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Snow in Columbia!
We got snow! Snow!
Yes, on Tuesday night a tiny dusting of snow fell on us here in Columbia, SC. Many of us stayed up late constantly refreshing the school closings page on WISTV.com, only to be met with sadness and frustration. Still, it was a nice reminder of the snow we had in February, and so I thought today I’d post a few pictures Wendy and I took back then.
There aren’t a whole lot of pictures because (1) while I can handle the cold and wet it doesn’t seem ideal for cameras and (2) it’s all well and good to take pictures, but when you get snow in Columbia it’s important to put the camera down and play in it, so that’s what we did.
Since most of us in South Carolina aren’t very familiar with snow, I’ve prepared a brief primer on proper snow behavior. Let’s start with Snow 101: Snowflake catching.
Next, stand in awe upon realizing that it’s actually snowing.
Next, simply delight in the snow.
After that, realize you’re freezing because you have no clothing appropriate for snow and go inside.
Finally, after you’ve had a chance to warm up, forget that you have no appropriate clothing, raid your kitchen, and go outside and build a snowman.
Our snowman featured a real corn-cob pipe (well, a real corn-cob left over from Chili’s, anyway), a cucumber nose, and two eyes (and a mouth) made out of coffee beans. We felt he represented us well.
We hope our fellow South Carolinians enjoyed the snow and that you’ll all come back tomorrow for the Friday edition of FIVE (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING.
Candide
Friday before last Wendy and I had the pleasure of attending a production of Candide put on by the Alliance Française de Columbia. From their web page:
The Alliance Française is a worldwide non-profit organization founded in Paris in 1883. It is part of a network of over 1,000 chapters in 133 countries. In the United States, the Alliance Française counts more than 140 locations…The mission of The Alliance is to encourage the study of the French language and the various cultures of French-speaking countries and, more specifically, to foster friendly relations between the French-speaking and American peoples.
For those unfamiliar, Candide was written by Voltaire and ridicules the philosophical optimism of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. The play was performed entirely in French, which means that Wendy enjoyed the subtlety of the satire while I laughed when someone died in an especially comic way. All told, though, it was a lot of fun, with flying sheep, horses whose galloping sounded suspiciously like coconuts, and a hero who saves the girl, even though she’s gotten very, very ugly.
If you are a student of French or are simply interested in French culture, get in touch with the Alliance and get involved, and be sure to keep your eyes out for another performance next year!
Here are a few shots we took of the magnificent cast.
At last, we meet our daring hero Candide…and his flying sheep.
And finally, the entire cast of Candide.
Thanks for sticking around for the third day of the FIVE (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING. There are two more days to go, and I hope you’ll join us for both of them. See you tomorrow!
Christmas in Maryland
We have delayed far too long in posting pics from our Christmas visit to Maryland. After waiting out one of this year’s infamous snow storms, J.P. and I finally made it to the home of my big sis, bro-in-law, and favorite kids. Get ready for the cuteness!
Meet Ethan. Ethan loves to read and play, and he insists on giving you a full tour of the toy box as soon as you walk through the door.
I love this next picture Loren took of Ethan watching J.P. juggle some blocks. At the time, I was helping my mom prepare for our family photo. Just look at those bright eyes and that smile!
Here he is opening up some cardboard blocks that took the adults about half an hour to assemble (actually, I’m not sure how long it took us, but those blocks are not coming apart again for some time… too many little cardboard teeth).
Ethan wasn’t as excited about the shark poncho we picked out as he was the blocks, books and puzzles. I can’t blame the kid, but I sure am glad we got this picture out of it.
This is Brooke, Ethan’s beautiful baby sister. She is sweet and sociable and thinks Ethan is the funniest thing around. Brooke’s laugh alone is enough to make my day (this is what I’m talking about).
Here’s Poppy snoozing with little Brooke…
…and Pop holding Brooke after her nap.
Ethan is a wonderful big brother who will frequently bring his little sis toys to hold and even try to make sure she’s present for story time. But even the best older siblings will sometimes compete for attention…
The trip was awesome! Mainly, we lounged around, played with the kids, hung out with Betsy and Loren, and ate their food. My mom and dad were there, too, so we had some bonus family time consisting of caroling, continued eating, and of course a family photo shoot.
