My Favorite Subjects

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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.