the lavender fields / a photo shoot.

part of me will always be 

walking through the purple magic, 

wondrous, wild, and free. 

:: katie hobbes ::

{^^ only successful free-lensing still...apparently I have still yet to master the technique; or raise enough money for a 1.8 mm :P } 

the commencement of june called for spontaneous adventures. so when the weekend rolled around, my best friend joanna and i decided to venture a local lavender farm five minutes outside of town. when we arrived, the sight of a sprawling field made up of dreamy lavender greeted us at the end of the dirt road; and harvesters immediately shouted to give us a bundle of buena vista lavender for the photo shoot. the spicy, intoxicating scent clung to us as we literally "swam" {more like trampled ungracefully, i might add} in thick matted rows, while the bees hummed cheerily in the sun drenched field. i have always have possessed a fascination for anything lavender - not only for the alluring color, its immense healing properties, but mostly the well-known fragrance, and have since been nicknamed "the lavender girl" years ago. to me the old-fashioned scent of warmth and summery-ness all curiously enveloped within a small purple bud smells like coming home.  
i was so blessed to have such a stunning model pose for portraits {guys, she's a natural. i didn't even have to pose her...which is good since I don't have any idea nor any experience whatsoever} and our conversation was mingled with sleepy murmurings of delight and rippling laughter over things such as what she described to be "jennifer lawrence" awkwardness in front of the lens and how all my friends are being chased by guys and it'll be me forever alone. :) 
indeed, laughter is always a must.   it was finally beginning to feel like summer was prepared to stay for awhile.   xx postscript: after months of saving film, i used my instax 210  for the first time and received many squeals from me along with intense interest from both a rancher and fellow photographer. :) thank you meredith for sending it to me!

"courage, dear heart." summer manifesto.

“I love the idea of the big life - the life that matters, the life that makes a difference. The life where stuff happens, where people take action. The opposite of the life where the girl can't even speak to the boy she likes; the opposite of the life where the friends aren't even good friends, and lots of days are wasted away feeling bored and kind of okay, like nothing matters much.” E. Lockhart 

I love the idea of a life where //
++ they don't make you feel guilty to love freely and passionately
++ no one scoffs, when one decides to live vivaciously
++ i don't feel rushed to show up for life 
++ fear doesn't get in the way of reaching out to people
++ mornings aren't lazy, but stimulated with dewy sunrises and overflowing with His grace 
++ days mean something; and things are accomplished
++ fear doesn't get in the way of pursuing 
++ capturing life vs. living life simply for status updates
++ living not for the past that you will always regret or a worried future that may never come to pass - but in present timing. 
++ [spontaneous] adventures happen

where "courage, dear heart" fuels our decisions to be fully alive. 
this is summer 2014. and this is where life finally begins. 
happy june! 
xx 
postscript // first attempts at freelancing. :)