BlueMoon Studios

Emily and Alex

2010-09-13T19:23:00.000-05:00

These guys are so easy to photograph and fun to be around. We met them at the botanical gardens for their engagement session and enjoyed every minute there. Can't wait to photograph their wedding.

Art Walk

2010-09-11T19:44:00.000-05:00

One of the coolest things to do in B'ham is go to Art Walk. Each year the city hosts an art exhibit in an old part of town. Artists set up their wares in several old stores and on the sidewalk and the public has a chance to just walk and browse and buy. I love it! We went today and, naturally, I took my camera. There was so much to see so these are just few images made with my little point-and-shoot camera and edited in Lightroom.

Playing with Panos in the Park

2010-09-02T13:26:00.001-05:00

Sometimes you just need to look at things differently to see them in a whole new way. I love hike and just be in the woods and I'm fortunate to have very close to me Oak Mountain State Park with about 30 miles of trails. This is wonderful except that about all 30 miles of the trails looks pretty much the same. It's a southern forest with lots of green trees and creeks and moss -- not many vistas or cool overlooks. But, it's in my backyard, only about a ten minute drive, and I can get away for half a day and spend some quality time with Sophie, my dog.

So today, I decided to try some panoramic images to see if things would look different. I like these. A couple are of the road I walked today. I stuck the easy trail, and the last one is the old CCC camp that is about three miles back in the woods. The cabins were built in about 1937. Several are still standing but many have just collapsed and are slowing being reclaimed by nature.

Black Jacket Symphony

2010-08-15T22:34:00.001-05:00

A good friend, Allen Barlow, plays with a group called the Black Jacket Symphony. Among other things these guys recreate classic albums by great old groups. A few days ago they performed the Rolling Stones album, "Let it Bleed" at the local Birmingham venue, Work Play.

Wow, these guys are good and I had a blast.
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I'm sharing my blog with my young assistant.

2010-08-07T16:24:00.007-05:00

These photos were made by my six-year old granddaughter on one of our photo outings. Although I did the editing, I did it according to her specifications.
(See the earlier post: Me and My Shadow)

Now for her commentary:

I took these photos by myself with no help. My name is Hallie and I love peace signs and stuff. I also like taking pictures I love to help grandpa edit them. I also like color/black and white whichever, I don't care.

My favorite color is magenta I have a cousin named Sadie my other cousin’s name is Madelyn. Grandpa let’s me use one of his cameras to take pictures. I love to take photos with Sadie but I’ve never done it before that’s why I’m waiting for that day to come. My favorite animal is a horse well I have more favorite animals then that. There’s this painting thing on the computer I love but I wish I could do. I like this close up thing on the camera that when you’re far away from something and you want to get a picture of it you can zoom in. Oh my grandpa’s a photographer. I live in North Carolina

The end.

Restoring Old Photos

2010-08-07T09:55:00.002-05:00

I love old photographs and I love restoring them when I can. And digital imaging has made the process of restoring damaged photos much easier than it was in the old days. It's still a time-consuming process and requires a fair amount of skill, though. Recently one of my wedding professional colleagues, MaryLou at Bama Balloons, brought in a 100 year old family photo that had been broken into three pieces. Her mother had recently re-discovered it and wanted to have it restored and copies made for the family.

When I work on any photo, I zoom in very close and really get to know the people in the picture. Especially with old photos I find myself studying the faces and wondering who they were and what their lives were like. As you can see by these faces this is a very good looking and interesting family. I'm sure they are all passed on now which adds even more mystery to the image.

Below is the finished image I printed for the family.

Although the family only wanted a monochrome reproduction, I want to see what they would look like in color. I didn't spend much time in hand tinting this, meaning I didn't stay within the lines very well. Even though, the color seems to add a bit of life to the people.

