Sunday, July 25, 2010

Dan and Julie

I don't know about you, but when I think of Sacramento in July and the middle of the afternoon, I don't think calm and cool...and yes, it was HOT last Saturday.  I think Dan and Julie's engagement session gets the prize for the hottest one yet.  We roasted like Dan's famous peppers!  ;)  But we didn't let the heat stop us, and we got some awesome photos -- not to mention having a great time in the process!

I'm really looking forward to photographing Dan and Julie's wedding this fall.  They have a ton of personality and are really fun to work with.  Hope you enjoy this sneak peek...  :)



- Kelsey Schweickert

Discovering beauty...

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Friday, July 23, 2010

Drama

I'm burning the midnight oil right now finishing up work on a wedding album (deadlines! aaah!), but the portraits from last weekend are begging to be edited and posted...so why not put up just one?  :)

I love the drama in this image.  The mystery.  The light on the girl's skilful hands, and her face in the shadows...there's a sense of a deeper story.


She does play beautifully, by the way.  :)  I'm looking forward to sharing more of the photos of her and her sisters as soon as I can.

For now, this editing machine is going back to her project...the clock is ticking...more later!

- Kelsey Schweickert

Discovering beauty...

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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Album designing...

What do you get when you mix a little creativity, a whole bunch of cool images, and some late nights in front of the computer?  A gorgeous custom-designed wedding album!  It's going to print at the end of this week. I always love seeing a collection of beautiful images professionally printed in a top-quality book like this, and I can hardly wait for my clients to see them!

So I thought I'd share a couple of the spreads with you.  These are two-page spreads, 19" wide, so you'll just have to imagine them really BIG.  ;) (And without the copyright...hehe.) And thick pages with glossy metallic paper that reflects the light so beautifully...yeah...I love these albums.  :)







- Kelsey Schweickert

Discovering beauty...

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Monday, July 19, 2010

Four pretty ladies

Yesterday I ended up doing a quick impromptu portrait session at the end of an event shoot.  These four sisters were playing harp as background music for the event, and afterward we just couldn't help having a little fun!  :)

I'll post more photos later this week as I edit, but meanwhile here's one for you to enjoy...



- Kelsey Schweickert

Discovering beauty...

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Saturday, July 17, 2010

Brent and Chantil's photos are up!

...so just click here to see a slide show of highlights, and click click here to see all the photos!  :)

I really enjoyed photographing your wedding, Brent and Chantil!  It's beautiful how the two of you love and respect each other.  You both are such kind-hearted people -- I saw that throughout your wedding day as I photographed you, and it's just wonderful.  God bless you both!



Getting ready...



(credit for this image goes to my second shooter, Britton Felber)

Chantil helping the flower girl put on her necklace


The pretty pink mums that the flower girl carried


Brent and his guys


The kiss!

(credit for this image goes to my second shooter, Britton Felber)
All the pretty bridesmaids...




Grand entrance at the reception! They're married!!

Love these beautiful tulip centerpieces.


Adorable little baby...on the dance floor!


I have to say...you look quite natural with this little baby, Holly... ;)


And they lived happily ever after!  :)



- Kelsey Schweickert

Discovering beauty...

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Friday, July 16, 2010

"He knows our frame"



I've been thinking about Psalm 103 a lot lately.  It's always been one of my favorite psalms, and since reading it Tuesday morning (it was one of the "Psalms for the day") I've been mulling over some of the verses.  It's been so good for my heart.  My Father in heaven has such mercy.  He knows I'm not perfect yet.  I often fail to trust him, yet he is so merciful, so generous...he shows so much compassion to me out of his father's heart.


"As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust."

(Psalm 103:13-14)



That's all for now, but I have exciting news about Brent and Chantil's photos...they're going to be up today!  Links to follow soon!

- Kelsey Schweickert

Discovering beauty...

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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Bokeh heaven with an 85mm 1.2

A good friend loaned me her 85mm 1.2 lens recently, so in between editing wedding photos, I ran out to the garden to have some fun with it. I didn't have time for anything too grand, but even just shooting flowers has sent me to bokeh heaven, for sure! So here's a smattering of what I found...

Hydrangeas are some of my favorite flowers.  I just love them.  I dream of huge bushes with enormous masses of huge flowers...but I guess I'll have to wait for that till I move to the coast someday...they only grow like that in very temperate areas.



Just look at the beautiful creamy background!








This funny little flower is commonly known as "Pincushion Flower".




I just love what the lens is doing to this big mop of lobelia flowers.  :)  It makes me smile.


That's all for now.  Hope you enjoyed the "pretty things".  :)

- Kelsey Schweickert

Discovering beauty...

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Monday, July 12, 2010

Blake and Jae's photos are up!

Hey friends of Blake and Jae!  The wedding photos are now online!  Click here to view a slide show of favorites, and click here to browse all the photos in the online gallery.

Jae, you look gorgeous...






Is this adorable or what...Jordan, the little flower girl, with Jae's dress.


Blake and the girls  ;)




Don't mess with JJ.


Definitely a wedding "party"!!


Magical.




I love this place.  The sun was sinking down to set just behind the couple...more photo magic!



With my cousin Julie.  :)  This is the gorgeous mom of JJ and Jordan!


And lastly, some veil magic.  :)  We spent a while at this spot creating photos while the wind did beautiful things to the veil...




More photos are in the online gallery for viewing/purchase, and the slide show here.

Blake and Jae, thanks again for the privilege of photographing your wedding.  May God pour out his joy on you both as you enter married life together!

- Kelsey Schweickert

Discovering beauty...

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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Trust

Sometimes I have a hard time trusting God.  I just do.  Sometimes you do too, right?  I guess it's part of being human.  It's easy to think that we have to take care of ourselves because nobody else will.  Things don't go as you hoped, people fail you, you get sick, plans fall apart, or whatever.  It's a cold, cruel world out there, and you just can't trust anyone.

