our duty..

our job in this life is not to worry about ourselves… God’s ideal for our day to day life is to consider others above ourselves, but more than that to work and do whatever our duties are as unto HIM first with the reward of heaven, and eternal life in mind, and as you give yourself fully to christ, He then can work more fully in you and through you to be a blessing to other far more beyond what you may have thought possible, and then he’ll prosper you far more than you thought possible too!

you worry about you, and your end will be no where… you worry about them, and he’ll get you everywhere…!

Colossians 3:17, 23-24, philippians 2:4

...concepts

had the opportunity to shoot two of my former photography students and their friend to cap off the trio of friends. the third friend will be moving away within the next month, and one of my students will be leaving the state for about 4 weeks, so this was one of the last weekends they would all be together, so they asked me to do a shoot with them. they had purchased dresses together, got friendship bracelets, and a few other things, and i was apart of the weekend.. 

over the past week or two since my last shoot, and i had been stressing about posing, and not just finding great locations and having models that fell into great poses because they happened to be photogenic.. i really wanted to focus on my posing.  the one thing that Jasmine star had mentioned that stuck with me was that she didn't put them into a pose, because then... it looked posed. she thought of where she wanted them to end up, and then worked them into the pose, having them do certain things that would end them up in the pose so it would seem a bit more natural. i didn't do that entirely last night, but i did have a bit better process as far as the posing of the girls were concerned..

a christian's life..

so this sabbath, i decided to stay home from church and do some introspection. realizing there are a loooot of things going on in my life, and i've not yet been able to grasp one very well.. as a christian, i realize that true success with anything comes as a result of being in tuned with God. understanding who He is, who He's made you to be and what path he wants you to take with the gifts He's given you.. on top of that, you've got to accept it all, and make every effort to succeed with it all, in spite of the fact that we are born in bodies, with minds and tendencies that are bent exactly in the opposite direction of who God is, and what He wants us to do. success, and in the christian realm, perfection, can be attained, God said it in his Word, and showed it THROUGH his Word. i've recently heard a number of songs and quotes speaking to the topic of faith, leaving it in God's hands, understanding when we can't do it ourselves, but along with all that, God has required us to DO a number of things, LIVE OUT a number of qualities and PUT ON  a lot of traits, character traits that are a reflection of who He is... and that isn't as easy as waking up and breathing (with the help of God) you've actually got to put work into the cultivation of your christian life.

i've recently heard a concept stated in a number of different ways, nothing great is attained without first putting in work, effort, and having to deny yourself of something. and that rings true, clearly in the spiritual realm, but particularly for me in my photography business. i've not put as much work as i need to into my business. just within the last 7-10 day's i've been following a few posts, video and text, of a few of my FAVORITE photographers, Jasmine Star and Chase Jarvis, and something that has really stuck out to me with what they're doing is, they put there ALL into their work. it's not something that they happened to be good at, and are relying on that gift/talent to springboard them into awesome success... they're puttin in hours to make this passion of theirs a reality, doing all they can to get better, and then help others get there as well. they also are doing it all as the real authentic jasmine and chase, and who they are is bursting through in all their work! their lives are what make their business so successful. they are authentically themselves in every way and that is a HUGE key in what makes them such a success!

i've realized over the past few weeks also, as i read a book i bought on my iPhone, Living on the Edge, by Chip Ingram, which is a study of how to live a Romans 12 life, that each and every, if not more of the things pointed out by chase and jasmine can and should be applied to our Christian lives! Authenticity! Dedication! Self Denying! Passion! Reliance on more than self!

i just really thank God for giving me these gifts, desires, and dreams.. i just hope and pray i can become man enough, to do what I do, in His name, heartily to Him, and let His glory be known to the world.