Hand Tinting - my way:

I am a big fan of layer masks in Photoshop. ( I don't believe this option is available in Elements). I add a solid color layer mask for each color in the photo (skin, hair, shoes, etc.) With each layer, I use the "color" blend mode. Then I reverse the mask using control-I. Then, using a white paint brush applied to the black mask, I can apply the color just where I want it.

This method of using layer masks allows me to fine tune each color even after they have all been applied. I can even change a color completely just by clicking on the mask and re-assigning a new color. For example, I could click on the layer for the green blouse and change it to blue, or yellow, or whatever. I could even vary the intensity of the color if needed. Layer masks also allow me to go to each layer a refine the edges if a color spills over where it's not wanted.

Me and My Shadow

2010-08-05T10:27:00.001-05:00

If you know me, you know there are a few things that I absolutely love. Naturally, one is photography. The other, and more important, is my family. I have a wonderful wife, two great children and four of the best grandchildren one could ever hope for. And each is different.

Today, I'm going to talk a bit about Hallie who is almost seven years old. When she visits we like to spend at least one morning on a photo excursion, just the two of us. (click to see our other excursion) We get in my old Ford F150, with no air conditioner, and head to the park. She likes the truck because it has no passenger airbag and she gets to ride in the front seat with the window down. She uses my Canon G11 and I use my Cannon 5D Mark II and we just walk around and take photos. She's pretty good at it too. (click to see some of her work from and earlier outing).

These are some photos I made of her today. As you can see, it's not all work. We had to take a break at the playground and swing a bit. Then it was back to the truck.

Trenekia and Brandon

2010-08-02T12:23:00.001-05:00

Sometimes things just come together perfectly. The wedding is a at a great venue, the weather gives you dramatic skies and the bride and groom are fun and very attractive. That's what happened at this wedding. As you can see, Trenekia and Brandon look great, and they were just a joy to be with. The venue, The Summit Club, is so cool high above downtown Birmingham. And the stormy sky gave us some very interesting backdrops. Thanks to their wedding planner, Ouida Jones Johnson for making the day run so smoothly - you're the best.

Trashing Wedding Dresses

2010-07-27T22:13:00.002-05:00

To some people this sounds like a form of sacrilege. "I can't believe anyone would want to do that!" Or, "I spent so much for this dress, I couldn't imagine doing anything like that." I usually respond by saying that my wife is trashing her wedding dress very slowly in a box in the attic.

Many of these young women have dreams that their daughter will someday were that same dress in her wedding. Fat chance.

I know it's not for everyone, but it sure is fun and makes some fun photos. And the dresses aren't really trashed, just gotten a little dirty. One of our brides said she took her's to the cleaners and it came back just a good as new.

Recently we had the privilege of having two brides at one time let us make their photos at the beach. We photographed Stacy's wedding at Hilton Head. The next morning we met her and Blake along with her matron of honor Katie and her husband Brandon on the beach for a little photo fun. I think the slide show will attest to the fun part.

Small Boats

2010-07-17T13:50:00.002-05:00

I love to make photos. Especially if the subject is interesting. So, this morning Joy and went over to Aldridge Gardens to see a local rc boat club sail their small boats. I was most intrigued with the sail boats. These are just a few of my favorites from this morning.

We've had a request so click here to see a gallery of all the photos.

Remembering a hero.

2010-06-29T11:29:00.005-05:00

With this coming Sunday being July 4, it started me thinking about my father, William Brian Oglesby, Sr. He was born in 1920 and died in 1972. My mom called him either Billy or Honey and they genuinely loved each other. We never knew anything other than a stable family life.

We boys, there are four of us, all knew him as daddy. Just a normal guy who worked on cars for a living, loved to have a good time and loved our mother. But there were some other chapters of his life before we were born that he rarely talked about. In many ways I now think of him as a true war hero. He didn’t win a lot of medals and made no daring battlefield stands, but his ordeal in WWII must have been pretty harrowing. He was severely wounded in battle and captured in France by the Germans in late 1944. He lost a few fingers and had pretty severe scarring on other parts of his body. He also spent some time in POW camps, but was eventually repatriated because he was no longer capable of combat.

