Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A Photographer and his Wife - Covington GA Couple Photography

Some time ago, a photographer I know was visiting his home state of Georgia and asked if I minded taking a few shots of him and his wife for him. 
Who am I to say no?

They came by and his poor wife was subjected to listening to the two of us talk "shop" before we got around to the picture taking part. 

I love how they look so happy together.
A little snuggly shot and a little fun. . .
Then came a few shots of just the photographer. I don't think I have ever seen such long lashes on a guy in person. 
Then a little bit of fun and personality shone through. He told me he is not good at smiling normally for the camera. Seems to be a running trait with those who choose to "hide" behind the camera.


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Monday, November 15, 2010

Jason and Holly are MARRIED!!

My latest Interactive Slideshow. Wedding days are just the best.

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You can also view this at Jason and Holly's Personal Wedding Site.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Challenges of Motherhood

Being a mother is a lot more challenging and plain out HARDER than I ever thought it would be. A baby is a walk in the park compared to when they get to be around 6-7 years old in MY book. I will not make this blog post a list of all of the things I have found challenging in the past year. . .
Instead, I will discuss one thing that has been a thorn in mine and Spencer's side. Teaching Liam how to ride a bike.

{{SIGH}}

Now I will admit that I had my own challenges when learning to ride a bike. But, honestly, those challenges came once my training wheels were off the bike. Hmmmm, whereas Liam's have come from the time he started riding a tricycle.

First, his legs were too short, then it was just too hard for him to push the pedals, then his legs were too long for a trike and they kept hitting the handlebars.

Okay, then he inherited a bike from a good buddy of his. Spencer and I went out and got training wheels to put on it. Somehow he never could ride it though. I don't blame him on that one though. I tried riding it myself and the pedals really seemed stuck.
(Feel free to go ahead and picture me on a kid's bike now)

NEXT, I tried him on a bike at Wal-Mart to see if the situation were hopeless.
He rode it fine. Good news. So my mom and dad got him the bike he wanted for a gift
on Spencer's and my wedding anniversary.

Well. . .my dear, dear, DEAR boy has fears. Fears that his Transformer helmet and shoulder and knee pads can't seem to fend off. This could be because I made the mistake of letting him ride it one time without the knee pads and he scraped his knee. Or it could be due to my misguided effort to make him feel better about falling by telling him about my own war wound.

When I had learned to ride my bike I had issues making U-turns while riding. Instead, I would stop the bike, turn it around, and then keep going. Well, one day I thought I had conquered this inability and decided to show my dad. Well, let's just say my U-turn was more like an L-turn. . .right into a tree. Long story short, one trip to the emergency room, eight stitches, and about 20 years later I am fine and have a fine scar to show for it. But the important thing is I survived.
(I also didn't ride my bike again for years after that, at which time I got stung by a paper wasp that had built its nest under my seat,
but I left that part out of the story to Liam)

Unfortunately, the only thing Liam got from this story was that I fell and hurt myself badly and he does NOT want that to happen to him.
Inadvertently I made it more challenging to teach him to ride a bike.

{{SIGH}}

I guess the point that I need to take away from this experience is that if I don't want him to give up on learning to ride his bike then I don't need to give up on helping him get over his fears. . .but that is such a difficult thing to do when it takes time and patience that I don't necessarily possess in abundance. But aren't the things that end up being the most precious also the things that take the most out of us?

I'll leave that question up in the air and share with you some images of one of the times Spencer and I took Liam out riding.
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Doesn't he look thrilled?
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Spencer doing what he can to motivate him as well as assure him that he is always there in case he should call. I married a great guy. :)
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PhotobucketOne of the few times I caught him smiling.
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Just look at the determination in his shoulders and his whole posture in this shot. Love it.
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His expression in the middle shot just kills me. . .in a good way.

By this time, he was somewhat getting the hang of things and quite happy about it.
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Thanks for listening. :D
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Saturday, October 23, 2010

Abel and Meraiah - Ten Years of Marriage

Never did I think, ten years ago, when I offered my services (okay, pretty much threw myself at them) to photograph their wedding that I would become this family's official photographer and get the joy of watching their little man grow and document their 10th anniversary party. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love this family like my own and thoroughly enjoyed making this little slideshow for them that was playing during their party. I hope you enjoy it too.

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This can also be viewed on their personal little site by clicking here.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Rachel and Steven are MARRIED!

Hello Everyone! I hope that you enjoy this. . .MY FIRST interactive slideshow!!!!! I am so thrilled to share this with you all. Give it some time to load and then enjoy and let me know what you think!

To turn off the music you can click on the bars at the bottom.

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EDITED TO ADD: To view this interactive slideshow online click here. . .

Monday, October 4, 2010

Maternity Photography - Covington Georgia

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting one of Covington's newest families. Talking to them, we were told that they had just recently moved from Portland, Oregon. Their second child is due in November and judging from the parents and how handsome their little three-year-old is, their new son will be equally as handsome.

We met at Turner Lake Park right here in Covington, Georgia, and got some fantastic shots of them.
We started with the gorgeous mother-to-be in the last of the bright sun of the evening.
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Her little guy jumped in for a quick shot.
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And then the soon-to-be father joined in the fun. ;)
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See what I mean about the gene pool that their new little guy will be drawing from?
He is bound to be handsome.
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LOVE. THIS. ONE!
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This one is also most definitely a favorite.
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PEEKABOO!
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Cute little guy isn't he?
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Spencer got a few pictures of Dad and son interacting while I concentrated on mom.
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What a beautiful woman.
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Captured a sweet little moment between mom and son.

He kissed his little brother so quickly that I was surprised that I got it.
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What attitude!
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Change of location in the park. A little pavilion by the water.
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Then we moved on to one of the little swings in the park.
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Dad decided it would be fun to get a little tickling action in. . .

. . .and I thought it would be fun to capture it.
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A few more of the glowing mother.
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Absolutely beautiful!
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A little walk. . .
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. . .to the playground that the little guy had been anxiously awaiting to get to go to after our session.
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We only had a limited time for him to play as the heavens opened up their floodgates shortly thereafter. The funniest part was being pelted with pine needles on our way to the car. It was crazy.

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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Johnston Maternity - Covington GA - Maternity Photos

This has been an insane few weeks. First I had the wonderful privilege of traveling to North Carolina for a week with some good friends to preach in territory seldom worked. An amazing experience where we met a lot of wonderful, warm, and loving people. We got to drive along the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway and take some awesome pictures that I will be working on soon.

Then I got to travel to New York to photograph the family of one of my best friends, which I will also be working on soon . . .

. . . speaking of maternity pictures, I am excited to show you guys
these pictures I took of another good friend of mine.
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We started in downtown Covington for some fun shots around the square.
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I absolutely adore this image that Spencer got of the two of them. I instructed Spencer that since I was going to work on getting wide shots that I wanted him to focus on more tight shots.
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I got a few great shots of the glowing mother-to-be by herself.
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A few fun new editions of he shot / she shot.
The above Spencer got from below and the shot below, was the one I got from above.
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Here's another great one, the top two by me and the bottom by Spencer. The funny thing about the top left picture is the position I had to get in to stand above them.
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Then I got these fun colorful shots near the local art gallery.
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I love the next two showing how they look at each other.
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Fun with red umbrellas.
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:D
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I love the classic and simplicity of black and white pictures.
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Then we moved inside their home for some sweet shots in the nursery.
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This was a special shot for her since the rocking chair has been passed down in her family.
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