Thank you notes

When I was a little girl, one of the many things I dreamed of being when I grew up was a singer. I never made it to getting my own CD, but I did finally make it into the liner notes of someone else's, the fabulous Alli Rogers. For part of her CD packaging they used one of my very own pictures that I shot of Alli in October when she was in town for a concert! I was thrilled to be asked to submit my picture after her manager, Kirk, saw the pics I took of her on my blog.

Alli has the voice of an angel and through her gift of music, she is really able to take you into a deeper more initimate level of worship with God. I encourage everyone to check her out!


My picture is the one in the design on right flap.


They actually made a typo and forgot the "-" in my website address, but oh well, people can still Google me.

Also, with my graphic design background, I have to say I was impressed with the design of the CD. If you need a great designer, check out Foda Studio.

Reading through Alli's thank you notes, it really inspired me to want to take the time to say my own list of thank you's to those who have helped me become who I am today.

First and foremost, my God and my Jesus, for the gifts You have given me as an instrument You work through, the grace You have shown me as I continue to learn about life each day, and the blessing of having a passion for what I do. I work for Your glory!

Mom and dad- You go beyond my parents, you are both also my best friends. Thank you for always allowing me the opportunities to follow the dreams in my heart, and for the guidance to turn those dreams into a beautiful reality.

Rachel and Becky- Since a young age, you have always been my #1 cheerleaders. Thank you for all the smiles and words of encouragement along our journeys.

Franca, Barb, Sherie & Katie Stott- I cherish the girly times we get to spend together when our schedules allow for our paths to cross. Thank you for all your support!

Tim Co.- I would have no idea what I was doing with my camera if it wasn't for you. Your lessons from "University of Tim Co." have been more valuable than you know. Thank you for answering all my dumb questions, and more importantly, thank you for your "Captivating Co." friendship.

Joshua Smith- Thank you for all the time you took to answer my dumb video questions back in the day. Though I'm phasing out of video, your work continues to inspire me! You are truly an artist who sets precedents through your work.

David Jay and the OSP community- DJ, thank you for creating a place where fellow artists can come together to help one another. OSP, you are a wealth of knowledge that I have soaked up like a sponge. It can be nerve wracking posting my work up amongst so many talented photographers, but thank you for all your compliments you have all given me along the way. And I have enjoyed shooting alongside you during the times we have been together.

Chris and Katie Torres, Jill Higgins, Jason Groupp and MaryBeth Tyson- Thank you all for allowing me the times to shoot with you as I grew in my craft! I enjoyed sharing tips and tricks and getting to know each of you better through our passion for photography!

My brides and grooms- I can't think of a greater honor than being the one chosen to document your day. I hope you will cherish your videos and photos as much as I cherished working with each of you, and working with more of you in the future!

The friends and other photographers who read my blog- For so long I avoided blogs because I didn't feel like I had anything to say that people would want to read. Fast forward 8 months and hundreds of readers a day, I continue to be amazed at how people find my blog and care enough to leave personal encouraging comments. I have truly enjoyed forming new friendships with each of you and I look forward to continuing our conversation in many blog entries ahead!

Lastly, I have a lot of friends, mentors and people praying for me who I know aren't blog readers, but should you ever see this, I thank you so so much for all your guidance and prayers over the year. You are angels here on earth who give me wings to soar!

Facing the Giants

I always stand amaze how God sends along the right message or messenger to speak through to me at the exact time I needed to hear it.

For instance, last fall, the movie ""Facing the Giants" came out and everyone raved about what an incredible movie it was and how I needed to see it. I did hope to support it in the movie theater at the time knowing that it was a Christian movie, and God knows we need more movies like that in the theaters. But for whatever reason, I just never made it to the theater to see it. Fast forward to this past weekend, I was in Blockbuster and saw it had come out on DVD, and thought "Oh yay, this sounds like perfect timing to see it considering certain giants I've been facing lately!"

I took it home, and let me tell you, I have never cried so hard at a movie. Now, I'm not really a big football fan, but for me to cry over a football movie, you know it had to be good. I just loved the message of the movie being that yes, we will have giants attack us in life, but WITH GOD, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE! I also loved how the message was about how our gifts and talents are not for our own victory, but for using them as a tools to bless others in the Lord's name. That has always been my greatest prayer in whatever creative endeavor I have pursued. It was so good that the next day I even took it over to my parents to make my dad sit down and watch it. I could have sworn I heard him sniffle a few times.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, you must rent it! Here's the trailer:



Then today, I got the sweetest card from my great-aunt Ruby from the small town of Varnville, South Carolina (But as small as it is, they did film parts of Forest Gump there). Aunt Ruby is an incredible Christian woman who I have always looked up to and admired for her strength to carry on and never complain. Having lost her husband at an early age, she has two handicapped boys, Chris and Larry, who she has had to take care of by herself her entire life. They are in their 50s now, and even in her late 80s, she lives each day to provide for and love her boys, when most others are taking care of their parents at that age. Though she is unable to work, somehow the Lord always provides for the 3 of them, and this year I really felt God tug at my heart to commit my tithe for this entire year to her to bless their family. In January I sent her the first check from my income that month, and this is the touching card I received today from her.