He rarely, almost never, talked about his military time. When he did, it was usually of fond memories of friends. One rare time he did mention his time in captivity, he made note of the fact that he was held in Stalag 13, and that only because that was the prison camp where Hogan’s Heroes, a popular television series during my youth, were interred.

My family doesn’t seem to know much about our history and we don’t have a lot of tangible artifacts to connect with the past, but I am fortunate enough to possess the telegrams my grandmother received during the days of my father’s war experience. When I read them I can only imagine a mother’s anguish of hearing the news that her only son is missing in action. I’m sure she was desperate to know more, but as you can see from the telegram below, there was no more. Just, that her son is missing in action.

Then, almost a month later she learns that he is a prisoner of war. Again, no more details. I’m sure she prayed for him daily. Since my family never talked about these telegrams or these experiences, I can only guess that they had no more information than what can be found on these three sheets of paper.

A few months later she learns that he is coming home. What joy that must have been. But, joy tempered with sorrow. He’s coming home because he is injured so badly that he can no longer be of use to the war effort. What happened to him? How bad is he? I’m sure these thoughts raced through her mind. The third telegram gave no details, just that he would be in the hospital and that she would not be allowed to even greet him as he arrived. In typical military indifference they even referred to him as her husband. On a side note, my father’s father had died at least 15 years prior to that and she had remarried.

I’ve also included here the Allied Personnel Repatriation Tag that was attached to his stretcher when they brought him off the ship in New York. It contains almost all the information I know about my father’s six years of military service. These are treasures for me. A few brittle scraps of 65 year old paper that give me a connection to my dad, a true war hero.

I don’t know the story of how my mom and dad got together, they are both gone now and I can’t ask. But I do know they weren’t married during WWII, but my mom should also be mentioned for her service in the Women’s Army Corps.

Yeah, I'm a dog guy

2010-06-22T15:51:00.002-05:00

Ok, I admit it, I’m a dog person. I just love dogs and have had one or more living with me most of my life. Sometimes I think that dogs are close to being God’s most perfect creation. Think about it, they don’t worry about much of anything, never seem to hold a grudge, truly want to make you happy and love unconditionally. What more could you ask for?

For most of my life, there as been a dog living with me. The first one was Tiny. I don’t remember much about him but I do remember him and how much I loved him.

My dog now is Sophie, a great companion and hiking buddy. I’m not sure what her breeding is since she was an apparent orphan found wandering in a parking garage downtown. When people ask what kind of a dog she is, I usually just say, “a black one.” That’s about all I know. Perhaps some terrier, but who knows and who cares? That’s how it’s been with all but one of my dogs, they were strays that just wandered up or puppies from mixed-breed litters that people were desperate to give away.

The lady that found her refers to her as a rags-to-riches story. We are not rich by human standards, but in dog currency she is wealthy. She has people who love her, a warm bed and treat every night at bedtime and she gets to take a long walk in the park and “hunt” squirrels several days a week. Not only that, but she has her own back yard with critters in the woods to bark at just on the other side of the fence.

Sometimes I wonder about her early life. She doesn’t seem to have been abused, but she doesn’t seem to have received much affection either. While she loves to be in my presence, either lying nearby in the studio, going anywhere in the car or, best of all, going for a walk in the woods, she is not one to be petted or lie next to me on the sofa. Maybe that’s part of our kindred spirit. We’re not touchy-feely.

One thing, as a photographer, I wish was different. I wish she were brown. Black dogs are just harder to photograph. Brown dogs show up so much better in pictures. But, she is mine and I wouldn’t trade her for all the brown dogs in town.

The day my life changed.

2010-06-13T17:17:00.002-05:00

It was 1968, I was a new kid at school and was on my first band trip. I was in the eleventh grade. We were headed to Washington, D.C. to march in the Cherry Blossom Festival. My family had recently moved to the area and I had only been in the band a month or so, but I had noticed the band secretary from my back-row seat in the trumpet section as she carried out her duties in the front of the room. Besides being secretary, she played saxophone and sat a few rows in front of me.