Betsy and Loren are amazing parents and, honestly, first class human beings. They are family and friends we continue to look up to.
Currently, Loren, Betsy, Ethan and Brooke are reunited after Loren’s recent trip to help out in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. You can view some of his pictures from the trip here. Welcome home, Loren! We love you!
Merry Christmas!
‘Twas the night before Christmas
And strange as it seems
J.P. and Wendy were relaxing
Their apartment was clean!
They’d watched Lost off of Netflix,
Ten episodes or more,
Odd since they’d just started
Watching two days before.
They’d sung ‘long with Sufjan,
Read some Lord of the Rings,
Watched Peanuts and Garfield
From Bittorrent streams.
And soon they’d be dreaming
Of lenses and lights,
Softboxes and snoots
To make portraits look right.
But first to their blog
They posted scenes of cheer
To thank friends and clients
For a wonderful year!
Wendy and I are celebrating our third Christmas together as husband and wife and, if you’ll pardon a little bit of bragging, I’m reminded that I am the luckiest man on earth. Seriously, how many guys have a wife who can decorate cookies like this?
I’m guessing very, very few.
I’d also expect that there aren’t too many wives who would indulge their husbands in decorating their gingerbread men to resemble web comic characters.
Meet Faye and Marten…
…and Winslow and Pintsize.
Now say goodbye to Pintsize.
Besides decorating cookies, we got ready for Christmas by going to “The Lights Before Christmas” at Riverbanks Zoo.
(I think Wendy looks good in red, don’t you?)
I don’t know if the fish were in the Christmas spirit or not. Some of them were kind of sparkly, though.
Meanwhile the Lizards were decked out in their best Christmas green.
Wendy and I wish you a very merry Christmas and suggest that you put a star on your tree…
(Not this one)
…snuggle up with someone you love…
…or in my case…
…and have a happy New Year!
Getting ready for the holidays
I don’t know about you, but I’m both delighted and a little bit terrified that there are only ten days until Christmas. We’ve done pretty well this year: the tree is up and decorated (it never made it out of storage last year), the presents are purchased (and the elves from Amazon will be delivering them any day), and we’ve even made Christmas cookies (though a few of the gingerbread men appeared to suffer from some sort of skin disease). In any case, here are our photographic representations of three things we’ve encountered and you’ll probably be encountering between now and the new year.
1. Travel
I got sick just before Thanksgiving this year (thanks a lot, immune system), so Wendy drove us down to her parents’ house in Summerville. Just as we got off I-26 we saw this sunset. I…requested emphatically that Wendy pull the car over so that we could get a photo. She graciously agreed.
2. Food
My mother-in-law made this roast that is, yes, wrapped in bacon. Did she make this for Thanksgiving dinner? No, this was the night before Thanksgiving…you know, just to get us ready. If I haven’t mentioned it before, I won in every imaginable way when I married Wendy.
3. Gifts
Ah, exchanging gifts, what a wonderful way to celebrate the Lord’s birth! I’m fairly certain, however, that the magi did not participate in a white elephant gift exchange.
“Number three!”
“Ok, I think I’ll take…the gold.”
“Are you sure? Look at this lovely frankincense! Think how fragrant your house would be!”
They were after all, wise men, and probably knew that at a white elephant gift exchange you risk going home with something like this:
As Dave Barry would say, “I swear I am not making this up.”
Wendy and I came home from my school’s Christmas party with a rusty caulk gun and a (beautifully decorated) paint can.
Yup.
To be fair, at a later Christmas party we came out much better, with espresso cups and a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, so I’d say it evened out, all in all.
So, to summarize: travel safely, enjoy some delicious food, and be very, very careful with white elephant gift exchanges.
Snuggie: The Blanket With Sleeves (That Solves All Life’s Problems)
This post comes with a story, so please bear with me.
Among other things I do, I (J.P.) teach Rhetoric. Rhetoric, simply, is the art of persuasive speech. In my class, the students primarily study Aristotle’s aptly-named Rhetoric, but sometimes I want to share with them something a little more contemporary, something that truly speaks to their generation. I think that infomercials are one of the best modern examples of persuasive communication and it’s for this reason I introduced them to the Snuggie™: the blanket with sleeves.
