LOOK AROUND

Look around and what do you see? Today on the way to work I counted the different colors of nature that were all around me and I counted [in the long three mile drive], 26 different colors in flowers, leaves and ground cover. It was so nice to be able to look around and appreciate these colors, especially since it was such a dreary day. I love spring and I love fall and you know I am sure it is because of the colors of each season.

I believe when God created the world he must have had one huge art pallet with oodles of color choices.

Now we have so many things in our lives which require choosing color: paint for your home or business, cars, hair, clothing, nail polish, jewelry, make up and even food.

Do you recall in the Wizard Of Oz when Dorothy stepped out of her home into OZ, what a difference it made that the movie was then in color? That to me was a great way to let us really appreciate color.

This weekend we are photographing a Prom and the Prom Committee made a request that we offer regular color photographs and the choice of Black and White with "Color Wash" only in the background flowers, it should be interesting to tally up the choices. It will be their choice and it will be unique, but I wonder how many will make the "Color Wash" photograph choice over the traditional color photograph. Especially with all the choices of colors for the beautiful prom gowns.

Don't get me wrong when done right there is nothing like the rich, classic Black and White portrait, but then God gave us color too and we can have beautiful color portraits.

Take a moment and look around, how many colors in nature do you see?

Be sure to Thank God, I did :-)

LOVE The Natural Thing!

Yesterday as with many Saturdays, we photographed a wedding. The day was beautiful. This was good as the venue for the Wedding was outdoors.

Friday evening we went to the rehearsal and I am thankful that we did because this was a totally new type of wedding ceremony for us. The couple was from the state of Washington, they found us via the Internet and with a recommendation from Chris' (the Groom) Grandmother. The wedding was taking place at Chris' Grandmother's farm. A home place where Chris had many wonderful memories and wanted to add one more I am sure. The wedding took place by a very old and beautiful, sturdy oak tree. There were numerous rituals that were part of the ceremony, it proved to be something quite interesting to experience.

Yes, I am glad that we attended the rehearsal on Friday evening along with the intimate gathering of family and friends that were very special to the couple. We learned just how the ceremony would unveil. It was vitally important to the couple that through our photography, this wonderful day would be preserved for them.

Just as with any different type of experience, we had a difficult time accepting such a unique wedding ceremony. Communing with Mother Nature, Father Sky and the Mighty Oak as the altar, seemed hard to grasp as a true wedding venue.

However as the hours have passed since the wedding, I find myself respecting this couples true love of nature and most certainly of each other. I truly feel ignorant and small when I realize I found myself initially amused at this couples choice of Ceremony celebration.

It was beautiful and so much THEIR OWN, how lovely that they were able to have exactly what they wanted, utilizing the gifts we have all been given. It was not necessary to rent a hall for the reception, and God's gift to all of us is the beauty of nature, so why not have your ceremony and celebration in his beautiful setting.

Yes, I was apprehensive about an outdoor wedding in April, but GOD blessed them with a beautiful day. Culture seems to insist a wedding in a church is essential, but you know GOD gave us nature and it's beauty, not buildings.

And remember....... Man & Woman did begin in the Garden of Eden.

REMEMBER WHY

A Star in the sky, Shepherds, Wise Men, you and me.

Just about 3 and half months ago we celebrated Christmas, the birth of Christ what a joyous time of the year and not because of Santa's gifts but because of GOD'S Gift to us.

We are now about to celebrate the joy of Easter.

But today through Saturday is a time for reflection of what happened to GOD'S gift to us. The back stabbing, the lies, the torture and finally the death of Jesus Christ.

My, my it sounds a lot like the world we live in today, doesn't it?

This Sunday Christians will celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord, ALLELUIA!

When do you suppose we will celebrate the Resurrection of our World, and return to the Peace, Love and Joy that GOD wanted us to have in our world?

The star in the sky is still there; those of us who attend Church or Synagogue, know our Shepherds; perhaps there are still Wise Men about; and yes there still is you, me and GOD.

This Sunday when you are in church celebrating Easter and all it's meaning or even during Passover when you are in Synagogue take time to think and Celebrate with Hope, for a future full of love, peace and joy with our Lord. I will be doing just that.

