McCrystal Image Photography Blog

The Blog has Been Moved

2010-03-18T06:45:00.001-04:00

You Can Find My Blog at www.mccrystalimage.com/blog

Katherine and Bobby - Engagement Portraits

2008-02-18T19:51:00.000-05:00

What a fun and amazing couple! I can't say I've ever photographed a couple that giggled so much. I found myself laughing along with them. It was the cutest thing.

Here are some of my favorites from their E-session on St Petersburg Beach. To see the whole session, go to http://www.proofing.mccrystalimage.com

Branded

2008-02-18T19:42:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I got a call from an old friend, Brian Jones who is involved in a new band. He has been recording and performing solo and in other bands for the past few years. Brian is an amazing musician and an awesome guy. When he asked if I could shoot some location portraits for the new band, "Branded," I jumped at the chance.

Sacred Hills

2008-02-15T15:20:00.000-05:00

There is a local park that I haven't gone to in years. There is a section that is full of hills and old oak trees holding the hills together. It is both beautiful and spooky at the same time. I went for a walk there last week just to unwind and get my thoughts together. I was so glad I grabbed my D200 and 12-24mm lens before I left. It was drizzling and gray with occasional moments when the skys would open up and light up the leaves overhead. It was magic.

I think it is really important for all of us to take time to "stop the world" and get a little breathing room to think and pray. Too often we can get run over by all the things on our "to-do" lists. Go take a walk in the trees...

Blake High School Lighting Seminar

2008-01-18T22:08:00.000-05:00

I spent another great afternoon with some excellent students at Blake High School. This is such a great opportunity for me to give back what was given to me by so many great photographers when I was younger. I owe so much to people that would take the time to share their passion for photography with me. I think this should be part of every photographers life, giving back to the next generation of photographers.

I spent my time talking about the Nikon CLS system and how using the technology we have now can really foster a sense of play with the light. It is very freeing. I come from a very formal background in lighting and being able to experiment and "play" with light is such a delight. I can't help but have fun with all the possibilities.

Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T09:59:00.000-05:00

It's always a beautiful time of year around the McCrystal house. My wife is so amazing at stitching together all the elements of the season and making sure our kids have a real view of the importance of our faith in this time of year. It is so easy to get carried away with all the excitement and gifts. We aren't always successful, but we sure try to make sure the cradle is more important than the presents.

Aperture

2007-12-14T14:18:00.000-05:00

I have been a die hard Adobe Bridge person ever since I started photographing in RAW. That wasn't too long after I went digital. I liked the speed of doing things, ability to create presets for common toning issues and the freedom to file in any way I wanted.

When I switched back to Macintosh after years working with PC's I bought a copy of Aperture. I thought that it might be useful for organizing and could potentially make my digital life easier.

Well, I played a bit with Aperture here and there for a long while. I loved the interface, but couldn't get over not having ultimate control over file locations. I also had some big concerns about processing speed and having to hand tone each image.

There has been a lot of water under the bridge since then... Aperture has made giant leaps forward and has made me a believer. I have moved all of my image archives into Aperture. Roughly 40,000 images to date.

What made this possible? First, I love to learn and I stumbled on an online course for Aperture that really got me started thinking about a better way to use that system to my advantage. Also, after a hard drive failure on my RAID I did a great deal of scrambling to re-back up a ton of data. That in itself is a huge process. On top of that I am constantly looking for images in my archive and finding a particular one can be quite frustrating if you don't have the number.

Aperture is opening a much better door for me in organizing, key wording, accessing, uploading and management. I have also found a great affection for Photoshop "Round-Tripping," a process where you open an image in the aperture library in photoshop for specific edits that cannot be done from within the main ap. Having the image tied to the original, matching keywords and maintaining continuity without ever harming the master image is solid gold in my book.

Yes, there has been a learning curve. As I mentioned, I like to learn, so that's not a problem

I Can't Believe It...

2007-12-10T08:26:00.000-05:00

It has been almost a month since I checked in on the blog here. My apologies. It has been a very busy month for me with portraits, weddings, albums to make, holidays to prepare for and of course just trying to live life with my family. I know everyone feels about the same way. This is a time of year when we should slow down and be with our family and celebrate. Instead, we are running around like nuts trying to get everything done on our to do lists.

Well, here are some of the highlights from November to December...

Kevin and Honey's Wedding

2007-11-19T07:55:00.000-05:00

Kevin and Honey tied the knot last weekend! What a fun and beautiful day. I really love what I do. I can't say that enough. I am blessed to be a part of the best days of people's lives.

The wedding was at Weddings on the Water in St Petersburg. This is a very different location. The wedding chapel leaves port right next to the St Pete Pier. The service was out in the bay right before sunset. The party cruises for sunset before heading back to port. It was very cool.

Here are a few of the photographs to share with you. There are so many more at www.proofing.mccrystalimage.com Look for the Kevin and Honey page that has their wedding and engagement portraits.

I will be sharing the album design soon. It is really amazing...

Go Sox!

2007-10-22T15:57:00.000-04:00

I have been a Red Sox fan all my life. Growing up my dad never taught me about football or soccer or any other sport than baseball. Having a family from New England, we are devout Red Sox fans. (My Red Sox hat hasn't been washed since the last world series... Getting Rained on helps...)

I think it's a bit unfair. My Dad had to wait till he was 74 to see the Sox go to the World Series. My Son has seen it twice now in his few short years.

The little guy had to call his "Pa" at 7:30 this morning to celebrate. He was heart broken when I told him we weren't going to fly to Boston for the series... ah to be young...

I Love Florida Weather

2007-10-22T15:49:00.000-04:00

I have lived in Florida most of my life. I can't imagine living anywhere else. Those of you live in those odd areas of the world that experience frozen water falling from the sky, I feel for you.

One of the things I love in Florida is our afternoon storms. Most days during the summer there is an afternoon shower. Often times they are merely "liquid sunshine" with a quick line of showers coming in off the gulf and it doesn't even bother to get dark and cloudy.

Other days there is this amazing transition from beautiful and sunny to a huge blowing storm. They come out of nowhere and then disappear just as quick. This was one of those storms. I saw it coming on the horizon while playing catch with my son. After we got inside safely, I had to run out to photograph this powerful cloud line coming in. It was amazing.

Aaron and Rachel's Album Design

2007-10-17T10:14:00.000-04:00

While photographing a wedding I am thinking actively about the page designs I will be creating. My albums are the core of what I do as a wedding photographer. I love the process of design and the way they grow and change with input from the couple. In a day where so many photographers are shooting, burning a disk and walking away, I hope to stand out because of my focus on albums and design. I want a long term relationship with my clients so I can give them my very best.

These are a few of the pages in Aaron and Rachel's Album Predesign. To see the entire book, view the slideshow here.

