It Comes to An End

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The last photo that I will be sharing from what was a very fun portrait session.  (Thanks again Sara for a great day!)

I had a hard time picking out the ones that I wanted to share with you all.  As I hope you can see, there were several very, very good pics to choose from.  It's funny, but I very rarely choose the same pics as my favorites as do the people that I am shooting.  Whenever I do a session, when scheduling our time to meet up and exchange the finished pictures, I am always asked how they turned out.  It's kind of a tricky question.  The ones that I like are usually so very different. 

I did however receive her graduation announcement and was so happy to see that one of my favorites was used.  It is a very good picture of her and one that shows her fun personality.

Follow your dream.  Transform your life.  ~ Unknown

Allright, I Played A Little Here



S4

I was so glad when Sara said it would be alright if I played a little with her photos.  I always give copies of all photos taken - except for the obvious closed eyes and blurred or such - in both color and black and white.  That way they have the option of both varieties.  Sara's photos were so fun, I really wanted to spend a little bit of extra time working on them a bit.  I had a feeling they would look really good a little "blown out".  Meaning, deliberately overexposing them just a tad.  And this photo is definitely one that benefited from that.  I love the original as well, it's very good.  I think it's fun to see how you can play with the images a little to create a different mood. 

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Again, I Love This Lighting

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The thing that really got me excited about these columns is the lovely halo effect created around Sara's hair.  It created such soft lighting for her face.  I just love the way this looks.  And yes, it does really help to have such a beautiful subject to light up.

Life is short, and it's up to you to make it sweet.  ~ Sadie Delany

Lovely Light Creates Lovely Lines

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Another Sara photo.  Isn't she adorable?  And probably just a little embarrassed at the moment, knowing her.

One of the things I have learned about photography over the years, you just never know what you are going to get.  This is the second time I have shot at this location.  I'm very pleased with it so far.  And really, I've only explored one small section.  There are more areas I would love to play around in.  I have wanted to shoot with these columns both times I have been here.  And, at first, it just didn't look quite right.  On this particular day, we went to the columns and then moved to other areas for a bit before heading back over.  And I am so glad that we waited just those few minutes.  I love the lighting on this shot.  It was something very magical when I looked through the lens.  I love the lines that all that streaming sunlight created.  So fun.

In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test.  In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.  ~ Tom Bodett

A Really Fun Portrait Session

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A couple months ago, I received a wonderful, and surprising phone call.  It was very sweet and made my day.  A young lady I know, Sara, contacted me to see if I would be willing to do her Senior Portraits.  After I got over the shock of hearing that Sara was graduating, I very willingly, and excitedly agreed and we set the date.  It had been several years since I had seen her last.  About three I'm guessing.  If memory serves me correctly, the last time I saw Sara she was a Freshman.  And here she is telling me she was getting ready to graduate. 

Of course I jumped at the chance to photograph her.  She was such a fun person and someone that I really wanted to have the opportunity to "catch up" with again, before she left for college.  The entire experience was so wonderful.  She has grown into a beautiful young woman, and I was honored to have the opportunity to capture her Senior Portraits.

Anytime you shoot portraits, there is always a progression.  It takes time for the subject to relax and have a good time . . . .but it also takes time for the photographer to get comfortable as well.  They each have to achieve a working relationship, and in a very short amount of time.  I think given our relationship - I always enjoyed Sara's company - it was easy for us to relax and let the creative process work.  So, thank you Sara (and her mom!) for such a wonderful experience.  I asked her if it would be alright to share some of my favorites from this day.

This particular photo was taken towards the beginning of the session.  You can already see a comfortableness (I know it's not really a word, but you are here in my world right now so I can make one up, right?).  Even the ones in the very beginning came out very nice, but this one is starting to show her sparkly personality.

There is always a moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.  ~ Deepak Chopra

And now for something a little more normal

Family

Since I left you all weekend with the goofy shot, I had to follow it up with something a little more traditional and serious.  Or at least, more of what is expected in a portrait type photograph.  I'm pretty sure my family would appreciate being represented a little more . . . well, normal I guess.  Me personally, I love the goofy shot.

Be yourself.  Who else is better qualified?  ~ Frank J. Gilblin II

Having A Little Fun

The Fun Family

I'm not sure what has me on these family photos. I knew that I wanted to share the one of my parents the other night (and thanks for all the really sweet comments everyone!) and I guess that just opened up this whole area. 

So, here we are at our best (?) or something like that.  I love to take the "goofy" shots of families.  It's so fun to see what everyone comes up with for their faces.  Or if they work something out with someone else.  Too fun.  I have even been taking portraits of people that I've worked with before and almost forget to take this type of shot.  It's usually the kids that will remind me we haven't done this one yet.

Don't you just want to hang out with this crazy bunch?

So, here's my quote that kinda goes along with this picture:

The first mistake of art is to assume it's serious.  ~ Lester Bangs

Still No Flowers

Family

Instead I thought I would share another photo from the same day as yesterday's post - my parents, siblings and myself.  As a matter of fact, I believe this is the most recent photo taken of us as a family.  Other than pictures done at weddings - the last photo I have of this group, I was missing my front teeth.

I came across this quote earlier today and knew that I really wanted to share it.  I had already decided on the photo for the day before that, and let me assure you, the quote does not, I repeat - DOES NOT - have anything to do with the photo.  I'm certainly not making any remarks about age in relation to this photo.  Although, I am the youngest one in it - everyone else has got me beat.  And that is one race I am in absolutely no hurry to win.

I did however read this quote and found it to be quite nice.  And, really something that I need to remind myself of everyday.