The students seemed to appreciate the simple structure of the commercial:
1) Present a problem: “You want to stay warm without raising your heating bill and you are incapable of performing mundane tasks like answering the phone while entombed in the shroud-like confines of a blanket. Also, for some reason, everything is in black and white.”
2) Offer a solution while footage switches to color and peppy music begins: “Now, you can own a Snuggie! You’ll be able to stay warm while enjoying a wide range of activities!”
3) Show how the benefits of the solution makes life amazing!
Little did I know how much they had appreciated it…
Two days after my birthday, just as I was getting ready to begin Rhetoric, our headmaster called me down to his office to help him with a computer problem. I asked a student to tell the rest of the class what the day’s assignment was and to have them begin on it, and followed the headmaster. After talking with me for a few minutes, the headmaster walked with me back to my classroom so I could retrieve a USB drive that contained some diagnostic utilities. When I got back to the room, the lights were off, the kids had their heads down on their desks and I was led by the headmaster to the far side of the room.
What followed was nothing less than amazing. My students has remixed and personalized the Snuggie commercial for me: “Mr. Stephens, do you find it miserable teaching in a freezing cold classroom? Do you find it difficult to write on the board when your hands have frostbite on them?” After presenting the problem, the lights came on, the music started (“Wannabe” by the Spice Girls), and the dancing and singing began. Oh yeah, and one student burst from the closet skating on a scooter while wearing a leopard-print Snuggie.
They didn’t skimp on the benefits of the solution, either. “Mr. Stephens, with your new Snuggie, you’ll be healthier, taller, stronger, more athletic, smarter…your hands will be nice and warm and you’ll be able to give us all A’s!” “You could even make it the official costume of Lunch Money!” At this point the students all dropped to their knees (approximating Lunch Money fan height) and waved their hands in the air while screaming “I love Lunch Money!”
In the end, I was presented with an awesome card, my new Snuggie…
…a DVD copy of The Iron Giant (they may have felt sorry for me after I showed them my copy on VHS)…
…a handmade Snuggie user’s guide…
(Note the chart.)
…and a cookie as big as my head!
At this point, it’s probably gratuitous to say that I have the greatest Rhetoric class ever. That’s one thing about Rhetoric, if the suck up this well, then they’re obviously getting the idea! As a small thank you to them, I will now conclude with a photo that I hope captures the magnificence of my birthday celebration, my students, and of course, my Snuggie.
P.S.- If any potential clients are reading this and you’re interested in a Snuggie-themed engagement shoot please contact us–we are definitely the photographers for you!
P.P.S.- After lecturing my students about copyright, I should probably mention that the first, second, and fourth pictures were taken by students and they retain all rights to them.
Happy Halloween from Lumos Studio!
Let me begin with a little explanation of Wendy’s costume, because it’s somewhat conceptual. Okay, it’s totally conceptual, but follow along with me… Wendy is “Christmas Creep”, which is the practice stores have of putting out Christmas decorations and promotions earlier and earlier each year (hence the “creep” part). In my experience, the best Halloween costumes are scary and maybe even a little nauseating. If seeing a bunch of wreathes hanging next to zombie masks in Target doesn’t give you that feeling, you have a stronger stomach that me. (By the way, you can’t see them in the picture, but her necklace alternates Christmas ornaments and rats, and she has Christmas lights around her waist that really light up–though when we took the picture we didn’t have batteries.)
Read more about Christmas Creep at Consumerist and be sure to check out this awesome cartoon from Hallmark that captures the spirit of the costume perfectly.
In case you don’t know, this is Dr. Cockroach from “Monsters vs. Aliens”. I came up with the idea of using a giant pair of sunglasses to replicate his eyes, and then Wendy pretty much went to town from there. She. Is. Awesome. My antennae, by the way, are made from fall foliage found at Michaels. Big thanks to Molly from Lunch Money for getting her dad to loan me a lab coat used for real actual science.
Here are a couple more pics for the road:
Me Ra Koh Confidence Workshop: Washington, D.C.