A few hours into our train ride I went looking for the few guys I had gotten to know - we had planned to play cards on the long trip. When I got to where they were the only seat available was next to her. What should I do? Then she said, "sit down, I don't bite."

Funny how I still remember those first words she spoke to me after over forty years. But, then that was the day my life changed. I never went out with anyone else, we went to the junior and senior proms together. In fact we've never been apart since that day.

We graduated high school together, and were married one year to the day from graduation. And that only because her mother insisted we wait a year to see if we were still together. You know how those teenage romances are. June 12, 2010 was our fortieth wedding anniversary. I guess it's going to work out after all.

We currently have two grown and married children that we are immensely proud of and three wonderful grandchildren and one due to arrive in July. Like I said, that was the day that my life changed and it couldn't have been a better ride so far.

The photo posted above was made on that train ride the day I was invited to sit by her. It's easy to see from that smile why I jumped at the chance.

Below is a short slide show highlighting our time together.

Mixing fun with business

2010-05-24T21:09:00.000-05:00

Stacy and Blake's wedding at Hilton Head, SC, was fun all by itself, but it also gave us the chance to spend a little time in Savannah. After meeting them on the beach for a "morning-after" session on Saturday, we drove down to Savannah and spent the night before coming back home on Saturday. Although we spent only a little time there, I was able to make few photos that were keepers.

What an amazing recital.

2010-05-15T08:46:00.003-05:00

Amy Murphy is an amazing woman. I've photographed many many events and worked with lots of directors and have seen several recitals, but Amy's event was one of the best organized and stress-free I've ever photographed. Her students are also amazing. Such talented and fun people to be with.

These photos are from the Amy Murphy Studio recital at the Virginia Samford Theatre a few days ago. John and Angela from Main Street Productions were on hand to capture the whole event on video. Can't wait to see their final cut. I only have room to show a few here on the blog, but you can see many more on our site. Click here to see them.

Dee Dee and Randy got married!

2010-05-12T11:03:00.002-05:00

The wedding was beautiful! You guys picked a beautiful location at Chateau Toots, and were so blessed that the predicted rain held back.

Train up a child...

2010-05-04T10:03:00.002-05:00

I know it's a bit of a stretch, but Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." I hope this applies to training photographers as well as spiritual matters.

Hallie, one of my granddaughters, and I went out this morning for a short photo excursion. She's only six, but already shows some signs of becoming an artist and photographer. Naturally, I am encouraging this every step of the way.

These are a few of my photos from this morning. You can see Hallie's in another posting.

Hallie's photo excursion with Grandpa

2010-05-04T08:58:00.001-05:00

My granddaughters are now six years old. Old enough to begin making photo excursions with grandpa. Hallie and I went out this morning, I with my Canon 5D Mark II and she with my Canon G11. When we got home we immediately sat down to edit our photos. From her photos these are Hallie's choices for the blog, edited to her specifications. I wanted to make a few in black and white, but she has strong opinions about her art and only wanted color.

My Favorite Subjects

2010-05-02T19:33:00.000-05:00

There are three of them and one more will be here in July. My grandchildren. It is evident from my website and the large amount of disk space devoted them, that I love to make their pictures. They get a bit tired of it now and then, but overall they like having a photographer-grandfather pretty well. Maybe one of them will develop a passion for the craft.

If you keep up with BlueMoon Studios on facebook, you know that we recently moved our studio back to our home. We were at Mt. Laurel for over three years and only had to walk out the front door of the studio to find good outdoor locations. These photos were made in our backyard and I believe that between what we have right here and the locations available within just a few miles of us, we have some really good places to photograph.

These few photos were made as impromptu tests and to give grandpa an excuse to photograph his favorite subjects. I think they look pretty good.

Casey and John got married!

