Casper Boone.
I took photos of "Flyin' West", a show in which Chris was in, several months ago. Brian and I both were blown away by his acting ability. He commanded both your attention and respect when he was on the stage. Dr. Ruffin, the director, remarked to me in the intermission the night I was taking photos that Chris was in his final year but had not discovered acting until very shortly prior to the show but was thinking about switching the focus of his whole life. Chris is one of those rare gems that you watch onstage and believe that not only could he make a career out of acting, but he probably should. After I took Brian to see it later that week we spent a lot of our time afterwards raving about Chris's performance. So when I received an e-mail a short time later asking if it was possible to do headshots for him as he was in desperate need of them, I was stoked. 
These lips were literally frozen on Lily for the first full minute she got outside to hunt for eggs!
Lily's sister, Emma, looking a little devious.
My mom wanted a family photo. I set it on auto timer and we took 3 frames--one of which was this one. Everyone else knew Chris was messing up the photo but there I am, still determined to look the camera in the eye...
I finally got to snap a few photos of my dear little sister and her hubby, Christopher. My grandmother's hay loft in her barn does make for some beautiful, diffused lighting scenarios. I tried adding a little external flash but it just didn't do them justice so I scrapped it. The natural light just wrapped around them so much better! 
I normally LOVE black & white for my photos (especially if it's an event to remember) but this birthday party was so colorful and bright there was no way I could turn these black & white--it hid too much of the joy of the day! Jaylin turned one and Misty made the most awesomest cake ever known to man (seriously, it even tasted as excellent as it looked!) Jaylin has got to be the most loved little one-year-old this world has ever seen, no joke. And what a doll, to boot!
Today was wonderful. John, Brian and I met up in the black box theatre to try out lighting scenarios. I feel like I have learned so much since our last time in November! It feels surreal to think how far I've come at times and how little I knew before. One of the things that helped today is that we actually had a few volunteer models. I sometimes feel bad for the poor people who are guinea pigs for our lighting setups as, since we are still learning, there can often be a lot of tweaking and moving lights and checking settings, etc. But today before everyone got there we got a few setups done and played with.
I don't know why I like this one above so much. It's a candid but something about it feels... surreal to me. You can see the umbrella on the left, unlit, the vague outline of someone in the foreground talking to someone else, and then the model, alone taking a breather but yet caught by light.
She's just so beautiful!
John looking somber, as he seems to do when the camera is on him. I gave him some special "effects". It's a very John photo. 2 lights, people!
And then, finally, me. Brian & John put together a setup to replicate one of a photo I'd fallen in love with. The girl was so serious, staring straight at the camera. She was in all black and her hair was a rim of angelic white light. Rather than edgy, I just look angry. Guess modeling isn't in my future!
On the rare occasion that I feel pooped after a long day of marketing/photoediting/general administrative tasks I do all day at the office, it's difficult to get myself motivated to do another 5 hours of photowork at home. So I give myself incentives.
