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.

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!

What’s a mental health day readers might ask.   They are days where you go do anything and everything on a whim.  Wednesday was such a day.  I grabbed a friend and off we went.  Camera tucked in the car of course. The best way to describe my mood was with this image.

A gloomy cloudy dark dreary day with pond scum on the river?  Oh, man! Perfect!! It fit my mood perfectly.  I am a DIGS kind of person (Donna’s instant gratification syndrome) and since when did life ever  deliver the changes life has for us on our timetable?   I’ve a flair for the dramatic. So! Off I went.

The day included retail therapy purchasing, a new top, a moody colored scarf, pumpkin pie fudge, jelly bellies, typhoo tea,  a coffee/hot chocoalte mix, horseradish mustard, and mango butter.  Amazing things happen after a little retail therapy.

To add to my day of retail therapy  there was of course Lay’s Chips so I got my oil/salt fix.  The day and the evening was shared with a friend and we ended it with Mexican food and Blue Moon.

Funny, I forgot why I needed a mental health day after all that.  Oh, come on!   You know you have mental health days too.  <smile>   They work wonders in accepting the things you can’t change!!

This Sunday was a teaching day for Lexie.  No pressure you understand! Just shooting with the studio owner breathing on your camera looking at every image.  Lexie did great.

Rob and Melissa were married September 5, 2009.  I wanted to give them a little gift of images taken when the pressure is off.  Wedding days rarely if ever afford the couple and the photographer to play for over an hour.  Day after shoots is all about romance, fun, the passion of a brand new union, and some silliness too!  It can be whatever you want it to be, but the intended results are always capture the excitement.

For me it was hard to give up actually doing the shoot.  I shared with Lexie the very best I could.  I did hear the word “bossy” a couple of times.

Proofs from the entire shoot can be seen following this link. The password is the groom’s last name in lower case

I am joining together with a makeup artist, florist, and a location to do a concept shoot.   Lighting will already be set for another model who will be very avant garde in appearance.   I am looking for a bride that loves to play dress up and will get back in her dress for the camera.

Dates we are considering are the 27 of june and the 11 of july.   Let me have a shout out if you are interesed.

I’d consider more than one based on your love of being YOU in front of the camera.  You come play, and Studio D will give you images to have and hold and PRINT.

Steve, Andrea, Lexie and I got together 9am the day after their Saturday May 30th weddings.  Back in the gown and the tux.   Andrea wore a bird cage veil, a fascinator, and then added a veil.  For the day after shoot her hair was down.  Day after shoots are a lot more relaxed because the gown is already ready for the cleaners. No worries about getting it dirty at this point.  The couple is alone with the photographers with no schedule to keep, and they are riding the huge wave of love from the day before.

The day of the ceremony her hair was up and beautifully tucked in the bird cage. Five Star Salon did a supurb job.

The classic car arrived from Klimme’s to wisk our bride and groom away in fitting style for our bride.

Flowers were by the very talented Damian of Milan Florists.  Two weeks in a row he’s been the floral designer for weddings we have captured.  Lovey, beautiful, esquiste… and he stays to make his presentation to the bride.

We could go on and on with images, but in the interest of not writing a novel………

Quad Cities Trolly wisked the bridal party to the reception and stayed to shuttle guests

Video was captured By Tom’s Videography (great to see him again)

Black Tie Entertainment provided a beautiful love story they are so famous for, and music flowed beautifully.

There were individual cakes on every table with a beautiful chocolate covered wedding cake from Sweet Perfections.

The groom is in love with Barq’s Root Beer in the bottle.  A pallet was shipped from Louisiana or Mississippi..never did get that story fully.  Every guest got to enjoy a cold Barq Root Beer.

Still deep in processing.  It will be a few days before the wedding goes to the proof site.  The couple left us yesterday to drive to Detroit and leave on their honeymoon with assurances they would not be near a computer until they got back.

Our surprise guest at the reception was the Brandenburgs from Brandenburg photography.  They finished their wedding and came to join the bride’s parents to help celebrate.  Great to see them as well!

We don’t usually go to dress rehearsals simply because there isn’t always a need.  Many locations we have been to over and over and know the rules.  Yesterday was a little different.  The wind blows the fountain water, so that determines where they stand.   Sides were switched from one shown here so that Nikki would not be looking into the sun.   There is a special part to the ceremony involving the park, so we needed to know the location.

We got to see brothers and sisters, grandmas and grandpas, moms and dads, and somebody’s tat.  We had a baby, and boys and girls, an adorable flower girl and ring bearer.

It will be fun to see them all dressed up today.

What? No shots of the bride?  Nope!  Only from later today!

Family dynamics are always great.   They hug and love on each other, and immediately they begin to catch up on what has happened since they last saw each other!  Today was no different.  There was chatter all around mingled with kids playing, lots of laughter, and celebrating the reason they were all there.

Go capture it at Vander Veer Conservatory

to photograph is one that the knows the only way to live is to seize every moment and live it to its fullest. Such is this young friend of mine.   She doesn’t walk into a room…she explodes into it.   As a photographer I constantly find myself reassuring people they really do look ok.  We at this point in history have become very critical of how we look and have medical procedures and products to fix just about anything.  Anything that is except be uniquely the way we are made……..one of a kind……. rare…. only crossing planet earth one time.  I plan on photographing this one over and over………and I promise……..she will always be the girl not afraid of stepping out from behind the mask of “proper”.