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Kristi Ronning, Beautifully Portraying ‘Love, Knows No Bounds’

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If your concept of eloping includes sneaking away at night, or heading to your dream place, think again. Small, highly mobile weddings have grown by leaps and bounds over the past five years. Fueled by mind-blowing posts on Pinterest, Instagram, and beyond, a growing number of young couples are trading in churches and banquet halls. 

With the pandemic disrupting thousands of weddings, the shift to small elopements is growing faster. An elopement containing just the couple and a few guests is comparatively safer and a far less stressful way for marriage than calling relatives, friends and many other guests.

In order to provide you with ethereal and magical photography for your wedding, Kristi Ronning founded Opal and Ox. Ronning is an American Elopement photographer, recognized for her mountain-top portraits. In addition, she features breathtaking landscapes with an aesthetic sense. 

Born on July 30, 1991, and raised in Pine Island, Minnesota, Ronning is the youngest of her siblings. She was born to Kathy Shafer and Jeff Ronning. From a very young age, she loved capturing photographs of her surroundings. As a kid, she loved dancing and taking theater classes. When Ronning entered second grade, her mother was thoughtful enough to gift her a disposable camera, which quickly turned into a digital one. From that point onwards, she has never put her camera down. Her passion drove her to become a professional photographer at the age of nineteen. 

After getting married to her husband, Ralphie, the two opened a photography and videography service-providing company named Opal and Ox. The couple has been quite successful in covering weddings worldwide since 2012. 

She has kept Opal & Ox services very admirable. According to her, life is all about exploring new adventures, this is what she, along with her husband, has been doing, and the reason for creating Opal & Ox is to lend their support to those who want to discover their love in an aesthetic style. Furthermore, the couple strongly believes that photography and videography flow together perfectly. This is why Ronning has been capturing emotions, energy, joys, and memories through the lens of her camera. 

She firmly thinks that whether it’s weddings and elopements, family photo sessions, senior portraits, or newborn photos, she knows how to capture the moments. Opal & Ox has been telling stories together through film and photos since almost 15 years. The journey has been quite memorable and displays Ronning’s love for photography in a nutshell. 

In her early years of photography, she covered conventional weddings. Upon moving to Montana, she began pioneering the mountain-top elopement wedding style that has been made famous by social media platforms. 

Ronning loves to incorporate fun fashion pieces into natural landscapes. Being completely self-taught, she quickly became one of the most prominent elopement photographers in the world. Now, people all across the world admire her work. However, she is best known for climbing mountain peaks with couples and documenting their marriage at an elevation of over 10,000 feet. Currently living in Montana, she shoots on a Hasselblad 907x medium format digital camera.

In 2020, Ronning was featured on the cover of Montana bride magazine, volumes 18 & 19, for capturing an epic three days shoot in the mountains. The magazine did a 9-page spread about the 3-day overnight hike in the mountains outside Yellowstone National Park. 

Ronning’s future endeavors include launching her first photography book and filming a documentary following her life and career in the mountains. Her determination made her capable enough that in 2022, she was featured in Rocky Mountain Bride magazine. Being a woman, she has never given up on her dreams. Her continuous efforts and life-long achievements can be a true inspiration for all young female photographers out there. 

Michelle has been a part of the journey ever since Bigtime Daily started. As a strong learner and passionate writer, she contributes her editing skills for the news agency. She also jots down intellectual pieces from categories such as science and health.

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Donnette Russell-Love on How Policy Changes Are Reshaping the Immigrant Experience in America

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What happens when the rules for chasing the American dream keep changing? For millions of immigrants, the answer is anxiety, confusion, and a constant fight to stay one step ahead of shifting policies that can decide their future overnight.

This is the reality that Donnette Russell-Love, attorney and CEO of Immigration Care Service, faces every day. With a career built on both courtroom experience and compassionate advocacy, she has become a steady guide for individuals and families navigating one of the most unpredictable legal systems in the world.

A Changing Landscape

Over the years, U.S. immigration policy has shifted from being opportunity-driven to increasingly restrictive. Donnette Russell-Love has seen how these changes have reshaped not only the process but also how immigrants are perceived. She believes that leadership plays a major role in setting the tone; each administration influences whether the focus lies on inclusion, enforcement, or deterrence.

Under the current administration, the path to the American dream has become much narrower. There has been a stronger push to limit humanitarian provisions for people fleeing unstable conditions, less tolerance for long-term immigrants with even minor offenses from years ago, and growing efforts to challenge birthright citizenship.

These policies reflect a clear shift in how the United States approaches immigration. For many of her clients, the rules that once offered hope now feel like walls. Yet, her mission remains the same: to help them find a way through, one informed decision at a time.

Guiding Clients Through Constant Change

In an environment where laws and regulations can change faster than people can adapt, Donnette’s approach is built on preparation. She doesn’t just focus on forms and paperwork; she focuses on context. Her process starts with understanding each client’s story, background, and long-term goals. From there, she helps them see not just what’s required legally, but what’s likely to be asked, reviewed, or challenged along the way.

For her, education is the most powerful defense. She believes that informed clients are stronger, calmer, and more confident when facing interviews or hearings. She spends time explaining how new rules apply to their situations and how small details, like old records, travel history, or documentation, can make all the difference.

Her deep understanding of immigration stems not only from her legal training but also from her background in compliance and risk management. These skills have shaped her proactive style, allowing her to anticipate potential issues before they arise. Instead of reacting to policy shifts, she prepares her clients to adapt to them.

Leadership That Balances Law and Humanity

Running a law firm in such a turbulent field requires discipline, empathy, and vision, qualities that Donnette has cultivated over years of leadership. As the head of Immigration Care Service, she manages the balance between legal precision and genuine human care. Her team works closely with clients from diverse backgrounds, ensuring they receive not only sound legal guidance but also emotional support during uncertain times.

She also emphasizes the importance of staying grounded. Her philosophy is that immigration law is not just about policies or procedures, it’s about people. Every case represents a life story, a dream, or a second chance. And while the system may grow more rigid, her role is to help clients see that persistence and preparation can still lead to opportunity.

Moving Forward with Purpose

For Donnette Russell-Love, the work doesn’t end with one case or one victory. It’s about helping her clients understand the bigger picture, that success in immigration is not only about following rules, but about knowing how to navigate them with clarity and confidence.

She recognizes that the path to legal residency or citizenship is harder now than ever before. But her message is one of resilience: knowledge and preparation still open doors.

In a time when immigration policies seem to shift with every election cycle, Donnette’s approach stands out for its steadiness and humanity. She reminds her clients and the broader community that while laws may change, the pursuit of hope, belonging, and a better life remains constant. And with the right guidance, that pursuit is still worth every effort.

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