Thank you GOD for being there with us and for us, always.

CAPTURED

I suppose you think I am going to write about something, someone or myself being captured. Perhaps that is right. My way of capture is with one of my cameras. I have been fortunate in the past 31 years (oh my that sounds so long!) to capture thousands of people, numerous animals and a multitude of nature and scenic photographs. I think that calling this a "job" is unfortunate, because I enjoy this aspect of my "job" immensely. Of course all of the nitty gritty details to accomplish the delivery of the product we create is tedious, however the end of it results in such satisfaction.

The art of Capture is such fun and very thought provoking. Creating the image can and usually does take planning, the best part is the actual capture and end result, a photograph which creates a memory, that can touch your heart. At least that is my intent.

When a disaster takes place (tornado, hurricane, flood, fire) and you may see on the TV the people affected, many say they were able to save their photographs or perhaps they lost their photographs. For me this shows that these images they saved or lost were so very important, a preservation of a memory .

In this day of Digital photography capture is so much easier, however it is making people comfortable. It is essential to get a hard copy of the image because......

......a camera can break, be lost or stolen. A memory card can fail and because of the newness of digital imagery saving to a hard drive, CD or DVD may not be permanent. Please make sure to get a picture you can hold in your hand, frame or put in an album. It will then become a permanent memory for you to share with the future. Please do not wait, because any of the above can happen at any time!

OK enough lecturing. It is such a joy to see peoples faces when I present their photographs to them. My husband is very gifted as a photographer I suppose you could say it is in his blood, being third generation and all. I am so lucky to have learned most of what I know from him. We are fortunate to be able to Capture Memories for others, in our Studio literature we call it "Memory Insurance" and I really believe it is.

We connect with many people at the time of the loss of a loved one. They need a picture of their loved one for the funeral or for themselves. I am sorry for people at this time in their life. However, I am thankful we can give them this memory we have created. To be able to see a little glimmer of comfort when I give them their photograph lets me hope that they will be able to get through this very sad time, a bit easier with this picture of their loved one. And because of the photograph, the memory will be with them always.

I have many photographs of my Dad at work and at home, often I look at them for comfort, encouragement and even advice. The picture is a piece of my Dad and I am so happy Mike captured him for me, such a treasured gift!

I am sure you all are thankful for the pictures you have, to keep memories, yours forever.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Turn Around and Where Has It Gone?

"TIME FLIES", yes it does. In 10 days I will have been blessed to have been the wife of Mike for 22 years! It seems like it was just last week that we headed out with our secret. We were going to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to "tie the knot"; no one except Mike's sons and my sister Patti, knew we were doing this. We had our announcements to send out and our clothing, rings and video camera to capture the ceremony. I had just returned home from 7 days in Florida with my sister Patti and my 2 month old nephew Joey, his Dad was away so I had helped out and threw everyone off from our secret.

Mike and I left on Sunday and arrived on Monday at the courthouse in Sievereville to get our marriage license and send out our announcements, so they would arrive on April Fool's day.....our wedding day. I joke that we got married on April Fool's day 'cause "only fools fall in love" but you know, I do not feel foolish at all!

Now back to "time flies" ....that 2 month old nephew is now a handsome, charming 22 year old, we are grandparents, have 2 great sons, 14 additional nieces and nephews and one great niece. Four Surrogate daughters, a great church family and many great friends. Last year was our 25th year of being owners of our photography business, and we are about to begin a new business, the McClure Guesthouse. Of course there have been sad/bad times...loss of family members and dear friends, illness, business problems, but the good times far outweigh the bad and we are lucky.

Over the past three weeks Mike and I have been apart quite a bit. It is amazing just how slow that time flew. We are back on track now, together almost 24/7, many people find it hard to believe we can be together so much and have such a great marriage, but I can honestly say it does work.

I do turn around and wonder where the time has gone, but then I realize that "time flies", and it is such a beautiful flight! I am truly blessed with my husband, family, friends and business and I thank God every day.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Little Guy From Florida........