Abby Lyn: senior portraits :D {highway gardens, sedalia, mo senior portrait photographer}

This is my friend Abby Lyn Hargrave :D.

While I was in Sedalia, she wanted to get together and take some portraits of me! (She's getting into photography and she definitely has the makings of a good photographer! She handles a portrait shoot very professionally :D. Check out her blog!)

Well, after she took pictures of me, she asked if I would take her senior portraits!! (She'll be graduating around January; the awesomeness of being homschooled ;) ). Being as stunningly gorgeous as she, it was no difficulty getting pretty pictures of her :D.

Not only is she beautiful on the outside, she's beautiful on the inside too! About a year and a half ago God saved her from her sins and she is a new creature!! The change in her has been such an encouragement to me; she loves her Lord :).

Abbyyyy, you're such a knock out!!

Sooo beautiful.

And check out her amazing smile! :D

A funky rock wall :D. (In a good way :) ).

She's adorable when she laughs :D.

After taking pictures at the Highway Gardens, we headed on over to Liberty Park.

She reminds me of a surfer girl here :).

Loooove.

Abby was such a good sport; I kept moving her around on this bridge trying to get the best lighting on her. Haha.

I think she was laughing at herself here because every time I asked her to do a model face, she had to lick her lips. Lol :D.

And we'll end with my personal favorite :).

Love you, Abby!! You're such a considerate and fun friend :D. And we MUST remember to watch "Nacho Libre" next year!! Hehe :D.

With a smile,
{ Rachel Leigh }

Elizabeth Ann: portraits :) :) {clover dell park, sedalia, mo portrait photographer}

Now this is the girl that I stayed with while I was in Sedalia:

Elizabeth Ann Blum (pronounced bloom).

Elizabeth and I have known each other since I was 9 years old, but it was only when I was 13 that we really started getting to know each other :). During that early time of our friendship, we would go back and forth with long e-mails talking about everything. God really used those e-mails to help me grow spiritually; to become more focused on Him. It was just what I needed :). Elizabeth is like my sister and she IS my sister in Christ! :D

Anyway, here are the pictures of this beautiful woman!!

We went to this pretty little place outside of town called Clover Dell Park. God was so gracious in giving us beautiful clouds for shade! :D.

Here's my favorite of the bunch :D. The funny thing was, I wasn't trying to make her laugh for pictures; she was just laughing! This girl's got joy in her soul :D. Needless to say, she made taking pictures of her super fun!

Elizabeth, you're so precious :D.

And STUNNING! I truly believe I have THE most beautiful friends in the world. It's crazy.

Texting. Hehe :D.

Aaaaah!! Model on the water front :D.

Elizabeth, you're just hot. That's all.

And then we walked over to the Katy Trail! This biking trail winds throughout much of Missouri. It's pretty cool! Oh, and I just want to say I got to pick out Elizabeth's outfit and jewelry :D.

This one of her makes me think of sunshine :).

Then she came up with the brilliant idea of taking jumping pictures!! She is just so fun :D.

The middle one is my favorite. Hehe :D.

It was a great day :D.

With a smile,
{ Rachel Leigh }

Marie Louise: bridal preparation :D {sedalia, mo bridal portrait photographer}

Hey, y'all! I've been in Sedalia, Missouri since last Friday and I will be flying home tomorrow. I have had SUCH a wonderful time!! But I'll save the details of my trip for another post :).

The main reason I planned this trip to Sedalia was because my friend Marie was getting married!! Anyway, after the rehearsal, she asked if I would come along with her and her personal attendant to her make-up and hair appointments to take pictures!! I gladly said yes :D.

I was so happy that both places had great natural lighting pouring in!

And I was happily surprised that my friend Heather Vaught was going to do her make-up! I didn't know she worked there. She did a great job :D.

Love this mirror shot :D.

Marie's ring is SO beautiful.

And so is Marie :D.

Love this angle! :D

Marie is blessed with much beautiful hair :D.

Loved her veil :).

And here's Marie's personal attendant and good friend of mine: Elizabeth Gates :D. She too is getting married!! Next month in fact to Marie's husband's younger brother! So I get to make another trip to Missouri next month; I'll just be going a little further north to Kirksville :D. Isn't she precious? Love her :D.

Her hair wasn't done yet though...

...she wanted her younger sister/maid of honor to do the finishing touches. Abby is GREAT with hair.

Ok, now I know I told y'all I'd be posting pictures from this wedding. Well, I ended up not taking any. The reason why is when we arrived at the church building after the appointments, the main photographer was there and had two second shooters with her instead of one like I thought she was going to have. I didn't want to add stress and make it four photographers, so I just put my camera down and enjoyed the wedding :). I did snap this shot below though so you get to see two of the bridesmaid dresses. They were SO beautiful and modest! The whole wedding was so beautiful. Christian weddings are the best and they encourage me so much!! :)

Ok, I have to mention a highlight of the wedding day: the dancing. I hadn't had that much fun in a long time!! We did the normal slow dancing, the cha cha slide (my request ;) ), the electric slide, the macarena, and we just had fun doing free style with our friends :D. I didn't realize that my friends were such GOOD dancers!! It was a blast :D.

With a smile,
{ Rachel Leigh }