Memory Box Photography

Working hard today! Erin and Michael are getting married! I’ve got a handful of blog posts coming down the pipeline, so be ready for it. As life churns back up, we’ll see how soon they get up here, but I’m working just shy of round the clock!

Also, I’m working on a new (to stay) blog redesign! So get ready, hopefully sometime next week it’ll hit the press.

Doug and Marcene Gillam had their reception Saturday night at Dickey-Stephen’s Park, home of the Arkansas Travs. Some of you may remember Marcene’s incredible Bridal Shoot I blogged a few weeks ago. I blogged it that day, because at the same time, Doug and Marcene were getting married in California. Since many of their friends couldn’t make it to California, they decided to have a reception “back home.” What better place than a baseball park!? The food was amazing, the cakes were great, the donuts were perfect and the night was a blast.

Here’s a big chunk of images from the night! As always, enjoy, comment and share!

Dont forget, you can also “like” this by clicking the FB like button at the bottom of this post! You dont have to sign up for an app or anything, just click the “like” button! It may ask you to sign in to your account, but it wont add a new annoying FB app.

Just wanted to let everyone know a few quick details about social media integration on the site!

First off, if you haven’t noticed, there’s now the ability to “like” any of the posts on the blog! I know sometimes you dont have the time to comment, or don’t really know what to say. Well now, you can just click the like button, just like you would on anything you see on your facebook home page. Easy, simple, to the point! So please, any time you like a post, let folks know and just click “like”!

Second, I want to personally invite all of you to follow Memory Box Photos on facebook’s network blog interface.

Just click “FOLLOW THIS BLOG” It’s super easy, and then new posts will show up in your Facebook feed. Easy as pie!

Follow this blog

This month is pretty busy just in general. I’ve got quite a few shoots lined up, and even more client meetings for 2010 and 2011 weddings! I cannot wait! It’s going to be a hecka-busy month, but also fun. So, hit me up on Network Blogs and remember to like what you see!

2009 has but hours left. I look forward to ringing in the new year, and looking back on this one. As I look back and see everything God has allowed me to be a part of this year, it’s been amazing. God has been gracious and generous in everything. I’ve been very blessed to be allowed to do the two things I want to do with the rest of my life: photography and speaking to students, from junior high to college.

To have the nostalgiac look back, here is a handful of my favorite images from 2009. Not in any order, not ranked, not an exclusive list, and not necessarily the top of said list, but here it is: some of my favorite images from 2009 (starting with a “memory box” of 2009).

Charlotte and Blake were good friends of mine in high school. It was a lot of fun to be a part of capturing these images for them to have forever.

I didnt take this one, but used it in an illustration. Thats me. On my first day of kindergarten.

Christmas Tree at the Walker House. We always decorate it with the ornaments as a family. Mom did the rest of the master work.

Ashley is the little sister of one of my friends, Kristen. Word on the street is, Ashley outscored me on the ACT by a point, and is OBU bound. Congratulations Ashley!

What a fun shoot, taking pictures of Leighton and her big brother, Gunner.

Christian is one of my clients from Van Buren, and hopefully will be a friend at OBU. He’s a wrestler and has an amazing heart for the Lord. My first senior in Van Buren, and my rep there!

That’s right Rambo. You made the post! Ramsi is kind of my screener for creative things. If I ever dont know if it looks good to someone besides me, Ramsi’s always willing to give me her honest opinion.

OGN in San Diego with FSM. On our free day, we just went to Coronado and enjoyed God’s creation. The water was frigid, which was why I was on the sand, not in the water. Ha, a student saw this as I chimped the screen, and told me it was terrible. In my opinion, its one of my favorites!

Hayden was my first senior of the year. He was the one that said, “I thought I’d get some weird old lady or a creepy old guy. You’re pretty cool.” Thanks Hayden…

What a FUN wedding!! It was awesome to get to go with Stephen and Caitlin from engagement pics all the way through the I Do’s! GREAT couple and fun shoots.

When my friend, Drew Cason, said, “hey…you want to come shoot a bride in a river?” How could I say no?!

On a road trip with the fam, they let me bring my camera. I wandered off into a field about a half mile down from the gas station we were at!

