blessings...

God is truly good. Yeah I know that sounds cheesy and like I should be standing in some sports stadium with a hack job poster around my neck with my shirt off, shaking my belly like a bowl full of jelly (just wanted to say that, jelly belly, belly jelly, I’m now smiling like a silly kid, ha ha). But truth be told, even when life is really tough and things just seem to be landing on you like a ton of bricks, The goodness of God is still lingering around, like breadcrumbs that fell on the floor that you never seem to be able to sweep up.

I’ve not had any bricks thrown at me this week, to which I say “thank you” but I have had moments to just pause and be reminded of just how good this life can be.

I could list the usual items of health, family, friends, etc. But for me I saw God’s goodness today in a couple of difference ways, I saw it in:
- a delightful cup of coffee with friends
- a phone conversation that instilled hope
- accidently deleting a file only to be reminded I had a back up made (3 times)
- enjoyed a delightful senior portrait session with a student I once worked with in student ministry
- sitting on the couch with my amazing wife eating spaghetti and just letting our elbows touch as we do whatever we’re both doing on our computers
- a run that reminded me I’m alive
- and listening to my coonhound snore next to me… yeah she loves us so much she’s wanting to sleep next to us one the couch.

Yeah, God is good. I hope I now can only continue to see the breadcrumbs of this goodness sprinkled all around.

Here are a couple of my favorite pics from today’s portrait session.

now... how did they meet again?

So what do you get when you cross a Canadian girl with a Lancaster boy, add in some form of social media networking, then sprinkle in some crazy driving, and a dash of adventure? Well, if you’re Robin Williams you might be able to manage some funny joke out of that mixture but for simple ol’ Matt, I say you get one pretty cool couple with one crazy story of how they meet.

I still can’t decide what I love more about their story, the fact that she drove from Canada just for him or that he somehow talked her into riding as he co-pilot to “help deliver” pizza’s as a way to spend more time with her, or if that they eloped to a local park to get married. Either way, I think they’re a pretty cool couple.

Here’s a couple of pictures from an anniversary shoot we did together.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

what a family...

We’ve all been around kids that make you ask if you are really sure you want to have kids of your own… don’t worry you’re not the only one with a little chuckle on your face and a kid in your mind. But hopefully we’ve also all meet kids who make you day dream about the day that you have your own. Every now and then I’ll come in contact with a family that simple is a delight to be with, where I totally lose track of the time and just soak in the seconds as the roll on.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I had such an experience. The Johnson family was truly a delight to photograph. The parents getting parenting, and set boundaries for their boys yet still allowed the boys to fully be boys, I hope I can do that one day. And because of these killer parents, the boys, well… they where just a blast.

Scott is an up and coming artist. We talked about the different forms he expresses himself through, and just between us I think he could be a slamming photographer. He had loads of great ideas for angles, and locations and props, he was like Niagria falls but instead of water he gushed out ideas. Super fun.

Marc (yes with a “c”) was their younger son, and I think he and I would have had some amazing stick swords fights and monstrous army missions if we were kids together. His mom asked if we could capture the “million faces of Marc”, to which Marc gladly made a million, yes literally a million, I counted, faces at me. It was awesome.

Here are a couple of my favorites pictures, form one of my new favorite families.

ps – I blogged a little about how the Johnson's pictures made my heart happy a couple of days ago. Here's the link


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

a family I respect.

Pj and Megan were one of the first friends Pearl and I made when we moved to PA. Megan is a quiet gentle spirit that makes you feel like the world is a little better when you’re near her, no wonder she makes a great nurse. And PJ… well… he confuses me. I know PJ as a fun loving, thoughtful, reflective thinker who deeply loves others and his faith, yet I know his job is one that requires him to be level of tough and force that I just have trouble picturing him being. So, I guess I write that to say I deeply respect the man for being able to enter into tough environments with truly terrible situations and yet come home to his friends and family and be describe by adjectives that would never fit where he had just left. He has learned the fine art of leaving work at work and knowing how to pick up love and gentleness when he’s around family and friends. The two of them also demonstrate what commitment, giving, and serving others look like in a way that I only hope to be able to. They both have full time jobs, an amazing little girl, yet they both volunteer for what could be considered a full to part time role leading LCBC Harrisburg’s youth program. Simply an amazing family.

