Baby Pics

Here are some of the studio pictures that I have been working on lately.

Photoshoot

These are my brothers and there wives.
from left- Jared, Lindsey, Carissa, and Justin
also starring... Roman (Justin's kid)

Happy Easter

HAPPY EASTER!!!

This is the creepiest picture i have ever taken...

macromania

I had to take a break from the light testing shoots so I took the S9100 out for a macro shot. The macro function is one of the reasons why I love this camera. Later I brought the lights back into action with the 5D and continued improving my lighting techniques.

(auto macro)
I brought the 9100 to life again for this picture.

1/250 f4.0 200


1/160 f2.8 100

Galluping all over the world

This week is spring break...Why am I Galluping? no one really knows. I just got done reading "There is NO Time", by J. Paul Nyquist. It is a book from Avant Ministries talking about restructuring our style of missions from long-term missionaries to short-term missions. They talk about how we need to be more productive and strategic in our sending of missionaries because with each new day the percent of people in the church compared to the % of people on earth is going down. I would encourage those who are interested in missions to read this book. It not only talks about what the new movement is looking like, but also what the "new" missionary is looking like. well.. like Paul. Not really a new approach ;), but maybe a little more faith based approach in timing. Anywayz check out the book for yourself.

Also... I took a picture of a light bulb while I had all the lights off and let the camera absorb the light. Then I photoshoped the life out of it and came out with this. It sort of shows the heat waves coming off the light.

Lighting Experiments

Jon, good friend of mine who is also a photographer came over to my house last night to hang out. While he was on my computer I took some pictures of him to experiment with more lighting techniques.

1/160 F4.5

Thanks for finally looking up Jon

1/250 F9 100

1/250 F2.8 100

This was not my favorite picture, but I thought I would show what the different angles of flash looked like.

Also.. Apparently this is not the first time that Jon has been asked to be a model. Abercrombie? no seriously.

Thanks Jon.

start of spring break

I am sitting in the crib at the Union waiting for my last class of the day to start so I can start my Spring break! My last class is music appreciation... yea I know I am a musician, but who doesn't take an easy A when it is in front of you. Tonite I will be attending an artist/photography workshop at my church (Berean). I am hoping to get more involved in the area of arts at my church. Maybe it will be an opportunity to use the gifts that God has given me in photography and use them for the church as well as in business. Speaking of photography... I have been messing with a few new lighting techniques after recently purchasing a few umbrellas and lighting equipment. It is amazing to see how the right lighting can really take a picture to a new level (especially off camera lighting). This summer I will be shooting around 10 weddings. God has really been blessing me lately. It almost makes me laugh to think that a gift that God has blessed me with is something that people will pay to see. Thanks God. I am excited to see where photography takes me. I have been doing a lot of research in European photography and the trends that they seem to be setting. I am hoping to bring some of these ideas into my style of photography so that I can keep up with the newest trends that the big name photographers are showing. Well it's time for class...

Im home now and took some pics to show what I am currently working on. As I was talking about early, I am working on lighting and today was lighting glass.

1/60 F2.8 ISO 200

This was the first picture I took with an umbrella on each side. The picture turned out well, but I was sure I could get a more creative picture using the lighting differently so I took a few more pictures.


1/100 F2.8 ISO 200

Taken with flash on board. Good, but details are only par.

1/250 f5.7 ISO 200

I took this picture with one external flash and one umbrella. This goes to prove that lighting can really make a big difference in pictures. Also...there was no photoshop or editing tools used on this picture. The details of the glass are sharp and well defined.

Its been a while

So I am sitting at Gallup interviewing people as I write this... I've been thinking a lot about life and how we live it. I wouldn't call myself a real philosophical guy, but for some reason I have been thinking about it a lot.