2010-04-07T13:03:00.002-05:00

It was a windy day, but no rain. Casey said she had asked the Lord for a rain-free day and her prayers were answered. I just wished she had included something about the wind.

Never-the-less, it was a beautiful and fun wedding. They got married at Anderson Gail Farms, Main Street Florist did the flowers and Barbara Minor was the caterer.

Congratulations to the both of you and may your marriage continue to be blessed.

See all their wedding photos on their BlueMoon wedding website:
www.bluemoonstudios.net/caseyandjohn

Arm Wrestleing Champ

2010-04-06T20:59:00.000-05:00

I never met him and only know his name because it's engraved on his headstone. I know he was born in 1959 and died, much too young, in 1999. But, more than his name and the span of his life I know that Terry was at one time the state arm wrestling champion. I am assuming that he was Alabama's arm wrestling champion.

How, do I know this? It's proudly engraved on the rear side of his headstone. Right now you're probably thinking who puts that sort of thing on their headstone. Is this a big deal, a major accomplishment that would rate up there with finding a cure for acne or achieving world peace? Probably not, but for Terry, it must have been a defining event.

At first I chuckled then I was a bit ashamed. I'm the kind of person who believes in chasing one's dreams and not marching to others' drummers. I was standing next to the grave of a person who must have done the same. I imagine that he was the kind of guy who loved his sport, even though most of us have no idea that it even exists as such. He much have trained and participated in all sorts of preliminary events in order to work his was up to the state level. And he won, was king of his hill.

What about me? I've chased a few dreams in my life. I spent a few years in the army learning electronics and working on satellite communication stations. I worked at a "real" job for several years, then worked in a few churches in various ministerial positions. Always the dreamer, I convinced my wife we should work in foreign missions and live in Europe. Which we did for about eight years. But, the passion has always been the camera and a few years ago we took the next big adventure and opened our studio.
So, you see, I can identify with Terry. He wasn't afraid to chase his dream and was proud that he did. I admire that.

I hope that my headstone could someday say, "His photos touched a lot of lives."

(Terry is buried in the cemetery that is next to the park where my dog, Sophie, my wife, Joy and I take our morning walks.)

Katie Trashed Her Dress!

2010-03-26T11:25:00.006-05:00

I know that lot's of you will be horrified about what you are about to see, but we had so much fun. Kate has been wanting to trash her dress for a long time and we've discussed several of ideas of how we could do it. Joy came up with idea of going to Peavine Falls at Oak Mountain State Park which is right in our neighborhood.

It's been pretty cold lately, but we were blessed with a beautiful day. Even though it was a fairly warm day, the water was still really cold. But Katie and John were troopers. She had as much fun as I did! It's not everyday that I get to go swimming with pretty girl in a wedding dress.

Katie, you were gorgeous and a lot of fun! Let's do it again soon.

Click to see the full gallery

Peek behind the scenes of dress trashing

2010-03-26T11:22:00.002-05:00

hen we trashed Katie's dress, John and Angela of Main Street Productions came along to video the event. They had never hiked to the falls before and I had not done it with lots and lots of gear. Usually it's just me and my dog, Sophie, and one small camera. I didn't realize either how deep the water at the base of the falls was. During the summer it's usually on about knee deep. But, it's a different story with all the rain we've had lately as you can see by how high the water is on John as he videos our couple.

Also, take note of the two cute camera babes we took with us. Did I mention we are married to them?

In the woods behind my house

2010-03-14T19:20:00.001-05:00

Hallie, Charlie (two of my grandchildren) and I took a little walk in the woods behind my house last week and found the coolest thing. There is this old machine back there that has been in disuse so long that the trees have grown up all around through it. It took a while to figure out what it was, but it seems to be an old, homemade, merry-go-round. Our neighborhood is located on what used to be an old farm, and the property adjoining mine is still owned by the original family. This old machine is actually on their land.

