Showing posts with label farm life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farm life. Show all posts

Sunday, July 3, 2011


MC & KB

You know when you have found your prince because you not only have a smile on your face but in your heart as well. ~Author Unknown

What I've Learned: God Grants us Gifts so that we might use them in Service to Others.
I've known for sometime now, Reader, that God has a plan for my photography. True, I'm not sure what it is yet. But, having been blessed with this gift and the tools & opportunities to make beautiful images, I know He is as much at work in my creative life as in the spiritual. I love that. I love that God takes our creative passions seriously. I love that expressing my creativity in praise of Him can be as much an act of sacred worship as tithing or serving. I love that He provides joyful work.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of driving out to a friend's farm to shoot her engagement photos. I've known KB for many years and was very touched when she and her fiance asked me to photograph their wedding this October. After praying about it and doing plenty of research, I felt convicted that this was a wonderful opportunity to use my gift to serve my friend (in my first wedding as a photographer). I arrived at the farm with my trusty Olympus E-420 and was greeted by KB, who wore a gorgeous plum dress and looked more lovely than I'd ever seen her. Her fiance appeared shortly thereafter and we embarked on a relaxed morning shoot involving the couple and their horses--all with gorgeous views of their property in the background.

Took me most of the week to edit the photos but I finally got them done and presented them to my friends this afternoon. I hope they enjoy them as much as I have. Perhaps the thing I love most about photography is the unique opportunity it provides to clearly show a viewer that special something or personality quirk that makes your subject so interesting.

Photography was never a gift I aspired to, and yet, it was in God's plan that I would one day pick up a camera and discover a calling. I can't wait to see how this gift He's given me will impact the lives I encounter. It's already completely transformed mine. What a wonderful way to serve my brothers and sisters--and to serve my Beloved Father.

So, without further adieu, here are a few of my favorite shots from last weekend for your enjoyment, dear Reader. Love is a mighty fine thing to behold...


















He felt now that he was not simply close to her, but that he did not know where he ended and she began. ~Leo Tolstoy




True love stories never have endings. ~Richard Bach

Quotes courtesy of Quote Garden.

Sunday, October 10, 2010


Uncle Raking Hay with the Team

Today's Joy: Living The Dream.
After more than a year of thwarted planning, I finally got the chance, on this beautiful Sunday morning in October, to photograph Uncle fulfilling one of his lifelong dreams: raking the hayfield with his Belgian Draft Team.


A Good Day's Work

I've photographed Uncle & Aunt Chef doing many things with their drafts this year: trail driving, showing in reinsmanship and cross-country classes at local driving shows, even getting dolled up and pulling a circus wagon in the costume class. But I think Uncle's favorite thing to do with the team is work around the farm.


Having a Great Time

Raised and trained on a working Amish farm, Fred & Ginger have adapted beautifully to our much more play-oriented lifestyle. Still, they don't seem to mind putting in the occasional hard day's work. While they plugged along, pulling a non-motorized rake that gathers hay into orderly rows for baling, Uncle spent the whole morning grinning from ear to ear. I couldn't help grinning, myself! It was a thoroughly delightful fall day on the farm!


Straight Rows Only!


Uncle Has Been Looking Forward to this All Summer


Making The Turn


Side View


Workin' Horses


Uncle & Aunt Chef Making Sure Everything's in Working Order


Hay on the Nose


Farm Dogs Wrestling


Old Technology Meets New


Tessa, Portrait


Hooligans


An Idyllic Life


Backsides