healthy attempt

By | Personal | One Comment

phew! it’s been a whirlwind of engagement sessions lately, huh? well, it’s not letting up this week, and we love that! for today we have anna and ray who have officially made it to our gallery page, check them out!

i’m sure like many of you, matt and i desire to eat relatively healthy. i say relatively because our life here in atlanta certainly doesn’t come without it’s wonderful temptations to throw health aside. gotta love atl.! :) this being said, we at least start off with a nutritious and healthy breakfast each morning, granola. we add yogurt and sometimes fruit and it’s just unbeatable. we were introduced to granola when we worked at a summer camp up in asheville, nc. we were spoiled that summer by the homemade goodness and we spent the next few years searching for a comparable granola…to no avail! the search ended this past august when my obsession with cooking took hold, i became determined to find my own granola recipe. trust me friends, i’ve experimented with the first two pages of recipes that come up when you google ‘granola recipe!’ matt, being endlessly supportive, never complained when it came out like granite or tasted salty. ;) so with matt’s encouragement i did something i’ve never done before or since; i wrote a recipe! it was a feat for sure, and even though it’s ever-changing i’m just proud it exists! so off i go to replenish our personal supply, feel free to join me if you like!

‘mix granola

3 cups oats
¼ cup chopped walnuts*
¼ cup crocanti of soja almond**
¼ cup ground flax seed
¼ cup honey
¼ cup oil
¼ cup water
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cardamom
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp white sugar
1 egg

toss oats, sesame seeds, almond crisps, ground flax seed, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, salt, and white sugar

whisk honey, oil, water, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg

pour liquid slowly, stirring at the same time until incorporated. press lightly into a nonstick casserole dish (keep about 1.5 inches thick), bake 1.5 hours at 275. after an hour, turn oven off, leaving the granola to cool (and harden), remove and break up. serve with vanilla yogurt or milk, with fruit and/or honey, or just plain! enjoy!


* almonds and sesame seeds are yummy too!

** no idea what this is. hhaha, i get it here.

disclaimer: we have a weird oven! bake time may be different for you. also, this makes crunchy granola, bake less for a chewier batch.

let me know how it goes! :)

anna & jason are engaged!

By | Engagement Sessions | 3 Comments
[ note: i thought of a famous actress the whole time we were shooting, i hope you see it too :) ]

anna and jason were engaged in the beautiful founder’s garden on campus at the university of georgia; seems like the perfect place to start their engagement shoot, right? well, matt and i arrived early (as usual) to scout out the location, and as we walked up the hill to the garden the top of a white tent appeared, then a bar complete with glasses and tender came into view, then round tables with extravagant flower arrangements, and finally the caterer who informed us the garden was reserved for a reception. right theme, wrong day, founder’s garden! when anna and jason arrived we grabbed a few shots around the perimeter of the garden before deciding to head to a nearby lake. on the way they stopped to change into more casual clothes and pick up lily, the fiesty little puppy jason gave anna two years ago. at first little lily was afraid of the camera, retreating behind anna or jason. next she decided to attack the camera and bark and lunge at the lens (and subsequently matt, haha)! finally she realized the camera must be nice because mommy and daddy are paying it a lot of attention and seem to be smiling a lot! so then she became a bit of a camera hog, but an adorable one! here are a few of our favorite pics from the day:

thank you anna and jason for being so fun and flexible! i’m so glad that it worked out for us to do your engagement pics, it was great getting to know you guys before the big day! we’re looking forward to the wedding!

[note: answer] : kirsten dunst!!!

photo credit: the biography channel

anna & ray are engaged!

By | Engagement Sessions | 2 Comments

we were really excited when (after lots of correspondence) anna sent us a message letting us know she wanted us to capture her big day! it was like trying out for an exclusive team, and we made it! yeay! we love it when clients really connect with our style and choose us because they really think we’ll capture the day the way they want to remember it (how it really happened!); anna and ray are certainly that couple! it was great to meet up with them wednesday at centennial olympic park for some fun shots full of color and sun and buildings(?)! anna and i discovered we share a slightly embarrassing addiction to the show america’s next top model; i have to say, she’s learned way more from that show than i have! check out these shots

look at the way she’s gazing up at him, so in love!

for all you photo junkies, notice how well-lit their smiles are and where the sun is? we have the insane glare off the city windows to thank for that, love it!

anna, this next shot is just for you, i know you love those shoes (even through the pain ;))!

anna and ray are pretty much expert frolickers:

and the sun started to set, this is my favorite shot, matt took it, he’s got an eye for dramatic lighting!

thanks anna and ray for an awesome afternoon! we really enjoyed laughing with you guys, can’t wait for the wedding!