Diana and I have been friends for almost 20 years, specifically since Mrs. White's second grade class. She's the friend I don't see too often, but when I do, we can pick up like we just saw each other yesterday. She recently moved to Oregon to do all sorts of great things, and I admire her for it, although I do miss her. A while back she let me take her photos, and I really hope I was able to capture her adventurous heart. I played around with this one more than I normally would, but I kinda like it. 

I'm proud of you, amiga! Don't stop chasing your dreams so fiercely. Your ferocity inspires those around you. 

Sierra chewed through some cables, so I didn't have a computer for a little while. Now that I have one again, I decided to look through some old photos and I came across these.

The neat thing about family is that you can bug them, especially if you're one of the youngest. When I first became interested in photography, my family were the first I turned to for practice. I took portraits of Mari and Phil at the neighborhood park when they were engaged, and years later, they still let me practice on them, which I'm grateful for. Last March we met in Salton City and we walked all over the pulverized bones of dead fish as I took photos, but my sister and brother-in-law didn't complain.

Truth be told, I was a little nervous. The light wasn't what I expected it to be, and I didn't know how to work with it, but they were supportive and waited until I fiddled with my camera and figured it out. Thanks, Mari and Phil for helping me grow and get better!

Joyce is one of the busiest people I know. She somehow manages to juggle multiple jobs and a ton of projects, with plenty of confidence and grace. She's heavily involved in the performing arts: she's been a production coordinator, choreographer, instructor, performer, and she's even participated in pageants. 

Thanks for taking time out of your crazy schedule to join me on this shoot. I know you swear you're a klutz, but I seriously didn't see it while you were in front of the camera. Don't stop dancing, Joyce!