Well Emma, their adorable little girl was due for some pictures. They asked me to capture her first year and here’s the first of 3 sessions we have planned. She’s a great girl in a great family. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

BFF 4 Life.

What is a best friend??? You know your BFF. I once heard that for a healthy team, staff, relationship to from it needs proximity and play.

Well, to those two ingredients I can say Joel Smith and I excelled. We became friends in third grade during summer church came. We HAD to room together and I was simply ticked about that. Well, that week of having to share a bed, disgusting!, Launched a friendship that is closer then most of the worlds siblings, twins included, and if we were honest most of the world’s married couple.

We became friends in third grade, fumbled through middle school together, laughed through high school, lived all 8 semesters of college in the same 10x10 cement room, stood at the front of the line in each others wedding and along the way created some of the craziest, off the wall, side stitching stories the world has ever heard.

Joel is no longer a friend, he’s truly family.

During our last trip to Georgia Pearl and I were able to carve out some time to stop by Joel’s. Joel, Gwen, Pearl and I found ourselves talking, laughing, and slapping out knees as deep belly laughs erupted well into the night at when the clock was rolling past 3am we forced ourselves to stop talking and find some sleep.

We ended our time with a visit to some greasy spoon breakfast joint in Raleigh NC, which was amazing, and with a couple of pics. Here’s a few of my favorite.

So to Joel, Gwen and RK… love you guys!

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Horror, good stories, and an amazing family

I love storytellers, to be around someone who can just hold you on their every word and to create mini movies in your mind with the use of their adjectives and speech patterns. Yeah, I find myself longing to sit next to them… especially when there’s a new horror movie out, cause you see I may love a good story, but I hate horror movies. Nope, just can’t take em. If I was forced to watch one you’d find me in the fetal position sucking thumb about 3 second after the opening credits start.

So with that said let me introduce you to the famous Tim Moser. Not only is he famous for being a lighting Genius, as in designing the stage lights for some of the best concerts you’ll ever see, he’s also one of the biggest horror film fanatics I know who just so happens to actually be an amazing storyteller.

Tim and I meet through LCBC and I found myself captive to his stories while in the process of changing stage designs and lighting gels. But Tim is not a one man show, he also has an amazing wife, Katie, and 3 of the coolest little boys I’ve every meet. Countless stories come to mind of wild and weird moments Tim has retold of his boys. The five of them just collectively make one cool family.

Well, Katie contacted us about doing a family picture, but she wanted it to be around an experience, so to the pumpkin patch we went. We picked pumpkins, chased little boys, smelled cows and captured some fun memories along the way. Here is a few of my favorites. Hope you enjoy.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

a child's world...

We were to meet a few weeks earlier but as humor has it our beautiful park excursion turned into one wet-cold-windy fall day, it was simply nasty out. So we pushed our plans back. But this day, the sun was just right, the clouds amazing, and two extremely fun and energy filled kids were ready to rock and roll. So to Lititz Spring park we went with dreams of mini adventures in mind hoping to be played out on giant wooden trains, huge swings, and really odd looking rock things. As well as the secret hope of capturing some amazing moments in the midst of the play. Alisa invited us to join her family, capture some of the fun of childhood, and to simply enjoy some of the amazing fall leaves together. It was a blast being a kid again, playing, running, jumping, and living for just a moment without the worry and stress of being an adult. Oh to be a kid again. So, here’s a couple of my favorite moments and hopefully as you scroll through you’ll rediscover a little of your childhood in their smiles and full abandonment to play. Enjoy.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

a great lunch... an embarrassing lunch

So, I just had one of those lunches today that you walk a way from feeling like it could have some major impacts on your life. The kind of lunch you find yourself changing outfits a couple of times before cause you want everything to go just right. Well, today’s lunch was with a local photographer that I have admired for years, a photographer who really shapes much of the wedding market in Lancaster and Central PA, and well, to be honest his studio has an impact on the entire Northeast. Through some crazy events we met, he offered lunch, and I gladly offered to pay. It was great… I’m excited about the possibility of the things I’m dreaming about coming true. We'll just have to wait and see... ohhh the drama.

