Anytime: Dean Family

And the eyes have it! You know how sometimes you come across those people with stunning eyes? Well, the entire Dean family has the most amazing eyes! Carey, Amy, Blake, McKenna, Tanner, and Corbin...from brown, the crystal blue, to mesmerizing green, the Deans have some drop dead gorgeous eyeballs!

The Deans arent strangers to Olimb Photography. We took family pictures of them around the same time last year. We were just starting out and not quite sure how we were going to pull it off. I remember thinking to myself as all those beautiful eyes turned on me, waiting for me to tell them what to do. The new photographer that I was, I looked at Andrew and silently had a melt down. Help! But they were awesome and said it was the best photography experience they've ever encountered! I was shocked when I hand delivered their photos and they asked me to come inside. I wont out myself and say just how new to this "photography thing" I was at the time but when they decided to look at their photos with me there I nearly had a heart attack. I remember wringing my hands till they were numb wondering what the reaction would be. But they loved them. I remember like it was yesterday, standing there being genuinely shocked. I was still coming to terms with the fact that I didnt suck as a photographer.

So here we are, a year later. I'm still trying to break myself of the habit that I have of being somewhat shocked when people love our photos. Those same sets of eyes, all six of them, looked to me and Andrew to bring about more sheer awesomeness. But I'll let you in a little secret, Deans: it's not that we're creating sheer awesomeness...we dont create it...we just see it. We see it and we happen to have a camera and happen to grasp hold of it in that moment in time. Enjoy!

Dwell in Possibility...
Cassie

The Change

Okay, so I'm sure every photographer once upon a time has written a post similar to the post I am about to post {yes, I just used post way too many times in one sentence}.

I freakin love the 5d Mark II!!

End of post...okay, well sorta. I thought I'd offer up some tantalizing proof that this is the best camera on the face of the planet. Um...Hello! Sheer awesomeness!

Dwell in Possibility...
Cassie

Redeemed

I've never been one to become a spiritual wasteland. I know that may sound a bit conceited but I cant. If I go too long without spending time with my Father, without journaling before Him, reading through His love story, my world begins to fall apart. I become easily agitated. My emotions are at the mercy of everything the wind brings my way. My heart feels cracked and empty and I feel lost. My soul aches.

Have you ever had the person you love leave for an extended period of time? The longest I've ever been apart from Andrew in our married life has been two weeks. About a week and a half into it, my heart ached for him. The day he was supposed to be home and couldnt make his flight, I fell apart. I struggled to keep myself from bursting into tears every few minutes. That feeling. The feeling of longing for the person that holds your very existence together. The feeling that something in your world isnt right, isnt whole. That feeling. That feeling is just scratching the surface of the level of emotion I feel right now. I have become a barren wasteland. I've allowed the whirlwind of life's events, decisions, troubles, joys, and excitements to draw me away from my Savior. I havent given Him my heart in nearly two months. I've been cold, empty, shallow, confused...I've been struggling.

I'd been slowly wasting away but I wasnt fully aware of my state of depravity. It wasnt until a song on the radio broke through my cloud of deafness that allowed me to hear the state of my soul's longing.

"This is the moment, it's on the line. Which way are you going to fall? In the middle, between wrong and right? But you know after all: It's your life, whatchya gonna do? The world is watching you. Every day, the choices you make, say who you are and who your heart beats for. It's an open door; it's your life. Are you who you said you would be? With a sinking feeling in your chest, always waiting for someone else to fix you, tell me: when did you forget? Live the way that you believe. This is your opportunity to live your life and give your life away." Francesca Battistelli's It's Your Life

Two lines in particular from that song brought me to heavy sobs. "Every day, the choices you make say who you are and who your heart beats for." I've never felt as sad and ashamed as I felt at that moment. What does my heart beat for. An outsider looking into my life these past two months, what would they say I live for? The second line: "Are you who you said you would be?" I nearly had to pull the car over at that point. I'm not who I said I would be. I'm married to an amazing husband who in a thousand lifetimes I could never have thought of a more perfect partner to share my life with. But when it comes down to who I am...I'm not who I want to be. I'm struggling in between who I need to be right now and who I want to be. And my longing to be who I want and who I should be is overwhelmingly powerful.

