Graduating Kiddo and some Father's Day fun

June 26, 2018

CATCHING UP: 

DAUGHTER GRADUATION (5/26/18)

Well, the time has finally arrived--all the awards ceremonies, the baccalaureates and other things that go with being a senior.  My first kiddo is now a graduate.  It was a bittersweet day, but more toward the sweet side. A very small amount of tears were shed, but realizing that my kiddo is going to college and is an adult, is a process, which I'm still going over in my mind.  I wrote her a little notation in her yearbook, which a lot of her friends liked, and took some senior pics and some pics of her friends at graduation.  I'm sure and surely hope and pray she's destined for great things. 

All photos above taken with a Canon t3i and 100mm, with the exception of the polaroid of course. For some i used a 1.4 teleconverter for $10 recently acquired thru a camera store sale, brand new. Win. 

She knows her decisions are her own now. We can only hope that she makes the right ones or best ones in a given situation.  Congratulation kiddo. We love you. 

FATHER'S DAY FUN: 

JUNE 16, 2018

I have been wanting to shoot the family wearing white shirts all muddy in black and white since the middle of last year.  My original plan was to go to a location with wildflowers, all of us in our white tee-shirts (people do that at the beach alot - gross, so cliche) but with a twist.  I wanted us to sling mud at each other, then take close up pics of all of us.  

During Mother's day I got pretty dirty laying down top soil in the newly planted English garden. This is still in process. However, right before I went to wash up, I noticed my face, hands and shirt were black from the dirt, and sweat. The sun was going down so I had Jen take my pic in front of the door with my EOS M, using the 22mm lens. I wanted her to get my whole body, but after looking at it when done, cropped it to a head shot.  I really liked the effect. Kind of (from what I hear) a Mike Rowe "dirty jobs" kind of shot.  The fire was re-kindled to do this shoot, but it would be in the yard, or at the NLO with a good amount of dirt or sand.  

Dirt Series--Rob as Mike Rowe kinda.  Canon Eos M 22mm

The NLO didn't turn out exactly as planned, but as usual the dog good good and dirty, and my son found some charcoal from a recently burned fire and started to use it. His pics turned out well, but no one, (even me) was in the mood to be there. This wasn't at all what I wanted for the shoot, so after a few pics there, we decided to sling mud at one another at the house.  Although I love the pics of my son with the charcoal and holding the dog, we beat feet out of there while there was still good light.  

Dirt Series: Garrett

Camera: Fuji XT-1 with 18-55 lens:

 Of course, sometimes, you need to let the models do the mud slingin too :)  right in my eye.  I'm not crying, that's mud in my eye.

Turned out to be a much better Father's day than last year, anyway, so I'll call it a win for 2018.