Aaron and Rachel's Wedding

2007-10-12T09:53:00.000-04:00

I shot an amazing wedding this past weekend at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. What a beautiful location!

Aaron and Rachel were fantastic. What a wonderful couple. The plan was for the ceremony on the river walk. It rained and rained... Rachel was awesome. It was difficult I'm sure, but she rolled with changes to the plans and kept her eyes focused on her man. In the end, the atrium in the Performaing Arts Aenter was an amazing and different type of location for the wedding. It was beautiful.

Here are a few of my favorite images to share with you. The full day's photographs is online at my proofing site if you would like to visit them there.

John and Jennifer's Engagement Portraits

2007-10-04T08:15:00.000-04:00

John and Jennifer are such a sweet couple. There is a wonderful spark between the two of them. For their engagement portraits, we went to the park where he popped the question. John Chestnut Park in Palm Harbor is one of their favorite places, they have spent hours and hours watching sunset and walking on the boardwalks. After spending time there with them, I completely understand why. Amazing!

Here are a few of my favorites from the session. If you would like to see the entire set of images, you can visit them HERE.

T-ball Fun

2007-09-26T06:49:00.000-04:00

T-Ball Fun

I love watching these little ones play. The guys in the major leagues could learn a bit from them about how to love the game again.

Kevin and Honey's E-Session, Passe Grille, Florida

2007-09-19T09:48:00.000-04:00

I met with Kevin and Honey this weekend for their engagement portrait session. Honey suggested a new place for me, Passe Grille. This is a beautiful little place. You can walk from one side of the key to the other in 2 minutes. It is quiet and quaint. There are so many places to photograph and there is just an amazing charm to it all.

Kevin and Honey have a charm about them as well. I love getting to spend time with couples before their wedding so I can learn their personalities and and see how they respond to each other. This is a beautiful, playful and funny couple. We laughed so much as we walked around Passe Grille.

Here are a few of my favorites from their session.

And Of Course the Slideshow.

USF Bulls

2007-09-01T21:16:00.000-04:00

It's the first night of the USF college football season. It has been
an excitng game. Both teams are really working hard to get points on
the board.
The sun was setting in the first quarter and I was a bit sad that I'm  without a camera. (That doesn't happen very often.) I had to capture  it, so the iPhone came out. I'm impressed with what it can do.

Boston Family Portraits

2007-08-19T11:00:00.000-04:00

The Bostons came to me asking if I would do a family portrait for them for their 50th wedding anniversary. "Of Course!" That is a milestone that very few people ever reach. For this awesome portrait we gathered all the children and grandchildren at Legends Farm for some beautiful morning light.

I love these large family portraits. Not many people do them anymore and it is sad. These are the images that people will look back on and share with great grand children and great great grand children and share the family history.

Thank you for including me in your special day!

iPhone Spam Solution

2007-08-07T16:47:00.000-04:00

When I first got my iPhone I was so excited about having my entire world in one place. My world runs pretty fast and

keeping up with all the details can be a dizzying task for me. My wife is very wise "I'm just glad technology has finally caught up to the speed of your life." She is right. It has streamlined my world a great deal and on top of it all, it's beautiful and elegant, just like everything Mac. Mine is slowly getting packed to the ceiling with images, slideshows and audiobooks. (yes, I know I'm a bit of a nerd...)

The one let down for me was having to filter my mail manually. I get a ton of spam and the mail filter on my MacBook Pro handles it quite well. There isn't a filter on the iPhone. That made for a lot of deleting in my life.

Somewhere I received a wonderful suggestion. "Get a Gmail account and use it to filter the iPhone's mail."

Sheer genius! I've been running like this for a week now and I'm very impressed with Gmail's filtering capabilities. I set the Gmail account up to check my other mail boxes and filter them before sending them to my phone. Excellent.

In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day

2007-07-31T10:39:00.000-04:00

I was in Washington DC recently on a mission trip. While there, our group visited Ebenezer's Coffee House. This is an amazing place just a block away from

Union Station. It's walking distance from the Capital Building in a great historic district. This shop is part of the ministries of the National Community Church. While I stood in line (a line that I brought with me...) I noticed a book sitting on a shelf. In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson.

Mark is the Pastor at NCC. I was intrigued by the title and had to get my hands on it. Several of us left with our own copies that day. I highly recommend this book. Wow! I had to tell you about it even before I finished it. It is about thriving in times when opportunity looks like a lion ready to eat you for lunch. Amazing stuff.

I imagine you have times like that in your life as well. Lions seem to come at me from all corners and I might be missing on some amazing opportunities by ducking instead of confronting them head on. I want to challenge you to read this book and see for yourself what great things you are missing because they are disguised as lions.

Misty Farms

2007-07-29T21:16:00.000-04:00

This is a beautiful place with wonderful people. Great for horse lovers and learners. They offer a horseback riding camp for kids to give them exposure to riding, knowledge about horses and give them some practical experience with taking care of horses. It's a very cool idea to provide an easy entry level to the world of horseback riding.

New Website

2007-07-29T20:57:00.000-04:00

I've had the same web design on my main page for a long time. I was more than due for a renovation of my online presence.

The first phase in this renovation was the launch of Florida Wedding Photojournalism. I wanted to separate my wedding work and show my distinctive wedding style all on its own.

The second phase was moving my blog to the new www.mccrystalimage.net. Finding the right theme and design to work in was very important to me. I needed something clean and easy to navigate. I think the new blog does that well.

Finally, the main website needed a complete overhaul. I love the redesign process and finding a look that will communicate who I am and be a great showcase for all of my work. I like to think of myself as "old school" in a lot of ways. At the same time I'm very innovative and driven my challenges. That's a hard thing to communicate in a site design. Hopefully this new look will represent me well.

I would love the hear your feedback on the new looks. Please, drop me an e-mail or a comment on the blog.

Didona Family Portrait

2007-07-15T14:09:00.000-04:00

I love portraits on the beach. It's a Florida classic and it gives me an excuse to be photographing out in nature. Family portraits are an art form in themselves. I love to see the family dynamics, relationships with parents and kids. This was a beautiful session with an extended family.

To see the entire portrait session, visit my proofing web page.

Here are a few of my favorites.

And a Slideshow...

TJ and Maggie's Wedding - Beautiful

2007-07-15T13:36:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I had the privilege to photograph Maggie and TJ's wedding. What a beautiful couple. Their love for each other and for God were so evident throughout the entire wedding. Also, there was a wonderful sense of fun that ran throughout the entire day. Their friends added a great spice to everything with laughter and a certain joy of life.

To see the entire wedding's photographs, visit my proofing site.

Washington Monument

2007-07-04T20:34:00.000-04:00

I found it difficult to see the monument without a framing element this time. Every time I looked at it there was something in the foreground that told a part of the story of who we are. Washington is such a beautiful and diverse place. Everywhere you look there seems to be contrasts of style, status, ethnicity and culture. I love it. If you haven't spent any time in Washington, make a special trip. It is well worth it.

