Monday August 13, 2012 Two Flags at Six-Flags My friend, Morag and I were in the water park part of the amusement park when I noticed the picture perfect view of the flags at the entrance. It took some patience to wait for just these two flags to wave while the others rested. I wanted to get a shot with a car of screaming people on rails AND the two flags. But I could have spent the whole day waiting for that shot since there really wasn't much wind. I decided against waiting for the perfect storm. I'll take my two flags at Six-Flags.

Constructive critiques welcome here :)
Please feel free to tell me what you really think. I want to know:
1. What I should keep doing
2. What I should stop doing
3. Different perspectives on what I've done (for artistic ideas in the future)
Sometimes in this community, I feel like I'm in over my head among so many very talented artists.

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Thursday
August 23, 2012

I was looking for something to process and post for a daily and I ran into this little gem... I hadn't noticed when I took the shot that most of the people in the background are girls. Suddenly, the sinister look takes on a whole new meaning. I believe he plans to woo them with his t-shirt.

Wednesday
August 22, 2012

Father of the Bride To Be

One day, this moment will be a faded memory and the vivid image that will stand in its place is that of a father giving away his little girl. Childhood is so precious.

Monday
August 20, 2012

Anticipation

The other day, when I posted Young Texans in Love, Our friend, Jean Yves (Ifocus) had a wonderful suggestion that I aim for a kissing shot with the lips barely touching for an anticipatory feeling. Awesome suggestion! While I do not have a shot in this engagement shoot with lips barely touching, I do have this one with lips about to touch. This shot was a processing challenge because there was a bright yellow pedestrian crossing signal on the street corner and it popped up right behind his shoulder and her hand. Yuk! It was ugly and so distracting. But, it is gone now because Jean-Yves' suggestion inspired me to tackle the challenge. I tell teens I am a digital dermatologist. I guess I can tell young couples I am a digital landscaper, too. (Best viewed in X3 to see the genuine romantic facial expression.)

I'm sure many of my friends here in the community have noticed that I lean toward B&W for emotional shots. I nearly always provide our customers with a color version as well. But when I put the two versions side by side, I am usually more compelled by the timeless emotions conveyed in the B&W versions. I'm wondering how other photographers feel about emotion conveyed by color or its absence.

Post Note: Harsh, thanks for the suggestion to remove the line from the curb. I will definitely fix that since we haven't presented this image to the couple yet. Your suggestion will make the presentation all the better!

Sunday
August 19, 2012

"My Cheeto!"

How I wish Mena were more in focus. There wasn't any time to adjust the camera settings. It was a split second expression and then it was over and the Cheeto was gone. But I'm still laughing. Childhood is so precious.

Saturday
August 18, 2012

Young Texans in Love

Aren't they a beautiful couple? The wedding is almost a year away. We had so much fun shooting their engagement portraits on campus at their alma mater, UT. That's the Texas State Capital in the background. When we turned around and shot in the other direction, we had the famous UT Watchtower in the background.

Happy Birthday Tricia!
Thursday
August 16, 2012

Today, my oldest little girl is 19 years old. I have never known more of a survivor than this one. I joke on FaceBook about how she tried to kill me 19 years ago today, and she takes it in good humor. Tricia came into this world with a ruptured placenta and she didn't breath right away. A room full of people waited on bated breath for Tricia's first breath. In truth, it's a miracle either one of us is here today to celebrate any birthdays at all. For the first five years, Tricia was totally a Daddy's girl. When Tricia didn't sleep, neither did Daddy. There were a lot of "Nick at Night" nights for the two of them. But Daddy was pretty sick, needed a heart transplant and was too sick to get on the transplant list. One night, when Tricia was five, I asked her as I tucked her in, "Will you be okay if Daddy goes to heaven soon?" She thought for a few seconds, "Hmmmm... yeah". Some moments are etched in a mother's heart forever. Her Daddy died the next night. We call that day, his "birthday into heaven", and sometimes we even have a cake and sing happy birthday to him on the anniversary of his passing. In fact, Tricia helped pick his headstone which reads, "Born into eternal life". But life hasn't been just a bunch of sorrows for Tricia. When she was 13, she was a district and state champion in her sport, gymnastics. She has worked for her spending money since she was fifteen and she finished high school with several college credits already in her pocket. And now... the big news... drum roll, please... Tricia is giving us a grandson, due Christmas day. I chose this picture for today because of the silly expressions and the festive attire. Tricia is on the left with the multicolor lei and her friend Michelle is on the right in the pink lei. I took this shot before prom last year.
Happy birthday, Tricia! Life is such an adventure with you. I can barely wait to see what you have in store for me next!

Wednesday
August 15, 2012

The few days we were in Michigan this summer happened to also be the weekend of the Farmington Founders' Day festival. I remember enjoying this festival when I was a little girl. It's the town in which I grew up. The town square where the festival is held each year holds a great number of my childhood memories. As I was meandering through the festival enjoying the memories, I came across a garden of place settings. Of course, I was instantly reminded of our SmugMug friend, Godschild. Now, I know that Godschild would have done an SOOC of this and it would have been amazing. But I had to do something that reflected both my walk through yesteryear and the warmth of today's friendships. So I took the shot and added a little grain, stained the edges and tweaked the color a little for a more vintage feel. Godschild, I just want you to know that you have such a warm and timeless personality that it makes me smile to see things that remind me of you.

Tuesday
August 14, 2012

Radiant Joy

This is Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio and Fr. John. I wish I could tell you Fr. John's full name. He made a guest appearance Saturday at Mass and I did not understand the full pronunciation of his name when he was introduced. I believe he is from someplace in Africa. When he spoke, he had a gorgeous accent, full of both culture and compassion. The Archbishop is originally from Mexico. I met him earlier this year when he sat a few seats from David and me at the screening of "For Greater Glory". What a beautiful soul he is, so gentle and joyful, despite the many atrocities he has witnessed in his life. I took this shot during the Gospel proclamation. When I was going through the pictures from Saturday, this one caught my eye because of Fr. John and the banner behind him. It's why I took the shot. But on my computer, the radiance is even stronger than it was in my camera.

Monday
August 13, 2012

Two Flags at Six-Flags

My friend, Morag and I were in the water park part of the amusement park when I noticed the picture perfect view of the flags at the entrance. It took some patience to wait for just these two flags to wave while the others rested. I wanted to get a shot with a car of screaming people on rails AND the two flags. But I could have spent the whole day waiting for that shot since there really wasn't much wind. I decided against waiting for the perfect storm. I'll take my two flags at Six-Flags.