DC METRO

had the opportunity of using the city transit system aloooot more than i every have in my life, particularly on a personal, individual level, and then with a friend or two as my trip went on. I've always had a semi notion of the kind of person that uses MARTA/METRO. the people who don't have cars, are short on money, and a number of other reasons. as i was on the train, i was then exposed to the plethora of people who, without shame use the transit system on a day to day basis. it can even become their choice, if not for life, definitely for a large part of their commute to their destinations. and the wide range of demographic differences was clearly distinguished and displayed as i traveled from station to station on the 4 to 5 routes available throughout metro DC and maryland. young people, old people, black and white, but also european, indian, asian, hispanic; each stemming from a different economic status, yet this one entity has brought them all together, no matter where they come from..

nearing the end of my last trip on the METRO i took a photograph of seemingly affluent/successful african american matured gentleman. he was dressed in what to be an expensive suit, with an equally expensive or high quality watch and ring on his finger. he came across as an individual who, in my slightly sheltered life would not have been on a city transit system. BUT HE WAS! and so was about ___ other DMV citizens as they made their way to and from their various destinations. work, class, shows, museums, friends, and a number of other locations of interest and events in their lives. 

it also boggled my mind the stories behind the wide range of lifestyles and ways of life that can be viewed as you take a short ride between 3 or 4 stops on the Metro... each person has their own story, the more observe, the more is revealed.. the young caucasian girl with jean shorts, flip flops, her purse and her iPod in her ears could be going a NUMBER of places in the morning, class, girlfriends, etc. the brotha with the locs asking which stop is which, kinda bewildered, but polite enough to thank you to the only (black) woman who offered to give him the information on the train. the asian gentleman in the suit pants shirt and tie with the emotionless expression, who chose to take the empty seat after the train emptied out... i wonder where he works, what he does, has he family to go home to, or a car to drive home in, and there were countless others my mind fails to remember in detail at this point, that caught my interest in the flurry of other humans as they passed through the DC metro system.

i think the most interesting thing about the METRO system besides the people was the architecture of transit network.. the tunnel stops, ground level stops and above ground stops where designed and crafted in an amazing way. not very detailed, but still very awesome, particularly the underground stations as you descend or ascend the stairs to your destination you see the amazing circular design wrapping around the train and station with 2-3 feet inlets in the walls that makes a wonderful pattern as it flows throughout the station.

all in all, my experience traveling on the DC METRO to get from place to place on my trip was amazing, so much so, that i want to use it as much as i can on my next trip. for the people, the sights and last but thankfully least, the small cost of riding!! :-)

pre-shoot

so today i gave myself the opportunity of doing something i rarely do to this extent before a photo shoot... i went scouting the location of my next shoot! and not just a drive by type thing. but actually getting out the car, walking around for a good 15-20 minutes, and finding between 8 and 10 photo ideas/locations for the shoot coming up. other than meeting with the client, this is probably the second best thing for you to do. not only does it prepare you for where you're going to be shooting, but it gives you ideas to help you pre visualize shots. this part especially works if you take photos on the scout, bring the back to review and match them up with a few ideas you may have already had in your head, and jog your memory of what you may have thought about while you were out that day. 

this also gives you the opportunity to make yourself known to whomever may be in the area of the time of the shoot (especially if you're shooting around or near a public monument or historical location). and if it's a fairly popular place to shoot, they could give you ideas as well! on thing i really enjoyed today was having the lady explain to me what the location was exactly about, and that puts more into perspective what i could to with the shoot as well!

just thought i'd share, as it seemed to be VERY helpful to me today..

IV

Teaching Senior Portraits

Being a high school teacher gives me and my students the opportunity to use our talents for the school and students. The yearbook uses both casual and cap and gown photos for senior pages. The yearbook sponsor thought it great for students from my class to offer their services to seniors who wanted their photos taken. Today was the first day of shooting, and i tagged along giving advice here and there. As always, when you teach, you learn yourself, and sometimes get to put into practice things you learn... one that's not pictured here is using elements around you as "reflectors" on of my students had his white school shirt off, so i used that to reflect light on the subjects face as she was in the shade...

Back -LIghting

Day Out...

so every once in awhile, two of my cousins and i go out to eat somewhere, and one of the three of us pays... this wasn't one of those particular days, but it was still a cousins outing... ( minus the fourth, erica :-/ )

so we ate, and since it was such a beautiful day outside, according the THEM they wanted to go to tha park! so we all went, and i brought my camera with me... particularly because i have been tired of shooting on campus, around my house and in my room... this as a chance to shoot different subjects, different scenery, etc... enjoy! :-)