Wilderness Clean Up Project

2007-06-28T16:47:00.000-04:00

While up in the area I have been able to work in some amazing areas. I spent the last 2 days in Green Wood Farms Park. This is a beautiful place in Prince William County, Virginia. It is a large and undeveloped parcel that was donated to the PWCPA. I was part of the first team to go in to go in for cleaning up the litter from the roads and communities surrounding it.

I was amazed that someplace so beautiful could be a dumping ground for so much trash. We rolled out 2 truck tires,12 bags of cans, bottles, plastic bags, milk jugs, etc, a 3 foot section of I-Beam, two sign posts, a seat from an old jeep, some broken auto parts, a bar from a weight lifting set, a vent from a stove, a scooter, a basketball hoop and bike that were too buried in silt for us to remove and a number of items we never really identified. It was a beautiful day, the work was hard, but the location was beautiful. I'll take that any day.

Beautiful Day in Washington D.C.

2007-06-24T09:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Washington. The weather is clear and cool. It was a great day for walking and exploring and enjoying the city.

This city is what inspired me as a student to become a photographer. It is so rich in history and visual details that it just came to life in front of me as an 8th grader on a spring break school trip. I didn't even own a camera then, so I borrowed cameras from everyone else on the trip. It was a bit overwhelming. This is my second trip back to D.C. as an adult. I seem to find more and more with each visit. I will have much to share later when I have a chance to build slideshows and make more finished images.

Key Largo Slideshow

2007-06-19T16:03:00.000-04:00

I have been taking groups of students from my church to Key Largo for the past 9 years. This was our 10th trip. I really love it down there. We have so many amazing memories that have been made there. I have some favorite places that I love to bring kids to experience. I have seen so many kids over the years become overwhelmed by the beauty of the area and start to key in on the voice of God there. It isn't magic, it's simply the process of stopping the world long enough and listening.

While we are there spend time snorkeling on the reefs, exploring Black Water Sound on a sunset cruise and in kayaks, swimming, laughing, telling stories and building deep friendships. Each night is capped with a time of worship and message that really help focus us all to see how amazing God is and how he created this place to show us how awesome He is. Of course, when you travel with a group of teenagers, there is also a great deal of silliness and even more eating...

These are my favorite images from this year's trip to the keys. I'll share the underwater images later when I have scans made from my film. (Remember film?)

Georgia Slideshow

2007-06-19T09:54:00.000-04:00

The trip to Georgia was amazing. It is really beautiful up there and a different pace of life when you are away from everything at home. A nice change. It's also nice to be back into my normal routine and workflow. As normal as it ever gets at least. Last week I was in the Keys and Thursday I leave for Washington D.C. No rest for the weary...

Here is the short form slideshow from the Georgia Trip. I'll share the Keys trip soon as well.

Key Largo

2007-06-15T08:35:00.000-04:00

I am spending an amazing week in the Keys. Every year I take a group of the teenagers from my church down here for a retreat. It is so beautiful here that I can't ignore God's voice saying how much He loves us.

While we are here we stay at Amy Slate's Amoray Dive Resort. This is my favorite place to stay. The staff is amazing, the boat crew is top notch and the atmosphere is so relaxed. I've been bringing groups here for almost a decade now. Once you find the best you stick with it.

I will post my images from the whole week later, but for now here is on of my selects.We have had some amazing afternoon storms coming across Florida Bay that are just so cool to see them build and then race toward us with so much power.

Georgia Aquarium

2007-06-08T11:44:00.000-04:00

Our Trip to the Georgia Aquarium was amazing. This is the largest aquarium in the world. This is the viewing window into the 6.1 million gallon main tank that holds an amazing array of sealife including three whalesharks! Amazing...

I Find Art All Around Me

2007-05-30T14:43:00.000-04:00

Did I mention I have trouble relaxing. I love what I do. Wherever I am, I’m looking and usually finding amazing beauty that I am moved to capture. This vacation is going to yield an amazing portfolio of fine art images. I created this on Lake Carter fishing and boating with my family.

Next week I’ll post a slideshow with the highlights of the whole week a great combination of family and art, sometimes both...

Amazing Beauty

2007-05-29T14:49:00.000-04:00

I love to find places where I am surrounded by beauty. I carry my cameras with me everywhere I go. It’s a habit I developed as a journalist, you never knew when a story would develop. It is a good habit that has paid off for me in so many images that I would have missed if I wasn’t willing to hike a mile in a cave with a full pack of gear.

This is Ruby Falls just out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Well worth the deep walk... even if you are claustrophobic like I am.

Life is Good

2007-05-27T15:00:00.000-04:00

I haven’t ever been all that good at taking down time. I really love to work. I always have. My wife is very dedicated to trying to help me relax and enjoy life. To that end, we are in Georgia for a week of vacation. I will have so many images by the end of this week. Here's a sneak peek.

Erin and Bob's Engagement Session

2007-05-23T15:03:00.000-04:00

What a cute couple. When I was discussion ideas for where to shoot their e-session they chose a park close to home. Their community is an important part of their relationship and wanted to have it as the backdrop for their portraits.

Visit my online proofing page to see the entire session.

Jake's Birthday

2007-05-18T16:23:00.000-04:00

Kids are amazing. Their ability to let loose and have fun astonishes me. I almost want to be a kid again...

Images I Love

2007-05-17T16:28:00.000-04:00

I am always reviewing my work. I am a bit obsessive about growing as a photographer. It is one of the best ways (if not the best) I have of expressing myself and I value it immensely.

As I go through and review work I find times when I am just amazed and others that I want to burn negatives. (I only did that once in college after a particularly difficult semester shooting black and white 4x5 landscapes.)

This is one of my favorite images. Photographing at the Florida Aquarium can be quite challenging, but the images are amazing if you are diligent.

This wedding was so beautiful and having the unity candle off to the side and wrapped in votive candles just set an amazingly beautiful mood. I was able to sneak around the side with my 10.5 mm lens to make this image. The light was just beautiful.

If you like the online version you should see the 16x20 in my portfolio...

Storage Solutions

2007-04-28T07:13:00.000-04:00

I’m pretty obsessive about my data. I have the negativess from my first wedding in 1998 still in storage. The idea of losing a single image scares the pants off of me.

Because of these things I have been a religious person for back ups in multiple places and media. The size of my archive is getting insane though. I am having to make a big change in how I handle things.

I have two of these

Fantom G-Force MegaDisk

s on the way. Very cool desktop RAID solution. Each is 1 Terabyte configured in a redundant RAID 1 so each one has a duplicate of itself internally on a second disk.

The first will hold old archived projects and the second will keep up with my present workflow.

