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...

more photos from my afternoon with Sadi...

Here are some more photos of Sadi from yesterday afternoon.  They were shot with my Leica M8 and Olympus EP2.  Already looking forward to the next time that I get to take her picture again...

an afternoon with Sadi...

Sadi and I went downtown Greenville today and did a quick photo session in an old vacant building (no really!  I had permission to be there)...  It is good to have a place to take pictures inside on a windy day.  My days are probably limited on finding buildings such as this in the downtown area.  Amazing to have such good props.  The photo below was taken in front of a window with a bare wooden wall behind her.  You can see the filler putty in the voids between the slats.  All of the pictures were taken without a flash so the shutter speed was pretty slow even though I had window light coming through.  I used a tripod for most of the pictures to limit the blurring.  This one was taken with the Leica M8 and the Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 lens.  It was the one that immediately caught my eye because of the dark shadows on the right hand side of the picture...  I will post more photos from the afternoon later on this weekend.

vacancy - seats available...

This was outside the Starbucks in the West Village.  We stopped by there after we had Grimaldi's pizza a couple of weeks ago.  After everyone else started walking back to the car, I stayed behind to take one last picture.  I was using my Leica M8 that night, but it was on a high ISO setting (640).  I converted it to black and white to create the mood and remove the color cast.  Seeing the picture makes me crave coffee...

eye of the Pyper...

So this morning I was looking forward to the new coffee blend from Starbucks (and it was EXCELLENT), and after work I got to look forward to Pyper at our house.  Unfortunately she was asleep when I got home...  To make the best of it, I pulled out my camera and stuck it on a tripod to take some low light pictures of her face.  Used a very slow shutter speed (0"6 seconds) at f/4.0.  Decided on the Lensbaby to really draw attention and focus on her eye and the lashes.

tribute...

Can't wait 'til tomorrow morning...  Bought some new coffee at Starbucks this afternoon:  Starbucks Tribute Blend Coffee.  Not drinking it tonight, because I want to sleep.  Of course I had to get a picture!  Now I am just waiting on morning...  tick, tock, tick, tock

let it ring...

A couple more shots from last night using my Canon 40D and the Lensbaby Composer with closeup filters attached.  The aperture was set at f/2.8.  This lens really blurs and smears the background.  The green wall and brownish/red chair make a great background.  The purple stone texture and shape, of Sherri's ring, are really brought out in the first photo.  Didn't realize that my cross ring was so scratched up...

and then Pyper smiles...

I would have to say that when Pyper smiles it makes me smile even bigger... Taken with the Lensbaby Composer lens on the 40d.

the eye of a needle...

A thought provoking subject...  to photograph and examine...  

the eye of a needle...

In Luke 18 Jesus said, "In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

But in the verses immediately following that statement, He tells us something else...  He said, "What is impossible for mere humans is possible for God."

I pray for God's continued grace and an extra dose of discernment in helping me fully understanding how these very verses apply to me today...

an afternoon on the town...

Took my 40D camera out on the streets of Greenville to try out a new lens that I bought.  The lens is the Lensbaby Composer (www.lensbaby.com).  It is definitely not a lens for the people who examine a photo for sharpness.  I would consider it an artsy lens that gets your creative juices flowing.  I bought it to use for some ideas that I have for Pyper and Sadi, however I wanted to take it around for a few days and photograph still life (things that don't move) to get used to the lens.  As you can see, the photos generally have one area that is in focus and the remaining parts of the photo are way out of focus.  If you are facing the sun, the lens flares really bad (see the first photo) across the photo.  This is a feature of the lens, not a flaw.  Everything about the lens is manual.  I really had a great time with this lens and I honestly think you can create better photos when you have to think through all aspects of the photo prior to taking the picture.  At least that holds true for taking pictures of things that don't move...