manzanita

The Denbows

I can't even tell you what a treat it was to meet the lovely Rachel and her sweet family. Alysia and I took the trip to Colorado Springs to spend the day with them and visit garden of the gods. These little ones were such comedians, they had us both laughing the whole way through!

Sometimes you meet a family that gives you hope that the whole idea of having a family, keeping it exciting, loving, and honest is possible. These guys were a reminder of that for me. Rachel and Brett seem like such lovely parents and it shows in their sweet children.

After our shoot Rachel took us out to dinner at this great spot and we talked about blogging and what it means to us. It is funny, but there really are things that only other bloggers understand and it was nice to find that camaraderie in someone. Thanks Rachel, you and your fam are the loveliest!

If you are in the Colorado area and would like to book a shoot with manzanita photo just drop me a line!

besitos,
rebecca

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cattle

We got a little Spring snow storm here in Boulder last week. Normally when this happens in April its not the most exciting thing, but all winter I had been seeing all these black cattle hanging out on the side of the highway. They looked so striking against the white snow and I had been meaning to find them and take some photos. The winter has sort of flown by so I was really happy to have another shot at taking these photos I had in my mind.

I found them where I had seen them from the highway. I walked through the high snow toward the heard and started snapping. As soon as I got there this little calf caught my attention because he was being really loud. He is the little guy in the first few photos. The whole time I was there he just followed me around and let me get really close to him, it was adorable. So happy I got the chance to take these, love how they came out.

How was your weekend?

besitos,
rebecca

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kim & chase maternity

I had the privilege of shooting maternity photos with the lovely Kim of Oh Sweet Joy and her husband Chase a few weeks ago. I can't tell you how great it is to share in these special moments with people. I got to shoot photos for their pregnancy announcement almost 9 months ago and now I get to share these beautiful maternity shots with you all. These two are such a treat to work with and I can't wait to see their beautiful little one!

Also, I have been doing some revamping to the website this week. There are still a few kinks that need to be worked out but my photo portfolio is looking pretty good so far! Take a look and let me know if you would like to book a shoot with manzanita photo!

besitos,
rebecca

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anne & spencer

Hello sweet people! Today I wanted to share with you a photo shoot I got to do with some lovely people a couple of weeks ago. Anne and Spencer are high school sweet hearts and you can totally tell! I knew right away that they were best friends and the ease and natural way they were together was beautiful. It was impressive too! Especially because they were in front of my ever snapping camera. I imagine some of that ease in front of the camera comes from Anne being a blogger and Spencer being a blogger's husband. You can get pretty cozy with a camera being around you all the time!

We met in downtown Boulder and explored the alley ways and brick buildings of west Pearl St. After that we checked out some books at the Boulder Book Store and then relaxed in the twinkly lights of the pedestrian mall. It is always such a treat to be able to hang out with sweet people who are happy to let me capture their little moments. Thanks for letting me steal you for the evening Anne and Spencer!

Take a look!

besitos,
rebecca

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emeralds and diamonds

If you know me you know I love jewelery. Rings to be specific, very very old rings to be more specific. I have a hawks eye for them honestly, I can see a shimmer from across a room and know that its an antique ring, don't ask me how. Anyway this ring here is one of my favorites of all time. My dear friend Susan's engagement ring had me in awe from the moment I saw it. So, when she asked me to photograph it I was more than just a little excited!

It also got me to thinking that I would like to offer jewelery portraits for clients and friends. I think some pieces have such a presence to them they would do well to have their portrait taken, what do you think? My rings are next in line!

How is everyone's week going? Mine is flying by with studying and squeezing in some walking dead with the hub, season 3 has made me cry while watching almost every single episode:( Same with season 3 downton abbey, what the hell is going on! I keep having to tell my self "this is only show rebecca, you don't actually know these people, because they are not real" well at least not real real.

besitos,
rebecca

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good for you

I took this last Monday off from work, a sort of mental health day I would call it. I cleaned the house, worked on some art projects, listened to records, and made this delicious meal. It is always sort of a wake up call for me when I have a day off just to be home by myself. I realize quite strongly that I spend most of my life doing something that I don't love.

I love my job, as a job, but not as a way to live my life. If that makes any sense? It doesn't make me feel the way I do after a photo shoot, after I finish a craft project, or after I have time to make a healthy meal. It just doesn't give me that same spark that doing things with my hands gives me. To make something out of nothing, that is what really brings me joy.

So, I had sort of a bitter sweet day off trying to appreciate every inch of my lovely life and also trying to be honest with myself about where I hope I can be in the future. Where is that? Home, I want to be home and make everything in my life out of nothing! Food, clothing, accessories, relationships, so on and so on...

For these photos I experimented with using low light settings and I just love how all the vegetables pop! Almost like the vitality and nutrition is seeping out of them.