Along with these I will continue to do my regular DVD backups as well. Doing all this makes certain I am in good shape for the long run.

Because I’m uptight, I’m working on a 4th location for stored data. (yes, forth, the third is my online server for the lab) Soon I will be expanding my online server space to incorporate a full backup of all my files on a secure server in another part of the country.

Yes, I probably need therapy, but I don’t ever want to tell a client or myself I can’t print something because the file is gone.

(This year I started giving my wedding clients DVDs of the finished images this year as another level of protection.)

Children's Musical

2007-04-24T07:19:00.000-04:00

I have to say that my church is really cool. There is always something happening at

First.

Yes, we have our ups and downs like any group of people, but there is a lot of good stuff going on.

We fell in love with it our first Sunday about 12 years ago and have been up to our ears in it since then. Being involved is the very best way to have fun in a church. I don’t think I could just attend a church and be happy - it’s just not how I was raised.

This past weekend was our Children’s Ministry musical. I love to see these kids using their gifts. See what they did above in the slideshow.

Christina and Drew's Album Design

2007-04-23T07:22:00.000-04:00

I released the predesign for Cristina and Drew this morning. As I said before this was a beautiful day. Their personalities were really evident all day in every little detail. I love the storytelling possibilities when I do an album design like this. I find that I am designing a bit in my head when I am shooting. It gives an extra level of involvement and expression for me. I love it.

Christina and Drew's Wedding

2007-04-19T07:23:00.000-04:00

Another beautiful wedding. Christian and Drew are such a sweet couple. I am always honored to be a part of such important days in people’s lives. I met them for the first time about a year ago and was so pleased to be included in their plans.

The slideshow above is available through i-Tunes as a pod-cast. If you would like to share these moments with friends, feel free to download it to your ipod and carry it wherever you go.

Mollie's Senior Portraits

2007-04-09T18:27:00.000-04:00

Pasted Graphic 1

I’ve been crazy lately between shooting, editing and trying to live a normal life and spend time playing baseball in the yard with my kids. I’ll catch you up on a few photographic highlights.

Senior portraits for me are an all day affair, or pretty close to that. I like to spend time with people. No clock running. No maximum number of poses or changes of clothes. It’s the kind of photography that I want to do.

Mollie and I spent a good portion of a day a week or so ago making some incredible senior portraits. After portraits at the house in a few outfits and with her violin we headed south to Bradenton to use my favorite beach (Coquina on the South end of Anna Maria Island) as a backdrop for some more images.

On the way we had to stop at one of my other favorite places, the shake pit for a bite to eat. If you are ever on Manatee avenue in Bradenton, FL, you need to pay them a visit....

You can visit the rest of her sitting online on my

proofing pages

Kyle's Senior Portraits

2007-04-09T18:25:00.000-04:00

Pasted Graphic

I did something for Kyle that I don’t do very often. Do two sittings in one day. Luckily Kyle and Mollie have known each other for a hundred years (ok, maybe they haven’t been alive that long...) and they were willing to go tag team with me for the day. It was a lot of fun for me to bounce around a bit while shooting and by the end of the beach session they were both really adept at holding my reflector panel for me.

Just like Mollie’s portraits, you can see Kyle’s on my

proofing page

Brandy and Derek's Wedding

2007-04-08T18:32:00.000-04:00

I have been photographing weddings for a long time now. (Since 1989... Yikes, I think I’m getting old now...) There are some couples that still strike me as special. Brandy and Derek are one of those couples.

They are young and very much in love. Derek came home from serving in the military in Iraq and married his high school sweetheart. I love this kind of story.

To make the event even better, they chose Cross Creek Ranch for their wedding and reception. It is such a beautiful location with a warm country feel. It was the perfect backdrop for their love story.

Visit my online proofing page to view their entire wedding and engagement session.

E-Store

2007-02-20T08:47:00.000-05:00

I am trying something new. I answer a lot of questiosn about the gear I shoot, the computer and software I use and the books I'm reading. Somewhere along the line I became a resource for others around me. I'm not certain when it happened, but I'm going to embrace it and see if I can help a little more.

To do this I'm collecting the things I use in an Amazon store. I will leave descriptions of what I use them for and why. Hopefully this will give you a good starting point if you are looking to get some gear or just wondering how it is that I do what I do.

You can vist it HERE

I will keep adding things as I get a chance. Amazon will also be adding a few related items that will help fill out the list as well. There are some items that I'm in the process of acquiring (I take a long time to research anything before I commit) and I will tell you why they are on the list as well.

Enjoy!

Michael

Monster Trucks!

2007-01-23T21:13:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I started photographing the annual monster truck show at Raymond James Stadium here in Tampa. I look forward to it every year now. I go with my brother-in-law and our sons. They think it is the coolest thing ever. I love photographing the action and getting dust all over me. Even more than that, I enjoy watching my son get so excited. It's really a trip.

To see the slideshow from Monster Jam go HERE

Amanda's Portraits

2007-01-23T21:04:00.000-05:00

As promised, I am back. I will try to be better about coming here to share. It just seems like there are too many things going on these days. I guess that happens to all of us - especially at the beginning of the year.

Today I want to share with you Amanda's Senior Portraits. She was amazing, as I expected she would be. The photos are fun and beautiful and very very Amanda. That is a quality I work very hard to maintain in my portraits, a sense of truth about who the subject really is. Most of the portrait sittings I do aver very different from one another. That's part of the fun for me and for my subjects.

You can see the slideshow with more select images of Amanda's senior portraits HERE

2007 Starts With a Wedding

2007-01-22T21:30:00.000-05:00

I just realized I have been too busy to visit the blog world for quite a while. I will try to catch everyone up with what has been going on. I will post a few of the highlights in the next day or two.

The first highlight to share is the beautiful wedding on January 1st. Al and Melissa met me at a friend's wedding in July and I was their choice for their New Year's Day wedding at the Florida Aquarium. What an amazing and beautiful wedding. This was my first at the aquarium and I'm looking forward to more of them now that I've seen one there. The huge panoramic tank is an amazing backdrop for your ceremony and the lobby of the aquarium made a beautiful location for the reception.

Please take a few moments and visit the album design slideshow HERE Melissa and I have been fine tuning the design and will be getting her album started very soon. I can't wait to see the final product. It will be gorgeous. I might need one to show off...

Children's Musical

2006-12-12T11:28:00.000-05:00

I love kids. I have since I was one. I inherited that trait from my dad. He was marked by every girl scout in the world when cookie season was in swing. They could see him coming a mile away. I still talk to kids in line at the grocery store and say hello in the nursery at church every now and then. There is something awesome about little kids.

This Sunday was the annual Children's Presentation for Christmas at my church. One of the ways I can serve my church is to photograph everything I can and share it with our church family. So, I do. I have for years now. I love it.

