Lindsay Marie…

I had the opportunity to photograph my cousin, Lindsay, last weekend and I really hope I did her beauty justice.  But with a young woman like Lindsay, I’m not sure if that is possible with just photographs.  In these photos, can you see her driving faith in God?  Her great sense of humor?  Her notable intelligence?  Her ability to make you hear her voice through writing?  Her infectious laughter?  Her generous and loving heart?  Her courage?

This girl is amazing. She is inspirational on so many levels and has touched the lives of countless individuals because of that. And while you may get an idea of how genuinely lovely she is through these photos, one thing you’d never guess is that she’s battling brain cancer. 

The day after I took these photos, she began the 28-session radiation therapy to slow the progression of her tumor and hopefully shrink it.  Yet, she says she’s never felt better, internally/emotionally, in her life. She says she’s actually excited about radiation and we know that is the Lord blessing her with the strength to get through this process.

And just to give you a little more of an idea about Lindsay’s personality… when talking about her radiation treatment, she said to us, “I don’t have time for brain cancer!  I’ve got things to DO!”  She said it with a smile on her face and laughter in her voice … I don’t know if she noticed me holding back tears when she said it… (I’m not holding them back now… they are flowing!), but fortunately, I had to laugh along with her.  And she has plans to intern with a couple humanitarian organizations in LA when she’s done with her treatments…  like I said, she’s amazing. I think about her and what she’s going through all throughout my day and often times I feel like she’s pulling me along.  Because if Lindsay can approach radiation with such a positive attitude, what have I possibly got to be frustrated about?  

I love you, Linds… “beautiful” isn’t a strong enough word to describe you…

As a side note, these photos are my first attempt at portraiture… I do lots of candid photography (obviously) and lots of “Hey, Gage, can you stand over there and look at Mama?”, but so far, nothing like this.  And this was still very casual… more like “Hey, Lindsay, can you stand over here for me and let me practice taking pictures of you?”  She obliged, with her only request being that we practice where no one could see us (oh, and that I make her look good… NOT a problem!) So we moved to the back of my parents’ rental house, by my dad’s woodshed… it is in the corner of their yard and hides all things that are less than appealing to the eye. 

However, this spot (in my opinion) worked great for us, and Lindsay and her ensemble made even a woodpile look good. It is easy for me to look at these pictures and know now what I should have done differently (like not be embarrassed to pull out my reflector!) but for having no forethought about the shoot (from me or Lindsay) and only about a half-hour and 50 or so shots (before my memory card was full), I think we did pretty good.  Lindsay was cooperative with my lack of experience and just went with it.  Auntie Dianne… I hope you like them! Thanks for letting me borrow your girl!