UP, UP, AND AWAY

LOCATION: Twin Lakes, CO

OUTFIT DETAILS: Better With You Floral Hoodie (c/o) || Adidas Performer Mid-Rise || Under Armour Tank || New Balance 574 Cruisin  ||  North Face Triclimate Rain Jacket || Lowepro Photo Hatchback

The weekend before last I was in beautiful Colorado and I had the very best time! I flew out for the weekend and spent time with some of the best friends ever. I had every intention last week to start sharing about some of our amazing experiencing, but when I returned I found out our car had caught fire, bah! Tyler waited to tell me until I got back, which I was so grateful for. So... instead of going through and editing photos we went to the mechanic, found out our car was dead, (ha!) and then made plans for our next car, whew. 

Last week was way busier then I expected and a little more stressful then I hoped, whew. On a lighter note, we figured out all of our car stuff and Jesus provided a great car that we should have by the end of the week. 

Okay, back to Colorado, ha! I spent four fun filled days with three amazing women. It was one of those experiences that you feel instantly yourself. One of my favorite things was hanging out with four other bloggers/photographers and knowing that we all understand all the blogging/photographing things. :) Our first stop for the weekend was Twin Lakes; it was absolutely beautiful and cold, haha. One thing I couldn't wait for was taking pictures of all the beautiful mountains. It was the absolute best hiking around with Beth,  Meg, and Amy and experiencing such beauty. 

I was freezing in these photos, but had the very best time, haha! I can't wait to share more and visit again! I want to give a shout out to Beth of Oak + Oats for snapping all these great photos of me, she's such a great photographer! xoxo. Samantha

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OUR FAVORITE FALL ACCESSORIES + A POSING GUIDE

Fall is fast approaching... I mean, it's September so it's basically Fall, right? ;) But guys, the first day of Fall is less then two weeks away. Starbucks is already serving pumpkin everything and I'm pretty sure I already saw some leaves changing this past weekend. I've been a little resistant to Fall, not because I don't love it, but because this summer went by too fast. A few weeks ago Tyler and I talked about how hard this summer was... do you think we can have a summer do over? ;)

But enough about summer... it's time to embrace Fall; cool crisp air, beautiful changing leaves, pumpkin in everything we can think of, ha! And our favorite Fall accessories. The transition into Fall is kind of my favorite. I love mixing my Fall and Summer items!

OUR FAVORITE FALL ACCESSORIES

HER (THAT'S ME!)

RAZORBACK TANKS: Guys, razorback anything is my favorite thing of all time. My goal is to wear razorbacks all year long and being able to incorporate them into Fall is magical. I recently picked up that green razorback and I just new it would be perfect for Fall. Classy, but still a little flirty.

CURLS: I bet you didn't know that curls were one of my favorite Fall accessories, did you? ;) Here's what's perfect about Fall; the weather gets cool and crisp and way less humid, which means my hair will actually hold a curl. And since it's cooler, it's not toO hot to have my hair down.

JORD WOOD WATCH: Y'all my Jord wood watch it seriously one of my favorite accessories for every season. I've never had a watch that felt so me, but was still so classy too. It's the most unique watch I've ever had and I love that it adds the perfect pop to my outfit.

HIM (THAT'S TYLER!)

CUFFED PANTS: Do you want to know a secret?... I'm pretty sure that Tyler is a classier dresser then I am, ha! He's a classy guy folks, and with summer transitioning into Fall, cuffed pants or jeans are the way to go, plus they look pretty great, right? ;)

JORD WOOD WATCH: Alright friends, Tyler's not an accessory guy, but he loves his Jord wood watch. He likes that it's unique, he likes that it's made of wood (he's loves wood working, so it makes sense.) And he likes that it's classy, but rustic. Tyler never really wore watches until Jord watches and now I see him where it all the time.

A POSING GUIDE

Sometimes stepping in front of the camera can be awkward, right? ... like really awkward. Nearly every time I step in front of the camera it takes some time for me to look half way decent, ha!I knew that if I was feeling this way there must be others that were feeling that way too.

CREATE A POSING INSPIRATION BOARD: I totally have a secret Pinterest board full of posing inspiration. Most of the time if I don't start with any inspiration then I'm losts. I think of a posing board the way I think about all other ways I study photographing. Most of the time when I look at photos I'm looking at the light, I'm studying the composition, and I'm thinking about how the photographer created the photo. When I look at others posing, I do the same thing. I look the position of their body to the camera, I look at what their legs and arms are doing and I try to apply those principles to my own poses.

PRACTICE IN THE MIRROR: Guys, I totally practice in the mirror too, not even kidding. Because it had been a while since our last style photo session I knew I needed the practice. I stood in the mirror and practiced different poses. Once I found a pose that worked in the mirror I looked at what my body was doing and did my best to remember.

CROSS YOUR ARMS OR YOUR LEGS: If you scroll through these photos you'll see a lot of photos where my arms are crossed or my legs are crossed. This works in two ways. One, it actually makes me feel like I'm doing something, making me feel less awkward. Two, it's figure flattering. When we pull our arms out in front of us and cross them it helps to extenuate our arm shape.

