Barkes Boys

After staying with us for six weeks last summer, I got to know this three litte boys quite well. They grew to treat me like a big sister, and we have lots of fun together. Sometimes they forget that you have to play gentle with girls, but we still have fun together. =) The other day I was babysitting, and decided to bring my camera along with us to the park. It's hard to get them to hold still and smile nice to take a picture for me. Jabin was throwing grass at me as I took his picture....but it made him smile, so I guess it was a good compromise. 

The picture of Josiah at the bottom is definitely my favorite. It captures his personality, the color is beautiful, and the essence of the whole thing is just perfect. I love it!

Cameron & Melissa

Cameron has been like a big brother figure to me since middle school. This year I have been blessed to become friends with his girlfriend, Melissa. They are both wonderful people, and have amazing hearts. Melissa is absolutely stunning, and Dale can brush up nice when he wants to. :P They were going on a special date to celebrate their 6 month anniversary and asked me to take some pictures for them. We went to bush park in downtown Salem, and it was super fun doing a photo shoot with them!

                  Had to throw a silly one in there...

Catherine Brown

Catherine Brown- fellow member of Bethany Baptist youth group.
It was a bit chilly, and the park wasn't very full of color this time of year, but we still got some great shots!

Oscar

 Oscar is one of Dean's good friends from Salem Academy. They are actually not only "American friends", but they also were classmates in China as well.
 Oscar has a very unique personality that shines; it is so awesome! He was very fun to take photos of. He didn't like to smile for very many, but we still captured some very fun and artistic photos.

Pearls

I had some fun with some pearl the other night. Kind of a different approach for photography, a little more artistic; but that's what my blog is all about. Expressing that "cutting edge" photography in artistic photos that I capture.
Let me know what you think!

Pastor Joe Castañeda

Joe Castaneda has been my youth pastor since I entered middle school and became a part of the Crosswalk youth ministry at Bethany Baptist Church. I am so blessed to have him as my youth pastor! Pastor Joe has had a very special impact and place in my life; he has helped me in my walk with God, he has guided me in knowing how to become a better follower and disciple of Christ.

I thank God so much for Pastor Joe and his heart. For his passion for ministry and people, and for the amazing work he is doing to serve our Savior. I really enjoyed spending the morning with PJ, aong with his wife Traci and youngest

daughter Celina who tagged along for the shoot.

Pastor Joe and his wonderful wife Traci are two of the people whom I admire most in my life. They share a beautiful marriage, have incredible hearts, and shine with the light of God in everything they do. Plus they have three amazing kids, that I love most dearly. Here are a few captures expressing the beautiful people they are.

Dean Ding

Dean needed his Senior pictures pictures taken, but he is the photographer, and holding the camera out and taking a zoomed in face shot, you know, those pics that all the girls take of themselves and post as their profile pictures on facebook? yeah, that's just not quite his style. So we went down to the park, and he let me snap a few shots of him. So, if you've been wondering who the amazing co-photographer behind "cutting edge fotos" looks like, now you'll know.

Tyler Weld

Tyler and I have been close for as long as I can remember. Our parents were friends in college, so he's like another brother. We had a lot of fun taking his pictures. He has lots of crazy fun, silly ideas. Here's just a hint of our fun, fall afternoon photoshoot.

This was one of those great "Tyler" moments, that I just had to share with you. It's so picture perfect!!

Kelsea Ryan Banks

One of my closest friends, Kelsea, asked me to do the honor of taking her senior photos. We went out to a little town outside of Salem, and enjoyed a fun day together and got some beautiful photos of her. Kelsea is an absolutely gorgeous young woman, and I love her to death! Thanks for having me take your pictures, Kels!

Leo

Leo is also a senior this year at Salem Academy High School. He is friends with Dean and Josh, and so we did a double-shoot with him and Josh. Leo has the biggest smile ever, I absolutely love it!