair, saying 'feelings' session had to give him a clue, right?). Well, a clue it did give him, and he promised me he'd do his best to be open. We even placed a bet on who would cry first, David or Kelli.

I loved Beloved sessions because they are not the typical 'look at the camera and smile' sessions. Although those are nice, I like getting into the nitty gritty of what makes us human, and what makes us love. The fact of the matter is that relationships can be hard. Really hard. Sometimes we fall in love and we get our hearts broken. Sometimes we struggle to find our flow in a relationship. There are so many ups and downs that come with love and negotiating our identities within it, that we end up taking the 'easy' road because we don't feel like we have the energy to do more. But for those that work, truly work, at their relationship, the rewards far outweigh the hardships. And every relationship has hardship. It's life. It's different for all of us. Love can make us hurt, it can make our hearts sing; we roll around in the dirt of life to find what works for us. You'll notice in these images that Kelli and David got terribly dirty during their session, yet felt so much joy in each other. I love the symbolism in that.

They are coming up on ten years of marriage, and this was the first session they have had with each other. Kelli said, "...We ended up laughing, crying, reminiscing and connecting in ways that we haven't for a long time. A huge thanks to Joanna for capturing us as we really are...these pictures are priceless to me." But more than that, she said she felt "loved." Is there anything better than reconnecting with each other and feeling that same intense love you felt when you first realized how amazing that this person is? How they make life better? And feeling it ten times deeper because of the life you've shared so far? I don't think so.

If you are interested in booking a Beloved session, please contact me. Sign up in the next 8 business days and you can get in on the 12 Days of Christmas (in July) deals!

(It's come to my attention that some of these images cut off because of my formatting. I am working on a new website and blog, to be released soon, but in the meantime, feel free to wander over to my Facebook fanpage and find their album there.)