THINK ABOUT YOUR EYES: If you look at the two photos above, my facial expression is very different in each. To the left is my serious face, ha! And to the right is a much softer half smile. Most often what my eyes are doing will dictate what the rest of my face is doing. If you are wanting to accomplish a serious face it's all in the eyes and can be accomplished with a half squint. The tricky thing is, is that you're not actually squinting at all. Your barley flexing you eyelids.

STAY LOOSE & HAVE FUN: Nearly every time Tyler and I start a photo shoot we're both really awkward and stiff. Our first few photos are always awkward, ha! What helps through the session is that we have fun and do silly poses. We'll do super silly awkward poses and usually through those moments we'll actually come up with something that works. :)

Y'all what are some of your favorite things about Fall? What are your favorite Fall accessories?

P.S. Are you a fan of Jord as much as I am? You have a chance to win $100 e-gift to Jord! All entries receive a $20 e-gift card and one rad Fall fan will when $100! Don't miss out y'all! It's easy peasy! Enter here!

Thank you Jord Wood Watches for sponsoring this post.

THE NEW ELAH TREE IS HERE!

Hello friends! I'm so excited to welcome you to the new home of Elah Tree! If I'm being completely honest I would tell you that I'm writing this post sick on the couch, while watching Call the Midwife. I may or may not have overworked myself getting my site ready, ha! I've been thinking a lot about what I wanted to say on this day, hoping something really wonderful would come...

When I think of this new space, I'm over the moon excited. I'm excited for new ways to grow. I'm excited to be stepping out into a new platform. And I'm excited to share what I've learned in the process.

My hope for this new space was to be able to put all my dreams and creative passions under one roof. I used to think I could only focus on one creative passion, but I've since learned that I do better when I'm able to work on lots of different creative aspirations. That is what you'll find here, all of my creative passions rolled into one lovely space. You'll find my photography portfolio, information to hire me, photography tips, access to my Etsy shop, access to a download library, and hopefully lots of inspiring content.

All of last year I thought about switching to a new platform and this past Fall Tyler started designing me a new logo. We tossed around different ideas and we chatted about which platform would be best and for us, Squarespace was the way to go. I have had so much fun learning Squarespace and designing this site. I'm over the moon to share with you all the Squarespace info I have learned.

With a new site comes new photos, right? It was a lot of fun taking photos specific for the site, and it may be one of my favorite photo shoots to date! :)

I could keep rambling on but we don't have all day do we? Take some time and look around. I'm still working out a few kinks and there may be a few broken links, but all in all I'm so glad you are here! Thank you so much to all of you for sticking with me and encouraging me on my journey. I hope y'all keep stinking around!

P.S. Don't forget to update your bloglovin feed with the new Elah Tree site!

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IF I HAD YOU OVER

If I had you over, I would like to think we would sit outside on the patio. It's generally always shaded and things have started to cool down around here. We would pick out our favorite drinks from my refrigerator, which would only include water, ha! But then I would remember I have some Starbucks Vias in the cabinet. I would choose water, because that's really all I drink and you'd end up surprising me with your drink choice, because we're still getting to know each other.

I'm rather quite used to new friends, that's what moving around does to ya. We would start by chatting about our week. How things have been and how things might be going. We would chat about the weather, because even though it's small talk, the weather really is beautiful and the breeze it's just lovely. We would talk about things we're going to work on and possible plans for next week. Eventually we would move inside, because gracious, those patio chairs really aren't that comfortable.

Our space is small, but I love having people over so I'm always ready to make it work. We would go inside and I would crack a joke or two about sitting anywhere seeing as there are only a few spots. I would point out the progress we've made at turning our tiny house into a home. We've hung things on the wall including our large vintage window from our wedding. And I would point out that our office space is coming together. Tyler hung one of our vintage crates on the wall and I would share how much I really enjoy the standing desk that Tyler built us. I would point out that there are only a few small things we have left to accomplish before things are pretty much set.

I would tell you that things are starting to slow down a little bit and how nice that feels. Summer was busy and schedules were crazy and it feels good to get back into a routine. I would share how Tyler and I are about to start our workout routine again and how excited I am about it. Working out is tough, but I always feel so much better when I do. Our time together would be slow and quiet. We would hear the rustling of the trees and the birds outside, only on occasion would we hear a car drive by.

Our time together would come to an end and we would say our goodbyes. After I see you out, I would pick up a few things and start getting dinner ready. I would think about all the moving Tyler and I have done, all the different people we have met and all the things we have learned. My heart would ache a little as a part of me would miss that feeling of having someone know you for the last 10 years or so. Friendships take time and moving cuts some short. Heart talk doesn't happen all the often and vulnerabilities are often hidden. It takes time to get to those places. But then I would remember how Jesus always  has a place and plan for us. I would look around at our tiny space and see the over abundant blessings in our lives. And I would remember how much I trust and know that Jesus has all things worked out. xoxo. Samantha