a {house}...my {home}

I went to my first parade of homes today...so flippin' awesome! I think I was on stimulation overload from all the fantastic designs, architecture, and decor I saw. It was neat how each house had it's own personality. I think my absolute FAVE were the lofts at the Johnson building. I was ready to sell my soul for that loft. I could totally see all my funky stuff in each room. As I was imagining my "dream" loft, I had to stop...why was I wishing for a newer, better, cooler pad when I have been so incredibly blessed to have a house now? A bit of conviction crept into my heart and it didn't take long for me to thank God for what I have...a sound house filled with my healthy family, my memories and even a couple silly pets. So, it's not just "a house"...it's my HOME. Even though it's older, got a few quirks and may not be in the cleanest of conditions...it wins the "Best Place to Be Loved" award in my parade.

I'll end with some sneak peeks from one of my seniors last week...

Love the vibe. Love the hat. Love the color.

Kelsey admitted that she brought a third of her closet in the car...which was cool with me...the more color the merrier I always say. I loved that she had this purple flower pin...which we conveniently made into a hairpiece...

Rockin' the hat...

Zach {senior}

And the word for the day is....

in·dus·tri·ous : constantly, regularly, or habitually active or occupied

Now, I'm gonna use it in a sentence: (or two)

..."Ali is extremely industrious these days..." replied the abandoned photographer's husband to the neighbor. The next-door friend noticed from the adjacent window that Ali had not moved from her non-orthopedic chair in three whole days...

So...I've got quite a few orders to fill, but I wanted to get this blue...no really...they are THE BLUE-est peepers I think I have ever seen. Poor Zach's eyes were watering a bit from how flippin' bright it was that day. He totally made it through the session without blindness though...thank goodness.

Apart from the blazing ball of glory in the sky, it was a gorgeous day for a shoot...

Here's some sneak peaks from this blue-eyed senior :)

Jazmine {senior}

Can we say "amazing peepers?!?!?!" Jazmine's eyes, I'm pretty sure, had me tranced for most of the session. Wowzers! Along with her radiant smile, she possesses a grace that I could only dream of having...

Oh! And her suh-weeeeeet tats! This girl just oozes fabulousness...that's right, I said it.

Simply put...girl, you got it goin' on!!!

I triple LOVE the image at the right...the wind was TOTALLY on our side :)

See??? There it is...The fabulousness!!!

Klaire {munchkin}

With all the seniors I have lately, I had the opportunity to play with this cutie-patootie for a session. I forgot about "that look." Do you know what I'm talking about? The look of a child gazing up at my camera...SO PRECIOUS!!! Children don't care if their hair is perfect or if they are too thick or thin. They just are...that's my favorite trait of a child. The pure innocence and trust. It's so much fun to let them play and at the right time, the moment is captured. Whether it's joyful, curious, or even pouty...I LOVE that kids are truly who they are in front of my camera. It's those real life moments, that when fossilized, we can revisit down the road and emotionally experience that time in our little one's life. There's no amount of "cheese" that would give the same effect...

I promise :)

Devan {senior}

Oh my goodness where do I start?!?!

In a nutshell:

*Laughing....HARD

*Waiting for Miss Sun to disappear behind the clouds (she kept tricking me..erg)

*"Single Ladies" by Beyonce complete with the dance..by none other than Yours Truly

(it was a little difficult showin' off my moves in the car)

*An odd contraption this guy was riding/swaying/I-don't-know-the-word-for-it

*The declaration that I wanted whatever the heck that contraption was...shown below:

(AhHA!...now I know what this is....it's called a trikke. Photo source: Trikke Tampa)

*Laying on the open road

*Laying on a suddenly not so open road (sneaky cars)

*Having an amazing session with an amazing senior!!! Devan, you seriously rocked this :)

I triple heart your laugh Devan!!!

I think I jumped up and down like a spastic person when I took this shot...

And because I just COULDN'T resist...because I like funny stuff.

You gotta watch it till the end... :)

Watch Single Ladies Dance videos and dance lessons at DanceJam.com

Jessi {senior}

One of my favorite movie series growing up was Anne of Green Gables. The character of Anne completely intrigued me. From her "bosom friends" to folks she called "kindred spirits," I love how she was so real...so transparent.

