Photography and a few other things.

Looks like I have a couple of shoots lined up for the end of the week.
One of them being for my internship for the church and another for a friend.
The 5k Cherish Kids run should be fun to shoot :) However being there at 8am....not quite as fun. Not really sure what to expect but from what I understand there will be lots going on which translates to lots of photography opportunities.
Then this evening I got a call from a friend who is getting married on thursday. They are having a private ceremony in her back yard with just their four children. She asked if I would do some pictures of her and her soon to be husband before the wedding (so more along the engagement style) and also some of their children. :) Should be very fun.
Looks like I got my monopod just in time. Still struggling with my injured hand and I think this will make things easier. I just have to figure out if there is a piece I can add to it in order to allow me to shoot horizontally and vertically.
So if you are reading this and having any tips, suggestions, or ideas please feel free to share.


I leave you with my small treasure from my weekend. Thrifting with my grandma was a fun change.
Though the camera is an old film camera it seems to be a pretty common one. I was excited that it still had the manual and everything. My goal is to read it and learn what I can :)



On a side note I made the decision to rededicate my life to Christ today and while the struggle that is in my life isn't instantly gone there is a different peace in my heart. I don't know how things will all work out in the end- the least I can do is make sure I am in the right place with God. And I came to a point where I realized that running away from Him was not where I was suppose to be. Life becomes even scarier when why try to do it on our own. I say this not because I want attention but because its good to hold each other accountable.



Holding Us
We often see ourselves as fragile, breakable souls,
We live in fear of that which we are certain
we can't survive.
As children of God, we are only as fragile as our
unwillingness to hide our face in Him.
Our pride alone is fragile
Once it shell is broken and the heart laid bare,
We can sense the caress of God's tender care.
Until then He holds us just the same.
-Beth Moore-

Adventures

Today's day started off with the adventures of new times at JRA. In the end I think all turned out fine but it was a little crazy with so many people and then I had to head off to a creative services meeting for photography.
Project Partnership is the Saturday and I am planning on trying to photograph the event even though it isn't very ideal to do so with a cast on. I don't have a photography badge yet (they are trying to make me one this week) and they were out of "photographers" badges so they gave me a press badge and told me not to worry if one of the pastors came up to me and started talking to me. Oh dear, I hope I can get my own photography badge this week. I am definitely not cut out for press.

Then after church my sister and I had to stop by Walmart to pick up a few things for our parents and we were very fascinated by all the flowers. I had a little bit of babysitting money so I splurged and bought a five dollar bouquet to use as a prop since we were planning on tacking some pictures.

It was HOT HOT HOT! outside. But we did get a couple of fun shots. So get ready for image overload. (If you click on the picture you can see it bigger)



































































My pictures aren't always perfect, but I am learning and that was our little adventure....however I dont highly recomend photographing with a fractured hand. Very sore after ever with a cast supporting.

Wedding and Vacation Fun :)

My sister and I were blessed to have the opportunity to be bridesmaids in our aunt's wedding. Though there were a few rough spots along the way this weekend has probably been the closest thing to a vacation that our family has done.

Here is a rough overview of our trip. :)

• Our journey started at around 11pm thursday night. We packed up the car and headed out to KC so we could catch our 4am flight to Denver. We got to the north side is Springfield and had to turn around and go back to Nixa because my mom's truck was still having problems (it had been in the shop 4 times that week). So we got home and reloaded everything into my little Geo. We left Nixa...again...at around midnight.
• We landed in Denver around 7am and went to breakfast with the rest of the family before our 2 hour ride up the mountain to Vail. Memories were definitely made during breakfast because my family was exhausted and slightly delirious from getting such little sleep. A new name was made for the bride and groom (Shane and Jamie are now Shamie and Jane) and it has stuck ever since.
• The Condos in Vail were like castles. I have never seen or experienced anything close to them before. There were at least 9 rooms all with 2 or more beds and the upstairs have 5+ beds in each room. On the second night we had the entire 3 floor rented out. The view of the mountains was amazing!
• Preparing for the wedding was slightly chaotic but in the end the wedding was beautiful. My sister and I were escorted by the tallest groomsman which made for a funny moment that will be remembered.
• I had a little bit of a rough time being at 8000 feet since I was sick before I left for the trip and the air is so dry and thin up there. Started on my second round of antibiotics and hoping they will do the trick. Since I wasn't feeling well I didn't get any pictures the first night and I was a little disappointed with the quality of some of the pictures I took- I think there is a little lesson within it all though because I was reminded that I have to look at all situations and pictures with an open mind and open eyes. Sometimes I have to remind myself to step back and not be so hard on myself.
• I got the chance to visit a little with the wedding photographers there and since they were shooting with canon also I was able to help them out. They filled up ten 4gig cards while shooting raw but they forgot their cable reader. Luckily I had mine so they were able to dump the card to their laptop and continue shooting. They also had a photo booth type set up and they were asking for someone who could "jump" so just for fun I did a ring leap and they captured it perfectly (not many I have come in contact with can capture that) so I am super excited to see their pictures. It was really fun doing pictures with them as part of the bridal party.
• Our plane ride home was definitely a stretch of my comfort zone since it was so chaotic. One of those moments where I had to remind myself to breathe. There were so many people at the Denver airport and many of the flights were messed up because of high winds. Our flight had a gate change and we had to wait on another plane to come in before we could leave. It was a very bumpy ride but we got to KC around 1am and we were home around 5am.

Thankful to be home and for all the beautiful memories. Can't wait to see all my lovely friends :)

Above is a picture I took of my mom and sister getting ready and below is a picture my mom got during the wedding of my sister and I.