Meet: Cindi and Mike
01.27.12 
portraits
They live out in the country. Secluded. Together.
He calls her “hun” in the sweetest way possible.
She wears his mother’s wedding ring as her own.
He’s protective of her.
Her eyes are goregous. Filled with joy and sparkling with love. Like she’s never seen heartache. But really, she’s conquered it.
His eyes are deep. Overflowing with wisdom and intensity of all he’s seen in 18 years as a policeman, yet so much compassion pours out.
They live out in the country.
Secluded.
Together…
They’ve been married for 13 years, but you’d think only 13 days by their playfulness and loyalty.
Though they haven’t been blessed with children of their own, they’ve been blessed with five God-children. They’ve been blessed with the gift of loving them and each other. And when the going hasn’t been easy and will likely be rough again, and even when it is easy… they hang onto each other.
And it was that bond which intrigued me most.
Their together bond…
As one of Cindi and Mike’s best friends told me, “[They're] not just like typical spouses. They are an inspiration for any couple.”
And I don’t even know the half of it…
Mike and Cindi, you two truly are an inspiration. I can only hope my thirteenth wedding anniversary is filled with as much childlike joy and sweet love as yours. To say I enjoyed our time together is an understatement. I eagerly await our paths to cross again.
So much love and joy to you.
xoxo,
René
16 Comments
Nicky Cruz
01.25.12 portraits
“Nicky, you can cut me up into a thousand pieces and I will still love you.”
Those are the words that put Nicky Cruz over the edge. The words that he couldn’t get out of his mind. Those are the words that turned an ex-New York City-gang-president into one of the greatest evangelists today. Maybe you’ve seen the movie made about Nicky’s story, The Cross and the Switchblade? If not, keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming motion picture, A Thousand Pieces.
The life that his man has led has been nothing short of amazing. God is using him in big, big ways. ”Remember, Jesus loves you. Keep things in focus,” he wrote into his autobiography, Run Baby Run. ”You’re gonna be impacted by this,” he told me through his thick Puerto Rican accent as he slipped the book into my hands.
Later that week, I sat down with my morning coffee and decided to pick up Run Baby Run and read a chapter.
I didn’t move.
I read the entire book in one sitting.
A couple weeks later, I had the privilege of giving this amazing man a few new publicity head shots. Here are just a couple of my favorites…
Enjoy.
With love,
René
**** Because Jesie and I were so impacted by this man and his story, we just have to share him with you.
Leave a comment in the box below and we will be drawing two winners next week to receive a personalized, autographed copy of Run Baby Run. ****
P.S. This man travels all over the globe speaking, but this weekend he’s local. Hear Nicky speak in Colorado Springs this Sunday morning at The Springs Church at 9 or 11am.
10 Comments
- Katie said
I used to work with kids in residential facilities and they ALL loved his book. It was one of their favorites because it was someone they could identify with and someone was sharing elements of their life story in a book they were reading. Count me in, I would LOVE to have an autographed copy.
- tanya said
Love the Cross and the Switchblade….What an AMAZING God we serve…
- Alicia Ready said
I read a book called “Blood Covenant” about an ex-mobster that walked out of the mob, and shares his testimony now publicly about God changing his heart and his life. Loved it, and this one sounds great too! Love you girls!!
- Lauren Byrd said
God is good! He uses all who seek Him and want to live life for Him! Thank you for sharing, Rene and Jesie :) Love you two!
- Tally K said
God never ceases to amaze me in how he uses each of us to share the Gospel! Every tear we cry and every laugh we share is for His glory.
Great photos! - Gina said
Our Nana was touched by his story when she read Run Baby Run in the 1990s.
- Alyssa said
René & Jesie – I am so happy for you both to have been able to get to know Nicky Cruz better and be so inspired and touched by his story. Sounds like a great book :)
- Emily H said
Count me in!
- Emily H said
Um…count me in, please! :)
- Shannon Coker said
Awesome images and intrigued at what his story is! :)
Meet: Megan and Zeke
01.19.12 portraits
Good morning! The weekend is almost here and I have little somethin’ to help get you through the day. :-)
Megan and Zeke were married last year at the court house and never had any professional shots taken of them. Now a year later, we’re celebrating their sweet, young, and solid love.
I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed shooting them. :-) We had a blasty.
With joy,
René
5 Comments
- Lacey said
These are great! You can tell the comfort they have with each other that comes from being married. Way to capture that Rene! Beautiful! :)
- TJ Wolski said
As the mom to these kids…and a long time client of Rene…I totally love these pictures!!! Thank you so much Rene for putting what these two have in pictures!!!
- Leah Love said
Aw these are adorable! I love the ones of him kissing her cheek. Very cute!!
- Lana and Alex said
They look so happy :)
- Kami said
What a fun shoot!
Another Thank You
01.16.12 the latest & greatest
Good evening! Happy Sunday! Just a quick [almost live] video from today. A special shout out to our ’11 and ’12 couples (re: the posts below!), plus we thought y’all would want to see what we’re up to. ;-)
Love love,
René + Jesie
Muah!
4 Comments
- Megs said
Ladies, you inspire me SO much! Thank you and looking forward to more :)
- Sarah said
You both do amazing work and are both adorable and sweet. What a great idea!
- Malerie said
I cannot WAIT to see this pretty lil’ styled shoot!
- Kami said
Love you pretty ladies!! Keep doing what you’re doing! Can’t wait to see today’s shoot!
So much love! You two are so special. Love these pictures, Love you both!
You both have Ninja skills, but in very different ways! Excellent pics!!!
so cute! Good photos, and good models!
Such a beautiful wonderful couple!!! I love you both so much!!! I strive to be as much in love after 13 years as you all are!!!
These are incredible … as always! What special photos that these two will have! Love the texture of the old corrugated metal behind them, love the snow photos … love them all!
WOW!! Absolutely stunning. So much love and passion captured so clearly. I am in awe.
WOW!! Absolutely stunning. So much love, joy and passion.
OMGosh these photos are AMAZING! I love these 2 and you captured their spirit in a very special way! Seeing them together in these pics lets me see true love does really exist!
Rene, you did a fenominal job! Mike and Cindi are truly our best of friends. Your photos captured what is so attractive and what draws people to Cindimike. They are so much like a highschool couple so madly in love with each other where they can do no wrong by each other. Thank you so much for capturing it and portraying them that way.
I LOVE these people and the pics, they are AMAZING!!!! Just breath taking….beautiful!!!
Love both of them very much. Great photos! My Sister & Mike are beautiful people on the inside so naturally that comes across in the photos.
These are such sweet pictures! Could be in a magazine :)
These are rally great pictures. I like all of them.
I absolutely LOVE these! The images and CinniMike! Rene, you did such a great job capturing who they are! So beautiful!
Oh man! That was awesome!!!! That last image says it all….spectacular! :)
Love these two! These really do seem like engagement photos. You can tell they love each other so much just the way they look at each other.