I would definitely say Jessi is a kindred spirit. At our meet&greet, when all the details of the session were covered, I found that we had so much more to talk about. Just life in general...I soaked up her words as I thought to myself, "Dude...this girl has wisdom beyond her years."

Jessi, I love your attitude on life and I'm so anxious to see the great things you do in the future!!!

*edited to add: I totally misspelled "Ann's" name...it is definately "Anne with an E" Thanks strohlie :) *

Jessi was blessed with the most amazing honey colored eyes!!!

Where are all my ATL peeps at?!?!

Just puttin' my "feelers" out there on something I've been wanting to do. It may seem like an easy thing to do...gettin' out the feelers. But really it's not. My feelers are very sensitive. Like, I am REALLY nervous to do this sensitive.

With some encouragement from my dear friend and photographer Lora, I have decided to make a trip back to my old stompin' grounds. That's right...Ali Brown is from the A to the TL. Why you ask? Well, I have discovered a passion within a passion if that makes sense. I am completely in love with photography. I know a big "DUH" is probably going through everyone's minds ;) But I also have found that I am completely in love with helping people with their photography.

I often get emails from folks with questions and I seriously get so excited! I DO NOT claim to know everything there is. Lord knows that I went to the fabulous Google University for my photography training. Oh, and also the school of hard knocks. What I have learned has worked for me and my business. Maybe it might help someone else.

So, here it goes...I would like to offer a workshop in Atlanta, GA. Think FUNKY. ECLECTIC. COLOR. Everything that I am...Everything that I put into my photography I would like to put into this. I am even on the hunt for the most fun, vintage-y funky venue out there if this comes to fruition.

So, my feelers are officially out now. Is there anybody in the Atlanta area who would be interested in attending a fun filled workshop by me?

Oh wow...I just flashed back to kindergarten. "Will you be my friend? Check Yes No or Maybe"

I haven't come up with a final cost and I know that's a big factor. It will be reasonable for sure. If there are any of YA'LL *see, I still haven't lost that :)* who would be interested would you mind leaving me a comment or shooting me an email? That would be so rad and helpful.

Thanks to all my faithful blog readers and friends I have made during this awesome season of my life...

Samantha {senior}

This girl has a HUGE heart! When Sam called me to reschedule her session, I was blown away (in a wonderful way) with what caused the change. She was chosen from a small, nay, TINY group of young peeps to work at the Special Olympics. Sam was so excited about this opportunity and I jumped up and down with her :) She is a talented athlete who has a heart for the mentally and physically challenged. The compassion in her voice and face as she described her trip soon led to my eyes leaking...Did I mention that she flippin' plays the cello like no one's business too?!?!

I seriously had to check myself after meeting this senior. What am I doing for others? What can I do to make a difference? Sometimes I get so caught up in myself, whining about how "busy" I am...I'm just being honest here folks. If I would just take the time to do something for someone else...giving a sad child a word of encouragement...giving an elderly person a visit to the park...giving the guy with the sign on the corner some change WITHOUT judging what he will do with it...If I would just GIVE. Even if it's just my time, I know I would start to realize how not-so-bad I have it.

Thank you Sam! Your example has sweetly reminded me about what truly matters...for that I sincerely am ever so thankful!

The symbol on the left is what Sam wants tattooed someday :)

So I stumbled across this sign...yea, flippin' hilarious!

Shelby {senior}

Shelby is a girly girl. So of course her fave color is PINK. She seriously did amazing at this session as we romped around town. We even found some treasured graffiti! It is so cool when I stumble upon someone else's art. I only wish the person(s) behind the paint can masterpieces knew how much I appreciate their tags...

Perky and completely outgoing, Shelby is one of those folks that anytime you look at her she's smiling. So flippin' awesome. In fact, we kept crackin' up every time we would attempt a more "hey I'm a model look at my pout" look. Which was great because I would get these awesome shots of Shelby laughing....I LOVE laughing pictures. Every time I cross upon one, I end up smiling ear to ear too.

So good for the soul...

Fierce....love it!