just one shot of dinner… mmm.. portobello mushrooms, broccoli, and grape tomato pasta with basil. Totally improvised (can I use that term for cooking without a plan?)

Oh, springtime, I love you. The weather is so rejuvenating. I decided to do some “spring cleaning” to my website in the form of a RE-DESIGN! It’s much more colorful compared to my last site. What do you think? It really is a labor of love. I even got a new about page picture!

And because no post should be without art, here are some photos I took recently:

One of my favorite things about photography is that it gives me the bravery to see things I usually wouldn’t. I’m allowed to trespass & explore abandoned buildings as long as it’s for art, right? Ever since I’ve picked up a camera it has been one of my favorite activities. Urban exploration. Exploring abandoned buildings. Accidental ghost hunting. Whatever you want to call it.

So when my friend Erin called me up & said “Hey, wanna go check out an abandoned building at the infamous Lakeshore Mental Health Institute in Knoxville that is known for paranormal activity, crazy people, and alleged human right abuses?” I was like, DUH!! (Okay, she didn’t exactly say that, but for the sake of the blog, let’s pretend)

At first, we were both legitimately scared. The back of the building is much scarier than the front, with really dark hall ways, open basement doors, & places where people have broken in. As we made our way around the outside of the huge building, we realized we weren’t dealing with a really scary rehab facility, but a school! It calmed our nerves a bit, but it was still freaking awesome & creepy. It’s so weird to think about how a vibrant school filled with kids can just be pushed aside and forgotten. Where there really no other uses for this building? I’m drawn to exploring just like I’m drawn to stories. This neglected building definitely has a story.

These don’t really fit the mood of the others, but here’s a pretty picture of my partner in crime, Erin!

Oh man, it has been so hard waiting to show these off. I wanted to make sure I edited other sessions first, but the time is finally here! Meet Tressie & Sterg, the winners of the engagement session contest. They received the most votes for their engagement session concept, “Love in the Library”. A few months later we found ourselves at John C. Hodges Library on the University of Tennessee campus. For most UT students I know, they don’t really like Hodges. Too many bad memories of all-nighters & research papers, but it just fits Tressie & Sterg. They are both teachers. Tressie teaches high school English & Sterg is an associate professor of adolescent literacy at UT. They even met at UT. So yeah, they’re book people & probably correcting my grammar as they read this (eep!).

After the library, we headed to UT Gardens for some pretty spring pictures. The sun rocked it hardcore. Knoxville is so gorgeous in March. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. Tressie & Sterg radiate something when you are around them. It’s hard to describe. Please leave them some love at the end of this post. It’s Sterg’s birthday! Happy Birthday!

If you’d like to see a collection of my favorite engagement photos, check out this post!

I love being in Knoxville because I have a little sister that is willing to drive around with me, location scout for other sessions, and be my photographic guinea pig.

She started out modeling for me at a young age, so by now, she’s a pro. By the time she’s a senior in high school, she’s gonna have a bajillion senior photos. :)