Portrait Practice

I was invited to join a group of photographers to learn and practice with models in an area downtown. I had a lot of fun. The afternoon left me feeling as though I'd learned a lot, thirsty to learn more and drooling over new equipment.
Here are a few of the images that just jumped out at me when I had a bit of time process. There are still many more I want to work on when I get the time. I also can't wait to see what the other photographers came up with and learn from their images. I'll post more images later too.
I was definately out of my element. This country hick definately aint a city slicker! But the area was very neat to photograph. I pretty much stayed introverted observed and shot as other photographers posed. Posing is definately my shortfall and am very glad I went.

Not Smiling Momma!

My boy refused to smile the other morning while we waited in the van to be dropped off at school. He can truely be a ham and an excellent subject, unless he just really doesn't want to!

He blew me kisses....

His eyes smiled even though he tried desperately not to.

Wait, that's almost a smile

NOPE!

A grin maybe?

The teachers waiting Momma, love you bye!! :(

The faces of Squirt

Even though he didn't feel really well. A few weeks ago my son acutally posed for the camera. This doesn't happen very often. He typically gets tired of me shooting him before I get the shot set up.

My son has so many expressions.

I'm still learning and playing with textures and how to effectively us them in my images.

Halloween

Halloween was pretty fun around my house this year. In the past I've never been big on Halloween. I nearly wasn't going to dress up Squirt this year. We pulled something out.


I helped carve more pumpkins this year then in many many years combined that I can remember. It took some convincing to get Squirt to help dig out the good stuff.





Look mom it says my name... he knew looking at it that it was his name. I'm so proud of my smart little man.





I helped carve the Princess' first pumpkin too.





I took him downtown on Friday night before heading to the football game. Then Saturday Mike took us around a few neighborhoods. We got out enough to get a bit of candy. Squirt got to dress up twice this way.

We dressed the Princess up as well.

66 Pumpkin Stop

This is another blog I've started and just now finishing... I still have about three more.

We made a stop on Route 66 to buy pumpkins to carve. I've driven by this spot many times, but don't ever remember stoppings.

They just had a roadside stand so we bought our pumkins, then walked around The Big Blue Whale.


There are so many little details around. I had to be a pretty neat place at one time.

Apparently people used to come swim here.


There are slides coming out of the side of the whale.

Fall Colors

I started this blog a few weeks ago but didn't seem to finish.
A few weeks ago Mike and I loaded the kids for a drive.
It was something I needed, I had a rough week.

I love fall colors and they seemed to have peaked almost without me acknowledging recently.



The reds and oranges are my favorite.

I've struggled recently with the way things are going. I know to trust what is placed before me. But for someone that likes to know whats ahead and to likes to plan the next step, it's really hard for me. Sights like this help me. It makes me stop and realize just who is in control of my life! The same that creates these wonderful things in my world. The only the constant in life is change... God's fall colors reminds me that I just have to trust the changes he's making. I accept the change in colors and shedding of leaves without question, nearly without notice. I pray that I can learn to accept the changes He has in store for me in the same fashion.

This road is on the way to Mike's house. Though the colors aren't in peak on this particular stretch of road. It is a place in the road regardless of the time of year that just makes me want to stop and breathe. It makes me want to release whatever thoughts and worries are wondering around in my thick noggin and just breathe. I've pulled these images up several times in the last few weeks, just to get lost in them and stop what I'm doing and what I'm worrying about.


Mike took me down a few back roads which I hadn't traveled down to admire the colors.



There's a very large space of property near where I live that is dedicated to the survival of the Mustang breed. I've heard that these creatures are left to their own nature, with minimal human intevention. I've heard that this heard of hundreds and hundreds stem from Hildago. This one looks pretty gentle but has this bossy look about him.


My brother also got the first deer of the season that weekend of travels. So I loaded Squirt up to take a picture... Squirt didn't know quite what to think. I'm ready to taste the jerky though!

Unique

I really need to play catch up on here. There is so many things I want to blog about and just seem to run out of time. I've had a great opportunity to take wonderful Oklahoma fall colors. My family has had several great weekends. The kids were captured in very cute halloween attire and I've been on the sidelines every Friday night in an effort to make a little extra dough.


All of that will come eventually, the fall colors and the halloween outfits, everything. But first I want to tell you about a unique individual I had the pleasure to photograph.

I first heard about this woman in a newspaper article. In a world where everyone wants their five minutes of fame and the cheesest of characters can be found on the lamest reality television explotation, this woman turned down Jay Leno!



At 94, this woman owned a cow that had given birth to twins everytime she was pregnant. That in and of itself is a pretty amazing story that landed on the front page in a section of a major paper in the area. But that was just part of the story. At 94 she still worked every day on the farm. She was too busy for Jay Leno!

This week she turned 95. Several family members and friends joined her in celebration on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. It just so happened that this is part of Mike's family and they asked me to be on hand to photograph the event as it would be rare to have that may of the family together at the same time. Mike told me a few stories on the way to her party. It was miles and miles from any major city in fact the town in and of itself was lost.... Lost City. The small school closed down a year ago, one of the last schools that taught Cherokee as part of the curriculum.

You could most definately tell this 95 year old is still full of life. Though I'm not sure of the exact dates and how things fell into place, but the I understand that she's spent a good part of her life now as a widow raising kids and cattle after her husband died.

I hope I have half the energy and am of that sharp of mind in the next 40 years.

Someone asked her if she'd had a good birthday party and if she had a good time. She made a comment in the discussion she'd have a better day the next day when she could get back to the hay field to get the last of the seasons hay finished.

Happy Birthday to a very unique individual!