RACHEL MARIE | PORTRAITS

After this shoot a few weeks ago, I decided to call her our resident Chanel Iman. Rach (now officially of Wanders and Wardobes) and I brought the second half our photo adventure to Shasta Dam with a quick outfit change - I love how easily she switched up her entire look around a basic white tee and leather leggings. Genius. The chill and breeze must have heard we were headed to the dam and followed us there because it was dang chilly, though of course the pro that Rachel is, you'd have no clue from these photos. 

On the topic of freezing cold weather, I'm back from an incredible, life-changing trip to Germany - photos and stories to come. It was my first time in Europe which means it literally was a dream come true - I have been wanting to step foot on that continent for as long as I can remember and oh, how it did not disappoint! 

RACHEL MARIE | PORTRAITS / COLLABORATION

Today is this beauty's birthday. So what better day for her to kick off her adventure into one of her dreams - launching her fashion and lifestyle blog, Wanders and Wardrobes? Seeing people jump head in to what has been swirling around in their heads and hearts, to see them put images and words to day dreams, taking risks and laying them before the world - these are a few of my favourite things.

You saw a sneak peek of this shoot a few weeks ago but here are a few more from our first photo adventure together.

Happy birthday and congratulations again, Rach. I am so excited to play a small part in this!

THE HUMAN PROJECT

This here is Ryan. Ryan Andrews. Approximately 18 months ago, Mum and I touched down in Redding, kicking off my crazy adventure here. The house I was to move into wasn't ready yet and Mum was hanging out here for a couple of weeks to help me settle in. We found ourselves at Ryan and Nissa's playing with their hilarious children, eating way too much food and having some of the best conversation about anything and everything. We drank milk which had been picked up at a nearby farm, watched them make pancakes from flour which they had just made from scratch, laughed at the so-called spicy kimchi Trader Joe's sells, cracked coconuts with a giant machete and pretended to ride a Harley Davidson - just for the gram. 

Needless to say Ryan and Nissa are family so it is with so much pride and excitement that I see Ryan's latest undertaking, The Human Project, exponentially exploding alongside his partners Wes Chapman and Liviu Zoe. Each day, Wes and Ryan sit down and chat about important human issues and hit Publish, sending the addictive, funny Human Podcast out into the world and inviting people into new, informed perspective as well as the challenge for personal positive action be made. The result has been incredible influence - contacted by Apple themselves and currently featured on the home page of iTunes, Wes and Ryan recently had Angelina Jolie herself chime in on a show, and the feedback from people has been phenomenal.

It is such a privilege to be spending some of my time seeing this project unfold. 2015 is going to be massive for these guys and I'm expecting their impact to measure in the millions. Cheers, boys!

SNOW ADVENTURES | PORTRAITS (SNEAK PEEK)

It's been a busy few weeks in my world - Thanksgiving came and went, school is happily busy and we're all gearing up for Christmas! On this day last year, Redding got 6 inches of snow. The first time in years for a town where the craziest weather looks like buckets of rain. I remember being at a packed Trader Joe's where it looked like we were preparing ourselves for a war. Everyone was in a slight disarray. 

This year, no such weather, so we decided that since the snow wasn't coming to us, we'd get our butts up to the snow. Five of us hopped in a car and to Mt. Shasta we went. Here's a sneak peek of some of today's shenanigans. 

RACHEL MARIE | PORTRAITS / COLLABORATION (SNEAK PEEK)

Meet the fabulous Rachel Marie. She is an aspiring lifestyle blogger and this is a sneak peek of our first shoot together. Needless to say the camera and her are a great pair and we had a whole lot of fun shooting. There is something magical that happens when two creatives get together to create images, content, and experiments! So excited about this collaboration and about this girl and her dreams!

SOPHIE | PORTRAITS

Sophie, Sophie, Sophie. This beauty is my most faithful model. Cabin fever seems to hit both of us at the same time around here, which works fantastic for quick photo walks around our neighbourhood. Redding is finally starting to look like fall and we're working on getting it to feel like fall. The temperatures have been stubbornly sitting in the high 20s (celsius) but just today the scarves and sweaters are out. It'll probably be short-lived but we're on our way there.

GRANDMA | PORTRAITS

My apologies for the radio silence. This is me checking in. In the last four weeks I've flown from California to New Zealand to Singapore and back to New Zealand. Phew. It's most definitely rest time. Yesterday was my last day in Singapore and I grabbed the opportunity to snap some pictures of my beautiful Grandma before she headed to church. Isn't she stunning? My family and I would not be where we are today if not for her and I am so glad I got to spend a couple of weeks with her just chilling and watching her watch Korean dramas - no joke.

While I was in Singapore I got to shoot an engagement shoot for two of my good friends and I can't wait to share it here!

TANG SISTERS | PORTRAITS

By far my favourite shoot to date. The Tang sisters (there are six of them) are some of the most beautiful girls in Redding and also the loveliest! It is always refreshing grabbing quick chats with them because they are so genuine and funny. Directed again by the incredible Heather Armstrong, this shoot finished off a photography workshop at Bethel's recent School of Creativity. I got to jump in after taking photos of the different workshops happening around the campus.

Confession - I had, for a moment, thought that we were just taking photos of the flower wreaths so I definitely squealed a little when the girls showed up in their dresses. It is always fun working under Heather's genius but this one tops them all (so far)! Thank you, Hadley, Audrey, Beckah and Grace for making our job so so easy.