Here are the kids of my church leading the adults for a change...

Marks Family

2006-11-30T19:18:00.000-05:00

What a week. I've been too busy getting things out to clients to touch back and show off my Saturday morning sitting. I love seeing this family every year. The grandkids are beautiful and I love that the family grows almost every year.

Beach Portraits

2006-11-27T13:21:00.000-05:00

This was a busy weekend for me. I had a morning and evening shoot with tow fantastic families that I've been photographing for years. I am always amazed at how the kids grow and it is great to catch up a bit when I do these sessions.

The Sullivans were looking for a beach theme and I said "I know just the place." we went down to Coquina Beach in Bradenton for a fantastic sunset portrait session on the soft white sands. Beautiful!

Friendship Feast

2006-11-22T08:21:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving time! I love this time of year. The kids do cool things at school and even more than that, I get to eat turkey! I absolutely love turkey. I'm doing mine in the smoker this year. I've done a couple of practice runs that were delicious. Now it's time for the big show...

I went to my son's kindergarten class this week for their Thanksgiving celebration. They are so cute and I love how they jump into everything with so much joy. Enjoy...

Christmas Portraits

2006-11-22T07:51:00.000-05:00

I had a fantastic family portrait recently. I love getting to do these portraits. Usually they become a family tradition and I get to watch the kids grow up for years to come. I also love getting to know a family during the sitting. Everything is so much more relaxed that way. These are some great kids...

Amy Grant Concert

2006-11-08T16:00:00.000-05:00

Last night was one of those "I really love life and photography" nights. I went to a back tie event for the Florida Hospital Heartland Division. It was their annual gala to raise funds for their projects in the area. Amazing night. The evening was capped off with a concert by Amy Grant accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. The music was fantastic and it was nice to see her again. It's been years since I saw her in concert.

Slideshow!

Harvest Hoedown

2006-10-29T07:05:00.000-05:00

I love my church.

Every year we have a huge bar-b-que event out in the sticks at Lupton's Boggy Bottom. What an awesome location , and the food is amazing. It's a great night to hang out, play with your kids, meet new people, eat amazing food (did I mention I love their Bar-b-que?) and just be one huge family. Of course I made certain I made as many photographs as possible while there. Here's the slideshow. Enjoy!

Orlando Portraits

2006-10-27T13:37:00.000-04:00

One of the things I do as often as possible is to spend time with other photographers. I find these times to be refreshing and challenging at the same time. I think the Bible calls it "Iron Shapens Iron." I come away from these with a renewed excitement about photography and new ideas to challenge my creative vision. I get together with a gorup of photogrpahers from central Florida almost every month and there is a group forming here in the Brandon/Tampa area that my prove quite good as well.

Last month the central Florida group met in downtown Orlando for a night portrait shoot. I brought a large, experimental light source that I love to use for that shoot. I spent most of the night lighting for others, but did manage to pull my camera out for a few. Here are some of my selects.

Monique

2006-10-19T17:54:00.000-04:00

I had a very unusual shoot recently. A Sweet Sixteen Party. A very good friend called me to ask if I would be interested and whie I was still making up my mind she handed the phone to Avis. Avis is one of the most excited people I have ever met. She ads energy to everyone in the room and I was hooked by her personality. I had to meet this family.

This was an amazing and fun day. I love being a photograper. I am blessed to be a part of the best days of so many people's lives. Sometimes I have to thank God for what I do.

To see some of the selects from Monique's party, go to the slide show at www.mccrystalimage.com/mussio or by clicking "Monique" upove - the title of this post. Enjoy!

Runing Like Crazy

2006-10-19T17:47:00.000-04:00

This as been a busy season for me lately. One of the big things that has set me into hyper busy mode was my decision to go back to Mac. I've been a PC guy for a lot of years and it is proving to be a steep learning curve. More than anything it is an unlearning curve. I am having to unlearn all the habits I developed trying to use PC's ad their weird ways of doing things. Software that is simple is hard to use when youare busy looking for a harder way to do something than the engineers designed.

I have to say I'm loving the new system. My MacBook Pro is running faster than the desktop system than I have been running. There is a lot to learn and new paths t get from A to B. Overall I'm very gald I made the leap back to the platform that made me fall in love with computers in the first place. My college room mate from my freshman year introduced me to Photoshop 1.0 on a Mac and I was sold. I stopped using my manual typewriter right then! (Yes, I was still using a manual typewrite then... I'm a bit stubborn)

Blake High School

2006-10-04T09:12:00.000-04:00

Last week I had a chance to visit my firned Linda at Blake High School. She has been teaching Photography there since they opened. I've been in and out of that classroom for most of those years teaching lighting and helping with critiques etc. I love going there. The students are amazing. I have seen some unbelievable art come from the students in that program. My visits always leave me inspired and challenged to do more and better work. I get a refreshing peek at how my work as a photographer began.

I spent time with a small group of advanced students talking about portraiture and lighting. These are areas I love to teach. There are so many simple and creative options for lighting and studio work. Very challenging and exciting. I love to see the ideas start to spark while I'm talking and photographing them. It reminds me why I love this so much...

Children's Portraits

2006-09-14T11:10:00.000-04:00

I had a fantastic portrait session this week that I have to share with you.

I've always loved children. I get that from my dad. He always seemed to attract little kids like a magnet. Girl Scout cookie season was a financial disaster in the making. They knew he was an easy mark when they saw him coming. I really love the Samoas to this day...

These are some wonderful kids and I loved photographing them. Part of why I love photographing children is that I am in no rush. I spend time laughing with little ones, holding babies and sharing stories with the family. Beautiful images and a refreshing pause in life.

Enjoy

Manassas, Virginia Mission Trip 2006

2006-08-28T19:59:00.000-04:00

What an amazing trip with the students from my church. We had an adventure on Amtrak, spent some time in DC, served in the communities surrounding Manassas, met students and leaders from churches in other areas of the country, and found God blessing us in amazing and unexpected ways.

I spent most of my week working with children with Autism. I fell in love with these kids. beautiful, amazing, stubborn and wonderful they were. A unique challenge. I didn't believe I was cut out for it, but I have to admit they changed me forever.

The slideshow also includes some of my favorite images from our trip into DC. I fell in love with photography on an 8th grade trip to DC. My family didn't even own a camera at the time. I knew it was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Walking around there I remembered how things just came alive for me visually so many years ago.

Cristina and Drew - Engagement Portraits

2006-08-28T15:36:00.001-04:00

What an amazing couple.

One of my favorite parts of photographing weddings is getting to know young couples and see their romance as it grows. Engagement portraits are a fun way for me to get to know them, help them get used to being relaxed while being photographed and create some amazing portraits for them to share with their family and friends as they get ready for their wedding.

