Sunday, August 31, 2008

With This Ring...


This is the very ring that Sandy will slip on my finger on December 28, 2008.

I knew I did not want a yellow gold band, but wanted something modern with a bevel cut. Yesterday, Sandy and I were able to find this great titanium ring. Every time I try it on, it feels surreal that this is all coming true. I can’t wait to put it on for real in December!

As the salesman was ringing up the sale, he said, "You two make a lovely couple, by the way."

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Lip Gloss Mishap


I couldn’t just show the one image without showing the other and telling the whole story.

Last Friday (August 22) marked 8 months since Sandy first came into my life. On Thursday night, I decided to put together a little gift bag to surprise her with on Friday evening. I first went to “Bath and Body Works” to pick up one of her favorite fragrances, “Japanese Cherry Blossom." They have it as a perfume and I knew that she was out of her old bottle. In addition to the perfume, I also got her some lip gloss that has this cool heart in the middle of it. I had previously given her this same brand, but in a different shade.

Once I got home, I wasn’t satisfied with just giving her these two items, but wanted to gather a few more little things to add to the gift. So, I ran out to Target, where I found some Ghirardelli chocolate, a pack of her favorite chewing gum, which is “5 gum”…because the packaging is so cool, and a small gift bag to put all of these things in.

After I returned home again, I got the idea to photograph the tip of the lip gloss for a possible blog post. When I had taken a few satisfactory shots, I tried getting the camera just a little bit closer to the stick. I had my camera on a small table-top tripod and because it has short legs at this setting, the rig becomes top heavy. I proceeded to set the self timer so I would not need to touch the camera when the image was being taken. (I was working with slow shutter speeds). In the blink of an eye, my camera tilts right into the lip gloss! I catch it before it hit’s the table, but the lip gloss had already taken a hit from the camera. As soon as I see the tip of the rolling stick, I realize that the pretty heart had been marred! …Also to my distain, my camera lens had a gob of the gloss on it as well! I couldn’t believe what had just happened.

I first attended to the camera lens…and was able to clean the mess up with some moist lens cleaning sheets. Once that was taken care of, I figured I’d shoot the jacked-up version of the gloss as well. I knew it would make a great story.

Since the gloss wasn’t the real “center piece” to Sandy’s gift, I still gave it to her. She noticed right away that something had happened to it, to which I replied, “There’s a story that goes with that.”

She still loved her surprise gift from me…even the marred lip gloss stick.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Hats Off


On Saturday night, I had the pleasure of helping Sandy’s Dad, Julian, who’s also a photographer, do a shoot with some of his other kids and their significant others.

Pictured above, is Sandy’s brother, Jesse, and his girlfriend, Chrissy. We had these cool hats that were being used as props. At one point, Jesse had thrown his hat back to his Dad. When I saw this, I got the idea to have them throw the hats at me. This ended up being my favorite image of the night.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Fruition


I believed you would come and now you’re here. What I proclaimed to God as I walked under the stars on many an evening, has come to fruition. My words of faith returned to me as a reality. Longings from my heart to God, not gone unnoticed or unheard, rather, He heard them all and remembered them all. It’s been said that I’m an “answer to prayer” for you and your family. Well, you are just as much an answer for me and my family.

God’s faithfulness in the form of a cute Dominican girl with dark hair, brown eyes and a heart full of love to give me and the world.


To view more beautiful skys, please visit "Skywatch".