Last week end was the annual Heritage Day Festival in Tiffin. There is always a parade on Saturday morning and I have attended it a variety of times with various nieces and nephews. One of my nieces is ESPECIALLY fond of the candy that is thrown out. In fact, I can remember her being very annoyed if there was a lack of candy distributed! (smile)
I attended this year's parade with my parents, one niece and one nephew. The kids were excited to see the parade... but were especially ready to "catch" some candy. The niece who I described above, was actually IN the parade this year (representing her dance studio), but the other 2 were ready! ...and they were not disappointed. My nephew, who I think is exceptionally adorable, collected enough candy to fill a trick or treat bag. I swear, every "candy distributor" who saw him sitting there on the curb, threw candy towards him! He was LOVING it... in fact, he was so excited about it he told me "I don't want anyone eating my candy". There are 3 other siblings at his house and he wanted it all for himself.(Guess you have to stake your claim in a house with 4 kids! I should know because I have 3 siblings as well!) He was actually enjoying some of his "loot" during the parade, but there would be plenty to take home!
My niece is an amazing dancer and looked like a professional when her group finally came by... I guess they saved the best for last. (smile). I hope you enjoy seeing a few photos I shot on that morning. I especially like the photo of my niece sticking her tongue out at me!
A few weeks ago I photographed my aunt and uncle for their 50th wedding anniversary. This past week end, I was asked to attend a 60th wedding anniversary celebration of a couple I call "grandma and grandpa". They are not related to me by blood, but they are the grandparents of a very very dear friend and I've only ever know them as "grandma and grandpa". I think they like that I call them Grandpa and Grandma and they certainly treat me like a granddaughter!
My friend's mom contacted me to attend and photograph them during a family get together. They were not told I was coming and their daughter (who lives in Florida) did not tell them she was coming either. They were so surprised when I showed up... but when their daughter arrived, they were both moved to tears (as was I!). What a special moment for all of them. I know that Grandma and Grandpa were so happy to have so many special people to share in their celebration!
They were so cute when they found out I would be taking pictures. Grandma made Grandpa go change into his blue shirt and Grandma changed into a different dress. I loved seeing Grandpa help Grandma out into the yard for the photos... you can just see the special bond between these 2 people who have spent their lives together. I think they really enjoyed being the center of attention and they certainly had fun being photographed! There were a lot of smiles and laughter and even some silliness.
I was honored to be a part of this family's special celebration! I think Grandpa and Grandma are an inspiration to all married couples... I'm sure they have weathered both good and bad times. ...and yet, here they are, 60 years later, still together, still in love. Amazing!!!
My nephew is in 4th grade this year and playing football on a local team. I wanted to catch a game and see if I could get some good photos as well to document his experience. He is LOVING it!!
Now, I am no football fan. I know some basics (I was actually trying to explain some basics to another one of my nephews at the BG football game a while back... I'm OK at the 5 year old level! smile). Thank goodness my husband got off work in time to come along. He would say "run over here, he's going to be on defense now" or "move to the other side, he is playing a different position now"! I got quite the work out chasing him all over the field.
I shot the photos with my 55-200 telephoto lens, but even with the vibration reduction feature, it was tough to catch the action without some blur. My lens is not quite "long reaching" enough to get a little boy out on the football field "in action". Despite this fact, I think he will enjoy having these little "memories" of playing football when he was in 4th grade. Sometimes, it isn't important that the images are perfect, just that they capture the essence of the event or experience. That is what I tried to do that night.
Did they win? Unfortunately, no. ...but I don't think they'll worry about it for long. There will be another game soon and another chance to have some fun!
Would I be willing to do athletic photo sessions for hire? No way! I know that it takes a special kind of skill to shoot athletic events and I don't have those skills. ...however, I think my nieces and nephews will appreciate having some amateur photos of their sporting events (smile)! By the way, my nephew is #4!!
It was probably the gloomiest, most overcast, dark evening possible... and I was scheduled to do a family photo shoot. I had been concerned about the light when we scheduled the shoot. Normally, I only shoot morning or afternoons because I use natural light and not artificial light. This was definitely going to be an experiment!
The session went great! The Thomas family arrived and we were off to a location close to my house. I have known this family for over 20 years and we have a lot of history together. Therefore, it was a smooth and easy shoot. They were good sports when I asked them to kneel in the grass or gravel... they smiled when I told them to "squat" in a not so comfortable position... and, there was a lot of laughing which always makes for great photos! It was really amazing to see how much their daughter had grown up. I had this little girl in my first grade many years ago. I remember her bringing these tiny magnetic animals... her "pets" to school one day. Now, the kids are not allowed to bring toys to school, but she really needed her "pets" at that time, so we came up with a compromise. She stuck them all under my desk until the end of the day when she could retrieve them. I reminded her of this at the shoot and she just smiled - I don't know if she actually remembered it or not (she is all grown up and in Jr. High now!). I think her Mom thought she had done something "naughty" but honestly, I knew those little "pets" were so important to her at the time and sticking them to my desk helped her feel secure during the day. Sometimes, you have to think like a first grader! (smile)
So, how did the photos turn out? Well, initially, I was very concerned. The light was NOT my friend and in the future, I know that shooting after 5pm in September is not going to be an option - no matter how much I want to do it! I learned a valuable lesson about the power of LIGHT! While I am still not totally happy with the photos, the power of photoshop has helped me transform some "light deprived" images into better photographs.
Conclusion: The sun is my friend and even if I hate the heat during summer, I love the LIGHT it shines on my photographs!!
Bowling Green State University is my undergraduate Alma Mater and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Both my husband and I graduated from BGSU and we visit often. Sometimes we go to check out the changes on campus and even though things look different, we always feel like we are "home" there. We ALWAYS eat at our FAVORITE pizza place, MYLE'S PIZZA... where the pizza is thick and cheesy... the toppings are piled on thick and the pizza dough is perfect. You don't go to Myles for the "atmosphere" or decor. The bathrooms are... well, the tiniest spaces ever. BUT, the food is A-MAAAAAAAZ-ing!!!! The pizza is like no other and the garlic cheese bread loaf is incredible. Are you hungry yet?
This past week end, my brother texted me early Sat. morning saying "going to BG, Myles for dinner, evening football game... want to go?" Did I want to go? OF COURSE! We headed out early afternoon and started at SBX Bookstore - where we loaded up with "official" BGSU gear (t-shirts, pom poms, hair ribbons, cheek decals and a bright orange "butt cushion" - I'm sure that's not the official name, but I'm sure you know what I mean! :-) After shopping (and changing into our new gear) we had dinner are Myle's Pizza (yummmmmmy). When we were done eating, we headed back to the car but had to make a quick stop at a special "site" in BG... that would be the laundromat located behind Myle's which has the "largest dryer in town". The kids LOVE this place and are so excited to go look at the HUGE dryer! This just cracks me up every time... they LOVE this place and are just amazed by the HUGE dryer. So, of course, we had to get some pictures! Then, after we had a nice walk through campus (and some running around for the kids), we headed to the football game. I am not really a football fan, but there are so many other things to watch, it doesn't matter if you enjoy football or not. We saw the spirit group called SIC SIC (my nephew called them "the monsters" because they dress strange and wear freaky masks but he did shake one monster's hand and got a piece of candy :-). The game was great fun (I really have no idea what went on with the football team... I spent most of my time interacting with the kids - they were way more entertaining!) but the BAND was incredible... the patriotic half time show was worth the $15 ticket for sure.
It is always nostalgic to hang out at BGSU! Can't wait to do it again. I hope you enjoy seeing some of our day in the pictures below!