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.  ~ C.S. Lewis

A Continuation from the Cold Day

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Here is my friend's son - a continuation from the photo shoot we did on one of the coldest days ever.  Ugh!  But, as I said they were so fun to work with that I really did not mind being in the cold.  Well, okay as I hate any temperature below 80 degrees, I will admit not my ideal.  They were fun to work with though, and we did get some really fun shots.  Looking forward to doing them again!!!

A Little Something for you to Think About

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Each moment we have it all, even when we think we don't.  ~Melody Beattie

Now there's a little gem for you.  Pretty powerful stuff.  And, to go with this thought, the parents of the cute girl from last night's pic.  You remember, the one on the very, very cold day.  One thing that is good about very, very cold, threatening to rain on us days like that, it creates wonderful soft lighting and beautiful skies.  I just love clouds like these in black & white.  So fun.  Oh . . . and I love the expressions on their faces.  I took several pics of the two of them - and they were very snugly in all of them.  I'm not sure if this was one of their faves - but it is definitely one of mine.  Thanks again for the great day!!!

It was such a Cold Day

Em

This was taken way back in November I believe - on one of the coldest days ever.  So cold in fact, that this shoot prompted an addition to my camera bag.  Fingerless gloves.  My hands were so cold by the time we were finished.  And, really we shot in record time because it was freezing and threatening to rain on us the whole time. 

This is a picture of a wonderful friends daughter.  We did family portraits for her to use in her Christmas cards.  They were so fun to work with again.  And even though it was so cold, the kids wanted to keep shooting and shooting. 

So, we have become a little addicted to the show Pawn Stars.  We just watched a few episodes as a family tonight - that's right, even my 11 year old likes to watch this show.  It's so interesting to see the items that people bring in to the shop to sell.  But even more interesting the amount of knowledge you can get on that item.  I like hearing about the military uniforms and some of  the history from that time period.  If you haven't checked it out, you should.

Almost the End of the Year . . .

Family

Wow, I can hardly believe it is the end of another year.  It's been an interesting one - with lots of highs and lows, lots of drama and moments of quiet.  It's been busy and slow, fun and hard.  And, now we are on to another one.  Are you ready?  How do you celebrate the beginning of the new year?  Are there things that you are looking forward to in the upcoming year?  Things that you have planned or are you just going to wing it and see how the year progresses?

Since, I'm pretty sure that I will not be on my computer after the stroke of midnight tomorrow evening, let me wish you all a very Happy New Year.  Now, let's all be smart and very safe on New Years Eve.

The future is not something we enter.  The future is something we create. ~ Unknown

Oh Man . . . Did I Really Jinx Myself?

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What a busy couple of days it's been.  And just after I was commenting - or dare I say bragging - about how smoothly Christmas went for me this year.  I guess I did jinx myself after all, it was all waiting until after Christmas to hit me.  Way too much to do in an extremely short amount of time to do it all in.  I do believe things have settled down - a bit at least and so I am back to post again.

As a side note, I really missed getting these postings out.  It was like my day was not complete.

And I could not leave you without a quote for the day, hope you enjoy this one:

You never know when you are making a memory.  ~ Rickie Lee Jones

Happy Holidays from my Family to Yours

Happy Holidays from us to you!

The Pumpkin

The Pumpkin

To share my thoughts...or not?

Boo




This is my new favorite picture.  I'm trying to decide if I should go into the reasons for that.  Or, if I should just let the picture speak for itself. 
I think I will leave you with a quote and let you decide what you think about this picture.

. . . people rarely succeed at anything unless they have fun doing it. - Dale Carnegie

Family

Family

A little bit back, I had the opportunity to photograph my oldest brothers family. They were all together for the first time in many years. We decided on an early morning session since the evenings were still very very hot. There's nothing quite like red cheeks in photos.


Here is one of my favorites from that day. This was an outside eating area that was too cute to resist. I am wanting to get into some more industrial type shooting situations and am always looking for areas that would be fun for backgrounds. If you know of any, please let me know!

I am doing this a little unusual tonight. I usually sit down to type up my postings at the very end of my day. Everyone else has gone to bed and the house is very quiet. Sometimes I listen to some music, but usually I do not. I pick out my photo. Sometimes I find the quote first and sometimes I type everything up first and then look for a quote, if I will be using one. It is at that moment, that I decide what topic I would like to talk about. And most times, whatever I think I'm going to talk about, I don't. I just let my fingers start typing and see where it takes me.

Well, tonight, or I should say this evening, it's just now going on 4:30. I am prepping a little early for my entry tonight. Why you might wonder? Well in just a few minutes we are heading over to watch the Washington Redskins play the Arizona Cardinals in football. I'm very excited to be going. Thanks to Warren for organizing the whole thing - finding tickets for a good price and getting them for everyone. It's my first NFL game and I have been looking forward to it all day long.

Me

Self Portrait - 3 (of sorts)

This was a part of a series of pictures I did. I got out of doing another round of self-portraits by substituting the coke bottle for me and placed in situations I would normally be found in. I thought it was pretty clever since I really did not want to have to take pictures of myself yet again. One of my favorite past-times is reading. It's very unusual when I do not have something that I am currently reading and about five books waiting in line to be read. In the background here is my Harry Potter collection which always sits on the corner of my desk stacked just as they are in this photo (although at the moment they are a little hard to see because they are behind the piles of older photographs and negatives that I am trying to sort through).

The Rest of the Family

And here are the other two members of the family. The first shot is one that they set up the pose. I picked the location so they had never been here before. When they saw the rocks they started climbing. I'm not sure who started climbing first - dad or the kids. I don't normally shoot pulled back so far, I like to get in real close so you can really see the faces. I was pleasantly surprised with this one, there is something about it I just like.