But I also wanted him to do it so he could give a gift to another couple. I told Vitaliy that everywhere we go, I’d like for us to photograph at least one couple. Vitaliy and I are interested in this question, can being photographed help two people stay in love, or better yet, fall more in love? I really wonder if the answer to this question could be yes.

Being photographed is very vulnerable. And it draws attention to things that may have been overlooked for some time. I’ll give you one simple example. Sometimes in the course of a photo shoot, we’ll ask a couple to look at each other. And you’d be surprised how uncomfortable that is for a lot of couples. Why? It could be something simple like they feel uncomfortable looking at each other when we’re around. But for some, I think it’s likely that they haven’t looked at each other for a long time. To really take each other in.

I did this very thing last weekend. I don’t remember where we were. I only remember the moment. I stopped for a few seconds and just looked at Vitaliy. We were in the middle of a conversation but there came a point that I stopped hearing. The room went silent in my head and all I could see was him. I explored his face with my eyes covering every inch with a simple glance. I noticed that there were things that have changed in his face from five years ago, but there was something that was still the same. His eyes. They are the same, unchanging. Those are the same eyes that saw the real me and yet still loved me. And they are the eyes that I fell in love with over a cup of tea in a coffee house on a random street in downtown Chicago. And as I looked at these eyes, I realized that I not only still loved this man, but I loved him more deeply than I ever have.

Maybe I’ll tell this story the next time we ask a couple to look at each other. I’ll tell them to not just look at each other, but to see each other. To soak in every aspect of one another. I’ll ask them to never forget this moment. Hold on to it. And be sure to revisit it. And then maybe I’ll tell them that, if in one year, you don’t find yourself more in love than you are in this moment, then you should probably do something different. Love doesn’t grow by chance. It takes work. It needs your attention.

Vitaliy photographed Andres and Alejandra while visiting family and friends of Sergio. I don’t know anything about them besides the fact that they’ve been married a few months. However, their images definitely tell me something about them. The way Andres holds Alejandra tells me that he knows how to take care of her. I can gather by the way their arms seem to intertwine around each other that they know how to wrap each other in love. And through their laughter, I can see they are not only lovers, but best friends.

My hope is that these photos help them to see their love. To remember it and cherish it. And to make it even stronger.

Andres and Alejandra, thank you so much for giving Vitaliy the opportunity to photograph you guys. He told me that it was the best shortest photo shoot he’s ever had. You guys are adorable together! We hope you have many, many more years of laughter and love together. Muchas gracias! xoxo –C & V

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There is no doubt that God puts two people together for a reason. Kris’ calm demeanor is exactly what Peter would need by his side to help see him through seminary. It seems to me that seminary is for a select breed of people. What I mean is that not everyone can do it and few actually survive it. Peter and Kris realize each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They each pick up where the other may be lacking. It’s this kind of teamwork that has given them the ability to not only persevere through difficult times, but also, to remain in love with one another.

When we decided to photograph Peter and Kris during our last trip to Dallas, we told them we didn’t want this to be a maternity shoot. Kris had a baby in her belly, so it would be obvious what phase of life the pictures were taken. But what we did want for the shoot was for the two of them to focus on each other.

It comes natural to focus on things in life such as your kids, your job, your school work, etc. Unfortunately, focusing on the love of your life gets put to the end of the priority list sometimes. So we all need to consciously make the effort to keep it at the top and to nurture it. We wanted to celebrate their love and nurture their relationship with a little photo date. I hope they fell more in love with each other, but I know for sure I fell more in love with the two of them.

Peter and Kris, you know the amount of love that is stored in our hearts exclusively for you. Now we’ve got to expand because there will be three of you to love. We hope these pictures will be a reminder of the love you share. On days when things get rough, know the love is definitely there. It just might be hidden underneath a pile of dirty diapers and simply needs to be pulled out and put back on the shelf.

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I’ll start with this because I love everything about it. Meet Peter and Kris.

I love the different emotions felt with these next two.

Alright, we had to put one belly shot in. You know why, because Peter and Kris are having their baby TODAY!

Peter is good at making Kris laugh. All.the.time.

Kissing-smile pictures are my favorite.

Then we had to throw on the aviators because P&K are “too school for cool”.

Laughter is needed to get through difficult times. And they have had three difficult years as Gabe has worked his way through seminary. But you can tell by the way they look at one another that the difficulties have only made their relationship stronger.

