The Joy of Love: Day 4

What They Wear

Photograph your loved one’s clothes (either on him or in the closet). This can be when they are dressed up or dressed down.

These are Rob's very worn work shoes. He's just about one of the hardest workers I've ever known...and his shoes reflect that, I think. When I first met him he wore what we called his "Peter Pan" shoes to work. Too bad I don't have a photo of those. They looked like, well, something Peter Pan would have worn :).

The Joy of Love: Day 3

Then and Now

How long have you known your loved one? What has changed since you first met him or her? Try to capture this change in photos. it would be even cooler if you can show a photo from the time you first met him and put it side by side with a now photo. Or have your loved one hold the “Then” photo and snap the camera!

I've known Luke for over 3 years, and it's been 2.5 since he actually arrived.

I painted a picture for his room right before he was born. He was only a few weeks old in this photo, and I was excited that he was already "enjoying" my art.

What has changed? Well, just look at the two pictures!

The Joy of Love: Day 2

How They Look

Capture your loved one at their best (or at their worst). Or both. What you’re trying to capture is the TRUE essence/expression/attitude/posture that SCREAMS your loved one!

To be honest, I took this picture when I was practicing with my external flash on manual. I wasn't purposefully doing it for this project...but I think it fits regardless :).

The Joy of Love: Day 1

Willette Photography is offering one of her online photography courses for free during the month of February. The theme is LOVE, of course. An assignment is emailed out each day. I'm going to be terribly behind with this, but seeing as there is no final grade I'm ok with that :). I'll post my "homework" as I finish it.

Thus far I have completed Day 1, which is What They Do.

This can apply to anything your loved ones “do”….what do they do for work? What do they do for play? What chores do they do around the house? Find something they “DO” and document it.

If you are photographing your spouse/partner today, then focus on their job perhaps. If you are photographing your children, then focus on what they play or them “doing” school. If your subject is your dog, then show him playing (or sleeping). The possibilities for this prompt are endless, as we all “DO” something each day. SO, get out your camera and catch your loved one "DOING" something.

Here is my husband DOING one of the things he does best - talking to people. Making connections. Running various fantasy sports leagues and, er, other sports-related activities.

City Methodist Church

First, thanks to my swell neighbor, Jen (blog here) for inviting me to join her on a photography adventure to Gary, Indiana. I know, you're wondering what the heck we would want to photograph in Gary. Turns out it's home to a beautiful abandoned Methodist church that I think may have been placed on Earth purely for the enjoyment of photographers and filmmakers. A photography group that Jen is a member of arranged an outing on Thursday morning. It was incredible, and I'm so glad I went. If it weren't so cold I would have explored the building for hours.

The building is completely derelict, with most of the windows broken and all of nature making its way in. The floor's integrity is questionable in some areas, so we avoided deviating from the main routes.

One of the first rooms we checked out had a decaying sofa and a beautiful fireplace. It may have been my favorite room:










Someone artfully placed a rose on the arm of the sofa. Little "props" like this could be found throughout the building.

Next we explored the main sanctuary, which was completely breathtaking. I attempted an HDR image, but wasn't happy with what I got after running it through the software, so come good ol' fashioned exposures will have to do :)









Next we headed to the second and third floors, where there were plenty of other props and little "scenes" just begging to be photographed:




This is HDR. I wish the ones I did in the sanctuary had turned out as opposed to this one, but its kinda cool.






We didn't go any further down this hallway. We were certain either a) the floor would give way or b) a man with a chainsaw would jump out at us.

I couldn't feel my fingers at this point, so it was a good spot to call it a day :). Overall a fun adventure, and I've enjoyed seeing photos shared by others in the group. I'll have to get over my shyness and post a few of my own.

And hopefully we can see what Jen did too! That is one of the coolest parts of this group - seeing how others photograph and "see" the same location.

Hopefully there will be more projects like this to come!

Mike, Kimmy, Sam, and Addison

Hi there! It's been awhile! But here I am, and with some photos to share.

I did a mini-session of sorts with some good friends over the weekend. Holiday photos and kids-playing-in-the-snow sort of shots. Very fun! I love how candid kids are :).













They are one of the sweetest families you'll ever meet.

The Del Carlos and Gerners

I don't have much time to be chatty, but here's a few shots from a family session I did over the weekend! They were a really fun group :).