In case you haven't noticed, I've been playing around lately with a site called Animoto. It's a place where you can upload your images and make really cool slide shows. I've made a few lately that you can see on my regular site for weddings.
The one below is of Lucas - one of the cutest kids we've had in our studio. Drop me an email or join me on Face Book to let me know what you think.
Eileen and Tyler
March 25, 2009
Thanks for coming by and letting us make your engagement photos. As I said while you were here, ya'll make it so easy. We are really looking forward to being a part of your wedding.
My little point-and-shoot
March 22, 2009
Somewhere below this post is another one where I used my little point-and-shoot camera. I've got this little camera that I try to carry with me every where I go. Today, Sunday, Joy and I went to the farmer's market just to get out of the house for a while. After browsing the flea market and buying some tomatoes we were driving away when I began to notice some interesting signs and buildings in the neighborhood. So we drove around for a little while and I took pictures. One of my goals is to see if I can make some really good photos with just the little pocket camera. Judge for yourself.
Last night I got the chance to do a little photography that's a bit out of my normal genre. A venue here in Birmingham, WorkPlay, hosted an event called Art, Beats and Lyrics and I had the chance to go with my camera. While one of my goals was to record some the work of my friend, Carlos, at Total Entertainment, I did enjoy the opportunity to photograph and get to meet some really interesting people. It was especially interesting to stumble across Winston, with M.A.D. Skillz Dance Studio. He was there with some of his guys to entertain the crowd.
Stephen
March 20, 2009
Nothing is more beautiful than a baby and his mother. Stephen is no exception. These are some lovely images of him, his mother and her mother.
I would love to say that we get up every morning and take a long walk. While the truth is more like we get up early three to four mornings a week and take long walks. Joy and both love being outdoors and we especially love spending time with Sophie, our dog. Maybe in the next post I'll have a few photos of her.
Those that know me, know I live in Pelham, right next to the high school. Usually there are too many students and to much traffic to go to the school to walk so we normally go on to Joe Tucker Park. But, this week is spring break and we thought we would take advantage of the school's long, circular drive. I had forgotten about the view from the parking lot and thought I'd share it with you. That's Oak Mountain State Park in the distance to the right. These photos were made with my trusty Canon SD790 IS PowerShot, point-and-shoot camera. It goes with me everywhere. See, you don't have to have really expensive gear to make some pretty good photos.
OK, as I promised, I've added a few photos of Sophie. This time I'm trying my hand at some video mixed with stills. Photos and video were all shot with Canon SD790 IS PowerShot.
My favorite girls
March 2009
I have a few favorite girls and one of them came to spend the afternoon at my house today. Sadie is always such a beautiful little lady that I can't resist making her portrait. Plus, grandpa is here favorite photographer. I thought she looked so good today, that I wanted to share a few on the blog.
Every photographer I know went into the business because photography was a passion, not a cool way to make lots of money. Which is pretty good, because I don't know how cool it is and the money certainly has materialized yet.
Sometimes with the day-to-day grind of operating a studio I forget about the fun part. That's when I just go make some pictures that I like. The ones below are from a recent Sunday at my church, The Church at Shelby Crossings. Brian, the small group minister, was preaching that day and Adam Cunningham was doing his thing as our worship leader. It just happened that I had a camera with me so I thought I'd snap off a few and have some fun with editing.
Click the image see them larger.
Photography as a mission project
March 2009
As many of you know, Joy and I worked as international missionaries for several years, serving in Western Europe before opening BlueMoon Studios. While working in Europe as a media missionary I realized that there are lots of people in the world who have never had a family portrait made. Can you imagine what a valuable possession it must be if someone offers to give you the very first photograph of your family that you've ever had? now we've been fortunate enough to be the ones to do that. We always find it humbling to know that portraits we make will out live us and become part of a family's long-term history.
Just a few weeks ago I was able to travel with a group from Riverside Baptist Church in Helena, Alabama to the small Caribbean country of Belize. While the main focus of the trip was to do construction, I went along to help make family portraits of the villagers who lived near the churches where we worked. While it wasn't great art, we were able to set up make-shift studios, one under a mango tree, and make some pretty good family portraits. I've just completed creating the packages, one 8x10 and a sheet of 4x5s, to send back to the missionary in Belize. He now has something to take to his people that they, hopefully, will treasure for generations.
The idea is to do something unselfish for others, that will bring joy to their lives. Each photo has the caption "The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) Our goal was to give them a free gift and hope the will also accept God's free gift.
If anyone is interested in trying a similar mission project contact Butch so we can share ideas.
Here are a few of the photos from the week.
Always on the lookout for new talent, I may have discovered Belize's next idol star. Perhaps Larry and I can go on tour soon with our vocal and harmonica act.
Lindsay and Parker
March 2009
What a joy it was to be a part of Lindsay and Parker's wedding. Not only it she one of the cutest girls I've been lucky enough to photograph lately, they are both great people. You guys are going to have a great life together.
Robbie
March 2009
Really great photos seldom consist of someone looking straight into the camera and giving one of those really big, cheesy smiles. Robbie certainly knows how to smile, but he started out a bit shy and really didn't want to look at me while I was holding the camera. Even so we got some really nice photos of him. I think his real face is much more interesting than if he had given me a big, fake grin.
Avery
March 2009
As I understand it, Avery was adopted by Laura from the Shelby County Humane Society. In fact, Avery's session came about because we donated a session and print to the Society as a charity fund raiser. We love doing this sort of thing. We get to do something that makes us feel good, the charity gets a little help and the one who purchases the certificate gets a portrait she can cherish for a lifetime.
Twins
March 2009
Nicholas and Jack share the same birthday and and apparently the same enthusiasm for having their portrait made. At BlueMoon Studios, we have a saying, "We work on baby-time." What we are saying is that the baby's will let us know when the session is finished. As you can see by the bottom photos these guys let us know when it was time to quit.
Cover Shots
March 2009
I should have blogged these earlier, but sometimes stuff just slips my mind. Not only do we like to photograph babies and brides, sometimes we get to do some commercial work. That could mean headshots for real estate agents, lawyers or other professionals or it could be photographing the interior of a high-end house for sale. We have even photographed new trucks for Cox Communications.
But recently we've had the privilege of creating the covers for a couple of local magazines -- the Perfect Wedding Guide and Birmingham Christian Family. I understand that the PWG cover was picked in several major markets around the country.