It's obviously been a long time since any children had the joy of riding it, but I bet is was great fun way back then. And it's easy to conjure of images of children screaming with joy as they whirled around in the field.

Now, it's just a bunch of rusting metal, standing silent and unable to move even if we wanted it to because the trees have grown up amongst its arms.

Something really neat to find, right?

All these photos were made with my little Canon G11 - have I mentioned that I love that camera?

Before the wedding Kerri came to the studio

2010-03-12T12:14:00.001-06:00

Before Kerri and Chris got married, Kerrie let me photograph her in her wedding gown. Naturally, I had to keep the photos secret until the wedding. We'll here a few of them. Isn't she beautiful? I'm just a sucker for redheads.

Kerri and Chris got married.

2010-03-12T12:04:00.002-06:00

t's always hard picking just a few pictures of a wedding to show on the blog. Kerri and Chris were so much in love and so photogenic they made it even more difficult. Here are a few of the big day. I believe their wedding video/slideshow is one of the best we've made so far.

Beautiful girls, a beautiful room and great light.

2010-03-07T21:54:00.001-06:00

In the earlier post you see that we spent our afternoon at a Anderson Gail Farms. The light in the library was so beautiful and the owner's daughter and niece were willing models. I just had to make a few portraits. Aren't they beautiful?

I just love these girls

2010-03-07T21:41:00.003-06:00

We spent our afternoon at a wedding venue near Birmingham called Anderson Gail Farms. It's a beautiful house that looks as if it were built in the middle 1800s even though it was built just a few years back. My friend, Colleen from Bella Couture was also there with a couple of models dressed in her wedding gowns. The two girls are friends of ours and I just love taking pictures of them. Kaitlynd and Abby are beautiful young women, both way too young to be married, but are so cute they make great models. I know both of their dads and I'm sure it's difficult for them to see their little girls in wedding gowns.

Kaitlynd

2010-03-05T20:30:00.002-06:00

As I mentioned in my last entry, I love my job. I get to make photos of really pretty young women on the best day of their lives. And sometimes I get to hang out with the young women who model wedding dresses at bridal shows.

It just so happens that our studio in next door to Bella Couture, a high-end bridal shop. Sometimes when they need models we call some of our friends who usually jump at the chance to wear some beautiful wedding gowns. In the previous post, Abby and Rachel were a couple of our friends who modeled at the Wynfrey Bridal Market.

This Sunday we will be with Bella Couture at Anderson Gail Farm's open house and have asked another friend, Kaitlynd, to help model. Kaitlynd's family and ours have been friends for some time. Her dad was once my pastor. She came by today to pick out her dress I and took advantage of the opportunity to make a few photos. She looks great doesn't she?

I love my job!

2010-03-01T15:36:00.002-06:00

We spent our day yesterday meeting some very nice brides-to-be at the Perfect Wedding Guide's bridal market, hosted at the Wynfrey Hotel. I always have a great time getting to talk to young ladies about their wedding plans how I might be able to help make the day perfect.

Another fun part of the day was the fashion show. Bella Couture, the bridal shop which is located right next door to our studio in Mt Laurel showed several of their dresses. Because we're neighbors, we've gotten to know Colleen, the owner quite well. In fact a couple of the models in the photo below are friends of ours that we recruited to help Bella Couture out at the show. Naturally, I get to make photos of these gorgeous ladies while they are all dressed up and looking great. Life is really good sometimes.

A big thanks is in order to Jennifer Gowers at GoPro Event Solutions for putting the whole thing together. Ya'll did a superb job!

Very direct marketing

2010-03-01T15:25:00.001-06:00

I was in town today and saw this van and just fell in love with this guys marketing concept. It's direct, it's simple and leaves no doubt about what he can do for me. What a great lesson for me to learn.