This last semester of school I took off and went to Africa and stayed there for three months. If you read the earlier blogs then you can hear all about it. Since getting back, I returned to school, started working again, and am back to the normal style of living that I was used to before I left. A lot has changed since getting back. Mainly my perspective. While in Africa, my eyes were opened a little...to what life is like outside of what I thought was normal. It made me wonder what really is normal I suppose. We are all growing up in a culture that tells us to go to school, then college, then get your 40 now 50 hour jobs, get married, and then retire on your 2 million dollar 401(k). We are like a big assembly line...except we are the product being made while the belt pulls us through. yikes.. What if there was a generation that dared to be different? What if God has called you to something that will make you trust in a system different that one that seems to "work" for everyone else?

Last 2 weeks in Kibera

This is my last week in Kibera. From here we will be heading to Eburru which is about 3-4 hour drive up into the mountains. It is a small village and we will be seeing more tribes in this area. The mountain is actually a volcano.. Over the last few days Ive been saying my goodbyes and it has been really hard. Many families have stolen my heart and if it were up to me Ide like to just stay in Kibera the whole time. So Ive said all my goodbyes and now we are packing up, cleaning, and are going to debrief before we head to Eburtu tomorrow. I really pray that I will be able to come back to Kibera in the near future to continue the ministry that I have started.

On a more exciting note...

One of the guys (albert(picture below)) told me he wanted to take me to an animal orphanage he knew about. The zoo was filled with all these animals that had been aved and were orphans. THey had everything and it was cool cuz they were sort of in the natural environment. The zoo was outside so they just used the trees and the forest area as a zoo. I made friends with the tour guide and she got the zoo keeper to show us the animals up close!! We got to go right up next to the entrance of where the lions were and he called them over to us. We were so close that we could have put our hands through the fence and touched the lions. It was intimidating. BUT... I didnt want it to stop at that. I asked the zoo keeper if I could go into the cheetah pen with him and pet the cheetah. He let me.. He walked in with me and said I could pet it. He also brought a few other guys in there as well, but they all just watched. It was extremely scary at fist, but then the cheetah started purring and it began licking my arm....that kinda freaked me out. I thought it was getting ready for dinner..heh.. so yea good times.

God has still been changing lives and bringing more people to me even though we are gettng ready to leave. For example... the other day I wanted to get a better look at Kiberea so I found one of hte tallest buildings around the area and climbed to the top floor. WHile I was up there I ran into this guy named Evans and asked him how I could get on top of the building. He brought out this ladder he had made and shoed me a hole in the roof and we got on top of the whole building! While we were up there talking this big guy started yelling at us through the hole that we had come through. It was his landlord. hen we got back don the landlord was all up in Evan's face and told him that he was EVICTED!!! I just about threw up when he said that. I felt horrible. Evans just walked back into his room and began packing his stuff. While he was packing I was upset and went down to talk with the landlord myself. I talked to the landlord for a good 10 minutes about the whole thing and told him not to evict Evans! I then began praying that God would soften the landlords heart and listen to me. Finally the landlord said ok and said to never do it again. So I got Evans his apartment back. Yea this is a long story but it gets crazy. . . Evans then invtes me into his place to talk with me. After all is said and done he tells me that he is a Christian and was very greatful for me helping him. He also said that before he was a christian he was in a very powerful gang in Kibera and people still know him for that. Apparently he still has alot of power in the area and people have alot of respect or fear for him because they fear his friends. He told me that he would watch out for me and if I ever had a problem to come to him. He said that if I ever needed anything or if anyone ever did anything to me to let him know and he would take care of it. So now... I have connections with the muslim mafia and with the street gangs of Kibera.

Will you go to school today?

Bobby and Albert at the animal orphanage

This is hilarious.. we were playing a game and the guys
are in one line and the girls on in the other line. The guys
are so checking the girls out in the other line.

Every recess we play futbol with a piece of trash wrapped in twine.
I love recess.

two more girls from my class

yea thats a cheetah...

I dont think it was happy

Sweetest moth ever

Reagan and I. Best soccer player Ive ever met

Jackie and I

This is a hole being dug for a squatty potty. After its dug they
build a few outhouses over it and use it for a bathroom.

Albert and I

A few students from church

Is this what my feet see?
think about it...
maybe im a lil wierd for thinkin that but i liked it