I’ve been passing this house and yard for years watching and thinking, “One day I need to stop and grab a snap.”   Yesterday I did it!  Drizzle, chilly, there I was snapping the yard with the most holiday spirit you can imagine.  ALL OF THE HOLIDAYS.   I didn’t intrude.  I stayed across the street.   It simply boggles my mind and causes me to wonder the budget it required to get it decorated this way.

I’d truly love to hear the back story on how it all came about.  Are there children that love to dream and play in this fantasy land?

Get these two together and the one liners fly fast and furious,  lots of laughter, and both are just not real crazy about photos of themselves being taken.   So! The deal was a 15 minute session.  Nice! Easy!  Not very many lights and props.   Just Father and Son… that was the goal.  They didn’t have any recent photos of each other.

I adore them both!  “Like Father Like Son” is sort of obvious from the first image above.  There is so much more that make them easy to recognize as father and son.  It goes way much deeper than looks.

Two of my favorite fellas!!

I was given a gift early this week.  Tuesday I was told I could again hold a camera in my left hand…allbeit for limited periods of time.  Sounds like a given, no?  Just pick it up. Shoot! Take it for granted because it will always be there.

I had enough of an interruption in the use of it, that when I got it back it caused me to pause and look at how blessed I am.  First and simply I have a working arm. In fact I have two of them.  If that seems less than a given and it is not your idea of a blessing, ask returning members of the Armed Forces how they feel about missing limbs.  Ask a child because of birth defects that is missing a limb.  Ask a cancer patient. Ask any accident victim.

A friend took me for a drive.   I “saw”. I shot. I quietly reflected.   They aren’t great images that will inspire anyone but me.   My shoulder hurt a little, so it was a very restricted time with the camera, but it was a gift from God for me.  It stopped me from that place of expectation where everything is perfect and we assume it to be our RIGHT rather than a GIFT to us.

Apples to bake with. Apples to snap a shot of. Apples to enjoy looking at.

What are you taking for granted that perhaps it would be nice to reflect for a few moments what it would mean to you if you lost it?

How come my fork goes sideways when I get close to my mouth?

Cork screws are a two handed invention.

My nostrils got a good brushing with my tooth brush

Excuse me, if I order steak will you cut it up for me?

How many words can you type with just the letters used by the right hand on the keyboard? http://windowseat.ca/hands/

Ok, this entry has taken forever to type with one hand………that’s it for today.   Trying to learn to edit images with my right hand.  Not working so good.

Shoulders are to photographers like skates are to ice skating.   I’ve not seen too many photographers hold the camera with their feet, compose, focus and shoot.  Friday before I was discharged after surgery on my injured shoulder I heard words falling on my awareness like, tear in tendon, rough spot in cartiledge, bone hook, sling, pain meds, and a lot more was being thrown at my foggy mind.  Oh yes, and there were instructions to start PT as early as Monday. (ps  this right hand only typoing….no complaints please).

Sunday was a senior shoot, and an engagement shoot.  No problem.  I get in my beautiful black sling, and I direct Lexie and Tony.   Gang! Let me tell you, they are saints!   They didn’t say bad words, shoot me dirty looks, nor throw cameras at me.   Directing is hard work.  I just wanted to do it myself.  It was really getting on my nerves to have to think of how to tell them what I wanted.

Gabby and her mother had waited patiently for the leaves to turn.  They found this cool place.   Problem? We couldn’t get to it. The leaves were not turning in this spot. The water was frigid.  The negatives were endless. There I stood being impatient trying to tell Lexie what to do.

Lexie rolled up her pants, without a word, stepped into the freezing cold stream, crouched down, and began to talk to Gabby while she shot.  It was magic for Lexie. She wasn’t rushing. She wasn’t complaining nor showing any signs of discomfort.  She wasn’t being a hero.   She went for the shot.  For the first time she had it right.  ISO, shutter speed, the right lens for what she was doing, and Lexie began moving Gabby through the poses Lexie envisioned.    For the very first time she found what she wanted and got right the settings she needed to produce it.  No help from Donna at all.

I got very quiet.   Suddenly I realized that “I” was not the word “I” had been struggling with all day. “WE” found a solution because Lexie was willing to be very quiet and not get upset with me being frustrated.  She went a step further and did what it took to make the location and Gabby’s idea work.

It’s Lexie’s first season.   She went through doing all the grunt work of carrying bags, fetching, etc.  Then she got to shoot a wee bit.   When you are new there is so little to praise and so much to critique.   There is no way around the manual for the camera.   Truthfully you really have to love it or you won’t survive.

And “I” re-learned a really important lesson.   Teamwork!

I feel robbed this year.   Trees are just going brown for the most part and dropping their leaves.   There is something inside me from somewhere in my past that has an agenda and scene programmed into my internal clock.  When Fall comes there should be jeans, old sweaters, sneaks, and I should take a delicious walk in the woods kicking leaves and seeing frosty breath form on the cold Autumn air.   It should be followed up with hot chocolate.   Mother Nature has stolen my perfect Fall Day!   Bah!

