Gwen and Erin | Knoxville, TN Photography

Back in the day, when I started my (looong) Starbucks journey at the tender age of 19, I worked at the Turkey Creek location in Knoxville. I have to say…. Turkey Creek was pretty legendary back then. The people I met and became friends with that summer… the summer I met Jamie, my now husband, the summer I made friends with people who have become my absolute best friends, my biggest supporters and fans. It was the summer I fell in love with barista-ing and with my fellow baristas. Playing closing mixes and yelling at obnoxious teenagers who asked for cups of water and ran off with the porch umbrellas (yes, I am still bitter about that incident) and having parties together and making art displays…. Those were the days. I remember being so in awe of the sense of community I found there and the whole coffee shop culture in general. Four and a half years later, I have to say that though I do love my job (most of the time anyway), it just can’t live up to that initial experience I had. I realize I might be romanticizing it all a bit too much, but in hindsight, it was wonderful.

So I had flashbacks to that time when I heard from an old friend, Gwen. She had been following my blog, and when she heard I’d be back in Knoxville for a week, she asked if I’d be willing to do a shoot with her and Erin and her precious dog, Max. And how could I turn that down? It was so great to see her again and relive, if only for a little while, those amazing Turkey Creek memories.

Also, I have to say, I sent Gwen a link to her slideshow last night, and she called me almost immediately and left the sweetest voicemail. She was almost in tears, and just thanked me over and over. Which made ME tear up a little bit! And folks, THAT is why I do what I do. I hope I never forget what that feels like, to make someone so happy that way. To show them their beauty, to show them their lives and their love and their laughter through my lens. Sometimes I worry that one day (and trust me, if this day comes, it is a LONG way off), I will become so busy and business-like that I might grow numb to the sheer joy that comes from making beautiful portraits of people and reflecting back to them the specialness of their lives. I know I’m being really sentimental, maybe a bit cheesy, but I’ll say it again: There are many reasons why I’ve chosen this path, but the biggest reason is the reaction of my clients, my “models,” when they see themselves the way I see them. It’s still so fresh on my mind how insanely thrilled I was to see my wedding slideshow for the first time… and the second time… and the twenty-second time. It felt like seeing my live played out before me, like a movie. It was wonderful. So to know that now I can be on the giving end instead of the receiving end is an honor I don’t take lightly. Thank you Gwen, thank you all of you, for giving me this opportunity. I’m loving every minute!

And now, on to the images…. enjoy!