All I wanted for Christmas...

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...was a portrait lens.

What I didn't realize until I used it, is that portrait lenses have magical powers (now grouped with #Gandalf #Hermione and #CreditCards). They do, really.

It was an adventure to find that the the secretly wielded power of the portrait lens (SWPPL) is that it introduces you to someone in a whole new way, just like one of those unforgettable cup-of-coffee conversations with an old friend. You know what I mean.

This time, my lens introduced me to people I've know since they were brand new (one of them, still brand new). To capture their wonderfully exhilarated, rosie-cheeked personalities was a feat. I had to pin each of them down from various activities, including the massive 10-foot snowman building (encouraged by my brothers, their dads), the pulling one another behind the tractor on multiple strung-together plastic sleds (encouraged by my brothers, their dads) and the trying to throw snow balls at my new magical portrait lens (encouraged by no-one, promptly ended by the dreaded Mean Aunt Face).

So, enjoy meeting these beautiful joy-filled people. I hope you'll find yourself joyful afterwards; I always find that I am.

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The Dream Breed

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Today I went with my coworker to one of my very favorite places to buy clothes to participate in something called a Holiday Display Workshop. (Yes, it is exactly that. A store with a cult following gets their loyal customers to do work for them for free.) But truly, it was a great time, to sit in the middle of a bustling high-ceiling retail store with your sleeves rolled up, hair slipping out of it's tie, and white paint beneath your fingernails decorating snowflakes. All of this with 10 other women chatting away.

Anyhow, the DC (cool Anthro lingo for Display Coordinator) who led the workshop inspired me. She was a person who represented a handful of people I have encountered lately...people who have chosen a passion, worked towards it, and with patience and perseverance have slowly seen their dreams come to fruition. I'll call them the Dream Breed. 

This girl got her Bachelors of Fine Arts while working at the retail store as a Sales Associate, graduated, was promoted, and now, just two years after finishing school, has one of the most unique, exhilarating and fulfilling jobs in her field.

Another person of the Dream Breed: I recently met a girl my age - a true kindred spirit - who works for a national pro-life non-profit and has been campaigning for the past nine months. She graduated two years ago, came across the job through her family and church and dove into it wholeheartedly despite it not being her field of study. Upon talking with her during her visit to Columbus, where she had traveled last minute to promote a tv spot her organization released, she conveyed a pure joy and dedication to what she was doing. She wasn't sarcastic, worn-out or apathetic about her job, despite the nature of it...full of travel and contention. She was grounded in her belief that motivated her. 

These people are in a class all of their own to me. I respect them not because they are successful, but because they are dedicated, passionate, and - most of all - hopeful about the world that surrounds them. So, here's to seizing days and fulfilling dreams. 

These photos are of my sister, Elizabeth, her husband Ross and their family-full-of-goodness. They are some of my favorite people in the entire world. BTW, both Elizabeth and Ross are champions of the Dream Breed.

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One, Two, Three, Gratitude

Have you ever felt the feeling of gratitude? I hope so. It's a truly human sentiment. ​It's really an over-generalized term for what I'm about to describe, but it's there nonetheless. 

The family pictured here is the first I ever had the pleasure of photographing. Before I even knew I loved doing it, Kate consistently called me to take photos of her family. She called a first, but then a second and a third time as seasons passed and as the family grew. And with the third time I found myself enjoying the opportunity not only to take pictures, but to tell a story...the story of family.

​So, it's for Kate and her husband Jon that I am grateful today. Thank you for helping me discover the meaning of joy in telling a story with a photo!

p.s.  Did you know gratitude is eucharisteo in Greek? Thus, eucharisteo is a favorite word of mine, but it wasn't until I learned about it in book about how giving thanks can change your life. It's called One Thousand Gifts, by a hero-blogger called Ann Voskamp. Take a minute to peruse her blog. You'll be inspired, without question.

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A Real Pile

I love that part in the book Where The Wild Things Are, when the little boy Max talks about he and his monster friends sleeping in a "real pile."

I'm reminded of it sometimes after a I have (or, "survive" might be more appropriate) a weekend like the one I just had, when 1:30AM is full of slap-happy jokes, microwaved left-overs, and an inevitable pile of sleeping children on the carpet or couch or window seat or any horizontal surface. 

Don't call child services. Don't be alarmed. This is normal living ​when the goodness of family is bursting through. This weekend we had bunches of family and friends over to celebrate Natalie's graduation and you could catch the joy in the air with a butterfly net. 

Family is one of the things for which I'm most full-up with gratitude, which is why I love taking wedding photos. It's the fresh new family-of-two's very first celebration. Goodness.

These two people in particular are a gem of a new family! It was evident all day that, for them,  marriage means commitment and sacrifice and joy all bound up by a sincere love for one another. I had the privilege of teaming up with my wonderfully talented photog-friend, Nicole Floetker, to catch it on camera. Thank you, Nico!

(More on this weekend's graduation shin dig to come!)​

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New York in the Fall

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“Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”

— Joe Fox

So, maybe this isn't New York, and maybe you don't have quite the affinity for the fall that I do, but let me tell you. ​

​I love the fall. The autumn. The leaves. The apple pie. The sweaters. The boots. The cozy. No doubt, there is a Pinterest Board somewhere that visually displays the wonder of what I'm talking about (Seriously - do you know of one? Please comment and tell me!)

Part of my love for the season comes from my love for the movie, You've Got Mail. I may have the screenplay bookmarked on my home and work computers. I may quote it in front of people I don't know hoping for a reaction (thus proving them part of the secret society of YGM aficionados).​

For those of you who share in this obsession, I want you to experience this little gem I've just discovered that is perhaps the original website for the movie when it debuted in 1998. Click it. I know you'll love it...

The cusp of fall into winter caught this beautiful family in front of my lens. A delight to photograph! 

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