A couple of weeks ago I was at the beach - alone - and happened to have my camera with me that day. Imagine! Just me and big papa (a.k.a - my camera). While there that afternoon, I noticed an elderly man who came walking by with his orange cooler and his 1980's beach/lawn chair. He caught my attention because one...he reminded me of my Grandpa who passed away - 2 months before my wedding - back in 1994. If he was alive today, I know without a shadow of a doubt that he'd be on that beach with me - fishing up a storm. And two, I noticed this man because of how he just plopped down in the sand and immediately began staring out into the ocean. I was taken by his ability to sit down and expel his "goings on" that fast. Normally it takes me an hour just to wind down and quit fidgeting. I was close enough to him that my lens was able to capture his demeanor. I sat there for three hours watching this man watch the sea. At times, I wish I'd had a penny for his thoughts. For most of the day his outer appearance gave me every indication that he was a content man. Very still. Just taking it all in. Then at other times though, he seemed sad, lonely, and run down. I noticed him looking down - into his lap a lot. It broke my heart. You could tell he was troubled.
I began to wonder how much time God had planned for him here on this earth. I wondered what kind of man he was. Was he a father, a husband, a widow, etc.? My mind raced with anxiety for him when I began to dissect how much of his life is already over. I got to thinking about how when I was 15, 30 seemed so old. Here I am now 34 years old and isn't funny how 80 seems so young? I don't know how old this man was but it was clear that he was in the final 1/3 of his time here on earth.
I admired how he wasn't a dirty old man that would watch all of the young girls in bikini's. Their existence never even phased him. Most men would have had tongues hanging out of their mouth as they sat and watched the pretty passer by's. I admired how he came prepared for a relaxing day in the sun. No books. Just his 80's lawn chair and his old orange cooler with a sandwich, chips, and a frosty cold beer inside. Actually he had a couple of frosty cold beers during his time there. I guess more than anything though, I admired his love for the sea. You could tell it was embedded in every fiber of his being. I don't know if he is a Florida native or if he moved here later in life. Either way, like me, he had a love affair going on with the ocean. He was clearly there to soak it all in with no interruptions. No, not even a book.
As God blessed me with the reality of an unexpected surprise today, I look back on the image of this man and just pray that I do all I can for this world and within this world before my time expires here on earth. I pray that one day when I'm his age and sitting in front of the sea, I can look back on my life and know that I lived it to the fullest extent. I want to look back and know that I built a firm foundation for myself with the bricks that others happened to throw. I pray that I will have fulfilled God's purpose for me here on this earth and that when I get to heaven he will reward me not with riches but instead....a reward that involves discovering he has the most incredibly gorgeous ocean and blue sky ever none to man up there. I pray that he will reward me with a reserved beach chair for not only myself but chairs lined along side mine for my loved ones too. I pray he has been to Target and found me a good pair of cheap rubber flip flops for that magnificent beach he is hiding up there. And who knows, he might even stop off by the beauty supply house and pick me up some "afro sheen" to help me with a good ol' fashioned sun tan. :) Ya never know. I have faith - don't hate! :) I pray that the clouds that line that sky up there are the most awesome of white pillowy clouds and that somehow I'll be able to continue photographing beauty. Eternal beauty.
I don't know who that man was on the beach that day. I don't know what kind of life he has lead. I don't know how much "time" he has left to sit in front of our seas here on earth. However, I took the time to pray for him, myself, and many others that afternoon. My visual of this man left me praying about the fact that I hope he knows you God. I hope he loves you. And in the end, I hope you have a 1980's beach chair and a cooler, no matter the color, waiting for him in heaven. I know, I know...we'll scratch the cold frosty beers. ;)
Praying that you all know "Him" and love "Him" today too. In his grip, Angie
Hi all. I hope your Thursday is going well. Sorry for the lack of blog post(s) in the past two days. I am actually trying to catch up from being away and out of state all day this past Tuesday. It's crazy how one day away can wreak havoc on your everyday routine, isn't it? Anyway, I've been meaning to share this session with each of you for a while now. Isn't this little princess such a doll? She really worked the camera and gave out the smiles on cue without much prompting. She was a natural - definitely!
These shots were taken before they began mowing down all of the queen Anne's lace in the fields around Indy. Now all of the fields are just...well fields. Ha ha! Mowed down, plain ol' fields. Boring. In these shots though, the area was gorgeous and the little girl couldn't have gone any more perfectly in regard to her attire. This is a shoot that I did with Leah so she helped pick the child's clothing for the session. So fun!
Then, she got into a new set of digs and rolled with some pig tails for a bit. Even more cuteness...
And this shot below....Oh how I love it. It makes me laugh anytime I look at it. She looks as though she is standing there giving a speech of some sort. Cracks me up...
And her eyes...they are just stunning...
Don't you just love her lace in her hair (below)? Yeap...help from Leah with that added "punch" too. Soooooo adorable!