"Dearest Scarlett,

Thank you so much for the check. May the world always be as beautiful for you as you make it for others! It was so thoughtful of you to bless Larry, Chris and I like that. You are the most wonderful, beautiful, and thoughtful young lady I've ever known. You are such a wonderful blessing. We all love you very much!

In Christian love,
Aunt Ruby"

Again, I was in tears. I'm just always so humbled to be used by the Lord to make a difference in someone else's life. Here's a pic of me and Aunt Ruby from a recent visit.


And here's one of me dancing with my cousin Chris in his Elvis adorned room. He is the BIGGEST Elvis fan you will ever meet! But more importantly, despite his handicap circumstance, he is one of the most genuine beautiful happiest souls I've ever met. There is a lot to be learned in that alone.

Claudette & Rob: I <3 JAX

Yesterday I shot a fun urban engagement session with a gorgeous couple, Claudette and Rob. They both met in New York City and wanted to recreate a "city" feel to their session by exploring downtown Jacksonville. With no more than about 5 skyscrapers, Jacksonville certainly has no big downtown, but we discovered a lot of different cool architectural elements to incorporate into the pictures. Rob has a real passion for architecture, and having once studied architecture myself, it was fun using the old buildings as a third character in their shots! It's crazy how I lived in Jacksonville my whole life, and I never knew how beautiful the downtown area really was.

Congrats Claudette and Rob! Stay tuned for photos from their awesome beach wedding this September!

>>>CLICK HERE FOR THEIR SLIDESHOW

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day!

Oodles of Poodles

This weekend, my friend Rachel and I took my baby, Rhett, to the Jacksonville Pet Expo downtown. It was a fun play day for dogs, full of throwing frisbees, air diving contests, smooching contests, and with a rows and rows of booths full of anyone who had something to do with the pet world such as doggy photographers (I don't know why I didn't think of this!) to doggy clothes to pet rescue centers and adoption.

Rhett had so much fun receiving so many free toys and showing off his stylish sweater to all the hot pups he sniffed in passing.

What really pulled at my heart though was passing the Coastal Poodle Rescue booth. Inside, a lady was holding a precious black poodle with no right eye or left leg. The poor thing had such a sad story, but thankfully was saved by the angels that run this rescue mission. I just really admire the ladies who have the heart to give of their time and efforts to give to other poodles in need out there. After all, they are all distant cousins of my sweet boy!

So if you are looking for a poodle to adopt, or even want to provide a foster home to poodles until they are adopted, be sure to check out www.coastalpoodlerescue.org. Here's a few pictures we snapped along the way.



Rhett checking out a potential new "girlfriend".


The wonderful ladies and pups of the Coastal Poodle Rescue.


Rachel falling in love with a Sheltie that she hopes to get later this year.


Smiling with Rhett outside in the dog park.

In other news.... Stay tuned for some cool pictures from Claudette and Rob's engagement session that I shot this afternoon. We gave downtown Jacksonville a New York City spin...

Website is back up.

Computers, you can't live with them, you can't live without them.

Earlier today, I found out someone cruelly HACKED my website. I don't understand mean people.

Thankfully everything is back up and running. In addition to my website being down, my email was also down, so if you emailed me at all today, and have not received a response back from me, please RESEND the email because more than likely I didn't receive it. I'm sorry for the inconvienience.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Let's trash your dress!!

Yes, I said t-r-a-s-h your dress. I know, you can't imagine spending all that money on it, only to destroy the dress you waited your whole life to wear. That's exactly why you should trash it. You'll wear it once and then it will go sit in a closet, when instead, we could get some rockin' photos of you to preserve the dress in a way everyone will see for years to come.

This weekend, I took a road trip to the gorgeous Savannah, Ga. with some of my photographer friends to do nothing but trash dresses. I have been hearing more and more about this new concept in wedding photography, and I had been dying to experiment with this kind of photo shoot before I offered it to my brides. We had three amazing models, Dacy, Ali, and Jenny, who weren't shy to get down and dirty! Thanks girls for being such troopers and braving the mud and cold! You rocked the photos!

And now I'm excited to present the results. Below you'll find 37 hot reasons why we MUST trash YOUR dress next!

p.s. Of course, I mean, after the wedding. :-)
p.p.s. Keep scrolling. The more you scroll down, the trashier it gets.
p.p.s. If you still need more convincing, check out trashthedress.com











































































And a fun one of me getting dirty in the sand. Thanks Crystal for the shot!



... And getting muddy in the swamp with Jill Higgins.


... And it wouldn't be complete without all of us chimping!