Merry Christmas 2013

Have a safe and happy holiday season with your family! Take lots of photos, and I'll see you in 2014! 

Behind The Scenes Christmas Session

As Christmas nears, I wanted to share this little video. I’ve known Dave and Leonie since I moved to Jacksonville. They are great friends, and it’s been a privilege photographing their family over the years. I could go on about the fun we’ve had making great pictures together, but the images speak for themselves—a wonderful family ready for Christmas! Enjoy the video.

The Photographer Must be Photographed

Are you the designated family photographer in your house? It’s a title that comes with great responsibility—even though it may also come with the occasional eye-roll from your kids. You are the family archivist! You’re responsible for making great images, selecting the annual Christmas card photo, and putting some captivating family portraits on your walls or mantle. It’s no small task.

But through all this selfless service, there’s one more detail you might forget: you!

You must get in front of the camera from time to time! This is just as important in those little everyday moments as it is for those bigger family events. Years from now, you’ll want it documented that you were actually on that fabulous family vacation, or even at your child’s cozy little birthday party.

It’s so easy to grab your camera or iPhone and just assume your role. But next time, make the effort to hand the camera to someone else. Your spouse, your parents, or even your kids (some training required). First, you’ll get to see the scene from someone else’s perspective (a child’s point of view often makes for great and unexpected photographs).  But more importantly, you’ll have images in the collection of you at the event, whatever it might be. For extra credit, make a print at Costco or Target. Decades from now, your children and grandchildren will be so glad you did.

My daughter, just 4 years old at the time, captured this image right in our driveway. It’s not going to win any awards for technique—the lighting isn’t perfect, the focus is a bit soft. But life takes many unexpected turns. And you never know when a technically mediocre photograph will become the one you love the most.

Childhood Wonder

The gaze of a child, captured in a photograph, is fascinating. So much goes on inside these little growing minds, and we struggle to understand just a fraction of it.

One thing we know: in a few short weeks, this expression of wonder and curiosity will turn to pure joy when she discovers gifts around the tree in the company of a loving family.

Palm Trees and Pumpkins

Palm trees and pumpkins in the same photograph? Now that's what I call spooky.

Halloween in Jacksonville still seems odd to me. I grew up in a colder climate, where it wasn’t uncommon to squeeze a puffy winter coat underneath your plastic superhero costume. I remember coming home after trick-or-treating and feeling more excited to get out of all those layers than I was about the candy! Maybe this is why I appreciate the idea of a good 'breathable fabric' from Lululemon.

I do miss the fall leaves and spectacular midwest colors. We always had to be careful of the neighborhood prankster hiding out in the piles of leaves. Don’t get me wrong, fall in Florida is great, but we just don’t have seasons here.

Take a moment and share some of your own halloween memories with your kids this year. Go ahead and dig out those pictures of you as a kid in your halloween finest—that’s what those pictures are for! As you’re making lots of new memories this year, be sure to take some photos of the getting-into-costume moments as well as the gorey, smudged-make-up, sticky-finger aftermath. It’s all part of the fun.