Sadie, our fashionista

2010-02-27T17:36:00.000-06:00

We're participating in "The Bridal Market." a bridal show in Birmingham this week hosted by The Perfect Wedding Guide and The Wynfrey Hotel, and wanted to have a couple of beautiful girls in our booth. So, we naturally thought of Sadie and Hallie, our two granddaughters. They will be wearing flower girl dresses from our studio's next door neighbor, Bella Couture, one of Birmingham's premier bridal shops.

Sadie came out today to try on the dress she will wear. Naturally I, grandpa, had to make a few photos. Some were just elegant, but most were just fun.

Casey and John

2010-02-26T16:32:00.003-06:00

We're gonna get to photograph Casey and John's wedding in a few weeks and we're pretty excited about it. They came to the studio the other day and these are a few of the great images we got of them. Can't wait for the wedding!

Green Wedding

2010-02-26T10:20:00.004-06:00

A few months ago we were fortunate to photography Michelle and David's wedding (see the blog post: Michelle and David got married.) Their wedding was at Ozan Vineyard & Cellars, one of Birmingham's local wineries. Carol Bennett of Wedology Green Wedding and Events, was their wedding planner and coordinated a beautiful, "green" wedding for them. Below is a two-page photo spread that Portico, one of our premier magazines in Birmingham, used in an article. We're always happy and proud when our photos are so appreciated.

Thanks Michelle and David, Carol and Portico for letting us work with you.

Read the online article in Portico.

Snow Day

2010-02-12T19:37:00.000-06:00

I was born and spent most of my growing up years in south Alabama along the gulf coast. Then my family moved to Atlanta during my teenage and early adult years. Needless to say, snow is not something I grew up with. However, in my adult life I've lived in Texas, New Jersey and Germany. So I've seen my share of it in my life.

But, we've been back in Alabama for about five years and snow has been a rare experience for me. They tell me that we receive a pretty good snow last year, but I was in Belize on a mission trip when that happened.

It snowed today. Not much by the world's standard, but a near blizzard by Alabama measurements. We closed the studio and went out and made a few photos.

Click here to see the gallery

Anna and Cole

2010-02-09T15:13:00.000-06:00

I don't know if we're just lucky or living right, but we get some of the cutest kids at our studio. Ann and Cole are no exceptions either.

A Date With Sadie

2010-02-07T16:08:00.000-06:00

OK, I admit it. I had a date with a younger woman today. It's not the first time either. For the past six years I've had a real love affair with two girls, Sadie and Hallie. For the past couple of years, Charlie has also been in the mix. And it's great being their grandpa.

Today we took Sadie to the Galleria for lunch and just to hang out. Of course, I took a camera. She's such a model.

See all the photos click here (All photos shot with Canon G11)

Brooke and Dewayne: Their wedding story.

2010-02-05T21:20:00.000-06:00

We photographed Brooke and Dewayne's wedding the other day. The wedding and the bride were both beautiful. Dewayne was great also, as was the entire family. This little slide show tells the whole story. We hope you enjoy it.

How long have you been a photographer?

2010-02-05T10:48:00.001-06:00

That's the question lots of people ask me. My answers range from, "forever," to "over forty years,"

to "depends on what you mean." I usually tell people that Joy, my lovely wife, bought me my first 35 mm SLR for our first wedding anniversary in 1971 and it's been a love affair with the camera since then. It became an obsessive hobby and I began photographing weddings and portraits for money in the mid 1970s to help support my hobby. As you know, photography can get expensive.

But, the story really goes back even farther than that. I don't really remember the first time I got to use the family camera, but I do remember what camera it was -- a Brownie Hawkeye, built in the early '60s. My mom liked to take family photos of my dad and family of four boys and this was the camera that she used to make many of those photos. Lately I've been on a project to scan all of our old family images and store them digitally. I love the way we were usually posed in front of the family car. My dad worked for the Studebaker and one is often prominent in our family photos.

Another common theme is the Christmas morning photo of our living room showing us marveling at all the good things that Santa had left the night before. It's usually a photo of me and my brothers standing around in our under pants. I guess we never wore pajamas.