Cristina and Drew are getting married next year. Our E-session in Hyde Park was an adventure. There was a little rain and a lot of walking as we explored the neighborhood and found great little spots to photograph them.

Enjoy!

Portrait Party

2006-08-22T16:15:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Ladies!

I love variety in my work. It makes things exciting for me and motivates me with constant challenges and opportunities for growth in my art.

This was a great evening of portraits. This lovely group of young ladies gathered for a birthday celebration. What a unique group of girls. I had a ball getting to meet and photograph them all.

Destination Virginia

2006-07-20T10:47:00.000-04:00

I'm going to be on the road for a week starting tomorrow. I'm catching a train to Washington, DC and then going to Virginia for a week long mission trip with students from my church. This is going to be an exciting, exhausting and rewarding week. I'm really looking forward to the time to serve others and revisit the place where I first fell in love with photography.
DC is my photographic home. I went on an 8th grade trip there (a very long time ago) and the whole world exploded visually for me. My family didn't own a camera at the time and I started borrowing cameras from everyone on the trip to shoot what I was seeing. When I got home I started saving money and dreaming about my first camera. It's hard to believe my career as a photographer started on an 8th grade trip...
Pray for me while I'm gone. I can't wait to come home to show you the photographs!

Two Very Different Portrait Sittings

2006-07-17T20:21:00.000-04:00

Portraits are exciting for me. I love to spend a bit of time with a person to get to know them and see a bit of their personality. That personality must show through the photographs we create - that is success...

Recently I had two very different couple for two Very different sittings in exactly the same location. I think this is a great peek at how different portraits can be depending on the people in them.

***Slideshow***

A Different Kind of Week

2006-07-14T17:18:00.000-04:00

Every year I pour myself into a week of VBS at my church. I love kids and I love my church. It's a natural thing for me. Take a peek at my week.

Wedding Photography

2006-07-04T09:44:00.000-04:00

I have been doing a lot of thinking recently about why I photograph weddings. It was kind of a shock for me to realize I have been doing weddings since 1989. That's a long time!

My junior year of high school my logic teacher told me I was going to photograph his wedding. I told him he was nuts, that I hadn't done one yet and that I wasn't about to photograph someone who could influence my graduation as my first. He insisted that not doing it might effect my graduation as well.

I called a good friend and photographic mentor and told her my situation. She easily said that I was ready and all I needed was some prep on the logistics etc. I was still unconvinced. Well, Carolyn had a two wedding Saturday scheduled soon after that conversation. I learned more that day than I realized. I was exhausted but unbelievably excited by the end of that day.

My first wedding went by with a relatively low level of stress. I think I was nursing batteries to make it through the end of the day, but I made it. He ordered reprints from me every year for a few years as an anniversary gift for his wife.

I've photographed a ton of weddings since then. I've made it a point to find opportunities to spend time around other wedding photographers who work in inspiring ways. I have also continued to challenge myself by raising the standard for my own photography. I've realized that I can never "arrive" and stop learning. I will continue to grow as long as I have the desire to do so.

I think I still photograph weddings because I love them. It is a great opportunity for me to spend the best day of a couple's life with them, share their joy, document it and preserve it so they can show the photographs to their kids and grand-kids. I'm creating history for those families.

Other photographers find weddings to be stressful or boring. I find them exciting and fun. There are so many opportunities for amazing photography. The key for me has always been to know a couple and enjoy who they are. When I can do that, my best work happens.

I think it's that emotional investment in a couple that really sets my work apart. I'm not working from a prescribed list of my favorite shots, I'm inventing, exploring and discovering what works for each couple as the day goes on.

One big change I've made in my business approach is I've stopped worrying about how many hours I'm working on a wedding. This opens doors for me to capture even more of the wedding day, create a better story and be available to all the moments of the day, not just the ceremony, formals and reception. I wish I had made that realization a long time ago.

Have a Great Fourth of July!

Album Design

2006-07-02T07:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday afternoon I finished working on the rough design for Amy and Darren. I'm a little biased, but I think their album is beautiful. Decide for yourself.

Amy and Darren

2006-06-28T10:19:00.000-04:00

I photographed an amazing wedding this past weekend and I wanted to share it with you.

Amy and Darren are such a lovely couple. I've known Amy for too many years now adn was so honored that she wanted to have me as her photographer. She is a stunning young lady with personality to match her looks. Darren is a very lucky man!

I'm hoping to surprise them by having their images all online before they come home from the honeymoon. I'm halfway through designing their album and the images are on their way to Pictage as we speak.

Enjoy the slideshow.

Key Largo 2006

2006-06-22T18:27:00.000-04:00

Key Largo 2006

I spent the last week in Key Largo with some amazing students from my church. We do this trip every year. We spend the week at one of my favorite places on the planet, Amy Slate's Amoray Dive Resort. The location is beautiful, the staff is excellent and the diving is outstanding. We all look forward to this trip every year. I've been there 9 times and feel like they are my family.

If you are at all interested in diving, snorkeling, nature and peace and quiet, this is a great place to visit. If you are an UW photographer like I am, this is paradise.

Judys Dance Academy

2006-06-22T18:22:00.000-04:00

Judys Dance Academy

This is a series of photographs from the Judy's Dance Academy annual recital at the Lakeland Civic Center. i was blown away at the level of dance and production for this event. I grew up without dance lessons, piano lessons, t-ball teams, select soccer... you get the point. I had no idea that kids dance could be so beautiful.

Disney Vacation

2006-06-22T18:20:00.000-04:00

Disney Vacation

Amazing few days at Disney with my family!

Life is Good...

Sigur Ros Video

2006-06-10T09:58:00.000-04:00

glosoli_hd_1000.mov (video/quicktime Object)

This is an amazing and video and some haunting music. As a photographer I love the visual feel of the whole package. As someone in leadership I find it very challenging.

Queen of Peace School

2006-06-02T17:55:00.000-04:00

Queen of Peace School

This is the second time I've written about this little school. I really love the atmosphere and the people there. I went back for an end of the Year Picnic and Social recently. These are some great people. Whenever I'm in Gainesville I'll be dropping by to check in...

Real People. Really Remarkable Lives.: The Fear of Failure Drives Success?

2006-06-02T17:51:00.000-04:00

Real People. Really Remarkable Lives.: The Fear of Failure Drives Success?

This is an amazing article. David Jay from OSP pointed me in this direction from his blog and I had to pass it on.

I grew up pretty poor. We always ate, but there was always a sense that we didn't really have enough to get by each month. i know that experience has dirven me a great deal in how I approach life.
I love to save money and hide it away. I'm always driven to work harder and acheive more. I hate to waste. I've always believed fear was only a bad thing. Maybe it's good in some controlled doses... I'll have to check my perscription.

Congradulations Hope!