But here’s the embarrassing part. He went to check out my blog, which I was not expecting cause I thought we’d look at my laptop if he even wanted to see pictures, and what I realized as he was scrolling through the pages is that I haven’t updated in weeks. I’m currently looking at seven, yes 7, blog entries needing to be written.

So in good embarrassment fashion, I’m going to get my blogs up to date. Starting NOW.

or after I get back form running an errand for my wife, and going to class in philly, and... well I'll hopefully catch up tomorrow, yeah, I'll do it tomorrow.

so until then, here's a couple of teaser pics of things to come.

a really cool workshop and a really long shot.

So think of your hero.

Ok, I'm not talking about your dad or grandmother... although both of those really could be your hero (and secretly they'd be mine as well, and of course my amazing Mom would fall in there too), but what I'm talking about are those people who are in the same profession as you, and you find yourself watching what they're doing. Observing them, copying them, learning from them... secretly wanting to be them. Well, one photographer I look up to and love looking at her work and style and put a lot of weight on what she says and does is Jasmine Star, so if I ever wanted to be a west coast chick with a small dog, it'd be her...Ok, that may have been a little too much.

Anyway. Jasmine is doing a killer hands on workshop in New Zealand, yeah that's right New Zealand, and she's offering to give a way a seat. All you had to do was take a self portrait with a "star" in the picture, get it? Jasmine Star, a star in the picture... oh well never mind.

So here's my entry for a trip to New Zealand. I'll admit it's not the worlds most creative picture, but for having only an hour window to snap a self portrait, which was harder then I had planned on, it was what I was able to do. Pearl said I looked a little holocaustish... I think that means she liked the picture?

So one last crazy idea just to throw it out there, you know for kicks and giggles, if I don't win this thing... I guess I could let one you get it for me for Christmas, you know it's "only' a little trip to New Zealand, I hear plan tickets fit nicely in stockings, elbow elbow wink wink.






ps - I think I was only suppose to submit one image for the contest, so Jasmine I guess I'd use the top one, but if you like one of the other ones better feel free to use that one instead. Seriously, I'm ok with you doing that.

A happy heart…

So I find myself editing like a mad man today. I’m learning what the priceless words of “Time management” mean and can give you first hand examples of what it doesn’t mean. Basically I scheduled more shoots then I was able to turn around in my target edit time and I literally found myself looking at close to 15,000 photos needing to be narrowed down, color corrected, fine tuned, fixed, and to have zits and the like removed. So for 7 hours or so today I’ve edited, deleted, and edited some more.

But here’s the strange thing.

I’ve found myself strangely smiling. Not stocker looking at your family photos strangely smiling, but a true from the heart, no from my soul, smile. A joy or happiness that seems to seep out as I look at beautiful pictures of families being beautiful together. Of what love looks like, of what acceptance looks like, of what it means to have a safe place and caring home, and shoulder to cry on, for little boys to be fully boys and turn every stick around them into a sword, and then for “little boys” to grow up into dads who then play with their kids. To see what a family was meant to be.

So to the family who are loving and living as family’s should, live on. And may the love you live continue to ooze over to those around you, and may Pearl and I know that love, show that love, and wrap our family (no we’re not pregnant, but someday, hopefully not soon, but someday) in that some love.

I-85...