A couple of weekends ago I had the pleasure of attending an amazing women’s photography workshop by day and visiting Betsy, Loren, Ethan and Brooke by night. It was such an incredible time – even the trip home!
For those of you who don’t know about Me Ra Koh, you need to check out her blog! Me Ra and her awesome husband Brian do stunning work that will leave you smitten and speechless. Being quite a fan myself, I was so, SO excited to get to participate in their (appropriately named) Confidence Workshop for women in D.C.. It was great to get to meet them, learn from them, hear their stories, and laugh and cry with the other amazing women who traveled from near and far for this experience of a lifetime!
Here’s Me Ra demonstrating for us with some kids. Watching her engage the models was a valuable lesson by itself!
Here’s Brian talking to us about light metering. There were some fun demonstration photos involved. :)
We ladies had plenty of opportunities to try out what we had learned! Kudos to the models who cheerfully endured swarms of women wielding lenses!
Let me say that my dad was the best!
He was already in D.C. visiting Betsy, Loren and the kids, and offered to stay a few more days to chauffeur me downtown and back Saturday and Sunday. Thank you, Dad (and thank you Mom for doing without him for a few more days)!
The first day, our models were beautiful mothers and their beautiful babies. Here are a few of my favorite shots.
I just loved how this baby squealed when her mom came in for another kiss!!
The second day, three wonderful families let us crowd around them with our cameras.
Of course, this trip was all the more exciting due to the most recent addition to our family! Welcome to the world Brooke! Each evening after the workshop, I was so pumped that I couldn’t help but take some pictures of my precious new niece Brooke and adorable nephew Ethan. These kids have my heart! Betsy and Loren, I just don’t know how you two handle this much cuteness on a regular basis.
Here’s Brooke dreaming sweetly…
and Ethan playing with dad.
He was all about these new boots.
It was so hard to leave!
When I thought the trip was almost over and couldn’t get any better, I had this heart-melting experience in the Washington airport on the way home. Having just returned to the gate after getting some food, I noticed a mother with her two children waiting eagerly for dad to get off the plane (I later learned he was returning from Iraq). Sure enough, he came walking through the gate, dressed in uniform and locking eyes immediately with his wife. The family came together in a powerful moment that hit me so hard, I nearly started crying as their energy spread from where they stood and held each other to everyone who was blessed to catch a glimpse of them. When I showed this next photo to J.P., we were struck by the strength and sacrifices made by military families. Monica, thank you so much! Here they are.
Finally, I made it home to my beloved husband who encourages me in so many ways. Without a doubt, I left the Confidence Workshop with increased knowledge, vision and excitement, and J.P. has done nothing but help to keep the passion going!
Lollapalooza 2009: Day 1
Lollapalooza 2009 was a three-day music festival held August 7-9 in Chicago’s Grant Park. Lunch Money got to be a part of this extravaganza of awesomeness, playing two shows on the Kidzapalooza stage. What follows is a brief photographic journey through our first day, with posts for days 2 and 3 to come.
We (maybe I should say Jay) drove into Chicago at around 12:30am on Friday morning.
Chicago’s finest came out to greet the crowd.
Although Lollapalooza is pretty much packed with music fans of every age, Kidzapalooza aims at a decidedly younger (and more adorable) demographic.
Yeah, I know. I’m pushing into Cute Overload territory.
That’s Henry rocking out as he plays his part in “HEY! YOU’RE A ROCK STAR!”, a short interactive play put on by The Cool Table, a Chicago improv comedy troupe. Henry was the guitarist in “Sponge Blue Square Blue”, the greatest rock band the world has ever known.
The little guy above didn’t have a role in “HEY! YOU’RE A ROCK STAR!”, but he played his part by watching from the sidelines and having excellent hair.
Meanwhile, the child below practiced for a life of indie rock shows by looking vaguely put-upon by the whole affair.
In addition to the adorableness, though, there was also awesome kids music to be heard.
There was Frances England, who I got to meet for the first time (she’s awesome!):
…and Secret Agent 23 Skidoo always gets the crowd on its feet…
At the end of the day, Lunch Money played, and it was every bit as warm and toasty as it looks.
But fortunately Lucy figured out the key to a good first day at Lollapalooza–a good umbrella.