2006-05-26T18:15:00.000-04:00

My sister-in-law passed her Florida Bar exam! Her family had a blow out for her with all the friends and relatives and lots of kids running around. They had a ton of fun, I had a ton of fun photographing them.

Check it Out!

Mary Kay Portraits

2006-05-24T13:11:00.000-04:00

I had an amazing weekend trip to Gainesville. I went up to see some of my Mary Kay ladies again and to a photo-shoot for the "Gator Connection" unit. I always leave Gainesville exhausted and completely recharged at the same time. These are some really fantastic people, I look forward to every trip.

What was exciting about this trip was I had a great mix of make-over portraits, families and children to photograph. I love kids, they are so much fun and I laugh a lot when I'm photographing them. I also get a lot of hugs which makes it even better!

Take a peek at some of my favorites!

Fiction

2006-05-15T14:03:00.000-04:00

I haven't read fiction since I was in college. My wife and some of my friends will often tease me because I am a non-fiction only reader. I love histories, biographies, and theology. I spend a lot of time reading. It brings a lot of creative energy and new ideas into my life and that is invaluable.

Recently I was shopping with my assistant and she pointed out a book to me as a suggestion for a graduate gift. It was a book about a diver with a Christian Publisher. She thought it would be a very personal gift coming from me because of my love of diving. I wanted to read it first before I gave it to a student.

I finished it a few days ago. The book is Deep Blue by Tom Morissey. It turned out to be a fantastic book. I had some reluctance to enjoy this book because it was fiction, but I was able to get past that as the plot and characters drew me in.

Maybe that means I'm growing. Maybe that means I needed something different in my diet to break things up a bit. Change is good. I might even be willing to try another one, but not right away.

I also finished The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. Two very different types of books to be reading side by side. I've read the Case before. Very compelling book with much to offer for someone who is alwaqys digging deeper, asking questions adn pushing farther in their faith. Strobel is a very compelling author and presents a great depth of material in an intriguing framework with many references to his work as a journalist at the Chicago Tribune.

Kristen and Yancey's Album

2006-05-11T06:49:00.000-04:00

I've been working on this album design for a while now. Soon I'll be amaking a sample album from this layout. Kristen and Yancey were such a fun couple to work with. Their zest for life and beautiful morning wedding made for a natural choice for a sample. Since I changed labs and albums I've wanted to update my samples. I'm pretty close now. Soon I'll have it in hand. I can't wait to show it off!

My Wife is Amazing

2006-05-08T21:45:00.000-04:00

My wife is amazing! I am so proud of her. In the past two years she has been teaching full time, serving in our church, being nominated for the top ten of teacher of the year and working on her masters! This weekend she crossed the finish line! I could bust...

Microsoft Future Pro Photographer Contest

2006-05-08T21:44:00.000-04:00

Home - Microsoft Future Pro Photographer Contest

This looks like a great way for a young photographer to get a good start in their career. This is the first year Microsoft has taken on this contest. For someone right out of high school or in college this could be the big push you need to get things really rolling. $20,000 buys a lot of camera gear and could be great money to start a busniess or fund a long term special project.

Kaitlyn's Journey

2006-05-03T07:25:00.000-04:00

Kaitlyn's Journey

This is a post and a prayer request. The above link is to a blog from a friend through Open Source Photo. Eric is a great photographer and dad. His beautiful daughter has been diagnosed with Leukemia. Visit his site to see what her status is and fall in love with her. Please keep their whole family in your prayers.

Welcome to 30 Hours Famine

2006-04-28T15:46:00.000-04:00

Welcome to 30 Hours Famine

This weekend I'm taking 30 hours of my life to stop eating and start helping others. The statistics are chilling. 29,000 children die every day from hunger. Every $30 I raise this weekend through your support saves a child's life for 30 days. That's a fantastic return on your investment and mine.

Visit World Vision's site above and give generously. If you give because you saw it here, plese drop me a note so I know.

Swamped! In The Best Way...

2006-04-27T21:24:00.000-04:00

I have been one busy guy lately. I wanted to catch you up just a little bit on all that's happening.

Saturday I photographed a fantastic 25th wedding anniversary and vow renewal. It was so beautiful. Cross Creek Ranch in Dover is such a beautiful venue for an event like this. There is just a beautiful charm to the whole place. It was fitting for such an amazing family. I love having the opportunity to be a part o the best days of people's lives. Hank and Machele were so cute and they must be doing something right to have 3 beautiful kids too. Friends and family from all over came to share the celebration with them. I was really honored to be a part of it.

Sunday, I Photographed the final performance of People of the Passion. Very powerful. I am so amazed at all the talent that my church is blessed with. Everything was done in house - musicians, singers, actors, lighting, video, scoring of all the instrument, writing of all the narration and scripting the action. The whole enchilada. I was blown away.

Here's my final slide show.

Also, I had the awesome opportunity to lead worship and speak at all three services this past Sunday. What an amazing opportunity. The student band and all the students who lead worship with me were awesome. It's so very cool to see how the church responds to them. Teenagers aren't perfect, but they are amazing worshippers. I love being with them.

Monday night I had a great opportunity for Chick-fil-A. They were sponsoring the kick off of an All Pro Dads group at one of our middle schools. The event was very cool and I had a chance to see some other great dads and learn some myself while I was photographing the event.

Here are some of my images from the evening.

The People of the Passion

2006-04-20T08:36:00.000-04:00

Wow! My church is doing a world premier of an original musical this weekend. Brad Trumbull, our keyboard genius wrote this amazing musical based on a sermon series our senior pastor, Jerry Van Dyken shared last year. I was blown away when I went to the dress rehearsal last nght. You have to come see this. Very, Very Cool! Go see the slideshow with a few selects from last night. I wish I had some of the music to add to the background of the show. Maybe when I shoot the final performance.

Tampa Open Source Photo Road Trip

2006-04-18T07:49:00.000-04:00

Last night was awesome. Tampa, Orlando and Miami area photographers from Pictage gathered for an awesome night. We shared ideas, swapped stories, shot together and stretched each other creatively. I especially enjoyed getting some to the Open Source Photo people together. This is an amazing and talented bunch. Here are a a handful of selects from the evening.

A Day on the Train

2006-04-08T09:58:00.000-04:00

Friday was an awesome day. I went on a 4year old preschool trip to ride the Florida Gulfcoast Railraod Museum. This is a working train - "A museum on wheels" as tehy explained. Very interesting and a lot of fun and very cool to see the world through their eyes for a while.

Take a minute and ride the train with us.

Quiet Times at St Simons Island

2006-03-23T11:05:00.000-05:00

I came back from an amazing weekend with some kids from church on Monday. When I'm away on trips like that I always make sure I get some time every morning to be alone with God and get spiritually prepared for the day. St Simons is so beautiful at sunrise that I couldn't resist using part of that time to make some photographs of God's hand at work in the beauty of our world. I think He makes the world so beautiful so we can see a peek at His beauty.

