I also know that Christmas is not always wonderful for everyone, in fact, at Christmastime I can tend to get a little melancholy thinking about families who are mourning the loss of a loved one, who have health issues or who are lonely and not surrounded by people they love.  I often dream and pray that at Christmas time, people would forget about the cute wrapping paper, forget about buying the perfect gift, forget about all the hustle and bustle and slow down and focus on what is really important in our lives.  I hope that people can search for meaning, purpose and for abundant life that goes beyond Dec 25th. I pray that people would really love one another with and unearthly love.  A deep meaningful Love that goes beyond description. A self sacrificing love that pours out endlessly. A love that reaches out to those in need, those that are hurting and those that are struggling.

Don’t get me wrong, I love wrapping presents and opening presents and eating lots of yummy foods, but my hope is that it doesn’t stop there.

So to keep within the spirit of giving, I am going to give away a free brag book (a 250.00 value) to my next client booking. A brag book is 100 images of your choosing in a beautifully bound book.  The only catch, you have to be my next booking!

Merry Christmas, from my family to yours!

Last  year at Christmas time I had an amazing wedding photography contest (which I am so glad that I was able to do).  Unfortunately, I can not run the contest again this year simple because my schedule is already super full.  I am however offering a special GIFT on Christmas day only.  So mark you calendars, if you or someone you know is getting married and ready to book a photographer.  You will want to check back on Christmas DAY (Dec 25th until midnight)  I will be offering this HUGE gift ONLY on Christmas Day.  Merry Christmas!

Here is where my project will be a little different, I WANT YOU TO DO IT TOO!  That is why I am telling you about this a WHOLE MONTH EARLY.  I want YOU to gear up, plan and to tell me all about it.  Each week for a whole year I will be posting 7 photos from my daily photos. I will also be posting one link to another persons blog or flicker account with their project.  How fun to explore another persons journey through life via the lens. You do NOT have to be a professional photographer to participate.  Come one come all, lets do this together…whose in?

Photojojo describes the project best:

People will often say that their whole lives flashed before their eyes after they experienced a traumatic event. Perhaps it’s a bit morbid, but we think that sounds pretty incredible.  When Taylor McKnight started taking a photo a day on January 1st, 2004, he never imagined the project would not only serve as a way to remember a year, but also help him understand what was important to him in his life.  Whether it was his relationships, his career, or his fashion sense, recording a photo a day for a whole year left him with a rich visual history of his life. And it made him a better photographer to boot!

WHY DO IT?

Taking a photo a day is a big undertaking with big payoffs. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider doing it:

• Imagine being able to look back at any day of your year and recall what you did, who you met, what you learned… (Often we find it hard to remember what we did just yesterday or even last night, let alone a whole year ago!)
• Your year-long photo album will be an amazing way to document your travels and accomplishments, your haircuts and relationships. Time moves surprisingly fast.
• Taking a photo a day will make you a better photographer. Using your camera every day will help you learn its limits. You will get better at composing your shots, you’ll start to care about lighting, and you’ll become more creative with your photography when you’re forced to come up with something new every single day.

TIPS ON HOW TO DO IT

Here are six tips on how to create your own Project 365:

1. Bring Your Camera Everywhere
   Yes, everywhere. Get in the habit. Grocery stores, restaurants, parties, work, and school. Going to a movie theatre? Snap a pic of the flick with your phone–there are photo-ops everywhere. If you have one of those tiny tiny cameras, you have no excuse not to have it in your pocket all the time. And if you don’t? Camera phones are a great substitute.
2. Make Posting Easy
   You can install blog software like Movable Type or WordPress on your own site and create an entry for each photo, but for true ease of use, try a photo sharing site. Flickr will let you post a week’s worth of photos in 2 minutes flat, and fotolog and Photoblog.com are geared toward a photo-a-day workflow. Making it fast and easy means you’re much more likely to do it.
3. Vary Your Themes
   Try to capture the day’s events in a single photo. Perform photographic experiments. Take a photo of someone new you meet, something you ate for the first time, or something you just learned how to do. Take a photo of something that made you smile. And don’t forget to take a photo of yourself at least once a month so you can remember how you’ve changed, too.
4. Tell a Story
   Use your blog entry, or your photo description, to explain what’s going on in each day’s photograph. How good did that dinner taste? What made you want to take a photo of that stranger? It’ll help you remember down the road, and it gives friends following along a better appreciation of why you took the photo you did. You don’t need to write a lot, just enough to add some color.
5. Don’t Stop, No Matter What
   This is perhaps the most important tip of all. You will get tired of taking a photo every single day. Some days, you will consider giving up. Don’t. The end result is worth the effort. Remind yourself why you wanted to do it in first place. There will be times you’ll think there’s nothing interesting left to take a photo of, and times you’ll think you didn’t do anything exciting enough to take a photo of. There’s always a great photo to be made. Get out of the house and take a walk. Or stay inside and look around. Take a photo of something important to you. Take a photo of the inside of your house so you can see how your taste has changed over the years. Take a photo of anything, just don’t stop.
6. Post early, post often
   Plan on going through and posting your photos at least once a week so you don’t get backlogged and feel overwhelmed. Ideally, post every day or two. Again, spend the time up front to make sure it’s quick and easy to post. It’ll make all the difference.

Since every post needs a photo, here is one I took of my 92 year old grandmother a month ago with my two little girls.  There are 90 years that separate my grandmother and my youngest.  Grams was “reading” to my girls.  After she was done she leaned over and said to me “I cant see a thing on these pages” I will remember this moment forever, because I photographed it. I am excited to photograph daily life in 2010, to remind me that life is filled with MANY little blessings, we just need to look for them on a daily basis.

If you would like to learn more about LOCKS of LOVE you can go here for more information! I love you Grace, you make your Mom and Dad so proud!