But this is ridiculous.  This is misunderstanding our heavenly Father.  He is unfailingly good. He has our best at heart.  No matter how we feel, the solid truth is, he never forgets us.  He says in Isaiah, "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me."

It's not just that he doesn't fail us, he can't.  It's impossible for him.  As the apostle Paul wrote, "If we are faithless, he remains faithful -- for he cannot deny himself."  It's just not his nature.  Yesterday I came across these wonderful quotes by Spurgeon:

"Hold loosely to all worldly things, but grip firmly the unseen God.
Fussing, worrying and hurrying will do no good.
Be calm and quiet; all will be well if you are the Lord's child."

"We are poor fools when we begin to deal with the future. It is a sea that we are not called to navigate."




- Kelsey Schweickert



Discovering beauty...

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Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Somehow this picture didn't make it into the last post.

I don't know why, I guess it just slipped thru the proverbial cracks.  So it's getting posted now because I don't have the brainpower for a "real" post today.  My back hurts and I have a headache and I got some sort of flu bug and I'm just not feeling up to much.  Oh, and did I mention I got called for jury duty.  Yeah.  So, this goofy photo is all that this slightly under-the-weather photographer is going to post today.  It makes me smile.  I hope you enjoy it too.  ;)



(Peter, Mandy, John, and yours truly, at P&M's wedding rehearsal. Gotta love that fisheye lens.)

"Real" post coming tomorrow.  :)  When I'm back on top of the world.

- Kelsey Schweickert

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Saturday, July 3, 2010

randomness...from Peter and Mandy's wedding rehearsal

So, amidst editing and organizing photos today, I came across a few more Peter-and-Mandy photos that I haven't posted...and because it's Saturday and I'm feeling exceedingly random, here they are. :)
I love these two...they're so hilarious!


Chris (my bro) and Dave (Mandy's bro) rehearsing on Friday. They were joined by Olivia Fredrickson and her brother for an awesome cello quartet -- you should have heard the warm, rich sound of four cellos playing together.  It was beautiful.


Here's a funny moment.  This is Mandy's mom, Chardell, at the rehearsal -- preparing to walk down the aisle with John McPherson, who was standing in as "Peter" for the rehearsal.  ;)  Now that was a crackup for sure.  (John was also my second shooter for this wedding -- he's an awesome photographer!)


One of my favorite photos from the day.  This is one of Peter's (and now Mandy's) little nephews.  Is he cute or what!


I love all the personality that comes out at weddings.  There is so much life and joy and everyone is wearing their emotions on their sleeves.  It's a fun challenge, because everything's happening at once and you have to work fast!  :)

That's all for now.  I have to get back to [surprise] editing!  Have a great Independence Day, everyone!  :)

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty...

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Thursday, July 1, 2010

Perspective

Perspective makes all the difference.  I bet you've heard that a million times, right?  :)  But it's so true!  Here's an example.  Check out this photo of the Merced River -- one of my favorite Yosemite photos:


It's a frequently-photographed spot.  Lots of people stop here on their way around the valley.  The tour buses always pull in here too.  But I like to think my photo is one of the more interesting ones from here...in large part because of the perspective.

To get the cool rocky foreground, with the still water reflecting the sunset glow on El Capitan and the Cathedral Rocks -- well, you've got to do a little work to get that.  I had my tripod down as low as it would go, its legs spread out partway in and partway out of the water, while I squeezed myself in between the rocks and mud, clutching a graduated neutral density filter in one hand (yes, I used to use those!) and my camera strap firmly in the other.

If you want cool perspective...you sometimes have to go places other people don't.  I didn't have any company down there in the amid the rocks and mud, we'll just say that!  ;)

A few weeks ago I paid Yosemite a quick visit (way too quick! but I did get a few good photos!).  The perspective was different.  It had to be.  This time of year, the water level is a lot higher!  I couldn't even get to the place where I took the photo above.  If you look directly in the center of this photo, that's the spot.  Of course, the water was lower then...but you get the point.  ;)


Happy to be here!  :)


This time, the lighting and water and greenery were all different, which called for a different perspective...so I took this shot from atop a huge dead tree trunk.  (Much easier than the photo above, frankly... ;)


Perspective...it's ridiculous how much it changes things for me.  Yeah, this goes way beyond photos.  Today I was thinking over this month.  I've had some great experiences and some pretty rotten ones in June 2010.  Sometimes it cracks me up how often my perspective can change a difficult experience into a good one.

You know the account of Joseph and his brothers, at the end of the book of Genesis, where they ask him to forgive them for all the terrible things they did to him?  He told them, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good."

I've been thinking how, for everything that takes place in my life, God and Satan have completely different goals.  If I listen to the lies Satan whispers in my ear, the results will be harmful, to me and others.  So often I catch myself listening to those lies -- I don't even realize it till I look at the fruit that they bring.  Discouragement, sadness, self-rejection, fear.  But if I remember the truths that my heavenly Father has lovingly told me, he will bring good out of even the negative things that happen. The things the enemy wants to use to damage and discourage me become stepping-stones to happiness in Jesus when I bring God's truth into the situation.  He says in the Psalms that "the entrance of Thy words brings light".  And it's the most amazing experience to see fear and gloom give way to His comfort, mercy, and love!

I've started keeping a collection of His truths right here on my desk, verses that speak to specific fears or lies that I catch myself believing.  And when I'm going through a difficult time, those truths are right there to pull me out of it.  Because he says:

"If you abide in my word,
you are truly my disciples,
and you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free."
(John 8:31)

A true promise, for sure!  :)
- Kelsey

Discovering beauty...

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