Oh Abby Grace. You guys have definitely heard me mention her before, but man she just blesses me big time. Abby and I have technically known each other since we were like 12 or so from the Reston Conservatory. Aka ballet. That’s right, I did ballet for most of my childhood and I still get unreasonably excited when I hear the sounds of Tchaikovsky in the distance. Anyways, tangent…Abby and I officially met again at Radford my freshman year. I specifically remember her pointing at my Rocket Summer hoodie from across the Sonic Drive-In and proclaiming, “I LOVE HIM!” And that’s just Abby for you. She’s unapologetic about who she is and what she loves and that is something to admire! And one of those things is wedding photography! She is so, so talented and the way that she captures love is breathtaking.

Abby more recently has been sacrificing her time to help me mature as a photographer and it is changing the way I look at my business. Since January she has been such a huge encouragement. She consistently let’s me know that I can do this, and she challenges me to put in the hard work and set uncomfortable goals. Seriously, its great. All four years I was at Radford I had a mentor, or a discipler, who would sit down and just listen to what was going on in my life and help me to make hard choices and live for Jesus radically. Now it kinda feels like Abby has become my discipler for this portion of my life! And I love it!

Last month Abby was down in Radford to speak at a communication class and she offered to take some headshots and some portraits of David and I. (cue freakout…what was I going to wear…now I know how my clients feel!) What I didn’t know, is that Abby was going to teach us along the way. I learned so much by being in front of her camera, instead of behind mine. She explained what she was doing as she was posing us and even critiqued herself so I could see ways that I can improve as a photographer. So, not only do I have some fabulous images that I have already ordered a bunch of prints of and obsessed over, I got to learn what it feels like to be on the other side! Abby just gives freely of the knowledge that others have passed along to her and tricks that she has had to learn the hard way. It is so amazing to step into the world of photography where artist actually WANT to share and help one another.

Once again, Abby, it was an absolute dream and I can’t thank you enough for these photos. We’re already cherishing them.

Beware: narcissistic amount of portraits below. i’m just too in love with these not to share them. all credit to abby grace photography.

Ironically, Abby actually shared some more posing wisdom on her blog today. Check it out here to see what an amazing teacher she is!