The Bridal

I had an amazing bridal session a couple of weeks ago. With the wedding this weekend I thought I would go over the exciting time we had.

First, you may ask what is a bridal session? Here is my take on it. A shoot with just the bride, a time where you just focus on her and making her feel like a model!!! But it's more than just that. A time where she can get comfortable with you...trust you...know that you will get exactly what she wants. One thing less she has to worry about going wrong on the BIG DAY. But what else? She gets to put her dress on...move around in it...get a feel for moving in all that material. Hair!! It's a great time to do a run through with your hair and make up stylist, so that you get it exactly how you want it.

So there is a short take on what a bridal session should be. That being said there is still more emotions tied up in it.

Back to the blog at hand. We got to the place and with her sisters in tow we walked in the door. Let me just say that the people at "The Mansion at Elfindale" are amazing. Not only did they let use any room that was not booked for the night. They also had a room ready for the bride to get her dress on and get ready!!

So now she is all changed and I have all my stuff ready and places scouted. We made our way to the top, sisters still along to help her feel comfortable and my wife along as well to help both of us out. It was a great time...getting shots...laughing...holding flashes...and all sorts of things.

Where are the shots you ask? Well if since the wedding is this week I haven't put them up. The Groom to be hasn't seen them and wants to keep it that way until after the wedding...and I agree. So check back in a week and I will have them up.

A night of music...

I had a photographer friend (www.prestondial.com) ask if I could shoot an event...or is it a event. If it's a vowel that starts next word it should be an...but that sounds weird...an event...a event. Ok, sorry, he asked me to shoot for him. Of course I would. Little did I know it was The Canadian Brass. I have only liked them since high school. So I get to the hall and get a program so I can lay out my plan of attack....CANADIAN BRASSSSSSS....then I get a call. I puzzled voice on the other end "Are you taking pictures at the symphony concert?" I answer "Yes...why?" It was my younger brother who was sitting in the balcony with my mom. I must walk in a distinctive way...or something. He was blessed with our dad's eyes...which isn't saying much. I guess I stick out. Or maybe I carry a big aura around with me.

Wait wait wait...this post has taken a weird turn...it's not about me...it's about what I captured...so click the picture and check out a few more.

The Zigs (part 2)

So here I am...late and slow as usual. Anyway, I had a chance to spend some time with this family again. A year after their little girl was born. How cute she is now and all that hair!! I do have to say though she is easier to catch than her brother is. That being said I do like to run around!

We started at their house and got some shots done there and then moved out and found a kids day at Jordan Valley Park. So I only bugged them with a camera for a short time and let them on their way to go play. It was a great time getting to spend time outside of church with church family.

Click on the picture for more.

The Family of Personality...

So here we are...the heat of the day starting to calm down, but not fast enough. A great family full of personality. It's amazing how much life these kids had. Up, down, and all around...all except the smallest who is not as mobile yet. Running through the grass and hiding in the shade was the name of the game. Then when went inside where it went for cool to down right cold. Who says a little a/c isn't good?!?!

It was a great time and we got some great stuff. Hey, and I always like to have fun and I think for the most part they were laughing with me. So that's always a plus!

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This is only informative...

I waited for the first wave of all emotions to run over before I made this post. It has nothing to do with hurting feelings. Or pointing and saying I told you so. It is just my thoughts that will hopefully make others think a bit before they make a decision.

Why hire a photographer instead of a friend? A friend has a great camera and they have used it a lot. They like taking pictures. Etcetera and so on. Lets leave out some of the normal things....stress...composition...work flow. I will stick with some things you may not think about.

What does a photographer do after they have captured your event?

--If it's a wedding maybe you get a top notch album. So now you have this amazing album. It's setting on your coffee table for everyone to see when they come over. Perfect, right?!

--Say it's a family shoot? Okay, you have these great prints of many different sizes hanging throughout your home. Gallery prints, Composite prints, framed prints. MAN THEY LOOK AMAZING!!

--How about a newborn? A newborn album! MORE PRINTS!!!

But hey I can make all these prints and a decent album myself?!?! Maybe you also have perfect skin or you are not to bad a post processing a photo.

These things are still not it.