Gabe and Magan seem to stare life in the face, chuckle, and say “you don’t scare me”. Within weeks and even days of each other, they got married, moved to a new city, Gabe started seminary, and Magan started a new job. Oh, and did you catch that? Gabe finished seminary in three years! I’m telling you, these two don’t mess around.

They decided to celebrate their love with a photoshoot. We photographed them at the Bishop Art District in Dallas, Texas. When Magan sent me the picture of the dress she was thinking of wearing for the shoot, I knew they were a perfect match for us. An Anthropologie dress never disappoints!

Gabe and Magan, it was such a pleasure to meet you both. We had such an amazing time exploring the Bishop Art District with you while documenting the beautiful love the two of you share. The way that you face life head on with each other is incredible. I cannot wait to see what this next chapter in life brings and how it will continue to mold and strengthen your relationship. Thanks for a morning filled of laughter!

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We started the shoot in an alley and I think we could have spent the entire shoot there. I wish California had alleys. I hardly ever see them.

I love what this picture makes me feel. I can feel the wind blowing. And if you let it, you can feel the amount of love Magan has for Gabe by the way she’s looking at him.

And speaking of feelings. This one makes me feel absolutely happy.

Another alley led us to a parking lot where we found these great blue doors.

Who remembers Kelly from Saved By The Bell? Magan totally reminds me of her. If anyone misses Kelly, you can find her on the new show White Collar. It’s one of our new favorites! And she is just as pretty as ever. Just like Magan.

The Bishop Art District was the perfect location wish so much character. I love the twinkling lights in the background. Oh, and Magan’s red shoes!

At the end of the shoot, we found this fun yellow piano outside of this breakfast joint. It was the perfect ending to a perfect morning photographing two people we are so thankful to have met.

But what helped me get through it all was, first and foremost, my faith in God’s perfect plan. I knew it was the right time for both my mom and Vitaliy and I to step into this new chapter of our lives. But on top of all that, it was the phone calls, the text messages, emails, and FB messages. And they were all dispersed throughout the day as if all my friends came together and signed up for different time slots. It reminded me that I’m never alone and it assured me that I have a lot of support here and there and everywhere.

I want to say thank you to all my friends for being so loving and supportive. You have taught me how to be a better friend. And I am thankful for that. I lovizzle you!

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This is a picture of my dear, dear, close to my heart, friend Kris. We did a portrait session of Kris and her husband Peter while we were in Dallas. I’ll share those soon. But for now, I wanted to post this picture because Kris is someone who has really taught me how to be a better friend. She leads by example. And I’m taking notes.

In case you don’t know, my mom moved to California more than two years ago. It has been absolutely wonderful to have her so close these last couple of years. However, she has decided to move to St. Louis and we fully support her decision. This is our last week before the big move. With Vitaliy out of town, we’ve been having some much needed mother/daughter time.

I’ve written this post in my head about five different times and each one came out different. I only remember parts of them so this is a combination of them all sprinkled with a few additions. Since Sunday I likely won’t be able to speak through my whimpering, here is my goodbye.

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Dear Mom,

I can still remember our phone conversations when you were trying to decide if you should move to California. I honestly didn’t think you’d ever do it. But you proved me wrong. (Girl, you’re so crazy!) And I am so happy you did! I know there have been moments when we’ve driven each other crazy, but that’s to be expected. I can tell you this though, there is nothing like the feeling of knowing that your mom is a car ride away. And though I won’t have this reassurance anymore, I am so thankful to have felt it the past few years. So thank you!

Since I was a little girl, I’ve always seen you as a woman of courage and strength. Watching you take the risk and move here only solidified that view even further. But there has been a change while you were here. I now see you moving to St. Louis as a strong and courageous woman, but instead of digging deep within, I see you drawing that strength and courage from your faith in Christ. As your daughter, there is nothing that brings me more joy than that. My prayer is that you continue drawing from Him as you transition into your new life in St. Louis.

Yes, I did say “new life”. I don’t see you “returning” or “going back”. I see a new you moving to a new phase of life in St. Louis. And so I’d like you to do something for me. Yes, I’m your daughter and that gives me the privilege of asking you for stuff until the day I die.

I’d like you to leave the guilt, you carry around with you, here in California. It’s far too heavy to carry on your road trip home and there’s no reason to bring it into your new phase of life. When you’re tempted to pick it back up and carry it again, just remember you left it behind. In case you need some motivation, do it for me. I hope to be a mom one day. I even hope to be a good mom, but I will inevitably make mistakes. You were no different. You were and still are an incredible mom. But you are human, so you made mistakes. When I do fail my own children, I know that I’ll be tempted to carry around my own guilt. And that’s when I’d like to turn to you. I want you to tell me to let it go. To give it to God. Just the way you did. Can you be that example for me? The past is the past, what matters is today.