What have you been eating for dinner lately? If you need any inspiration check out Inge's weekly dinner posts, they are lovely.

besitos,
rebecca

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meet anabelle

Meet Anabelle! Dustin's brother and his lady had this little one at the beginning of August. She is such a cutie and so smart! Dustin and I had the pleasure of being some of the few people to meet her on her birthday and just hours after being born she was so wide eyed and alert. A couple of weeks ago we took the ride up to Wyoming where they live and I got to take a few snaps of this little beauty.

I love having a little baby around again. My youngest sibling is five and I have been feeling a bit nostalgic for the times when I go could go to my moms to get my baby fix. It always amazes me how fast babies grow, she looked twice the size since the last time we had seen her. Isn't she adorable?

How was your weekend? Dustin and I did a lot of cleaning and working on this deck project that has been taking soooo long. I am hoping to get the christmas tree up next week and maybe squeeze in some time to go to Denver, because there are two exhibits we really want to see.

besitos,
rebecca

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martha's vineyard

Last week was lovely. My best friend Amelia grew up on Martha's Vineyard and in the eleven years that we have known each other I had never been there. So, last week I made the journey to the adorable and quaint island. We went to the beach, and walked through the woods. We went out to dinner and Amelia convinced me that raw oysters are awesome, they are. We visited beautiful island homes and got some good talks in.

We used to live together when we were in college and it has been years since we have had more than just a few hours alone together, so to be honest that was my favorite part of the trip. You know those people that you could be anywhere with and still have a good time. Thats us, all we need is conversation... and maybe a glass of wine.

If you follow me on instagram you probably saw some more snap shots of our trip. To see all of them just search the hashtag #randadoesmv as in Rebecca and Amelia do Martha's Vineyard, yes together we are RANDA!

So now, I have been home for about five days and tonight I get to see my hub who has been hunting in the woods in Pennsylvania for the last two weeks. Can't wait to see that beautiful bearded man!

besitos,
rebecca

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first anniversary

Hi people! If you follow me on instagram you may have noticed that yesterday was Dustin and I's one year anniversary. Well, I'm sure you noticed since I posted a wedding photo about every 3.2 minutes. Yeah sorry about that! I just am so in love with our wedding photos, Amber and Jon of Live It Out Photo captured our day better than I could have ever imagined and I loved looking through the photos again yesterday. Thanks guys! You can see all of the photos here.

I am a late sleeper on the weekends so when I woke up early yesterday Dustin was playing video games in the living room thinking he had a couple hours before I got up. When he saw me walk into the room he quickly shut everything down and started making me breakfast, haha. We had a nice morning chatting about how we can't believe a year has passed. He got me peonies and I made him a block print that I will be sharing later in the week. I also got his pocket watch fixed. When we first started dating the first gift I ever got him was a pocket watch for his birthday. It worked for about 2 hours and then stopped. That was four years ago and every time we see it we are both like "man, we gotta get that fixed." Well I finally did and of course all that was wrong with it was it needed a new battery.

After our delicous elk sausage and egg breakfast we started getting ready to head back to the Ya Ya Apple Orchard and Farm where we got married last year. We hadn't been back since the day and we had been trying to do so every weekend since! We brought the owners a thank you card and a little photo book of our wedding for them to show to prospective wedding clients, they are trying to make it a more regular thing there.

It was so sweet to walk around, to stand in the exact spot where we exchanged our vows, to pet the donkies and feed apples to the horses that drew our wagon. It was pretty chilly yesterday and snow was everywhere, we were feeling lucky to have had such good weather last year.

I love that we got married at a place that we could easily visit every year and bring our future kids to. Ya Ya has this Adopt a Tree thing that D and I are planning on doing before our next anniversary! So special to have our very own tree to get apples from each year, right?

How was your weekend? I have about 3897589 hours of work left to do to finish my real estate work before I can take the state exam. I am trying to cram it all into this week so I can be done before I head to the Boston area for thanksgiving, send me happy study thoughts!

p.s. thanks Alysia for being the best manzanita assistant ever and snapping our photos yesterday<3

besitos,
rebecca

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Kayla & Preston

Hello hello! I am so excited to share this photo shoot with you all! This weekend I made my way up the mountain with the adorable and newly engaged Kayla and Preston. These two are high school sweet hearts and it shows. It was so fun to photograph people that are best friends and so comfortable with each other.

We took a stroll around the reservoir, then they cuddled up in a blanket, and after our hands and feet were just about frozen off we made our way to the adorable Buffalo Bill's cafe for tea to warm up. Buffalo Bill's is made up of a couple of old train carts and it has some of my favorite light.

Well take a look at the love birds and be warned this post is pretty photo heavy, I had so many favorites! Thanks Kayla and Preston for being such great subjects:)

For this shoot I used my t3i, the diana mini, my canon xsn, and my canon ae-1. Hover over any photo to see what camera it was taken with:)

Did you notice that Kayla is rocking The Grace headband?!

besitos,
rebecca

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