All this to say, the Brownie Hawkeye had a great influence on the path I would eventually take. Below is a photo I made of my maternal grandparents on Dauphin Island in the mid 1960s with that camera. Then there are the close ups showing the camera today. When I was a cub scout, my mom finally gave me that camera. You can see where she wrote my name and troop number on it with India Ink. We didn't have Sharpies in those days. You can see by the electrical tape repair that I made many years ago that the camera was well used.

I still have it. It sits on a shelf in our studio. I'm not even sure if you can buy film for it any more, but it still means a lot to me.

Don't blink or you'll miss my photos in this video.

2010-02-03T15:05:00.000-06:00

A little while back I went along with Rick Sutton 's video crew as the still photographer on a project for the International Retinal Research Foundation. It was a lot of fun, got to dress up in scrubs and all.

Rick sent me this link this morning. Granted, only a few of my stills are included and just for the last couple of seconds. But, it's still some of our work.

My First Billboard

2010-02-01T15:26:00.000-06:00

It may not seem like a big thing to a lot to of people, but it thrills most photographers to see how people use our work. If you drive south on I-65, just north of I-459 you will see the billboard for Valleydale Dental. That's one of our headshots of Dr. Gonzalez up there. He and his family have been customers of ours for the past few years. If you're looking for dentist, he's your guy.

This should also settle the question I often get about just how big can you enlarge a digital image.

Brooke and Dewayne got married yesterday

2010-01-31T08:21:00.000-06:00

Some weddings are more fun than others and the difference is always the how much fun the bride and groom are having. Brooke and Dewayne were really fun. Even though it was a very cold day outside, everyone made the best of it and even laughed a lot while we rushed through our photos.

Inside, it was warm and got warmer as the evening went on. Did I mention that these were some fun people to hang out with?

Your guys are going to have a great life together. I'll have all your photo ready to see in a couple of weeks.

Behind the scenes

2010-01-29T12:56:00.001-06:00

Big thanks to John and Angela Deaver at Main Street Productions for putting together this behind the scenes look at what we do. As you can see we like to have fun and find new and creative ways to highlight your day.

Blue Moon Promo from Main Street Productions on Vimeo

Sophie, The Wonder Dog

2010-01-29T11:30:00.001-06:00

Just messing around with a photo I made of Sopnie a few weeks ago. She's my jogging/hiking buddy and just loves the park we go to in the mornings. I thought she looked like "Wonder Dog" sitting at the crest of this little hill. In spirit of full-disclosure, I added the clouds from a photo I had on file. The sun beam is a swipe of the stylus across my Wacom tablet over an opaque layer.

Gibson

2010-01-29T11:27:00.000-06:00

Gibson brought his mom and dad in for his first official photo session. He did great and gave us some really cute photos. Pretty good for a guy who is only four months old.

Took the day off and went out and made some pictures

2010-01-29T11:25:00.001-06:00

Fellow photographer, Jim Little, and I took the day off and went out to see what we could make pictures of. Not sure what Jim came home with but these are a few of the ones I got. Most were made in Old Alabama Town in Montogomery.

Click to see the gallery

Blessed Be The Name - Children's Clothing

2010-01-29T11:23:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Ashley Eiler at Blessed Be The Name Children's Clothing for letting us illustrate their spring catalog. As always, we had fun with all the kids and enjoyed working with all the moms and helpers.

Check out this unique clothing line at www.blessednames.com. You'll be impressed with the clothing and maybe even the photographs.

A very nice and photogenic family

2010-01-29T11:20:00.000-06:00

Brynli

2010-01-29T11:17:00.001-06:00

Some very good looking boys

2010-01-29T11:15:00.001-06:00

I love big happy families

2010-01-29T11:12:00.000-06:00

Gina and Mitchell are getting married

2010-01-29T11:09:00.000-06:00

They are going to have a really big family

2010-01-29T11:06:00.000-06:00

Heather and Coley

2010-01-29T11:03:00.000-06:00