Lastly, I want to say that I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I will miss you terribly. I will cry. You will cry. We will hurt. But I’m ok with that. Because I am confident in your decision. I’m excited to see what God does in both of our lives. Back to our daily phone calls!

As my good friend Missy says, it’s not goodbye.

I’ll see you soon!

~Candace

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My mom hit her 50 lb weightloss marker a couple months ago. We told her she had to do a photoshoot to celebrate. We finally got around to it a couple weeks ago.

I have always thought that my mom is beautiful. And I still do.

Do we look alike? This is us doing the Bend and Snap. If you don’t know what that is, shame on you.

The Golden Gate Bridge is by far one of my favorite attractions of San Francisco. It never gets old to me. I have a feeling she’ll be missing it so I included it on here so she can always have a look at it.

This is why I love my mom. She isn’t afraid to let loose.

And she knows how to have a good laugh.

I love this picture. I feel like it’s a perfect representation of where my mom’s at in life. About to embark on a new journey with her head held high and a smile on her face.

And any time she feels alone, I’ll be there to remind her she’s not. Oh, and to give her a good laugh. I’m always good for that!

Those are grandma’s pearls on my mom. I was so happy she decided to include them in the pictures. That would be the Ukrainian grandma who I loved to pieces.

I have to end with this one. It makes me smile big and then makes me want to cry because I love her so much.

Neither does Heather and Brian. They come to us each year to document the growth and changes in their family. We have a blast each time and love being a part of documenting their family legacy. We photographed them when Carli was still in Heather’s womb. Then we photographed their family when Carli was a new born baby. And when she turned a year old, we celebrated that fun and important first birthday with pictures. Now, Carli is another year older but that isn’t the only change for her. This year she will become a big sister. They will no longer be just three, but will become a family of four. Nothing stays the same.

Heather and Brian, I’m so happy that life doesn’t stay the same. At least, most of the time I am. But for you, I especially am. A new addition to your family is going to be a beautiful change for you to welcome. I’m sure it will have growing pains like all change, but you can rest assured it will contain just as main blessings as well. Thank you for consistently allowing us the joy and privilege of documenting your family’s story. We had a blast getting to photograph the three of you before you become four. Congratulations again on the little one to come! We love you both!

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I like to start with a bang! So in love with these two! Majorly.

By the way, those amazing boots were Heather’s when she was little.

I love the posing in this one. She worked it out all by herself.

Carli’s big smile makes me smile. Every time.

Voting time: Does Carli look like Brian or Heather? I can never decide. But I know she can’t go wrong either way.

Megan, Brad, and little Charlotte were definitely at the top of our list of best clients. They always trusted our judgment when we photographed them, they valued the work we produced, and they were just a blast to be around. We did not want to see them go.

Thankfully, they plan on visiting at least once a year to stay in touch with friends here. And to our delight, they’d like us to continue photographing their family. I won’t argue with that!

I couldn’t believe how much Charlotte had grown since the last time we saw her. She’s now two years old and has a bubbly personality just like her mama.

This was Megan’s Facebook status yesterday, “Dear Neighbors, My apologies. The terrible twos have arrived. Sincerely, Megan and Screamer”.

Megan, I’m hoping these photos are a reminder that your sweet little Charlotte is in there underneath all those screams. Hope they make you smile and get you through the tough days ahead. Love you!

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As expected, Charlotte loved the camera. Or maybe it was the man behind the camera.

Most of the shoots we did for Charlotte in the past were either at home or in a more rural setting. So for this session, I wanted to change it up and requested to do the shoot in an urban setting with concrete buildings in mind.

We photographed the entire time in downtown Palo Alto. And Charlotte was the little diva I always remembered her as.

See what…

…I mean.

Oh my. Vitaliy, we need to get pregnant. I need one of these.

Brad, we missed you on this trip! But we were thankful you shared your girls with us for a bit.

I always save the best for last.

I don’t remember who contacted who first, but we started emailing each other to discuss photography. She had become a blog follower and for me that was enough to call her my friend. Needless to say, I was excited to finally hang out with her in person this Christmas. Somehow it became a big joke in the family that Sarah and I had become friends over Facebook. So when Dan and Sarah walked through the door of our Christmas party, my uncle yelled out, “Look Candace, your BIFs are here.” I started cracking up realizing he meant to say BFFs. But we soon adopted the BIF label thinking it was a more appropriate acronym for us after all. Best Internet Friends.

