el rebano de jesus...

After my mission trip to Peru, I decided that I wanted to post something that represented a desperate need in that country.  I wanted the images to tell a story that would communicate that need.  I have struggled with the whole idea because I wasn't finding any of the numerous pictures that I took on this trip that were cohesive and good enough to post.  Most of this was my fault because I only took one lens to Peru and it just happened to be my new 50mm Summicron.  I also have a 35mm f/2 Biogon, but I left it at home so that I only had one camera and one lens to keep up with.  What I found was that it was very hard to capture a moment in a small area with a 50mm lens on an M8 (the lens was essentially a 65mm lens on this camera with the 1.3x lens factor).  The field of view was so limited, I kept missing the shots.  


Then I ran across the images of the kids/adults that were taken at El Rebano de Jesus.  On the last day, I took pictures of everyone at the orphanage for "To Every Nation" to use in some type of sponsorship program.  After the trip, during one of my flights for work, I slowly stepped through each of the pictures and studied their facial expressions and looked into their eyes.  I tried to recall their personalities that came out while we were at the orphanage.  I remembered how some of them were so shy and reclusive at first.  It only took a small amount of loving and playing with them for them to become a different kid.  How could I forget the last day...  As you can see from the pictures, most of the kids were fresh out the the shower.  They had just finished eating breakfast and they were ready to play.  What a special set of photos these have become.  I had a few pictures of each kid/adult.  I tried to pick the one that represented their personalities that I remember.  


So what is the desperate need?  Donations from To Every Nation and other churches/organizations keep the orphanages just like this open so that kids just like this can take a shower and eat meals every day.  People like Victor and Isabel have dedicated their lives to ensuring that these kids are taken care of.    These kids are fighting the odds of surviving in a sometimes selfish world, much less becoming productive members of society.  So the answer to the question above is "you".  You need to figure out what part of you.  Is it your prayers, your money, your time, your extra clothes or all four?  Your decision...


Put all of that aside and take some time to really look at these pictures.  Look into their eyes.  Imagine what is going through their little minds.  Imagine their fears, their needs, their dreams.  Imagine what makes them smile...

abigail - 9 yrs old

alondra - 5 yrs old

brenda - 11 yrs old

bresia - 6 yrs old

brisa - 9 yrs old

cindy - 12 yrs old

esteban - 4 yrs old

estrella - 5 yrs old

francesca - 3 yrs old

jesus - 7 yrs old

jhonatan - 12 yrs old

jonas - 4 yrs old

josias - 1 yr old

kassandra - 11 yrs old

kasumi - 3 yrs old

maicol - 1 yr old

maria jose

maria - 10 yrs old

michel - 8 yrs old

milagros - 3 yrs old

nahomi - 10 yrs old

nicol - 6 yrs old

noemi - 5 yrs old

pedro - 13 yrs old

stephanie - 20 yrs old

takachi - 2 yrs old

valeria - 7 yrs old

yanali - 10 yrs old

yessenia - 9 yrs old

miguel - 23 yrs old

sarah

fiorella

isabel

just maci...

After I took the shot with Maci and Tyler, Maci wanted one by herself.  I never pass up the opportunity to snap another picture...  I turned the f-stop on the 35mm Zeiss lense down to f/2 to limit the depth of field and I let the lense paint this image on the M8 sensor...

maci and tyler...

Sometimes the pictures are just easy...  Maci and Tyler stopped by today to drop off Wilco on their way to Babies R Us.  Took a quick picture with the Leica M8 and the Zeiss 35mm f/2 (set at f/4) in the front yard.  Converted it using the "Ink" preset in NIK Color Efex Pro.  I like it when you don't have to really work for a good picture...

a piercing image...

Haven't posted in forever, but I had to post this.  Maci took Pyper to the mall today to get her ears pierced.  I am not one to watch something like this because I get weak just being there.  However, afterwards the photo opportunity was something that I couldn't pass up.  Maci was walking out of the mall and Pyper was beginning to stop crying.  I wanted to capture her feelings in  the aftermath of the pain.  After I got home and looked at the image, I was taken back.  I noticed Pyper had a single tear coming down her cheek.  The new earrings are barely visible because of the shallow depth of field (I used the 50mm Summicron f/2.0 lens), but the tear is clearly there along with a little sparkle in her eyes.  Notice how Maci is smiling while looking at Pyper.  On the eve of Father's day I must reflect...  This is but the first of many opportunities for Maci to smile in the aftermath of Pyper's inevitable pains.  What a beautiful feeling to be a father watching your daughter smile after seeing that her daughter is going to be ok.  If you know me very well, you would know that I have tears right now...

jimmy and kathleen...

So sometimes I like to procrastinate, but this is probably to the extreme.  This was the first of two photo shoots that I did a few weeks back.  The photos were "engagement photos" that were done a little more than two weeks before they were getting married.  We had been planning on doing the photos since late January/early February.  I processed the photos and had them developed quickly so that they could be displayed at the ceremony, but I kept finding other things to do instead of posting them.  Well, here they finally are...  










crawfish boil...

Had a fun night at Cliff and Brooke's house.  They had several families over for a crawfish boil.  I can honestly say it has been a long time since I have eaten crawfish.  The food was great but the conversations around the table was even better...  Thanks Cliff!

All of the pictures were taken with my Leica M8 and the CV 75mm f2.5 lens.  I processed all of the pictures in NIK Color Efex Pro with the exception of one that was processed in NIK Silver Efex Pro.  I used different presets/film settings for each of the photos.








what was she thinking...

Would be amazing to know what was going through her little mind.  She was looking out the window in the kitchen.  Maybe she was just daydreaming...  The picture is also a little bit dreamy with the focus being only on one side of her face.  Very appropriate for the look.  Used the Monday Morning filter in my NIK software.  Taken with my Leica M8 and 75mm lens.  

the serious side of Maci...

It seems like it has been forever since I have posted any photos.  I have been incredibly busy taking and processing photos, but just not posting them.  I have done two photo shoots that took quite a bit of planning and post-processing.  I will be posting some of them in the coming days, but I wanted to post a photo of Maci that I took today that required no planning whatsoever.  It was taken with available window light in the kitchen using the Leica M8 and CV 75mm f/2.5 lens.  I processed it using the film effects in NIK Color Efex Pro.  The film was Fujichrome Provia 100F.  A fine-grained film look, but a great representation of Maci's serious side...

weekend with Pyper...

Well most of these have found their way to Maci, Tyler, Sadi or Sherri's facebook pictures (because I couldn't wait to share them) but I wanted to post them on my blog to tell about what a great weekend that I had taking pictures of Pyper.  It was almost like she wouldn't let me take a bad picture of her.  She just kept looking, smiling and posing for me.  They were taken with the 40D and the EP2.  Sherri says that Pyper will eventually tire of me taking pictures of her.  I know the day will come, but that is when the bribing will kick in...