one || arbor hills dallas, tx engagement & wedding photographer

"Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss...

but every once in a while, you find someone who's iridescent,

and when you do, nothing will ever compare."

// flipped.

William & Greta: engaged || ft worth tx, engagement & wedding photographer

For months (maybe even years?) people had nudged and hinted to each of them that they would be perfect for each other.  They were from the same area in East Texas and when they were home they attended the same church, but that wasn't often.  Greta spent most of her year at college in Virginia and William was busy getting his degree at A&M.  So while they both had a mutual admiration for the other it wasn't until Thanksgiving one year when they were both home on break William finally took serious notice of the soft spoken southern belle with clear blue eyes and started to think all the nudges and hints might have been right, because she all of sudden seemed perfect for him.
It didn't take long for Greta to realize that she wanted to spend the rest of her forever with this "strong silent type" of a man who lived life with conviction, ("Oh, and he has muscles!" she told me ;) so for a year they worked hard at the relationship despite the long distance between them.  And on their one year anniversary he took her out to the family tree farm and proposed in the same place that he had asked her to be his girlfriend just twelve months before.
William & Greta, I loved getting to know you two better during your engagement session and I can't wait to be a part of your beautiful wedding full of southern grace and charm and the love of Jesus Christ, just like the two of you.
Much Love, Jessica Shae

John & Courtney: preview || the tribute golf club, tx wedding photographer

This past weekend was the busiest I've had since getting pregnant: a bridal session, an engagement session, and a 9 hour wedding in barely more than 48 hours has made for one very tired and yet blissfully happy mommy with puffy feet and an aching back.  (very tired because, hello! apparently growing a baby is way more exhausting than expected! and blissfully happy because puffy feet and aching back are just happy reminders of the little love growing in my belly.)  So today I'm treating myself to staying in bed for as long as my legs and feet tell me is necessary  a pedicure, and a nap in the warm sun by the pool.  But I couldn't help but post just one from yesterdays beautiful wedding.  So much more coming soon!  (oh, and you can also see a few more from their wedding on my facebook page!)

Much Love,
Jessica Shae

Emily: senior 2013 || mckinney, tx portrait & wedding photographer

When I was ten I started taking piano lessons with grand visions of being able to play "Variations On the Canon" (George Winston's arrangement of Canon in D, and my absolute favorite piano song) and multiple other beautifully moving pieces on the piano in no time.  Those visions of grandeur were soon squelched when I realized that I had very little natural talent for the piano and it would in fact take years of hard work to get to the point where I could sit down and easily play whatever music was set in front of me.  Two years later I quit.

It wasn't until I was 22 and my 8 year old sister started taking piano lessons that I was re-inspired to try and take up piano again.  ("You're never to old to set another goal or dream a new dream..." right?!)  And that's where Emily comes in.  She was my sisters piano teacher and one of the pianists at our church, so though I knew who she was and had talked to her on several occasions I didn't know her suuuuper well.

I'm not going to lie, it's a slightly humbling thing to be an adult, taking piano lessons from a highschooler, and the oldest (by far) of all of her students.  But Emily made me feel so comfortable and like it was the most normal thing in the world for me to be there, fumbling through the most basic of scales and exercises.  Her quiet demure personality, sweet smile and constant encouragement makes her one of the easiest people to be around.  I loved getting to know her better throughout the year, finding out that besides teaching piano she also worked at the library, (helloooo childhood dream job!) was learning to play the guitar, and was taking dual credit courses at a nearby college while finishing highschool.  Basically she's a smarty-pants sweetheart all rolled into one :)  I was honored to take her senior portraits for her a few weeks ago, enjoy looking through them!

Much Love, Jessica Shae

Summer Adventure: 2013 internship || dfw wedding photographer

"When you are imagining you might as well imagine something worthwhile..."

// anne of green gables

I've always been a little bit in love with May Day.  Long before I even knew what it really was, I loved it because it conjured up visions of barefoot little girls dancing around a may pole in soft green grass, with flower crowns in their hair.  It seemed like a day meant for picnics and summer frocks, strawberry lemonade, pink cake, sunshine, and of course flowers.  After finally doing a little research on it one day to see how closely my visions of flowery happiness lined up with reality, I realized that May Day was every bit as lovely as it sounded--flowers and all.

So what better day to announce something equally happy: dates for this years Summer Adventure!

I definitely deliberated for a little while about wether scheduling one for this summer was wise or even a possibility, between a busy shooting schedule and the fact that I'm married and will be 7 months preggo by this time.  But I'm not generally one to back down from a challenge so lil' raspberry and I are happy to announce that we will be hosting the 2013 Summer Adventure: internship this June!

Date: June 26-29   Location: Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas   Cost: $625

Who should apply: girls age 16 & up who are looking for a little help learning some of the ins-&-outs of starting their own small photography business or honing their talent as a visual storyteller or one who documents life-lovely.

This is the 3rd year that I'll be hosting this, in the past 2 and 1/2 years I've hosted 7 internships + 22 girls and I love it a little more each time.  (See here and here for a peek into past years)  Every year I've been able to hone my vision of what I'm hoping to accomplish and cover during the week and each time it changes slightly but gets a little bit better.  After last year (which was amaaaaazing fun!) I realized that beyond just coming and sitting in sessions, going on shoots, talking about how to use photoshop or lightroom or how to write a contract, what really seemed to be a huge part of the learning process for everyone was just being surrounded by other young photographers who are in the same boat as you generally speaking and learning from each other as well as learning from me.  So my goal this year is to incorporate a little less "session" time, and a little more relationship time.  And as a part of that goal I'll be accepting up to 7 applicants, but I'm also opening it up to past attendees (alumni! whaaaat. ;) who would like to come back for three days of fun and a little "refresher" course!  (Alumni you can expect an email from me this week with details on how you can be a part of the week if you're interested!)

Topics we will cover: shooting in manual + running a photoshoot/shooting a wedding + editing in Lightroom/Photoshop + branding + posing + marketing + pricing + I'll do my best to answer any other random questions you might have!

The cost of tuition covers the internship and materials, food (3 yummy meals a day!) and lodging.  You're responsible for flight/travel to get you here, and spending money for starbucks runs, fro-yo, tacky souvenirs, or anything else we might be able to squeeze in.

If you're interested in being a part of the adventure, fill out THIS APPLICATION and email it to me (jessica @ jessicashae . com) as sooooon as possible!  I would ask that you please please only apply if you're serious about coming and know that you have the time and resources available for it.  There is a good chance I will not be able to accept everyone who applies (because of size limits) and I would hate to turn girls away to make room for you only to have you drop out last minute.

Looking forward to seeing all of your applications, this is always a highlight of my summer :)

Much Love,
Jessica Shae