I had a past bride email me 4 years after her wedding wanting some more prints. Four or five clicks later and I have them pulled up on my screen. Also I have them burned on a DVD. So where is that CD you have all your pictures from your wedding your friend gave you? Perhaps you know right where it is.

In light of the last few months...tornadoes...Alabama & Joplin, MO...two of the most damaging storms in a while. Houses torn apart...lives lost...things scattered. The tornadoes didn't care about the amazing album laying on the table. There are no walls for the pictures to hang on. Computers that held the images on file destroyed. CD or DVD's scattered about. So now the only memory you have of those special times is held in your brain. Or is it? There is something else that set a Professional photographer apart. Sure all their stuff could be destroyed as well, but there is other places to store files. Maybe it's a safe full of external hard drives? Off site storage that was thousands of miles away from storm.

There is other things that a Professional keeps in mind after the event is gone...and they know how valuable those files are to you as well as them. Sure you can save money on the front end by going cheap. But what price will you pay when you no longer have anything with a face of a loved one that you can't get back...and a face you can no longer touch.

The skies are quiet...the waters are still, but still have those families affected by events that have taken so much from them in your thoughts and prayers.

No shutter...only hands...

This last week has been long. I had been yearning to get to Joplin and do anything I could to get my hands dirty and my hat sweaty. I had things going on all week and I didn't think I would get to make a trip down there this week. But sometimes when you don't expect it God opens...I ran through it.

Enter Wednesday...I was supposed to have a family shoot the next day and thought maybe I could go down early and help until noon. I mean I was taking my little girl to the lady that had been keeping her before I was laid off. I CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN. I get a message...it was about the shoot...sick kids :( they need to move the date. While this is not a good thing...the result of what I can now do is.

Thursday, I find myself just past Mt. Vernon, MO heading towards Joplin thinking of what this day may bring. I've seen the pictures heard the reports, but nothing could prepare me. I think what if it was me...what if my girl now had nothing...no toys...her stuffed animals...her "best friends" what if she didn't have me..or me have her...her mommy...my wife. Needless to say tears filled my eyes with the first thought running through my head. I can help...help pick up peoples "lives" their belongings scattered across the land. I can unload the multitude of donations coming in. I can take supplies out to those already in the 6 mile "footprint." But what if I was not "allowed" in...There are shelters where families are "living" places they are calling 'home" if I can't do all that I will go there.

My little one just turned 3. She can mentally wear me out sometimes and I still have my home. I can't even think of all the added stress and trying to deal with her loss as well...nothing to play with...and even nobody to play with. These younger kids not even fully aware of what has happened. Bright eyed...huge smile...no cares. If I can't get in to "ground zero" this is what I will do. Rest mommy...rest daddy...you may not know me, but I am here to help. I can't bring back your house...I can't bring back what or who may have been lost. But I WILL bring a smile to your children's face. You do what you need to do, I will be here and I will stay here until you come back. We will be here to greet you with a hug...a smile...an embrace to try and help with what you face.

As a parent you know the feeling when you see the smile and laughter comes from that little one you love. So if you can't get in to help physically...here is also my thoughts spilled out for you to think over.

Exit 8 into Joplin...a right turn I make...I stop by The Bridge and a helping hand they take. Unloading cars and trucks the come down the drive. Things from here and there all to help something that was lost. It was amazing the out pour of love that was cast upon the Ozarks. Here in our back yard. Seeming like it was only the people of the US helping give back. Funny how something happens across the world and here we are to help out...but when it's us in facing the heartache we stand here on our own. We are the best country on the Earth. We have our troops fighting to keep us free...but something else we have...LOVE...love that shines through...those who have been given lots, give back. Those who have little, give back. Those who have nothing, give back. We have our differences...we have things that make us mad. But when a time comes to help those who have lost it all...we drop it all and come together as one. Not divided by the accents...not torn apart by religion...not looking at the color, but looking at the heart within. American flags blowing in the wind in Joplin...TRUE Americans coming to help those in need.

We don't sit around and wait for others to help us...we never have...as American's...we just go get things done.

A Short Meeting...

It was a small and tasty coffee shop, overcast, and cold for a May day. I had to make a short walk down the street from my parking spot and thought the they may already have beat me there.