By the time we finished playing at the end of day 1, we were all pretty worn out, so that’s about it for pictures from that day. Come back soon, though, for pictures from the second and third days of Lollapalooza, including more kiddie cuteness and even a band or two.
Lauren: Wedding Dress Fitting
Today’s post is in honor of some pretty amazing women, and one of them in particular – Lauren. In fact, these are some of the most incredible women I know. They weren’t aware that I was going to be stealing these shots, either, so you have to give them credit for being such good sports about it (we women like to be ready for photos, am I right girls?). Thank you so much, ladies. I hope you’ve forgiven me for surprising you.
New voice on the blog, by the way. This is Wendy. Don’t worry, you’ll have J.P. back soon enough presenting you with photos of Lauren (the same beautiful girl you’ll see below) posing in front of an F-16. You know, the kind of run-of-the-mill bridal shots you see all the time. Seriously – an F-16! Yes, we had fun that day.
These shots are special because, well, they’re girl time shots. So scroll on down to take a peek into the awesomeness that is the wedding dress fitting experience.
That’s Lauren. She’s ready to do this thing. Isn’t she glowing?
We weren’t about to let Lauren try on her perfected bridal gown without having a look ourselves, so Brandi, Natalie, Ashley and I came along for the adventure. Even though the four of us had already walked down the aisle, we couldn’t help but peruse the colorful bridesmaids’ dresses and delicate white veils.
Finally, Lauren emerged from the dressing room in a gorgeous, silky gown that made me think of something Marilyn Monroe might wear. And there was even more glowing!
The wonderfully helpful and sweet women at David’s Bridal helped us understand the workings of Lauren’s bustle.
That part took a while.
Lauren didn’t seem to mind.
After that, she tried on her air force garter (check back for a close-up of this baby – it so, so rocks!)…
…and we all enjoyed some just-us-girls conversation with the bride-to-be.
Group shot? Why not?
Wedding dresses are so much fun! Writing this post makes me want to go put mine on again and just laze around in it.
Thanks for stickin’ with the post. Check back to see a bride wearing combat boots and standing next to a very impressive-looking airplane.
Loren: Uniform at Night
If you’ve read this blog more than once, you’ve probably encountered a reference to Loren, our photographically-gifted, adorable-nephew-making brother-in-law. What you might not know, though, is that in addition to his aforementioned talents, Loren is also a lieutenant in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. If I try to explain exactly what that is I’ll fail miserably, so I’ll simply call it the “meditary” and assure you that he’s working to protect us all from the Swine Flu.
Ever since Loren took his position with the Commissioned Corps I’ve had the photographs below in mind. When Wendy and I visited with Loren, Betsy, and Ethan in Hilton Head back in June I finally got a chance to actually take the pictures. Big thanks to Loren for dressing up in his uniform, going out on a hot South Carolina night, and getting eaten by mosquitoes while while we took these photos in the dark next to a graveyard.
Don’t worry, those six adorable kids will be showing up later this week. Check back soon.
Shayne: Trash the Dress
Two weeks ago Wendy and I went down to Hilton Head to visit with Ethan’s parents, Loren and Betsy. Despite that, there are no pictures of Ethan in this post. I have some self-control.
While we were there, Wendy, Loren and I did a Trash the Dress shoot with Loren’s sister Shayne. In general, a Trash the Dress shoot is where a bride, recognizing that she will in all likelihood never wear her wedding dress again, goes out and gets photographed doing all kinds of things one ought not do in a wedding dress. This wasn’t quite like that. Shayne decided not to trash her wedding dress, but instead to trash a dress she bought specifically for this purpose and on which she got a great deal. I’m absolutely fine with that, and we hope you will be, too.
We played for a while on the playground and let me tell you, Shayne is no slouch on the swings. I would have posted a picture of her in action but somebody would have accused me of doctoring the photo. She’s a daredevil. This shot doesn’t really capture that.
Later on we moved on to more traditional Trash the Dress fare.
Apparently tule lacks the aqua-dynamic properties of say, a wetsuit, so big props to Shayne for not drowning (a big plus for any shoot) and for managing to find a dress that pink.
We kind of fought with the sun for a lot of the shoot, but when it worked with us, it was good.