This was such a fun session. Children like this little girl really trick you into thinking children's portraiture is nothing short of a breeze. If only every session went off without a hitch like this one... :)
Hello everyone. Yes, I am still alive. I'm so very sorry for the delay in posting this week. My family and I just got back into town last night after having been in Atlanta, Georgia for the past week. Well, actually we were in Braselton, GA which is about 40 minutes outside of Atlanta. I didn't mention my leaving ahead of time just for security reasons for my family. I apologize. I have gotten too numerous to count emails from those of you worried about my family & I while I was away. I never meant to make anyone worry. Thank you for your sincere concern though. It means the world to me. I did try to blog at one point - just a general blog - but the internet access was so bad there due to the remote area we were in that I just couldn't get decent service. I was actually in Georgia for the photography workshop called LEARNFEST. I've been looking forward to the LEARNFEST event for months. It was a huge deal for me and I couldn't be more pleased with all of the info I walked away with. I got the opportunity to spend 4 days with 4 of the most ROCKSTAR photographers in the industry. I'm still reeling from the excitement. I had breakfast and lunch most mornings and afternoons while rubbing elbows, side by side, with photographers (these 4 women), who are celebrities to me in the photography realm. I follow their work and admire everything about each of them and their successes. I respect every word they say because they've been doing this for 6-8 years now and have reached a level of success with photography that most of us can only dream of. I'll have more on each of the ladies come Monday when I post my actual Learnfest update here on the blog. However, these are photographers who shoot for President Obama on the campaign trail, who shoot Maya Angelou and Mrs. Obama, who shoot for pottery barn kids, Vogue, O Magazine, Martha Stewart Living, People magazine, Toys R' Us, the Disney Store. They also shoot and are sought after/in high demand for celebrity families such as Tiger Woods and his family. To say that myself and my fellow classmates were star struck would be an understatement. I even watched one gal ask one of the photographers for her autograph. Yes, that is how big of a deal this event was. Not only was the event exciting as all get out, but we also stayed at a fabulous chateau/winery in Georgia called the Chateau Elan. There are no words for how amazing this place was. It was in a remote area of town - out in the middle of no where really. Very gorgeous.
In fact, our rooms were so gorgeous that I almost stole - yes...stole...the bed out of our room. I loved it. It was incredible. I could have made good use of it in my own home back here in Indy. Ha ha! It was a very art deco style bed done up in a stunning blue leather. Beautimous! Just beautimous! So were the window treatments...
Overall, I spent the week with 59 other budding photographers who were just as impressed and overcome with excitement as I was when it came to the leaders of the workshop, their talents, and the local of where this event was held. I personally got to "hang" with 18 other women who were in my group for the duration of the week. They broke the total group of 60 photographers down into four smaller groups. Of course the RED group was the best group of them all. Yes, the RED group ROCKS! Just ask anyone who was in that group with me. Even the four instructors commented on how the RED group was the best group of the four. No joke! We loved every minute of it too. We knew our group was FAB but it was great to hear our celebrity photography instructors confirm that as well. Hee hee! :)
I learned so much from these women that I can barely contain my excitement. Although I've been to shooting workshops, this workshop was more business related. We did have model shoots but I mainly sat back and watched during those times. I watched the instructors work their magic on children they had never met and then soaked it all up. I truly believe that photography is 20% photography, and then 40% your personality and how you interact with your clients and then the last 40% is all business. I've heard over and over again from instructors how photography is so business driven and that those who make it in this field - make it because they are just as business driven as they are creative. All 4 of these photographers echoed the same sentiments. They told us for every 10 photographers that start out in this field, only 1 will make it successfully. They said there are tons of photographers saturating the market today but that only 1 out of 10 are making any money at this business - any money worth recognizing anyhow. I wrote down every word and tip that they uttered from their mouths. I began changing things on my website before I ever even left the conference. I then came home and got ahold of my graphics gal (web designer) and had her go to work on new marketing literature that I plan to saturate my town/city with immediately. Things are heading to the printer as we speak and I plan to tackle this passion of mine with a vengeance. I'm so psyched and so ready to follow my dream. One of our celebrity rock star photographers at the conference passed on a quote to us that read..."It's never too late to become who you might have been!" (~George Elliot) I loved that. You all know how much I love quotes anyway...let alone when they read like that one does. So...I'm moving mach 25 with my hair on fire right now - throwing myself completely into my photography business. I have so much to tell all of you, so many exciting new things, new plans, new changes for the better. However...all of that will be shared in due time.
In the meantime, I'm thanking my lucky stars that I had the opportunity to attend the very last learnfest they will ever offer. I'm thanking God for 64 new photography friends that I didn't have before last week. I'm thanking him for the new challenges, the excitement, the motivation, the goals, the dreams, and so forth. Also, I'm thanking him for my wonderful Mom who came to learnfest with us so that she could help out with Kenidi. Thank you Mom - even though you scared the bellman to death with your joking. Ha ha! I love you!
I'll post a few photos on Monday surrounding learnfest as well as some shots of those rock star photographers I mentioned. I can't wait to share them with you. The four of them are a force to be reckoned with. They are truly beautiful - inside and out - with incredible talents. Thank you Audrey, Tamara, Lena, and Laura. We all truly appreciate the time and energy you put into Learnfest and the true desire you have for all of us to succeed. We loved every second with you. Thanks for the knowledge as well as the laughs! Thanks for those awesome swag bags too. We loved every bit of the photography items/goodies that they were stuffed with. xoxo, Angie
Don't mind me...I'm just digging out from all of the emails and facebook messages from those interested in the photography course online. I love that so many of you are interested. Details and registration open tomorrow. I'll post the where's and how to's on this blog as well as my photography blog tomorrow. There will only be 20 spaces available in the class so be sure to jump on it once you see the registration open up tomorrow. The online class/course will begin on July 1st and will run for four weeks. All of us are really looking forward to the class in general and all that will come from it - including the friendships. Remember, this is a beginner class for those looking to learn more about their cameras and photography as a whole. You can have a point and shoot or a DSLR and still be eligible for the class. We'll be covering a lot in that 4 weeks and each of you will be able to take away a ton from the course no matter what type of camera you have or what brand it is. Sound good?
For now, we are off to go take an airboat ride in the Everglades with the fam. If I don't come back tonight, you'll know a gator got me. Ha ha!
Thanks again to all of you awesome readers who are going to participate in this photography class. We are going to have a blast! xoxo, Angie
