Post Labor Day weekend, and schools are back in session, football teams have played their first games, initial color changes are affecting our South-Central Indiana trees, Bloomington has hosted its wonderful Fourth Street Festival and, almost to the day, temperatures dropped from the low-90's to the mid-70's.  Fall is all-but-officially here....

Autumn is a perfect time for outdoor portraits.  It's fascinating that as our trees prepare to stand dormant for the winter they're at their most vibrant just before going to sleep.  Call me to schedule a photo session and let's talk about which beautiful location would make the most meaningful setting for you and your family.  

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

Epictetus

Thank you to the uplifting spirits I'm so fortunate to know and work with.  There is a tangible feeling of shared experience in Indiana, where folks pause, help, smile and create community.  Your presence absolutely calls forth my best, and I have the deepest gratitude for you.

One month in to my new business.... 

What a thrilling four-plus weeks it's been for me.

I've been blessed to meet so many interesting South Central Indiana folks, explore dozens of trails in regional state parks and national forests, paddle mile-after-mile via kayak throughout the region and ride my Bonneville through the most beautiful farmland and small towns this side of Paradise.

All along the routes, I've shot picture-after-picture with unbridled joy and heartfelt appreciation.  Deeply loving where you are, and deeply loving what you're doing there, is an indescribable -- likely as close to holy as we can get here on Earth -- experience.

Thank you so much to each of my first month's customers.  I hope the framed photographs in your homes and businesses bring you a piece of the happiness that I experienced working with you.

What a fun day photographing the Never Lose Hoop golf outing this Saturday.  Never Lose Hoop is a wonderful Bloomington-based cause that benefits kids affected by cancer.

The foundation is managed by Jordan Hulls, a fantastic four-year IU basketball player and an even-better young man.  

Check out the webpage for Never Lose Hoop (http://jordanhulls1.com/never-lose-hoop) and/or their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/neverlosehoop/timeline) for donation information to help the kids.

I've included a handful of the 220-plus photos from the outing here on my webpage under "Outings".

So many unexpected, beautiful moments come from simply carrying a camera.  The perfect light.  A wonderful scene.  An unexpected expression on a face.  A funny moment with your dog or cat.  An all-too-rare intersection of place and time.

Doesn't matter, at all, if you take pictures with a cell phone, a hand-me-down old camera, a simple point-and-shoot or you've stepped into the world of high-end equipment.  It all works great!  Some of my most cherished photos are with old 110 cameras and now-defunct flip phones.

Someone once said something along the lines of "Beauty is fleeting, but misery sticks around for awhile!".  I'm not sure, but I'll sure agree with the former -- beauty is often a split-second happening that sneaks up on you.  Our aim is to sense its approach and to be ready to capture the fleeting moment. 

I encourage everyone to carry a camera and pull it out as often as practical.  Photograph your world.  Your home, family, friends, pets, vacations and special events, of course, but also the everyday, backstage, moments.  Those moments are far more beautiful than most of us regularly appreciate. Your pictures will be wonderful and will, over time, tell the story of your life.

There's a dividing line in photography today.  The majority of professional photographers work with Photoshop, Lightroom or any of the other editing software programs after taking a picture with their camera.  The minority of professional photographers present their work "As Is", without overt digitized manipulation or creativity.

For me, it's in no way a contest between the two schools of thought.  I respect everyone who's actively looking at the world through a lens.  Seeing a unique moment and holding it still for further, future reflection is a beautiful way to experience (and share and embrace) life.  But I do believe in a more natural photograph -- one that hasn't been additionally processed.

I'm sure it's tied together with my love for natural places, as opposed to urban environments.  I find a deep beauty in natural scenes, with all the accompanying flaws, highlights and nuances, regardless the sometimes-technically-less-than-perfect outcome of the image.  It's, to me, more beautiful to see a raw honest moment than it is to see digitized perfection.

Somewhere inside me, probably not too far from the surface, at all, is a kid grinning ear-to-ear while running through a cornfield as a shortcut to the nearest fishing stream.  That's where my photography lives.

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss and have found their way out of the depths.  These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness and a deep loving concern.  Beautiful people do not just happen."

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

How true.  As a photographer I see each day that beautiful people have a real, honest and personal story.  To feel deeply, and to live with appreciation and compassion, is to create the most inspiring beauty.  Your world view, and the way you treat others, is a camera pointed directly back into your eyes. 

Ever start a blog from scratch?  Well, I haven't, either, but I suppose it's like the first line upon meeting someone.  Begin by saying "Hi".  Makes some sense, right?

So....

Hi.  I love photography.  Absolutely love it.  Can't get enough of it.  I've always been this way.  If possible, I'd have a camera over my shoulder, or up to my eye, 24 hours every day.  I shoot everything. 

What's that got to do with you?

I can create beautiful, lasting memories for you, your family, business, event or sporting competition, in a comfortable, relaxed non-hurried manner, at a price far lower than most folks  imagine is possible.

You'll love the images I shoot of you and/or your chosen subject.  I'll shoot until you have exactly the images you dreamed of.  Most folks say even better.  I often hear "That's my favorite photograph I've ever seen of myself!".  That's exactly what I'm striving to do for you.

For me, twenty years of planning culminated in moving (back) to Bloomington this past year.  We're blessed with one life each, and I'm committed to ensuring that mine is defined in large part to giving back to South Central Indiana and its people, and to valuing the resources of this beautiful area each new day.