{ Goldfield Ghost Town -- Apache Juntion } -- Arizona Photographer

{ Goldfield Ghost Town }

Today my family and I visited Goldfield Ghost Town in Apache Junction, AZ. It was my first time experiencing the ghost town and had a really great time. I'm a sucker for historical stuff, so this place was right up my alley.

Nestled away in the Superstition Mountains, the natural beauty around the ghost town is incredibly beautiful to look at and experience.

This time of year, Arizona starts to see beautiful yellow flowers sprouting on the trees everywhere! Yellow is one of my favorite colors because it's so bright and cheerful and these little yellow flowers were in abundance in and around the Ghost Town.

Totally girly sidenote: I'm seriously addicted to purses and to yellow right now and am DYING to get a bright yellow camera bag from Jo Totes for my Birthday. I've been dropping hints (and direct comments) for the last week. Isn't it seriously cute, especially with the gingham material on the inside? I SO want!

http://jototes.com/handbags/rose-marigold

Okay, little tangent there. ; ) Back to the Ghost Town, ha! One thing that my family and I did first was ride the train around the area and get an insight to some history of the area.

Our conductor had such a quirky sense of humor and was actually pretty hilarious. He reminded me so much of a geology professor I had in my early college days, beard and all.

I couldn't say the same for the fake conductor sitting in the little building where you buy your ticket for the ride. He was a little creepy to me.

I honestly didn't pay much attention to the historical facts while on the train ride. I'm a visual person, so I was soaking in the sights all around me and snapping my camera all over the place. The train car was open around the sides and we were permitted to stand up if we held on to the railing. I didn't and almost lost my footing a few times. Oops. ; ) It was fun shooting and capturing such historical pieces! I couldn't help myself.

Once back into town, we were delighted to stumble across some kind of filming for a movie. I love film stuff and am fascinated by all the equipment and the artistic side of it, so I wanted to poke my nose in and see what was going on!

The location was definitely ideal for capturing the true essence of a western town--the details were plenty and there was so much to look at visually.

What town would be complete without a pair of cowboys milling around? These two were hanging around the Livery Stable. My family seems to ever be set on the idea of embarassing me. I'm still single and my family is determined to find me a special someone. Oi. Usually, that involves making me want to crawl under the table and hide. True to fashion, they kept asking me, "Did you get his (the cowboy's) phone number? Are you going to get his phone number?" Seriously? In front of the guy? Where's the hole I can crawl into please? At least he was nice about it. I sure hope he didn't hear their earnest inquiries.

Oi.

I almost got myself into some trouble at the Ghost Town. I had no idea what a "Bordello" was and so when a lady, dressed as a can-can girl asked me if I wanted to visit, I asked her what it was about. She responded, "It's where the women used to take care of all the men in the town. Come on up--there's a lot of places up here for great pictures!" Naive me thought, "Oh cool--that was so nice of the ladies! They must have done the cooking and the cleaning and gave the guys a chance to relax after the end of a long, hard working day. Oh, was I way off base.

Turns out that a Bordello was a place for prostitutes!

Whoops! I had a different kind of "helping" in mind than what she did.

I couldn't believe that I'd been so naive. My family teased me about it for the rest of the day.  I was super embarassed because before I found out what a Bordello was, I had been calling out to them in an excited and loud voice, "Come visit the Bordello with me! It's where the ladies used to take care of the guys--it sounds cool!" Um, yeah. (Totally shaking my head right now). Everyone around me heard my happy harkening. Oh sheesh. Only me. ; ) I'll be side-stepping the Bordello next time I visit the Ghost Town.

The rest of the town was so intriguing visually. There was so much texture and rustic beauty to look at.

I would definitely recommend it as a place to visit if you want to immerse yourself in local culture and history or if you want to step back into time and pretend that you're in Disneyland's Frontierland (since that costs an arm and a leg!). No costly sacrifice here! ; )

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Here's a great freebie texture for you photographers out there:

{ Happy Easter! } -- Celebrations

{ Happy Easter! }
Happy wonderful and beautiful Easter everyone!

When I was younger, my family and I used to get up super bright and early and go to a sunrise service at our church. This year, we're sleeping in a little bit and going to a later service with a big group of family and friends and then going to a party afterwards. This morning, I'm getting ready to go do a photo shoot for my sister and her husband who are expecting their very first child in a few months. For me, Easter is all about miracles and I can't wait to capture this beautiful time in their life where they are expecting their own little miracle. I love how full of life everything is on Easter Sunday! Everything is so bright and beautiful and I'm reminded of a very special miracle that happened the first Easter morning. He is risen. : ) Have a great day today everyone!







{ A Bride On Her Wedding Day } -- Arizona Photographer

{ A Bride on Her Wedding Day }

I love the excited buzz that surrounds a bride on her wedding day.
Excited anticipation fills the air as she transforms from an already beautiful person into to a beautiful bride.