That walk restores my soul and makes my spirit rise.  It’s a place I can go be alone and melt down to an internal place of peace.  Everything just goes calm, and I remember what’s most important to me…. live life well no matter the circumstances.

Somehow walking through Hobby Lobby and similar stores seeing silk Fall flowers and leaves just doesn’t do it for me.

So! Perhaps this year I will arrive at this scene totally bypassing sweaters, jeans with holes, and sneaks.  If so the hot chocolate will have a shot of Baileys in it. There will be a coat over the sweater and jeans.  I will have on snow boots, and it is a given I will be wishing for SPRING.

Count your blessings right where you are in time.  It is a given your life will not ever stay the same. Change is a given!

My Saturday bride took what would have caused most brides to melt down in tears totally in stride.    This shot was taken in 36 degree weather with a 15 mph wind right off the Mississippi River.  She never frowned, complained, expressed anything negative at all.   It was her wedding day, and she had a great day. Her attitude made it happen.   Her dress was not finished being altered until just a short time before the wedding on Saturday morning.  It threatened to snow and did for a bit.   It was cold.  It was gray.   She smiled.  She laughed.  She comforted others.

Lance you are one very blessed husband.  You chose wisely!!

Back to editing.   Just had to share this one.   I was standing there pushing the shutter not feeling it at all because of the cold.   I know what she was dealing with!!

Don’t have that creation cleaned.   We are going to go for some more fun with it!!!!  Just you and me!!!  Maybe we will “let” Lance come along!!!

On the other side of the equation… you have to love a man whose touch causes you to close your eyes and smile ever so slightly……..totally lost in his touch!!

For the next few weeks I don’t have a left arm and hand to work with.   So!  To prepare for this momentous (not) few weeks I get to use Tony and Lexie as my stand in.  I get to play director.    For the very first assignment we shared photographing Angel.  I did her older brother’s senior pics a few years ago when he graduated.

Proofs  link later, Mom

There are those that just burst into your life and you like them from the first hello.  For me that is how Jake and Ashley came through the door.  They met with me for their interview appointment to see if they found Studio D Photography a match for them.  Right up front they let me know they were also interviewing with a couple of other photographers.  I kept quiet but in my mind I was going, “NO!  I WANT TO WORK WITH YOU…”

The photographer spends the day with the couple, and it is really important there is good chemistry between the couple and the photographer.  So! I thanked them for coming in.   A short while later they called back and asked if they could stop back by and sign a contract.   I was so kewl on the phone, but I did a happy dance when I hung up.

Yesterday we did a first engagement session with them!   I was so right in my initial feelings.   I had a great time with them.  Jake adores Ashley, and when he hugs her he just wraps himself around her.  They fit together perfectly.   Of course they are in love, and it is really easy to spot what good friends they are.

Tony and I decide to have a beer after the shoot.  Who strolls in lookin’ like my kind of people in jeans and sweats?   I want to go do another shoot with them!!  Might just have to do that. I am willing to bet Jake would be fun to photograph when it is snowing!

It was chilly, misty, rainy, along with a menacing cloudy sky.  In spite of all that and some plans altered  to keep Kristen out of the elements it was a beautiful day for the bride and groom.

Church - Redeemer Lutheran
Reception - Davenport Country Club
Florals - Damian Parizek of Milan Florist
Transportation - QC Trolley
Photographers - Studio D Photography
Cake - Le Cake
Reception Music - SAS Entertainment

Something blue took on a new definition at this wedding.

Kristen and David chose to see each other.  She had planned to have a great photo session before the church in her parent’s back yard, but the rain prevented that.   We did manage to check for no rain “at the moment” a couple of times and find a window of opportunity for them to have their first time seeing each other in the gazebo.  Kristen wasted no time coming down the steps and pathway to the gazebo where she called David’s name and asked him to turn around.

David broke into a huge smile, and checked out all angles telling her all the while how beautiful she was.  Brides melt when the men they love say things like that. Our promise is to shoot a few shots and then leave them alone to have quality time before the day begins.  This time we wanted to stay and keep snapping.  We didn’t, and we left reluctantly.

The extremely talented owner of Milan Florist “Damian” created all the florals for the bridal party, the church, and the Davenport Country Club.  Mom’s wrist corsage shows above was so stunning and fit her look perfectly

The bridal bouquet also created by Damian.

The last two images are at the Davenport Country Club.  One has to look very hard to beat the service and staff there.  Most excellent!

Tables, chairs, sashes, and napkins were draped by  - Tita’s Linens By Claudia.  Sorry for the late post on the vendors but not verified who the vendor was until Wednesday night late.

Proofs may be seen by clicking on this link, and the password is the groom’s last name in lower case.