Valentine’s Day

Today is Valentine’s Day.  All around the world people have received notes, cards, flowers, and candy.  All over the globe romance is newly kindling, hotly burning, steadily smoldering, dimly flickering, or hopefully longing. And there is such beauty in all of those states.

Today is the one day all around the world that Love is celebrated.  And that is a great thing.

One of the great things about being wedding photographers is that we get to celebrate love all year.  Weddings are a sort of grand Valentine’s Day – dedicated to the couple’s love and commitment. And we are so honored to document them, in all their emotion.

We hear a lot of God’s Word read at these wedding ceremonies – which is great – and we hear none more than 1 Corinthians 13 – the Love Chapter.

Most of us have heard this passage seemingly a million times – but today seems like an appropriate day to revisit this powerful verse about Real Love.

The Love Chapter

 

So today, wether you are celebrating Valentine’s Day with a spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, friends, or just you and your ice-cream – know that Love is more than romance, more than chocolates and flowers and  sweet nothings – it’s about simply loving people, wholly, patiently, joyfully.

 

Here’s a great song we’ve been singing for a while…

The Decemberists

Wally Lately: February 2012

Sunny day.  Sleepy pup.

Working on my shooting

I have been working this week on my shooting techniques. I am trying to gain confidence in the field. At this month’s PUG meeting ,I learned that I could do this by making a constant product. While I feel that I can shoot with consistent results, it has always been for family or friends and not in a professional manor with real risks. My husband, who is great on pushing me with my photography, pretended to be a client. He acted as if he did not know me and required me to place his body completely in every shot. After seeing the results, my confidence was increased and I have made to step towards my first professional portrait session. I am planning on taking a few more test runs before my first professional shoot, but I am definitely feeling more confident. Here are some of my shots from that shoot and I am planning on taking these photos to the internships weekly meeting and getting the opinions of Gabe and Mary.

My New Niece: Abigail Elizabeth

She is here and she is beautiful.  Abby is the youngest of three and is my sister’s first daughter.  She is a true blessing.

I love this one the most.  She’s got a good outlook on life, I think.

Noah stepped into the light for a photo.  He usually resists the camera, but he’s not ready for Abby to get all of the attention just yet!

 

Another week and A previous project

This week I had the pleasure of attending the Lexington PUG meeting and I was able to meet many of the photographers here in Lexington. The meetings topic was over a photographers brand and what their photographs say about them. This was a very interesting topic because it is something that is not taught in college. While in school, we learn how to take a photograph, but the business side is understandably ignored. Listening to what  the different photographers had to say and seeing examples of their work  was invaluable. While I have thought about the look of my photographs, I have not gone into the depth that was discussed in the meeting. At the end of the meeting, Mary discussed what would be involved in future meetings and I am really looking forward to Aprils meeting. In this meeting, we will be shooting, which will allow me to see how the different photographers handle their shoots. This will allow me to improve my work and become more confident.  I am really excited about all that I will learn that night.

During my last meeting with Gabe, he suggested that I put on the blog some of my previous work. When I went back and looked at my work, I decided to put up my most recent photographs. Last semester I spent four months creating and developing a series on human emotion. This project continued to improve throughout the semester and into a series that I am proud of.

 

 

Week two as an intern!

This week has been a great learning experience! Mary and Gabe have asked me to create a “what to wear” for their clients. This has taken quite a bit or research and time, but has shown me that there is much more to photography than taking pictures. I am really enjoying this side of photography and cannot wait to see what the next few months will bring. Everything that Mary and Gabe ask me to do comes with an unexpected lesson. I am thoroughly enjoying the assignments.  This week, I am really excited by one of my side projects. A small business owner that I know has asked me to take some photographs for the walls of his business.  We are working together in designing the look and feel that the photographs will have and I am looking forward to the whole process. I will also mat the photographs in white mat board and frame them in a simple black frame. This will be my first set of photographs to go into a business space! I cannot wait to get started!

The Knot Best of Weddings 2012 Pick!

We receintly found from The Knot.com out that we were selected by local brides and voted as a “Best of Weddings 2012″ pick!  We are so very honored.

We are so blessed to be able to do what we love and to work with so many amazing brides, grooms, wedding parties, families, and vendors.  You all make our job so much better and a whole lot more fun.  So thank you!

And thank you to The Knot for being an awesome resource for brides and vendors.

 

 

Mary’s 101 – A Photography Workshop – March 17, 2012

Baby Camden: Lexington Children’s Photography

A new baby is like the beginning of all things – wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities.
– Eda J. Le Shan

Q & A with intern Shawna Dorris

My Name is Shawna Dorris and I am interning at Honey Heart Photography for the spring semester of 2012.  Gabe and Mary gave me a few questions to help break the ice. If there are any questions that you may have, please feel free to ask.

1. Where are you from?

I was born in Orlando, FL, but I consider myself from a really small town in Indiana called North Judson. I moved to this town when I was twelve and this is where most of my memories were made. Home is where the heart is.

2. What are you studying in school and what would you like to do with your degree?

I am attending the University of Kentucky working towards a Bachelor’s Degree in studio art, focusing in photography and ceramics. I aspire to have my own photography business, where I will shoot on location and will also branch off into other types of photography. I would also like to open a children’s gallery/studio, where all children would be welcome. This studio would give the supplies at cost and teach the children how to use them, in which ever media they chose. Then once a week, we would hold a gallery showing for all of the children. On other days, the gallery would function as a normal. This would give children a place to be accepted and encouraged in their art.

3. How did you meet your husband and how long have you been married?

Well, this goes back to junior high. We met at a school dance, in a slow dance. Our friends made us dance because some girls were bothering him. Our dancing was supposed to convince the girls that he had a girlfriend. While I liked him immediately, I did not tell him until our freshman year in high school. He said no because our friendship meant too much to him to risk losing it. I accepted this, and after high school I moved to Dallas, TX while he moved to Morehead, KY. After we both became single, we began to chat online and started a long distance relationship.  Three years later we got engaged and two more after that, we got married on May 15, 2010.

4. What is your favorite thing about photography?

My favorite thing about photography is being part of a special moment, either for myself or someone else ,and after editing the shoot getting to see that you captured a specific moment perfectly. I love knowing that I have given someone a perfect memory that will last forever.

5. What are you looking forward to in this HHP internship?
I am really excited to have real world experience. In college, we learn how to use the camera and make the shots that we can pre-visualize, but you are never on someone else’s time. You design your own projects and do not have expectations of clients. This has caused me to feel some anxiety about working with clients. I am also really looking forward to seeing another side of photography, because all I have been exposed to is basic photo shoots. I am really excited about working a style shoot and seeing the business side of photography. I am really excited to learn all the ins and outs of the photography business.

6. What is your favorite TV show/any other fun tidbits about yourself you’d like the blog readers to know?

I don’t really have a favorite TV show, but there are a few that I watch on a consistent basis.  Those are: Bones, Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Glee, and The Walking Dead. I am also a movie buff and will watch any type of movie from any decade.

My life is filled with any and all forms of art. I decorate cakes, paint, sew, draw, shoot photos, make ceramics, and make computer art, among others. When I am not working on art or spending time with my husband, I love to play with my little beagle named Hammy (from the squirrel in the movie Over the Hedge) I am really excited about life and cannot wait to see how mine unfolds!