Heidi stopped by today for a impromptu photo shoot. She can't drive just yet so grandma brought her. Together they made a sweet pair. Heidi's a natural in front of the camera and knows how to bring out her best features.
See how she turns on the charm. Don't you just love the 85 f/1.2 lens?
Heidi was getting a little tired with all the lights and directions so grandma stepped in to help. Looks like we got two beautiful girls!
I was inspired recently by another photographer. In his blog, Zack tells of the loss a family member and shares some thoughts about capturing pictures while you can. Time passes so fast it makes a person wonder where it went. For me I travel every week, which leaves little time for the family let alone taking pictures of them.
Glen, my father-in-law, used to live 2 blocks away, which guaranteed I'd see him every weekend. When his bride of 50 years passed away he moved to another town about 30 minutes away. My wife (his daughter) gets to see him every Wednesday when she takes him home from Bible study, but I rarely get to see him anymore. Today, however, was different. I am off this week and got to spend a day with him.
You can't help but love Glen. He seems to know everyone and is a joy to be with, but he's getting up there in years. Zack's blog got me thinking about how I photograph people outside of my family more than my own. Could it be I unconsciously place my family second because I don't get paid to photograph them? Or maybe it's the fact they clown around and make silly faces when I'm trying to do serious work.
Silly faces during family portraits used to frustrate me to no end, then Nancy's mother died. When I began putting family pictures together for the memorial I began to realize how special these silly faces were. At the time I took the photos I was livid, but putting them together for the funeral brought great joy and laughter.
With all this in mind I decided to take more pictures of the family. Today, when we picked up Glen from Bible study, I asked him if I could take a few pictures and he agreed. Here’s a few shots from our impromptu session.
Here's Glen at his Church
Glen, his daughter Nancy and her daughter Dani
Grandpa with Dani and there's Cooper, what a faithful companion.
Visit my wife blog (The Olive Leaf Ministries) to see more photo's and see whats happening on her blog.
If you are a photographer and want to learn a little bit about using off camera flash check out Zacks blog. Zach recently created a OneLight DVD
Thursday, just after I landed in Kansas City, I received an emergency call to photograph our friend's newborn baby. For those of us who know family “K” we were filled with joy over the upcoming birth of little Emersyn. Sadly she died before birth and these pictures would be the only memories they would have of their little girl.
Please pray for this family as they grieve the lose of their child. Many of us can’t help but wonder why God would allow a mother to carry a baby full term, and then call the child home before birth. The truth is we many never understand the will of God in these situations until we meet Him face to face. Our vision of time is different then God's. We see time as past and present, but He see's the future. His Word tells us, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” (Jeremiah 1:5) In other words God set’s us apart for His special purpose long before we were born. He created us to worship Him and no matter how difficult our situation might be, it’s vital to lean on Him and trust that He will carry us through.
I wish I had magical words in times like this, but I don’t. Nancy and I have a 20 year old daughter who is Autistic and on numerous occasions we've felt we couldn't take any more. But, it was during these times we found comfort in knowing He would carry us through.
Matthew 11:28-30 says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Simply put, a yoke is a long plank with 2 curves cut in the bottom. It fits over our shoulders and Christ’s allowing Him to ease our burdens. What a vision of comfort.
So, how can we help others in times of grief? Sometimes the fewer words the better. Let your friends grieve in their own way, don’t criticize or tell them how to feel. Give them time and space and remember it’s ok if they cry out or yell at God. He is big and He can handle it. Let your actions do the talking by bringing them meals, cleaning their house, or mowing the lawn. Men, take the husband/father out for a few hours and women take the wife/mother out for a time of rest and relaxation. Offer to take their children for a day to give the husband and wife time alone. Reach out to someone, share some love asking nothing in return and most of all lift them in prayer. This is how we reflect the love of God to others.
Today Jimmy celebrated his 50th Birthday. Also celebrating a Birthday is Clesie, born on the same day 49 years later.
Happy Birthday Dad
These pictures may not be the best, but we had fun making them. It's amazing what you can capture in near blackness. It was late last night and Clesie desperately wanted to play. I would have rather sat in my recliner doing mindless channel surfing, but Clesie's persistence paid off, so we went out to the pool. We might as well do some night photography!
These photo's were taken around 9:30 pm with little ambient light. Focusing was done manually since auto focus didn't really have anything to grab hold of. Shutter speed was used to stop motion and wasn't low enough to capture ambient light. Aperture was used for dept of field and tweaked to best capture flash without burning out any highlights.
Amazingly enough, Clesie sat and jumped when I asked him to. You can see from these photo's his eyes focused great in the dark. He had but one goal, catch the toy! He did a fantastic job!!!
Here's a few shots from last night.
This weekend I received Zack's Arias OneLight DVD. For those of you who haven't heard of Zack I suggest you check out his blog. Zack does a great job explaining the relationship of flash, shutter speed, and exposure. He shows you how to create fantastic photo's with an inexpensive off camera flash such as the Canon 580ex , Nikon SB80dx ,more powerful Sunpac 120j, or if you have the big bucks a Quantum flash. Add a few pocket wizards and you add so many more options.
This year I did a first. I visited my first Fair in Sedalia, Missouri. Though I had a great time, it wasn't like the fair Ma and Pa Kettle visited in the movie "Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952)" It had a lot of activities, but seemed very commercial and lacking in animals.
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