FRIENDSHIP MONSTER THEME ART

Lately my blog has been a great way to showcase what I’ve been up to with portraits and wedding and engagement shoots. But I still get involved in a wide range of other creative things (like my cabinet from last week) that I don’t usually post up here.  That is about to change and this is one of those things—combining photography with my graphic design background in a project that I had a lot of fun with. 

This Fall my friend Ron Merrell is teaching through a sermon series at Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita, CA called “Friendship Monster.” For 8 weeks they will be exploring some common things that mess up friendships for teenagers and college students. Ron will be talking about 8 different things and he gave them each a name.

Pride - "P-Rex"

Words - "The Detonator"
Neediness - "Draino"
Social Media - "Electronicon"
Jealousy - "Enviodon"
Hypocrisy - "Shape Shifter"
Insecurity - "Spineless"
Gossip - "Shredder"

I went through and illustrated a body for each, meant to represent the characteristics of the monster. Then I went wandering around DC by myself at night (yes, it was scary) and took photos of dark corners. Then I went home and inserted the shadows into the photos. I was super stoked about using my new camera for the photos – I went without a tripod and just cranked the ISO to 3200, because I can. Each of the final images have been enlarged to movie poster size and hung where the students meet at the church.

The messages will be online here if you’d like to hear them.

AWESOME LOCKER FOR ABOUT $25

One of my many hobbies is refinishing furniture. I don’t get to do it very often because it usually requires lots of time and space. This weekend I decided to tackle a quick project—repainting a metal locker. A friend was getting ready to trash it and I thought I could breathe new life into the piece and get some use out of it. With a locking door and a safe inside it could be a great place to keep some of my equipment.

So, for about $25 worth of sandpaper, tape and spraypaint—voila—I have a sweet new locker for my office. The “before” photo showing off it’s standard issue gray uniform is below.

WASHINGTON DC PORTRAITS: SMITH FAMILY

The Smiths came into town from Dallas for a few days on business and managed to squeeze in some time to take a few family photos. We cruised down to the Tidal Basin just as the sun was going down to get some sweet photos near the Jefferson Memorial.  Little Sawyer isn’t so good at looking at the camera when you want her to but she’s great at peek-a-boo, finding the moon and looking cute at all times.

OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA WEDDING: LAUREN & JONATHAN

You may remember Lauren & Jonathan from their beautiful downtown DC engagement session a few months ago. Well, this weekend they were married in Old Town Alexandria at the Carlyle House—a historic residence dating from 1753. Lauren and Jonathan made their own history there, sealing their commitment to each other in front of friends, family and God. After the ceremony guests made their way to the reception site, the Morrison House, a few blocks away for dinner and drinks and some dancing with a sweet jazz band led by Karen Gray.