I saw through a glass window a face I had met before and when I saw those eyes looking back I saw her face light up. (Great Feeling) The excitement had to be written on my face as much as it was for both of them. All three of were all smiles so we got right to it. Wedding album design...check. Laughing...check. Different styles of print paper...check. Fun...check.

Coffee? Yes please!! We only had an hour since the coffee shop was going to close early. I got my camera out and shot a few pictures. It was natural...the shooting...the love...all of it...natural. After a couple of min we sat down and drank our coffee and talked a bit more about the plans of the wedding and what all we had planned for that day. The getting ready...the first glance...the limo...the wedding party fun...the "foto booth."

All warmed up on the coffee we stepped outside to brave the chill and take a couple more shots. They had already had engagement pictures done, so this was more of a chance for them to get in front of lens and see how I shoot. It was quick, maybe 5-7 minutes between both of the times we took pictures and they were pros at it!!

Coats on...walk to the car...plan for August!

A Non-Picture Post

With all the news stirring about the picture proof it makes you start to think. This isn't what you think it will be. Not about I need to see a picture...not a I want a trophy...not a celebration of a death. All those points are mute compared to a big picture. (no pun intended)

So what could this possibly be? Our digital age...how fast does our media move? I can do a shoot and edit in the field and post a picture from the shoot all within a matter on minutes. I can post a picture here in Missouri and someone across the globe can see it. Heck, I can see a picture from Saturday morning in Japan while it is still light out here in Missouri on Friday!? But what does this have to do with a a single picture from a Navy SEAL raid?

The power of a photo...the meaning behind a photo...the meaning behind any photo. It captures a moment in time and invokes many different emotions, depending on the person who is viewing. The doubters are crying for proof...the ones wounded by this man are wanting to see justification, but what about the ones who loved him? One picture many different emotions. Power of an art form?

Photography has changed vastly since the ages of a dark room being the only way to have a print to paper. We don't even need a paper print in some cases...digital frames. A small little file compressed into a .jpg .raw .dng...what does it hold? Pixels by the millions? Art? Emotion? Power? I say yes! From the first few hours of a newborns life to the flitting breaths in death...it can now all be captured and shown to the world with in minutes...seconds. And all evoke some sort of emotion.

The one who snaps is carrying more than just a little emotion. You have trusted this person to emotionally move you. 1/8000 of a second holds little meaning in a 24 hours day, but in the mirror slapping world of photography it can make you laugh or cry and even both.

It's not about needing a picture to prove power.

But as a photographer it's about the power of a picture we need to prove.

The Cute Contest!

We are on the third day into the voting and we have a couple of kids breaking away from pack. But this in no way means that they are going to win. Catching up and getting ahead are as easy as sharing the album of images and asking your friends to vote for you! Even better is to go to your picture or pictures in the album and share them as well. What else can you do? Ask your friends to share the pictures on their page too and get the facebook party started!

Make sure you tell them to like the fan page first or they won't be able to see the options to "like" or "comment. Get the action going and get the votes in...who knows what might be added to the winner's prize...or maybe even WINNERS.

Click the picture above to go to the Facebook album

Easter and Rain

With all this rain coming down I wasn't very hopeful that the sky would let up and we would get to hunt eggs outside. But it did! There was all kinds of family and friends getting ready to watch the hunt!

With snake boots on Zach trudged out into the light rain and hid the eggs for kids. Right as he was getting down the rain stopped and out we ran to not waste the opportunity for a some what dry hunt. Well I guess I should say we didn't get rained on. Every ones feet got wet, but I think that it was more than worth it! Around 300 eggs were hidden and about that many were found...I think the lawn mower will find the rest.

Bellies full, eggs found and Tangled on for the kids...it was time for a nap!

The NEW WEBSITE is up and going! Check it out and get booked...you could make the main

slide show!

New website! Maybe it will help me blog more!

Well I decided it was time to go ahead and do this part. I have only been dragging my feet on a website for a few years. I am good at telling myself no. And here is to hoping that with a link to my blog from my splash page it will give me more of a reason to blog.

We can all dream a little!

Tony