Green Beans

2006-03-17T15:41:00.000-05:00

My Neice isn't certain if she likes grean beans or not.

Sometimes they are good...

Other times not so good!

Play ball!

2006-03-17T15:31:00.000-05:00

My son and I took in a Yankees game on Tuesday afternoon. What a great day. Hanging out with my kids is awesome. Being a dad is the best thing ever. I highly recomend it to all married men.

One of the players rolled a ball to him over th dug out during the game. he was so excited that we had to spend an hour and a half in the back yard with him cracking them off the tee at me and me relaying them back to his sister to tee it back up.

By the way, thanks Brian! Awesome seats!

Children Around the World

2006-03-15T07:25:00.000-05:00

I spent last Friday in Pre-school. What a fantastic way to spend a morning! So many bright shining faces and even more laughter.

Visit the Slide Show for More of the Fun!

Architectural Shoot

2006-03-06T20:10:00.000-05:00

At the end of last week I had a commercial shoot for a large local sign company, Sign Star. Awesome people to work with and I learned a lot about the sign busniess in the process. I spent the day with Danny, who is a really amazing guy to know and work with. We have a lot of the same thinking about busniess. It's all about relationships. By the way, thanks again for lunch!

I don't do a ton of commercial work these days, I've been focusing on weddings and portraits. It was a real joy though. We covered a lot of territory (3 Counties) to get a good cross section of their work to use in their brochures and trade show booths. Soo we will begin redecorating their offices with some large prints.

Here's some of my favorites from the day.

Senior Portraits

2006-03-01T10:16:00.000-05:00

I had an amazing shoot this weekend and I wanted to share it with you. I like to spend as much time as possible with a person as part of a sitting. It gives us a chance to really get to know each other and connect. It makes all the difference in the world as far as the images go. When I was done shooting I was just shy of 200 images into the sitting. That's a good feeling. Here's the slideshow of some of my favorites...

Jordyn's Senior Portraits

Gallery page

2006-02-13T07:47:00.000-05:00

Just an update on my update...

My new gallery page is finished. I wanted to have a gallery that really represented the depth of what I do. I found out that is difficult because I do so many different things within photography. I'm somewhat an addict when it comes to photography. Take a look.

http://www.mccrystalimage.com/gallery/index.htm

Reading Reading Reading

2006-02-08T14:32:00.000-05:00

I read a lot. I mean A LOT. It's kind of funny that I had to graduate from college before I realized that I love learning. Just a short time ago I diswcovered audio books. Now I am usually listening to a book on my ipod and then reading an actual

book as well. It's a nice way to keep new informationgoing into my brain.

I just finished "The Big Moo" by Seth Godin. Awesome book. I've already listened to it twice. It's a great way to get thinking about change and innovation in my life. Last week while I was discussing the book with a student at my church she reminded me that I needed to re-read "The Dream giver" by Bruce Wilkinson. I will start that tonight. Another fantastic book!

Strangely enough I recently found a stuffed cow on my desk. Thank you to my Big Moo supporter who ever you are.

By the way, pray for David Jay, he is in Brazil on a mission trip to bring water purification into the villages in the rainforest. Very cool. Hopefully his luggage with his malaria medecin catches up with him soon

American Child Photgrapher Charity Guild

2006-02-02T16:42:00.000-05:00

I just discovered this organization. I am deeply moved. This is another way that God is revealing how I am to serve Him. I've put in my name incase they need anyone near Tampa. We have so many large hospitals in the area that I imagine there is a lot of need out there. Too much...

Child Photography, children's portraits, children's photographer, child photographers, pre-mature infants, special needs children, American child photographers charity guild, Erin Drallos, Footprints child photography, down syndrome, trisomy 21

One Step Ahead

2006-01-31T22:37:00.000-05:00

Last night was awesome. I went over to Orlando to be at the first night of Gary Fong's "One Step Ahead Tour." It was really a very cool night. I learned a lot and I met some great people. I ran into some very old friends who I haven't seen in years and had a chance to catch up a little and I met some new friends who I met through Open Source Photo. I was glad to meet some people whos work I admire and get to spend some time learning with them.

I also met a handful of up and coming photographers that are going to be great for our industry. We need more honest, hard working people with great vision and passion. I guess every industry needs that.

I'm in the process of implementing some of the new ideas I picked up after an evening with Gary. I'm looking at this as a fresh start in a lot of ways. Gary's process is very simple and that is a beautiful thing in itself. I was glad to hear a number of the things I am already doing on his list - blogging (hey, I'm doing that now), collages, web slideshows, treating clients as friends and giving them the best treatment possible because they are friends, etc. I was also somewhat freed to go with my heart on some issues, like get rid of time limitations as part of the creative fees.

Now it is time to let some more creative ideas start to gel in my brain. That's going to sleep to dream....

What a Weekend!

2006-01-24T16:00:00.000-05:00

This has been an exciting time for me lately. I've been busy with shoots all over the state and that's a very good thing. This past week I spent a couple of days in Gainesville photographing some of the beautiful women of Mary Kay. We had a make over party one night with portraits by the fireplace and then a formal banquet the next night. These ladies are very impressive. I have to say I came home excited and ready to take on the world after spending some time listening to them and their stories. I feel like my goals are too small after listening to them.

I also had the honor of being invited to show and tell at my neice's school. What an amazing place. I really fell in love with her school. My favorite part was at the end of the school day. After a short devotion time in the sanctuary all of the students stop with the principal or one of the faculty and they bless them each before they go out into the world. I had tears in my eyes. The whole world should be like that.

I ended the weekend with an exciting night at the monster truck show with my little guy. He's all about the trucks. We both had a blast. I love hanging out with him. He's the coolest!

Sheer Joy

2006-01-18T13:38:00.000-05:00

I remember when I first started shooting weddings (my junior year of high school) and how all the photographers I knew talked about shooting weddings like they were a huge pressure cooker designed to deep fry photographers. They thought I was naive, maybe I was. Maybe I still am.

I really love doing this. What better job description can there be for a photographer and a believer. I get to share one of the most important days with people who are in love. I get to participate in creating memories that will last a lifetime and beyond. Grandchildren will look at my photographs as they hear the story of the day their parents' parents started their lives together.

I've been looking at some of my archive images and remembering so many different weddings lately. God has belssed me so abudantly with this profession, this gift. I consider what I do to be sheer joy.

Concert

2006-01-09T16:07:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note. We had an awesome concert last night at my church. I just wanted to show off a little bit.

The band is

My Rocket Heart

. They are a great group of guys, just recently became big time rock stars with a record deal, but they still remember how much fun it is to rock a church gym! The neighbors all liked what they heard as well...

Also, here's the

slideshow

too!