I don't often recommend movies on the blog. In fact, not sure I've ever recommended one, but tonight Kylie and I saw Fireproof and - assuming everyone's already seen Old Yeller - I'm making my first official movie recommendation.
Is it top notch production? By Hollywood's standards, maybe not. But considering it was made for $500k (pennies when you consider some actors/actresses require $20M paychecks for movies these days), I thought the quality was still pretty good. Is it top notch acting? Other than Kirk Cameron (a.k.a. Mike Seaver from Growing Pains), I think almost the entire cast is made up of people with little or no acting experience, and they were good which makes this movie all the more impressive. Was the story line good? Absolutely. And meaningful. Finally a movie anyone who's been/is married or in a serious relationship can identify with. And even if you don't fall in that category, the message of this movie is about what it really means to love someone the way God intended. You can watch the trailer below.
So, if you're gonna spend $9 to go see a movie, make it something positive. With all the negativity in the news right now about the world we live in, it's nice to walk out of a movie feeling inspired. So go check it out... after you've rented Old Yeller.
I'm in Atlanta right now just chillaxin' in my hotel room after stuffing myself at Maggiano's down the street. I love that place. I know it's a chain, but I just like the atmosphere and the idea of family style eating... even when it's just me eating... 'cause then it just means there's more for me [grin]. I'm watching the [un]Presidential Debate (these guys place more blame and point more fingers at each other than 3rd graders) and catchin' up on the days news on my laptop. Pretty uneventful, so I'll throw in a couple random, gratuitous images from the locations I shot at last week for some visual filler.
So now it was my turn to try and do what I'm always asking others to do... 'just relaaax and be yourself.' The photographer becomes the photographee. Kylie and I wanted to get some engagement photos done since, well, we're engaged, and the walls in the new house are embarrassingly absent of photos of our mugs. I have tons of pictures of clients up on the walls, and don't get me wrong, I looove my clients, but honestly it's a little ridiculous when new clients come over and say, "Oh, are those your kids?" Nope. "Oh, is that your fiancée?" Huh-uh. "Is that your fiancée?" Still no. "Umm, is that your broth... " Negative. Sorry, family. And sorry, sweetie. Kind of ironic, really, that as a photographer I have very few images of those closest to me. Well, hopefully that's about to change.
Where am I going with this post? Oh, right... Kylie and I wanted some photographs of us. Enter Kim Boyd into the picture. (No pun inten... well, never mind.) I met Kim at a photography workshop in Austin earlier this year, and I love her images. They're so crisp and clean, vibrant and tasty. Go on, check 'em out for yourself over on her blog. Kim was sweet enough to come into town from Louisiana for a little get together and some fun photos down in Deep Ellum. I think she and I were both nervous. I know how nervous I was when I photographed other photographers families, so I new how Kim felt. I was nervous this time because I didn't wanna look like a big ol' dork with a cheesy grin. And Kylie? Well, she's just a natural. She looks good no matter what... without tryin'. So at the very least I knew at least half of every image would be awesome.
I knew Kim would be great, though, and she delivered. We had a TON o' fun and got some rockin' images at the same time... without even feelin' like we were being photographed. Here's a couple I ripped right off of Kim's blog (with her permission, of course).
Thanks so much, Kim! We so appreciate it, and hope you enjoyed your time away in Dallas... or at least the 7 pounds of Tex-Mex we had at dinner afterwards.
A few days ago we spent some time hanging out with the Whitakers in Las Colinas to photograph their little man Chase. He was a little leery of the whole stranger with a camera gig when we first met [see first image below], but that wore off in about 2 minutes and his big brown eyes were on display the rest of session. Chase has a LOT of energy and curiosity, and he's certainly not afraid to try his own thing as a couple times he was happy to go off and explore the beautiful canal district surroundings on his own.
Here's a few sneak peek images from the awesome session we had.
Here's Stephanie and Blake, Chases' mom and dad. Thanks to Lana who connected Stephanie and I after photographing Lana and Bobby's sons Max and Sam.
Such a sweet image of mom with her baby boy.
Thanks, Stephanie and Blake! It was great spending time with you and little Chase, and I can't wait for you to see the rest of your images!
And just for extra credit, I loved the door picture up above, and it seems like such a natural for a movie poster. For example....
I think that totally matches Chases's personality.
And for those who like theirs movies to be a little more on the scary suspense side...
