Couples: Tony & Octavia

I yanked my headphones off and yelled "I can do this for the rest of my LIFE!!!" Jose looks up from his laptop, on the floor (his favorite spot to work at apparently), and says "Good -- because you will." I can only imagine what he thinks, watching me every now and then yell "YESSS!" or "Ahhh, I loooove this part!" to my computer as I edit a slideshow. He rolls his eyes and gets back to his own work. But I always catch him smiling because he knows how happy I am.

I'm a big "lover" of many things. I don't typically just like something -- I'll be head over heels. And when I was working on this slideshow, I was loving EVERY piece of it. I customize everything for people I photograph -- down to the song. I probably spent over an hour just choosing a song because music is SO important to me in a slideshow! Octavia and I were texting (ironically talking about love songs and their lyrics) and she said "I'm in love with love!" and I couldn't agree more. That's actually the whole point of what I do and absolutely felt the immensity of love when I was editing this slideshow. I don't usually do it this way -- post the slideshow first. However, I could barely contain myself with it and believe it's the best way to start the experience. Here it is...

(**Make sure to let it load more than halfway and watch in high quality :)

We drove to South Mountain, without a particular spot in mind. It was already 11:30 a.m. and if you live in the desert, you know you're worried at this point. The light will almost be directly on top of us, and let's not even begin with the HEAT!

And then... seconds upon entering South Mountain Tony spots this beauty:

Not only was I fan of this building's textures, broken rooms, and interesting lines...




But my first thought in seeing the missing roof and walls around me was -- OPEN SHADE!!! Sounds like crazy talk, but photographers understand what I'm saying. There is NO way I could have achieved this soft lighting without some walls or shade near me....

MMM!! The depth!!

Haha... love this :)

She'll take care of you Tony! :)

And of course, my new landscape...

Who knew a desert could be so beautiful?

I was probably telling Tony I couldn't handle his fierceness anymore. Or cracked a stupid joke about the desert and bringing on the "hotness." See Jose? Cheesiness DOES get you places!

Octavia & Tony -- thank you. You didn't know what to expect, but you opened yourself up to me. Honestly, *I* didn't know what to expect and y'all shocked the heck out of me when y'all pulled out the intensity! Tony's face defines FIERCE! haha. And Octavia -- well, the girl is insanely comfortable in front of the camera it's almost crazy how easy she makes it look!

"When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love." -Adele