good morning...

I always look forward to the light of a new morning. Day after day, this never gets old...

waiting...

Our lives seem to partially consist of waiting on something. Above is an image of Pyper standing at the door of the gymnasium waiting on her friends to get there for her party. I love it when I can capture moments like these. Pictures that have more to say than what is going on in that moment. How many times in our lives do we let "waiting on something" consume us. How many times do we miss what is actually going on at the moment because we are waiting on something better. This is true for photography and every other area of our lives... our family situation, our job, our happiness, our faith and our stuff. The list goes on and on...

My prayer for my family and friends is that we can enjoy what we have, when we have it, for as long as we have it and we can minimize the time in our lives that we spend waiting on something better...

leaving my handprint...

As I age, I sometimes become concerned with what happens after I die. Dying is an inevitable part of living on this earth. Knowing that really doesn't help. I still have the questions... Will my family be alright without me? Will they miss me? Will they remember and treasure the things that are important to me? Will my love and mercy that I tried to share outweigh my faults? The photo above was inspired by the lead-in photos of the most recent Kinfolk magazine (volume 10, the age issue). The photos made me rethink what I want my handprint to look like when I die. My handprint will be reflected in the memories that I leave behind. The memories that do not fade with time, much like a handprint. My focus is to concentrate on the little things. The little things that make life special. I look forward to all the little things that I get to share with my family and friends for the rest of my days...

it all starts with curiosity...

Nothing like the curiosity of a child. Pyper saw me and Tyler working on a camera tonight and she wanted to do the same thing. Tyler let her "work on" a parts camera. It was funny how she kept wanting more tools. Being both an engineer and a photographer, seeing her in this photo just makes me smile from ear to ear...

hope for tomorrow...

Took this photo during our short weekend trip to Childress. Sometimes an accidental occurrence, such as this lens flare, can make the photo. It also helps that the crop on the sign just leave the one phrase for the photo. 

The year 2013 has been a good year, albeit with many mountains and valleys. I look forward to the year 2014 and all of the hope that it brings for my life and the people's lives that I will have the opportunity to influence...

as a child sees it...

On the day before Christmas, Pyper was all excited about what was to come. As I photograph her, and see her expressions, I can't help but to think of the premise of seeing the world like a child sees it. I wish I would have approached more things in my life with the innocence of Pyper. Reflecting about this on the eve of the birth of the One that told us that "we must be just like children to see the kingdom of God". In 2014 and beyond, I want to see and make a difference in the world around me with the eyes of a child...

acting on inspiration...

Looking through a photo magazine this afternoon and I came across an image that inspired me to try this. I decided to add my own touch, but I kept some of the characteristics of the original (pose, washed out appearance). 

Part of the inspiration comes from the fact that I could relate to this original image. This is where I am at. I am at the point in my life where I just need to take time to do things like this...

a mother and her daughter...

Probably one of my favorite things to photograph is family.  When I got my Leica M8 and now my Polaroid collection, I stopped taking mass quantities of pictures (relatively speaking folks).  Instead, I try and make the few photographs I take really count.  Using this method I miss alot of photographs, but how I absolutely enjoy the ones that I catch.  Saw these on my computer and noticed that I haven't posted them.  What a beautiful relationship: a mother and her daughter...

longing for something...

Saw Pyper looking out the front door this morning when Sadi left. She stood there at the door for some time just staring outside. Maybe she was hoping that Sadi was actually going to come back, maybe she saw something else or maybe she just wanted to see what it looked like on the outside. I grabbed my camera because I knew exactly what I was seeing. I saw a little girl longing for something. Much like all of us, but in a way that was totally visible. All too often we long for things, but we keep it bottled up inside.  That is the beauty of the innocence of a child.  They can only wear their emotions/desires on the outside...

the not yet meets the already gone...

Was walking around in Deep Ellum on Saturday looking for murals and such to photograph.  Came upon this and couldn't resist taking a picture of it.  Up close, it is hard to make out the pictures.  When you step back and look, everything comes more into focus.  Got to thinking about this (because I was just walking around) and realized this is something that is required in our everyday life.  We are always at the intersection of where "the not yet" meets "the already gone".  Are we willing to step back from the busyness of life and let the things around us (that mean the most to us) come more into focus?  Or are we going to let life just be one big blur of meaningless activity...