{me+sarah=bff}

As a photographer, I am rarely the one in front of the camera, and it is something I regret alot. Not so much because I love having my picture taken, but it stems from the same reason that I love photography O-so-much. I love capturing memories. Taking a feeling, a relationship, a moment, a special occasion, and documenting that in a tangible way that will you can keep for forever. So, I hate that so often I am not in the picture. . .it almost feels like I am getting left out of the memory.

So when Lydia offered to take my and Sarah's pictures I was so so excited, because who wouldn't want the opportunity to have fun in front of the camera with a best friend??? I was alllll for it :)

I know I already share a link with you about these pictures a little while ago, but they are so much fun I just couldn't resist posting them myself :)

{so this is a story about me . . . and my sarah friend. I like her, kinda alot.}


{we like to swing on poles while walking around town, and wearing cute accesories in our hair}


{and we laugh at each other often, very very often}


{we stand in doorways and manage to match the scenery around us, because we are just talented like that}


{it's hard to not smile when im around my sarah friend}


{we like to be silly together, because when you are good enough friends with someone you can be silly and they don't think less of you, they just love you all the more for it}


{and we swing on poles more, and laugh a little harder}


{but we can be prim and proper too}


{we smile about 20% more when we are with each other. but that is just a ballpark figure}


{we are different my sarah friend and i, in more ways than one. she's the brunette, and i'm the blonde. i have the curls and she has the silky straight hair}


{together we can make chilling next to electric meters look cool}


{sometimes i remind her of one of her :many: embarrassing moments, and she cringes/laughs in horror...}


{...and then sometimes, she is silly, and i roll my eyes at her}


{we can even make the colors magenta, mustard yellow, and pistachio look good together. we've just got skills like that}


{we can look dorkily skeptical...}


{or dorkily confused...}


{or....just plain dorky}


{these are our "happy to be in the same state again" faces}


{sometimes, we pretend we were fish in another life. after seeing pictures like this, im not so sure we have to pretend}


{pretending is our specialty. especially when it comes to modeling...why hasn't ANTM contacted us yet?}


{please do not be afraid. these are our "ugly faces" that we pull only when there are *ahem* undesirable young men around. who needs pepper spray anyways....?}


{see how happy even our feet look when we are together? yes, they are very happy}


{me+sarah=bff}

Thank you so much Lydia, for capturing these fun memories for us, you did an awesome job! You can check out her site Here. :)

Much Love,
Jessica Shae

David & Daniel: School Pictures.

You will all remember the gorgeous girl I posted about yesterday, with her beautiful blue eyes . . . well, more amazing-ness coming right up! While I was there staying with Sarah, her mom asked me to take some school pictures for David and Daniel, the two youngest. They hadn't had any taken in a couple years and she wanted something to update the picture frames with. You will quickly see that stunning good looks just so happens to run in this family, I'm pretty sure there's not a single one that doesn't take a good picture!

I took the boys out individually to a really cool old barn on a little piece of property within walking distance of their front door. I have to tell ya, they must just have some kind of magic light there in the California mountains, every shoot I was just eating it up! I wasn't using a reflector OR a flash for any of these pictures, and the lighting . . . O my lands, makes my heart go pitter patter.

Coupled with these killer good looks, it's a win-win situation :)

David is 15 and you've heard the cliche "heart of gold?" . . . it's not a cliche with David, just fact. I have never seen such a perfect gentleman, totally selfless, and a really really all around cool guy. He takes after his namesake King David, "A man after God's own heart."

Daniel is 13 and Mr. Spitfire Personality. He just took up soccer a few months ago, and is already well on his way to becoming the teams star player! He is the life of the party most anywhere you go, and quite the crack-up ;) It is funny to me how well these two resemble their name-sakes in character and personality, because Daniel is very much like the Daniel-in-the-lions-den.

O yeah, these guys have the natural "studly look" doooown.

sigh . . . LOOK at that smile. What a heartbreaker ;)






Check out his eyes! Told ya it runs in the family :)


One of my favorite shots of the day. There is just something about boy-sitting-on-split-rail-fence that makes me H.A.P.P.Y.

Mr. Tough guy . . . watch out world!

Much Love,

Jessica Shae