This work by Austin Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

This work by Austin Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

two written posts in a row. life is crazy, right?
lately, i’ve been hard at work on some bridals and engagements that i can’t wait to show the couples and get posted online. more importantly, i wanted to let everyone know the summer schedule. all throughout the summer, i’ll be available for weddings, engagements, bridals, portraits, etc etc etc, anywhere you want. i’ll be living in central arkansas, but i’ll travel anywhere. June 20-27, i’ll be in the memphis area as well. if anyone would like to book a session, please contact me and we’ll hammer out the details!
also, for mothers day, i gave my mom a canvas gallery wrap of one of my photos. it went over really well. keep those in mind for upcoming birthdays and special events!

most of you know i choose not to put many “life” updates on here. occasionally, some are warranted. that being said, here is another free flow of thought, from yours truly…


the end of the semester is coming near. the rest of my class this semester will most likely take no more than 45 minutes total, and then i’m done with my sophomore and technically junior years of college. that. is. insane. the next time i’m moving furniture into a dorm, i’ll be a senior by hours. the more i think about the future, the more i think about the past. this school year has been an influential one. at the start, it was interesting. i introduced myself to people, and on mulitple occasions got one of the following responses.
1) yeah, we’ve been facebook friends since june. (creepy).2) yeah, we’ve had classes together. we’ve met before. i know you. (awkward).
however, they weren’t all like that. i love summer’s end in that i get to reconnect with the people i share this season of life with.
this semester has been, as i’ve said, influential. i’ve met people this semester that i know for a fact will not only change who i am going to become today, but will be with me throughout the process, beyond the “college years” of today. friends i go to for advice, hang out with, trust, love, respect, and admire. i cannot explain how grateful i am for all of the people God has put in my life.
not to say this year, or even semester has not been challenging. God has tested and stretched me more in this school year than in almost any season of my life. it’s a strange thing, i love how challenging OBU has been. high school was at times, a joke. OBU has stretched me and forced me to not only know the information, but learn the knowledge available. every day, God’s revealing how great of an opportunity it is to be able to have the classes I do, at the standard and level they are taught at. i’m definitely blessed to be a part of OBU. relationally, also an interesting and challenging year. like i mentioned, i made lots of new friends, many that i can only hope and pray will not be “college buds” but people who go through life alongside me. others have faded, gone other ways, or what have you. regardless, whether good or bad, God has used the situations to teach me to not depend on others but on Him for my fulfillment. trusting His judgement, timing, and will and not my own has been a theme of the semester. He has through the year revealed different aspects of why things happened the way they did, which is always an honor. I love when God chooses to share part of his plan with me. i’m unworthy. as always. spiritually, god has tested my every choice. it has been a challenge to not be dormant, and to remain thirsty. through challenges, growth exceeds. and this was true this year as well. before school even started, God started putting on my heart how great and powerful He is, and burdened me with the idea of His magnitude. I hope that eventually I will be able to express that inexpressible passion.
ministry this year was phenomenal. first, He allowed me to remain a part of a ministry that has consumed me. FSM. I. LOVE. FSM. all throughout the year, there has been a constant feeling of “epic proportions” in the student’s potential. combined with their willingness to serve, who knows what will happen. it’s so incredible to be a part of that ministry and i cant wait to see what God does through those students this summer.

SIDE NOTE: get ready everyone. details to come later. but something big is about to happen at OBU.

anyway. another ministry i had the priveledge of being a part of was christian focus week on campus. a prime example of God using people even though something may not necessarily fit their gifts.

next year will be good. new ministry (The Unleashed). freshman family groups. who knows what else.

this summer will be great. i’m going to be able to have plenty of time to connect with FSM students. i’ll catch up on reading books i’ve gotten over the year. i finally get to spend some time with my friends ‘back home’ in mississippi. hopefully even more photo opportunities come my way as well. regardless, God is good. i cannot explain how thankful i am that he has brought me through this season in life. it hasn’t been easy, but it has been more than fruitful. i realize i’ll never know the impact of God’s provision, or how widespread it is, but i will always be grateful for it.

my second year in college comes to a close. this will be weird. very weird. not many connections in benton, which is not a bad thing. just going to be a slower season in life. definitely has an upside. just different. i anxiously await the summer. it will be a bittersweet transition. going from living in the pinnacle of community, with my closest friends being a part of my life daily. as friday comes and goes, everyone disperses to their summer ministry, jobs, homes and trips. it’s a sudden and abrupt end to this season in life. a season i will forever be grateful for, forever be better from, and forever grow out of.

before i go, here’s something from this christmas. over the break, we went on this incredible trip to disney world with my family. it was awesome, mom, dad, aunt, sisters and i all went to

disney world and universal orlando and everything. it really

was great! this picture somewhat embodies the semester. through thick and thin, something always comes out of nowhere and (though at first eeyore freaked me out) somehow managed to brighten me up.

again, i cannot say it enough, i’m so thankful for my friends, new and old, and everything this year has been. i’m usually not this nastalgic, and dont often post journal entries. for those of you who suffered through my grammatical trainwreck of thoughts, i hope you know me a little better. i dont know whether or not this should have been posted, but i wanted to express my thoughts as this season closes.

thank you all. the year was long, tough, difficult but no doubt incredible. the post? it was long. it is not complete. the rest will continue unread by the public. but it is over (the post).

a video for FSM and our Global Village missions series.

This work by Austin Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.