Boxing it all up!

Never thought I would see the day when I could actually box up all of my graduate school books. I made the decision before I finished graduate school that I would not go on to get my doctorate at this time, and instead pursue my photography. Please don't get me wrong, earning my M.Ed. was a HUGE accomplishment. I cried a lot during the three years of the College Student Affairs program. Good tears, happy tears, and tears that probably didn't really mean anything. I would not trade the experiences I had with the 6 other women in my cohort, and the amount of knowledge we gained about higher education and college students for anything in the world. So, this weekend, I am boxing up, all of the books I poured over for 3 years. The extensive chapters I read, the papers I wrote, the capstone I created, and the memories that will forever be ingrained in my brain. Someday, I do have plans to go on and get a Ph.D. in Higher Education and to run an institution, but for right now, I am taking time to pursue what God has placed before me.

The picture below are just a few of the books we spent a great amount of time in over the course of three years. It kind of makes me sad boxing them up right now, as I feel like some of those books deserve to be read again, as I can spend a lot more time without all of those deadlines on the syllabus.

The Workshop!!

It was all the buzz last week in blog land, when Jasmine Star announced that she was going to do her first official workshop titled, "The Workshop". Oh my goodness. I had a feeling that something like this was going to be coming soon, she just couldn't not do something like this with her major popularity, skill, commitment, and love for the photography industry.

I went straight to the website she created with Show It Sites and read all the details. It was so exciting! To spend an entire day with Jasmine Star and 19 other photographers who want to learn how to build their business, work on branding, and other shooting techniques. I started to send David text messages with the details and informed him that the workshop was going to be held on my Dad's birthday. He said it would be a wonderful way to pay tribute to my father's legacy in the photography business and go to Jasmine's workshop on March 10th. HOLLLAAA!! I am going and I can't wait!

*edit, I haven't been "wait listed" and I am going. I get to spend the entire day with some totally fabulous people!



I think with the huge response she has received from the workshop, there will be more in the near future.

Amber: Senior Portraits

She loves the color purple, her dog Simon, and the words that fill a page to tell a story. Meet Amber. She is a Senior at Apple Valley High School and will be graduating in 2009 with plans to go on to college, which you know just warms my heart. She plans to attend Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ and wants to major in English. I am not sure what it is about English majors, but I think I love how eloquent they are. Rachel, Charity and Bonnie were all English Majors at APU whom I have photographed in the past and are now working on their Masters Degrees. Amber was a true joy to photograph, and having her cute dog Simon with us, just added more character to the pictures.

*Thank you Amber for a fun afternoon. It was a pleasure to meet you, your Mom and Simon. Good Luck to you as you pursue your dream at NAU. Blessings, Tira J.

To view more from the session, CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW!

Kendall & Zack: Portraits

Young love. It is precious, unique, fragile, sacred, and joyful in every way possible. Kendall and Zack are so in love, and it was truly evident last weekend as David and I had the privilege of photographing them at APU. Zack is a Psychology major and Kendall is a Biology major, and they are bright, outgoing, and fun to be around. They are both from Minnesota and met at their church in New Hope, MN, and then followed each other to APU. The weather was perfect for this session, as it was a warm 75 degrees the second weekend of January. They had just returned from Minnesota after their Christmas break, and mentioned that it was in the teens when they left. Yeah, that is a little too cold for me. They were all warmed up for our time together, and we all had a blast. Zack was going to be leaving for APU's High Sierra semester the next day, so I would say that spending the afternoon documenting their love, would be perfect.

*Kendall and Zack, David and I truly enjoyed spending the afternoon with you, documenting your love. May God bless your relationship in the most amazing ways. We hope to have the opportunity to photograph you two again. Love and Blessings, Tira J & David.

To view more images from the session, CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW.

Something new is coming! And it's gonna be good!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

You may have noticed that our old website has disappeared.



The good news is that something even better is coming your way soon. If you want to be the first to find out about it, CLICK HERE.

Keep checking back for other updates and some recent shoots.

Joyce, Christine, Katie: Portrait Session

Joyce and her girls, Christine and Katie were our last clients of 2008, and we had a complete blast doing portraits over in Claremont. It worked out perfectly, because they are also from Claremont. I just love it when we have a location that is close to home, and that a client feels comfortable with. I work with Joyce at APU, and her daughters wanted to get some new portraits done for Christmas, so of course, I obliged. In order to get "this party started", Christine brought along some music to get us all in the mood. It definitely worked, and loosened up the nerves of being photographed.

*Joyce, Christine and Katie, it was a true joy to photograph you all. You are all gorgeous and I had a blast.

Here are a few from our time together back in December.

Just for fun, and because 2009 is going to be GREAT!

So, this is circulating around Facebook and I thought it would be fun to post. Especially to calm the nerves after tonight's eventful 4.5 earthquake out in Riverside. Have fun!



If you want to send this to someone for fun, CLICK HERE.