Jess & Justin

The last few weeks have been pretty busy, with family and friends visiting and trips to Orlando for a wedding and Disney. We spent the weekend with Jared's family in Orlando for Jessica and Justin's wedding where I (of course) snapped a few shots.  The day started off rainy, but the weather cleared up in time for a late afternoon wedding outside.  Following the ceremony, we all gathered in and around the house for the reception.  Jess made an absolutely beautiful bride, and Justin cleaned up well, too!!  Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day.

Jacob did an awesome job as the "Ring Bear"  -- and who could be cuter!

I love the arbor where Jess and Justin performed the ceremony.

Mr. & Mrs!

First dance

Playing with the sun...

My dogs have pretty much figured out that if I get the camera out, grab dog treats, and put their collars on, that yes, they will have to sit pretty (or do whatever else I want) for a few minutes, but that they'll also get good treats and lots of love. I have a feeling my kids will some day feel that way too, but as they have yet to come along, Annie and Bella are my guinea pig models. Today was such a pretty day and as we were coming home from feeding horses, the sun was shining through the trees just right. So I grabbed the camera, the carrots, and the dogs (and Jared as an extra dog holder) and traipsed out through one of the fields to grab these photos. I haven't gotten great at controlling my lens flare yet, but it's fun to play with. Here are some of the better photos:

She's such a happy dog... even when mom makes her pose.

Bella, looking regal as always, can't be bothered to smile at the camera.

Don't have to get quite so low to the ground to get lens flare on someone as tall as Jared. :)

The act of giving

It started selfishly. I had been wanting to get out with my camera when I got an email that my church was hosting a "Spa Day" for IHN, complete with massages, hair cuts, manicures, and make-up. What better to add to that than some family photos? So I contacted the organizer and planned to take individual and family photos of the families involved. The Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) is a nonprofit organization created to provide shelter and comprehensive support for homeless families with children. The families are housed at local churches whose members provide meals, transportation, etc.  I expected to show up on a Friday night and take a few photos, working on my ability to interact with models.  What I got instead, was a gift of my own. 

Jared went with me and the first thing we did when we arrived at the church was to set up an area for the photos.  This was definitely a case of making the best of the situation at hand. Unfortunately, it was dark so we couldn't use the beautifully landscaped areas around the church. Instead, we used a seaside mural painted on the wall of a Sunday School class room as the background.  We pulled items from various rooms to create a small cafe feel. Finally, we were ready for our first victims.... 

The openness and warmth of the families was inspiring. Their love for each other was evident.  D and G have three lovely girls, although only two were with them this evening, and have a relationship full of smiles and laughter. K works with young girls to help them become proper young ladies. SK named her youngest son Reese because that's what she craved during her pregnancy. From H with her four sons (two of whom are twins!) to B and her lovely daughter, these families were loving and inspiring. It was a blessing to me to be a part of this wonderful ministry.  Below are a few of the photos.

J decided that I didn't really need to take his picture. :)

Snow

I love snow. I love watching it fall. I love how it quiets the sounds of the world outside. I love how everything gets blanketed with a layer of white and it changes the drab look of winter into a brilliant, sparkling wonderland. Living in Florida, I don't get to see snow very often anymore. But while attending a conference in South Carolina this past week, guess what? It snowed! I had my little camera with me and couldn't resist snapping a few shots.

This was the view out of our room through the hotel's atrium while it was snowing.

Later, when we went out for dinner, I snapped this shot of the snow in the glow of the street light.

Dudley Farm

Jared and I took my Grandma (who is visiting this week from Pennsylvania) to Dudley Farm this afternoon. We had never been to the farm, which is a state park as well as a historic working farm. As it turns out, it was Plow Day at the farm and they had several teams of horses plowing the fields where they plant corn and sugar cane.  The farm has been in use since the 1800's and has authentic buildings and furniture.  It really was like stepping back in time!  We had a great time and enjoyed the sunshine that has been scarce this week.  Here are a few of my favorites:

One of the teams plowing the field.

TriCounty Hunter Jumper Association Horse Show

The past two weeks have been crazy. Literally.  Between a grant deadline at work, a sick horse at the farm, and keeping my head above water at home, I'm exhausted! But I'm happy to be busy and I did finally get the photos posted on my website from the Tri County Hunter Jumper Association Horse show at Canterbury on January 30th. It was a cold, rainy day for the horse show, but all of the horses seemed to do okay. Barbara showed Ouija for the first time and both did very well!

Barbara and Ouija

Ella telling Rosie not to watch what was happening in the ring.

No, that's not a lot of noise in that photo -- that's how hard it was raining! Sunny and Rosie were champs and schooled outside in the pouring rain before showing in the indoor arena.

Hottie did very well with Ella aboard -- great for the first rainy horse show!

While the weather wasn't the best for horse showing (or photography -- it's dark in that arena to begin with, even more so when it's dark and rainy outside!), we all had a great time.  There's nothing as fun as spending a day with a group of good friends, regardless of what you're doing.

Horse Show!

Horse show season has started again. This past weekend was our first show of the season, Horse Shows in the Park at Canterbury Showplace in Newberry, FL. It was a weekend full of working out the kinks, getting back into the routine and still having fun despite the weather (which rained on Saturday and was gray and really windy on Sunday). We have a new addition to our show team, Sunny and her pony Rosie, who show in the short stirrup division. I always have fun taking photos at the horse show, but I had a BLAST taking photos of Sunny. This is a little girl who LOVES her pony!! She is the true story of the fairy tale little girl with a little white pony. I love her smile and how she hugs her pony after every class. It was so great to hang out with Sunny and her family this weekend, along with my other friends and horse show family. Aja and I made our first foray into the hunter world, competing in a Medal class. I was proud of how we both did for our first time, but I also know now what we need to work on for the future. Don't worry -- we're not abandoning the jumpers, just trying some new things and expanding our horizons. Besides, I wouldn't abandon Bailey out there alone! She and Danny did great this weekend as well. Ella brought two of her greenies in training to the show as well. Both were super stars and did well in their classes. Here are a few of my favorites from the show, the rest can be found on my gallery site.

Despite the noise in this one, I love this shot of Jack -- looks like a painting to me.

Sunny and her pony, Rosie.

Bailey and Danny in the 2'6 jumpers.

Jack in his first horse show!

Super Hottie!