During a recent trip to Georgia to visit family I found myself in the passenger seat of my dad's jeep rolling down I-85. We were taking my Nephew to his bi-weekly enzyme treatment for Gaucher Disease (pronounced Go-shaa). If you've never heard of it don't feel bad only around 10,000 people in the world have been diagnosed with it, so it's not extremely common to hear about. Anyway, back to the jeep, I-85 and me in the passenger seat. I found myself during this particular trip holding my camera (surprise surprise me with a camera) as I was working on compiling some images to help retell Gabe's journey with Gaucher. Well, as I was editing the pictures from that morning I discovered these pics that had been snapped along the way and thought I'd share them. There's something about them that makes me like em. Something about the heaven's colliding with the rough oddity of man. Or the simplicity of curves, or the contrast of the colors, or something. Needless to say, I like the pics, and I hope you do as well

one sweet trip...

Pearl and I are just in from one of the sweetest trips to Georgia I think I’ve ever had. My family has started the tradition of taking a collection of photos from our little mini vacations together and creating a little coffee table book of our time. As we wrapped up the creation of the book together I was asked to write the section of text that would open up the book. I felt like this pretty well captures my view of this trip.

“a Celebration... of a year of life... of time together... of long hugs... of evening walks... of deep laughs... and of a family who is defined by it’s love…

Celebration was the reason for these delightful days of time well spent together. We gathered together to publicly celebrate Garrett’s first birthday, but truth be told it was also a celebration of our family. Of being able to see each other for another time, to laugh at each other’s funny moments, to share the stories that tell the collection of our days, and to see the joy glisten in each others eyes as time is simply being well spent together.

These are the images that filled our days, but many other images now rest in the recesses our memories and excitement builds as we now turn from this celebration of being together to the next.”

Here are a couple of the images that marked the highlights of our time.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

one man's junk is... well... let's be honest, another man's junk

Was unpacking clothes from our recent trip to Georgia. It seems like I always have a couple of extra items to put up when I return from being with my family… well specifically my mom. Her love language is gifts and she loves the gift of clothing the most. So whenever the opportunity arises for her to buy a new shirt, pair of pants, or even just underwear and socks she get’s all excited and starts pulling out her credit card. Once again I’m not saying this is a good or bad thing, it’s just my mom’s thing. I hate spending money on clothes, so I think it’s a good thing for me.

Well, I’ve been trying to limit how many unnecessary clothes I keep in my closet, to limit the excessive unused clothing that will ultimately rot from simply sitting and try to pass these unwanted articles to a needy soul that might just actually use them.

So upon the unpacking of this trips new bounty I decided a fall closet cleaning was in order.

I started with the dress pants and shirts, then quickly moved to the shorts, then shirts and pants, then over to the sock stash, and finally found myself sitting in the middle of a pile of shoes asking which ones would make the cut and which ones… well would be quickly finding a new home.

I easily tossed a couple of ratty pairs out, then a pair I never really liked to begin with, but then I picked one pair and thought

“wow I haven’t warn these in years, they still have a lot of life in them, practically new… maybe I should keep em.”

At this moment a wave of embarrassment landed on me as I realized the stupidity of my comment. See, the holey ratty pairs where tossed into the “good will” pile with out a second thought, but when a pair that I haven’t warn in literally over a year but still looked new came into question I paused, and thought about hording the good ones to myself. Give away the junk but keep the nice.

We’ve all said “one man’s junk is another’s treasure” well I think we use that line of thinking to pass off our junk that really is just another man’s junk.

I long for the day when I naturally think about not just giving away my junk, but graciously and excitedly give the things that still have value and are worth using. To not simply pass my junk off to someone else and feel like I’ve done a good deed, but to pass along things of value and usefulness, that may be “excess or unusable” to me, but actually treasures to someone else.


On a side note – I’ve not decided to never buy another hanger, if clothes come in… well then clothes need to go out. May be knowing I’ll have to give up something will keep me from buying unneeded items, and when new items are blessed my way, I can bless good items to someone else.