Another #MCM

I can't even remember the last time I did a #MCM... and seeing as the coach once again proved to be the most amazing husband in the entire world over turkey break, he deserves a My Coach's Moment post.

This one - however - is not of his ... uh ... picking. It's one from my archives. Turkey break marks three years since the coach asked me to come to Bastrop to "picture his cattle" .... or, in all honesty, to meet his family (which scared the poop out of me, considering we had only been talking for about a month... and only publicly dating for about a week and a half.). I guess he really did want me to take pictures, too - but y'all get my point. Anyway, at the time I had owned a DSLR for only about three or four months. And I had only been taking livestock photos "professionally" (for ShowChamps) for about two months. So I was pretty terrible. Well, I thought I was awesome... but looking back, I was terrible.

Which brings me to this version of #MCM. The coach and I bonded - years before we started dating - over our mutual love of cattle. So when he asked if I would come to Bastrop and take pasture shots at his family's ranch, I jumped at the opportunity. He loved the shots and used them as Christmas presents for his parents that year. He still has some of those 'original' pictures hanging in his office. It drives me nuts, because I think they suck. So every time I stop by while he's working, my skin crawls.

Well, anyway, this past turkey break we had a bit of an emergency involving our dear Jessie. She's fine. Crisis over. She'll heal in no time. But back to the point of my story. I planned on taking pictures of the cattle this year like I did three years ago... Well, that wasn't exactly possible. So, after picking Jessie up from the vet on Friday, we went to the pasture about an hour before the sun went down.... Not exactly enough time to see all the babies AND shoot more than two or three groups. But I still got a few... check out one of the shots from three years ago compared to a very similar pose taken this year. No, the 2013 picture isn't my favorite from that night, but I think it's cool from a comparative standpoint. PS- the recent image has not been run through photoshop, lightroom or even bridge. I shoot on jpeg, not raw... because honestly, I'm too lazy to do any kind of editing. I don't remember editing the image from 2010, but I really can't remember.

Thanksgiving 2010 shot

Thanksgiving 2013 shot

Things certainly have changed over the past three years. I mean, we honestly knew back then that we would be married at this point... but I'm not sure we could have guessed that we would be almost exactly where we always hoped we would be, professionally speaking. Don't get me wrong, I still have an insane amount to learn. But, I look at the image taken in 2010 and just have to smile. So much has changed, and I really think I'm headed in the right direction. But, I don't think that would have been possible without the coach.

This holiday season I'm most thankful for having such a wonderful, handsome and supportive cattleman/husband that pushes me to be a better person on a daily basis and is behind me 100%, no matter what I do. He loves my career as much as I do... and I love his as much as he does. That's really something wonderful.

Thanksgiving 2013 shot

It's a beautiful life. Take the time to notice how breathtakingly unique your every day truly is.