Admist the hair pins and lipstick, eye shadow and blush, something seems to change on the inside along with the outside.

As a bride is being decorated on the outside, there is some sort of magic starting to happen on the inside of her at the same time.

Have you seen it before?

While she is getting ready and preparing herself to see her groom for the first time that day, she starts to wear glamour and beauty
like she walks the red carpet at the Grammy's everyday of her life.

You start to see the bride's actions change with each piece of jewelry she puts on or with each tuck of the hair that the stylist makes.
You start to see that she begins to carry herself a little differently.

She was already a vision of loveliness and now she becomes a picture of elegance and regality.
All of her movements are graceful and she moves with grace and ease like a ballerina in a dance.

It's something I couldn't quite put my finger on until recently, but I think I've learned her secret.

I believe that a part of this transformation happens when a bride suddenly becomes aware of her own beauty as she stands before the mirror and realizes just how very stunning she is.

She holds herself differently.

She smiles a lot more.

Her eyes twinkle.

Something about her makes you stop and take notice and everyone around her sees it. Not only is she beautiful on the outside, but she's also got confidence and some kind of inner grace that shines from the inside, out.

She is loved and is content in knowing that her groom will love her for all of who she is and that he's about to be floored by the vision of his loveliness when his elegant and beautiful bride steps outside to see him for the first time on their special day.

She always has been beautiful and now that she sees it for herself and knows that her groom will love what he sees, she transforms and is radiant on her wedding day.

It's Official! { Trademark } -- Arizona Photographer

{ Beba Photography is Officially Trademarked! }

I am so excited about today! I received a very special certificate in the mail.....

.....the state Trademark for Beba Photography!

Why is a Trademark so important you may ask?

What's the big deal?

Having a Trademark means that you have registered your business name so that no one in your state can use that name for their own business. It's commonly referred to as a "DBA" or "Doing Business As."

It's not required to be Trademarked in Arizona, but I opted to so that I could own the name, "Beba Photography" and not have to change it if someone else decided to name their company by that name.

If you are in Arizona and are looking to own your own business and would like to have your business name Trademarked, you can visit the Secretary of the State's website at:

http://www.azsos.gov/Business_Services/TNT/

If you're interested in applying for a Trademark on a federal (nationwide) level, you can visit:

http://www.uspto.gov/

For me, getting a Trademark was pretty easy. I just had to register, pay and wait for it to come in the mail. Thankfully, no one else had already taken the name Beba Photography.

How many of you out there are business owners yourself?

Would you care to share your experience of getting a Trademark with others who are just getting started as entrepreneurs?

Cinderella, Disneyland & My Dream -- A Lesson From 2009

{ A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes }

Disneyland, CA -- 2009

I came across these photos of some great Cinderella statues that Disneyland had on display in the shops on Main Street's windows back in 2009. At the time, I began toying with the idea of becoming a photographer, but it was only a dream in my heart then.

I love the story of Cinderella because she believed in her dream, even in the face of adversity and even though her dream seemed unattainable.

I've been juggling working full time and pursuing this dream of becoming a photographer together for a long time and was finding myself with no time to really pour myself into my work and grow.

Until recently.....

I heard the call to step out of full time work, step into the carriage and down the road of following my dream of becoming a photographer.

I left behind the safe because I believe that dreams are made for coming true. I left my full time place of employment to take on a part time position so that I could pursue this deep desire in my heart.

"A dream is a wish your heart makes....have faith in your dreams and someday, your rainbow will coming smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, a dream that you wish will come true."

I took a chance on my dream and am so glad that I did! It may be the biggest mistake of my life or the biggest blessing, but I won't know unless I try. I didn't want to look back and say, "What if?"

So, onward!

I've always believed that dreams can come true.

Sometimes those dreams take time to come true.

But I believe that they will happen if you believe they can.

Dream it. Believe it. Acheive it.

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes.....

....so what is your heart dreaming?

What goal would you like to accomplish?

What dream do YOU wish you could see come true?

....Have faith in your dreams and someday.....

....a dream that you wish will come true.

I'm so glad that mine did. : )

Pregnant Bellies Are Beautiful -- AZ Maternity Photo Shoot

{ Pregnant Bellies Are Beautiful }

Gilbert, AZ

There seems to be nothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman's belly. It holds life inside it and it seems to be shouting out the word, "Anticipation!"

Mommies find themselves wondering who the little person inside of them is going to be and what their personality will be like. What their hair color and eye color will be. Whether they'll like this or that and what they'll be when they grow up.

Pregnant women have this beautiful glow about them--as if they carry the world's most secret and wonderful beauty secret. They shine from the inside out and there's a sparkle in their eyes.

Life is growing inside of them.

Another person.

It's such an overwhelming and amazing thought when you think about it!

I love when Mommies finally have their little ones and they get to meet face-to-face the one that they've been carrying inside them for all of those months!