Boston Family Portraits

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!

All Photographs Copyright 2007 Michael J. McCrystal

iPhone Spam Solution

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Images I Love

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...