a lucky man...

Came home from the movie this evening and talked Sherri into taking a picture with me. As I have mentioned before, this is a difficult discussion at our house.  Sherri absolutely hates to have her picture taken.  I am becoming more persistent because, as the years go on, these photos have become more important to me.  As we get older, time seems to get away faster, and I want to make sure and have memories of us posted throughout this blog (and in frames around our house).  As I stare at this photo, I just think to myself "what a lucky man I am"!  

Can't wait to take the next one... :)

a hope we cannot explain...

When we were on our family vacation in California a few weeks ago, Sadi went down to the workout room every morning.  One of the mornings I noticed she was wearing this shirt and couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a picture.  Of course, she thought I was only taking a picture of her shirt.  I had specific orders not to get anything else in the picture.  Looking through the lens, I couldn't pass up getting her expression and overall demeanor/body language. What a deep, introspective shot...

So now on to the word "hope"...

hope - to have a feeling, chance, desire, expectation or wish to do something or to make something happen...

Without hope, our lives would be meaningless. We all have hopes that get us through the day (week, month or even year).  Hope is something that transcends all things.  Let me say it again...  Without hope, our lives would be meaningless.

I love this excert that photographer Robert Adams wrote and how he relates it to hope. "Of all the sacred places on the coast, none is more comforting than where rivers join the sea. By the river's disappearance we are reminded of life's passing, while by the ocean's beauty we accept it, in a hope we cannot explain."

We could all learn something from this.  Maybe by trying to focus a little less on the fleeting failures in our lives and focus a little more on the hope in our lives that eternally matter.

searching...

Sometimes my favorite photos are the un-posed photos where you just catch the moment. No pressure to catch that one specific look while they hold it for you. No "cheese" to get them to smile just right. No frustration when they will not do exactly as you want. Just a search for that moment when the open shutter meets a perfect memory...  

In this photo, Pyper was just strolling around in the back yard while I snapped a few pictures with my Leica M8.

I absolutely love the images that are rendered by the M8. The M-mount lenses just melt the background and make the focal point of the image pop out even more. Makes me realize that the only way that I will ever get rid of my M8 is when I can buy an M9.

the Land Rover...

Came home tonight and parked my Land Rover in the street for a minute.  When I was walking up the drive, I decided to go grab a camera and tripod to take a few pictures.  Remember, I will take pictures of anything.  My biggest problem is stopping at one...  I took one with the Leica M8, one with the Olympus EP2, one with the Polaroid 100 and one with the Polaroid 250.  Lots of pictures, different edits on the digital and different films on the analog...

in the studio with Maci and Tyler...

Took quite a few pictures this past weekend.  Makes for a great weekend!  I guilted Maci and Tyler into coming over on Sunday after lunch to let me take a few studio shots of them.  Mainly took Polaroids, that I will post later on my instant blog, but I took a few pictures with my trusted Olympus EP2.  Really would like to upgrade to the OM-D, but I keep getting winners with this one.  I only took six shots and three of them are below.

  Tyler always seems to start the shoots off by really posing and making faces.  He does this stuff and he knows that I will get the picture.  The great thing is that these are usually the ones that I want to post/print.  I really like this one because Maci was getting ready for the picture and of course she looks over and sees Tyler acting out. What a look, what a moment...

Here is a closer image where both of them have great expressions/smiles.  Square format rules!

Lastly, two different edits of a posed full-body photo.  The first one just has the minor adjustments to contrast/sharpening.  For the second one I added the Aperture vintage preset.  When I can't decide which one, I post them both...

two worlds...

Two worlds, just seconds and feet apart...  

Sitting across the table from Maci and Pyper yesterday.  Maci was reading and she looked up and smiled. Pyper had just pulled her bow out of her hair and threw it on the table and couldn't quite reach it.  I love the dynamics of family!  More than that, I love having a camera by my side to catch it all...