As I picked through their images this week, I was dancing in my chair. The pictures themselves felt like inspiration for my soul! As I mentioned yesterday, Vitaliy and I are in the midst of revamping a lot of things over here at Prokopets Studio. And as I looked through their pictures, I couldn’t help but feel, “This is it! These pictures are a perfect reflection of the brand we’re trying to establish.” I remember when we were photographing these two, I was amazed at how Dan still looks at Sarah after being together for more than 10 years. You would think he just fell in love with her yesterday. But as I chose the images to share today, I could see that Sarah looks at Dan with the same love and affection in her eyes. Their love inspired my own love. I was ready to lay a big wet kiss on Vitaliy the minute he walked through the door!

We want our photography to inspire other people’s love, but after this session, I’m realizing it might have a reciprocal effect. And I’m just fine with that.

Dan & Sara, our BIFs, — thank you so much for being such a blast! You are both creative and beautiful and I’m so thankful that Facebook has brought us closer together. I can’t wait for the next time we get to see each other, but until then, I’ll continue to look forward to the next email. Love you both!

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Yes, those are real icicles so let that paint the picture of how cold it was while we were photographing. Definitely not used to that!

Sarah has these butterfly-like eyes that are just incredibly beautiful.

One of many pictures that makes me smile every time.

Getting to photograph this session in St. Louis really made me fall in love with the city even more. It is a city with so much history and creativity which adds so much to an image.

Dan, I might have to start voting you the cutest cousin in the family.

Oh! And I’m sure I don’t need to mention anything about Sarah’s hair and how incredible it is. I mean…I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now.

This is exactly why I wanted to photograph these two. I knew they were creative and would be willing to try anything. Spontaneity pays off in pictures.

I really don’t think I need to explain.

Sarah and Dan did some prep for the session and found all these great locations. This was an old church that burned down but the outside of the building was still in tact.

Sometimes it’s the moments in between that say something special.

But then there are moments like this that say it all.

I never had sisters, but I know that if God blesses me with more than one daughter, I hope they laugh together the way these three sisters do. And if God blesses Vitaliy and I with 20 or more years on this Earth, I hope we will hold each other the way Rick and Patty still hold each other.

Rick, Patty, Teresa, Sarah and Allison — thank you so much for being you. Thank you for giving us such a sweet glimpse at your family. We hope these pictures not only tell of the fun that you guys have as a family, but we hope they display all the love that exists between the five of you. You guys are a total blast and we really can’t wait till we get to hang out again!

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I love all the attitude, and yet, all the fun in this picture. But could you expect anything less from three young women?

I love this moment!

Allison, way to work that camera, girl! You are beautiful!

Sarah, can I just tell you how much I lovelovelove this picture of you on the right? I do! I lovelovelove it. Gorgeous!

Allison, I’m so happy you have a hard time keeping a straight face because your smile is to pretty to hide for long.

Rick and Patty, it’s all about the two of you. I look at your smiles and see where your daughters get it from.

As I looked through these pictures, my heart was overjoyed with thankfulness. I’m just so thankful to be given the opportunity to photograph love. Whether it is the love between two people committing their lives to each other. Or whether it is the love that exists between a family living this life together. It is beautiful. Love is absolutely beautiful!

My heart is full of joy and hope that our photography will be more than just pictures. I hope these pictures will bring this family closer and hold them tighter together. I pray they will cause Kim and Alan to not only cherish each other more but to also love each other more strongly. And as Kian grows up, my hope is they will remind him how much he is loved. And I hope that they will keep this family smiling together no matter what life throws at them.

Kim and Alan — the love portrayed through all the expressions in these pictures made my heart sing with joy. Thank you so much for giving us the pleasure of photographing your family and the love that you share for each other. We had a total blast with you guys! Make sure to tell Kian that I had so much fun playing with him!

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Because a family’s security is dependent on the love between mom and dad, I’m going to start with these. They make me so happy.

Kim looks like a modern day Pocahontas, but even prettier.

A little whisper in the ear always gets the smile we’re looking for.

My favorite family shot of the day.

Ok, well it might be a tie with this one.

It was a perfect day in the city for a little frisbee.

Nothing like having the Golden Gate bridge for a backdrop to a happy family photo.

Hi Kian! You are so handsome.

Oh, oh, oh! Love, love, love!

I’ll end with this because it perfectly reflects what I wrote about. Love you guys!