Loren is a much braver guy than I am when it comes to his gear.
I liked this last shot so much that I slapped our studio name on it. All the cool photographers are doing it.
Thanks for following the TEN (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING. If you’ve stuck with us for the past eight days, tomorrow ought to be one of the big payoffs (assuming Wendy and I can get it ready in time). Remember, comments on posts are always appreciated (as long as they’re glowing praise). See you tomorrow!
My favorite model
I had all ten (business) days of blogging planned out then Wendy had to go and get her hair cut and colored. So today we’re taking a break from the more ‘official’ work to show off my wife’s new hairstyle.
Wendy had gathered a few pictures that gave the direction she was looking for and took them to Laura at Urban Nirvana in Columbia. Laura took those different photos and came up with something awesome that Wendy and I love and I think suits her perfectly.
…yeah, she could only hold the serious face for so long.
Come back tomorrow; we’re not done by a long shot.
Our Spring Trip to Maryland
Wendy and I began our spring break on Friday! This is doubly cool because both Wendy’s birthday and our anniversary fall on this week. We spent some time talking about what we’d like to do, opting for something both fairly economical, but also unequivocally awesome. The conclusion?
Visit Ethan. (Oh yeah, and Loren and Betsy.)
Just before leaving for the trip I bought the Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens, so I couldn’t help trying it out. (Okay, I actually kept it on the camera almost the entire trip.) I really like this lens, but it’s not really designed for portraits, as you can see above.
Betsy and Loren suggested that we take Ethan to an amazing local park that has everything from outdoor percussion instruments to a pirate ship to a climbing wall. Ethan–not quite ready for the climbing wall. Loren, however, flexed his simian side.
While Loren monkeyed around, Ethan found a bridge that swayed and jiggled while he walked on it, and walk on it he did. I’m going to guess that he crossed that bridge thirty to fifty times while we were at the park. Even getting him to go down the slide involved some pretty intense persuasion.
Finally, Wendy had to put Ethan on her back and run so fast that the sheer excitement of the ride distracted Ethan from the awesomeness of the bridge which he was leaving behind.
The next day, given all the museum choices available to us in DC, we opted to visit the one featured in a mildly entertaining Ben Stiller movie.
While there, I learned a few things about the Museum of Natural History:
- -One-year-olds would rather watch a video of a fish eating a worm than see the BONES OF ACTUAL DINOSAURS
- -The lighting in the Museum of Natural History was not engineered with photographers in mind
- -The insect exhibit is sponsored by Orkin.
Given that I was once a ten-year-old boy, you can probably guess what my favorite part of the trip was. (Special thanks to Loren for holding the flash for me while I took these pictures.)
Visiting with Ethan
This weekend Wendy and I went down to her parents’ house to visit with Wendy’s sister and our nephew Ethan. This is one dangerously cute kid, so photographic opportunities abounded.
We took Ethan to the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry down in Charleston where kids can shop in a pint-sized Publix for vegetables, meats, flowers, and just about everything else you’d find in a grocery store. I found it pretty funny that the Publix brand items cost less than their name-brand counterparts–teach them to bargain hunt young!
Ethan, as you can see, chooses his plastic vegetables carefully.
Yes, they have shopping carts for small-fries.
Ethan was awesome. With kids his age, it seems you have to watch them pretty closely to make sure they obey the social contract–you know, don’t steal items from other kids’ carts and the like. Not Ethan, though; he was helping other kids with their lists by dropping healthy snacks into their carts. Way to be helpful!
On top of that, Ethan didn’t go straight for the various sweets or cake mixes (which is a good thing because of his wheat allergy). Rather, he seemed genuinely excited about fruits and vegetables. His enthusiasm for this tomato was, however, a little excessive. 
(Dude, you must buy the food before you taste it!)
After such an exciting day, of course Ethan wanted to share the story of his adventures. Unfortunately, he doesn’t yet speak English (we’re not quite sure what he does speak, but he does so passionately) and while adept at pressing buttons on phones, he doesn’t seem to do so systematically. Still, you can’t blame a guy for trying. 
Finally, after a long day, it’s time for a bath. Like just about everything else, Ethan enjoys baths. 
Rock on, buddy.
