capturing the spirit of the soul.

When I set out to start my portrait business, I didn't really know what to expect.

I knew I had the skills to take good photographs, and I had enough knowledge about handling a business.

I had a few definite ideas about what I wanted: I knew that I would use my name for the business. I knew I would take a photojournalistic approach to my portraits. And I knew I wanted to take the type of childhood photographs that the child, once grown, would be thrilled to have hanging in their home:

A moment, frozen in time, that captured his personality and spirit.

I expected to learn on the job, which I have. But nothing quite prepared me for the magnitude of the lesson I learned recently.

I do a lot of regular work with my friend Shannon at Drama Queens in Mokena. DQ is the place of a little girl's dreams... a house filled with seemingly endless racks of dress-up clothes, shoes and accessories, where she and her friends are limited only by their imaginations and how fast they can change outfits.

When I first started doing photographs there, it seemed like non-rocket-science type of work. I mean, really. How hard would it be to take a few snaps of cute little girls in dress-up clothes?

And then, something else evolved.

In the process of meeting hundreds of little girls over the past few months, I realized, that even when it first went unnoticed, as I sat down to take their portrait, every single one of those little girls, whether younger, older, shorter, taller, bigger, smaller, are absolutely beautiful to behold.

Part of it may be the magic and excitement of the day lighting up their eyes. Part of it could be that they are able to dress in sparkly gowns and high heels and big hats.

But mainly, it's their inner beauty that shines through, every single time.

This past weekend, I did portrait work that was not altogether different.

My subjects were adult women and men, who were attending one of the events presented by Cache' Connections, an online dating service for Christians. These participants were kind enough to entrust me with taking their portraits at two separate events, one at Parkview and the other at Calvary Church in Naperville.

Like the little girls at DQ, the grown-ups came in different ages, sizes, colors and shapes. And while at first glance, they may have appeared to be "ordinary," the camera in my hands told me otherwise. These people were truly beautiful.

It's not as though I haven't felt extremely blessed to do the kind of work I do. I always have. But this type of photography is different.

The people I photograph have trusted me to honor and respect them through the portraits, and I am honestly humbled by that. The gift of this work has transformed me with an incredible lesson.

Not only does true beauty comes from within, but all of God's children are truly beautiful to behold.