photo of the day: happy accidents

Inspired by Picasso and one of the most talented photographers I know personally, I'm trying to deconstruct my photography more, pushing past literal interpretations of events and finding focus and beauty in the mundane. Well, I'm not doing terribly well, but the tree image on the right was actually an accidental snap of the camera button. So rather than throw it away, I'm counting it as a happy accident.

photo of the day: cuddles!

I mentioned on Friday that I had lots of shoots scheduled over the weekend, and I did indeed have three. (There was another band performance I could have dragged le camera to, but after 1300 photos that day, I decided not to.) Anyway, the first one was in Wilmington at Winterthur Gardens, and it was awesome seeing the gardens for the first time. Even though not much is blooming, there was a slope COVERED IN BLUEBELLS. Amazing. All I could think was "I want to do bridal portraits here!"

Anyway, the subject of the shoot was a five-year-old who's a friend of my sister, which is how I got involved with the pictures. In the shot below she's got M wrapped in her trench coat, keeping her warm while we waited to start taking pictures.

I love this image because it is such typical Joy: impulsive, laughing, comfortable in her own skin. If you've ever met my sister (and a lot of you probably have--she's incredibly good at her job) you know that she absolutely lives up to her name, besides being one of the most focused people I know.

Anyway, I had to share this image, because it probably won't end up framed anywhere, but it is the sort of image that is frozen in my mind when I think of my family.

photo of the day: in memory

It's quite possible, and even probable, that I've posted this photo before. But that's ok: I'll keep posting this picture, every year, on Saint Patricks Day, until I just stop blogging. Because St Patricks Day will never be just a holiday to me any more: it's the anniversary of the death of Randi Dye, my husband's mother. Today marks 4 years since she finally succumbed in her battle against breast cancer, leaving behind 6 kids, the youngest of which was 8.

This picture was taken in July of 2005, less than 12 months before she died, and it's one of only a handful that I've taken of her. The family had driven in from Ohio for one last family vacation before Jared's and my wedding in the fall, and we spent as much time as possible at the beach. She couldn't walk much at that point--there were tumors in her legs--but she still managed to organize meals and rally hordes of people out the door.

You can see in this shot how thin she is, and you can even see a little bit of the distortion that the tumors were causing in her head. But she's laughing, and that's how I try to remember her.