"I dont know how it is You looked at me and saw the person that I could be. Awaking my heart, breaking through the dark, suddenly Your grace. Like sunlight burning at midnight, You're making my life something so beautiful, beautiful! Mercy reaching to save me, all that I need. You are so beautiful, beautiful." Francesca Battistelli's Beautiful, Beautiful

Life is a process. If there's one thing I know from looking back over my life and the paths God has brought me through, the places He's told me to sit and dwell on Him in, those hard places full of pain and growth. I know that life is a process. And it's not always a pretty process. And it's never a process that is pain free. It's funny to me that despite all of that. Despite the turmoil, despite the pain, despite the getting lost along the way, the screw ups, the falling away into deep dark places of deafness and depravity, DESPITE all that. I have a Savior, my Redeemer who watches me, loves me and will always, always take me back. He craves my heart; He craves my love. I can make Him smile. I can bring Him my dreams, my hopes, my fears, my worries; I can come to Him angry, I can come to Him terrified...I can come to Him broken. He is my Redeemer. I am redeemed.

Dwell in Possibility...
Cassie

Shannon and David: Engagement

"...And I think I may have you beat on Disney quotes..." One of my first emails from Shannon held this line near the end of our conversation. I yelled to Andrew from our office: "Andrew, I think I'm really going to like this girl!" And within a few more emails, the Disney battle was on.

The name of the two eels in The Little Mermaid. The name of the llama in The Emperors New Groove {not the main character, the llama hooked to the cart}. The name of Belle's father in Beauty and the Beast. The names of at least three sisters from The Little Mermaid. The name of the fox in The Fox and the Hound. The name of the snake in The Jungle Book. The names of the three fairies in Sleeping Beauty. Yes, we do battle.

Shannon and David had specific places they wanted to shoot at and once we arrived, they gave us free reign of the shoot. I arrived with half a dozen red balloons and David looked at me like I was crazy! But I think he had more fun with them than Shannon did. Together, the four of us ran through Watercolor and stayed until the sunset. The amazing couple that they are, Shannon and David insisted we stay for appetizers at Bud and Alley's with them. Which, by the way, if you've never sat on the deck with the MahiMahi Dip, Hummus, and a cold drink and watched the sun drop below the horizon, you've really got to take a trip to Seaside. It was AMAZING. During that time, we really got to know Shannon and David and who they are as a couple, their history, where they've come from. At the end of the day, we really felt like we'd become more than just their photographers. We felt like we'd become a friend.

Dwell in Possibility...
Cassie

Sorry you two, but I just couldnt resist posting your "Prom Pose". I starting cracking up hysterically when I was editing. Thanks for the laugh!

Carey and Jeff: Engagement

Trespassing. If you'd asked me two years ago if I would ever consider trespassing, my jaw would probably drop to the floor. However, with Carey and Jeff we totally trespassed. For about 15 minutes mind you but still, trespassing. Great way to build client relationships!

Andrew and I met up with Carey and Jeff for the first time for their engagement session in the cool October air. The blaring sun made for interesting lighting opportunities but Carey and Jeff were amazing and let us move them over and over until we got good lighting. Strangely enough, as we shot the two of them, Andrew started to realize that he knew Carey from somewhere. Turns out, they worked together at the Hilton Sandestin! Small world.

Carey's a kindergarten teacher and Jeff is an accountant and together, the two of them make the most adorable couple. I love how Carey just stared into the face of her fiance totally captivated. Whenever she appeared the slightest bit nervous in front of the camera, she would look at Jeff and it was clear that the world around her melted away.

We started out our session at a rundown, overgrown stables that had been abandoned...hence the trespassing! After we finished up there in the lush green overgrowth, we headed to the beautiful white sandy shores of the Destin beaches. There, we asked the two of them to dance, you know, to get those awkward giggles. We learned a random fact about Jeff that day. He can dance!! Carey, not so much. It was adorable! They just spun and spun until they couldnt see straight. Once we finished up getting sand in between our toes, we enjoyed a nice lunch outside just getting to know each other better. And needless to say, I'm SO excited to shoot their wedding in May!!

Dwell in Possibility...
Cassie