toyosi // preview.

just 'cause there's snow on the roof doesn't mean there's not a fire inside. - bonnie hunt

i've known this beauty all her life. sunday afternoon found us sipping milkshakes and exploring our city.
i interviewed her for my study in human emotion, and you guys? she's got something to say.
-kiss kiss kiss, kickin it-

fiction fridays, part eight.

original photo

008. six words never said.

i. she says she's glad they're friends.

ii. and i stand by and watch.

for those of us who have an innate desire to know [and be friends with] others.
-kiss kiss kiss, the amazing-

cupcakeing, v.11.

apparently, this is how you're supposed to eat a cupcake. it's surprisingly convenient.
-kiss kiss kiss, the new age-

"a ship is always safe at the shore - but that is not what it is built for."

it’s a terrible thing, i think, in life to wait until you’re ready. i have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. there is almost no such thing as ready. there is only now. and you may as well do it now. generally speaking, now is as good a time as any. - hugh laurie

here's something brieanna taught me on that brisk february afternoon. you shouldn't watch other people take risks if you aren't taking any yourself. if it scares you, maybe it's something you have to do. life is a constant learning-experience; you do and you take from what you did, apply it to other things. existing is standing by and watching. living is risk-taking, risk-taking is doing, and doing it well.

so we traipsed around georgetown, using abandoned garages and porches as our backdrops; we looked in historic houses to see if they were lived in or not, we crouched in groves of bushes and sat in an old chair on the steps of a church. and it's a big deal for me, because i wouldn't do it on my own. in risk-taking, sometimes we need that extra push. and brieanna taught me that that's okay.

when i'm in the position of holding a camera, i don't want to teach the person i'm shooting. i want them to teach me. i want them to show me who they are in their element, i want them to give me a sense of what's inside of them. basically, if i can't do the pose myself, i shouldn't make them try to. but it's beyond posing. it's more about what makes this person different from everyone else. no one is the same, not exactly, and sometimes people need to remember that. there's more to people than what meets the eye. so they don't have to look good, wear nice clothes or have a brilliant smile. they just have to be who they were created to be.

this was not a styled shoot. i simply asked brieanna to bring an outfit or two and her wonderful self. and i hardly had to give her any direction. her motion was effortless, her emotion built-in. that's a wonderful thing about musicians: they have a brilliant knack for telling you how they feel without actually saying anything. brieanna does that wonderfully, with her music and with her presence. and these photos mean a lot to us both. not because they're pretty, but because they helped ignite a spark that had been sitting dormant in me for too long. and honestly, brieanna is the coolest spark ever (i mean gah, her hair).

shot with my rebel t3i and 18-55mm kit lens. edited with vsco film, packs 02 and 03. the last few photos were freelensed.

oh how much we see / when we stop waiting for life / and start living it. - tyler knott gregson, daily haiku on love