Yeah, I told ya’.

What’s not readily apparent is that David was born with a large ventricular septal defect and a patent ductus arteriosus–congenital heart defects that kept his blood from circulating properly and, thus, kept his body from getting the oxygen it needed. This was keeping him from growing the way he ought to. Fortunately, at the end of October, David went down to the Medical University of South Carolina where they were able to surgically repair the problems with his heart. This little guy was bathed in a lot of prayer and, as you can see, he’s coming along quite nicely now.

While recovering from his surgery, David wasn’t able to go out in public, and as I followed his story I kept wanting to see better pictures of him, so I got in touch with his mom, Melissa, a friend of mine from back when I was in high school, and asked if she’d like Wendy and I to get some pictures of David and his big sister, Susan Faith. She liked the idea, and so here are the photos!

This is Susan Faith with her mom. She has the cutest little nose!

Susan Faith and her dad.

Boys + bonnets = unhappiness

Finally, I thought I’d close with a shot of what David’s parents call his “zipper”, the scar from the surgery that has allowed him to grow and develop those adorable rolls you see over the top of his diaper.

To learn more about David’s story and the wonderful people at MUSC who helped to make it one with a very happy ending, I suggest you check out his Caring Bridge site. His mom also has a new blog about children, books, and children’s books called Growing Up Reading. (Susan Faith taught herself to read before she was twenty-one months old, so I’d say Melissa is someone’s advice you might want to consider when it comes to children’s literacy.)

Wendy and I are so thankful to have gotten to play a tiny part in David’s story and we look forward to seeing the wonderful young man he’s going to become.

Thanks for hanging out with us for this week of blogging! There are some cool photos in the pipeline and two shoots coming up this month we’re really excited about, so check back soon!

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.

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!

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!

We’re starting the week off with an awesome wedding from back in January. You should remember Leah and Greg from their engagement session and from Leah’s bridal session. This was an incredibly special wedding for me not only because Leah is a former student of mine, but because not one, not two, but three of her bridesmaids are my former students! Add to that the fact that I teach with both of her parents, and that everybody involved is simply a whole lot of fun, and, well, we had an amazing time. Check it out.

Leah and Greg were married in Greenwood, SC, so Wendy and I started out the day by driving out to the church to get a look around and scout locations. It turns out that Leah was there dropping off her dress, so we also took that time to get a few shots of the dresses and other accoutrements.

After photographing a few of the details, Wendy went to photograph Leah and her bridesmaids getting ready while I got the guys.

I absolutely love this photo of Leah that Wendy grabbed before the ceremony.

Finally, it was time for the ceremony.

Wendy and I think that a wedding ceremony is one of the most beautiful symbols of love that exists. Sadly, not everyone can work up the level of excitement about them that we have.

Next, we moved on to the reception, which was held at the Sundance Gallery which belongs to Jon Holloway, who is not only an amazing photographer, but a very gracious guy.

The food at the reception was not only beautiful…

…it was delicious.

From there on out, everybody pretty much just had an awesome time.

Leah’s brother and sister-in-law apparently thought the whole affair was very romantic.

…fortunately, so did Greg and Leah.

What would a wedding post be without a good sword photo?

…or the grandmother with the beer can pyramid?

…or one last dance with the girls before departing.

And goodnight everybody!

We wish Leah and Greg the absolute best in their new life together!

We’re only on day one of the FIVE (business) DAYS OF BLOGGING, so check back all this week for kids, actors, and even…web developers?

It’s pretty exciting to have two brides to share with you in two weeks. Melissa also got married last Saturday, but since Wendy and I were in Greenwood photographing Leah and Greg’s wedding and Melissa was down in Florida, getting hitched to Jon, we didn’t get to spend the day with her. Fortunately, she asked us to photograph her for her bridal portrait, so we got a sneak peek at just how beautiful she was going to be on her wedding day.

Melissa told me that she and Jon were getting married in a swamp in Florida. I’m still not sure how literally to take that, but nonetheless we figured it would be a good idea to reflect the outdoors in Melissa’s bridal shoot, so we headed down to Sesquicentennial State Park, where there was still some beautiful fall foliage on the trees.

Of course, we didn’t just stick this bride out in the woodsand make her stand around –we also gave her a chance to sit down…

…and generally be gorgeous while the sun set behind her.

Yup. She’s barefoot. We seem to attract that kind of bride. Thank goodness!

Finally, as the sun went down, we decided to have a little more fun with a bunch of balloons we brought along just for the occasion. They didn’t carry Melissa away cartoon-fashion which was, on the one hand, a bit of a disappointment, but on the other, kept me from having to explain to Jon why his finacée was floating over the city of Columbia in her wedding dress.

Jon and Melissa, we hope marriage is as magnificent for you as it has been for us. You’ve both found someone very special!

To everybody else, check back later in the week for adorable children and next week for Leah and Greg’s teasers!

Way back in September, though, Leah came down to Columbia and we got to capture these lovely images of her in her wedding gown.

Since she was a little girl, Leah had wanted to have her bridal photo taken at the South Carolina State House. We certainly weren’t going to argue with a little girl’s dreams.

Wendy got this picture of Leah that really shows off her amazing blue eyes. Greg’s eyes are almost as bright as you can see from their engagement photos. Their kids’ eyes are going to be gorgeous! (Not that we’re rushing you, guys.)

We had so much fun with Leah that we wound up shooting until the sun went down. Even though there wasn’t much light to work with, we decided to get in a few more shots featuring the lights of Columbia. This was one of our favorites.

We have a lot of pictures to go through, but we’ll be sharing a few quick teasers from Leah and Greg’s wedding next week. Be sure to come back and check them out!

‘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!

Share with your friends:

]]> http://www.lumosstudio.com/blog/2009/12/merry-christmas/feed/ 1 http://www.lumosstudio.com/blog/2009/12/christmas-social/ http://www.lumosstudio.com/blog/2009/12/christmas-social/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:58:00 +0000 J.P. http://www.lumosstudio.com/blog/?p=610 When I (J.P.) am not taking pictures or playing music for children, I corrupt instruct high-schoolers in a number of subjects, some of which are vaguely related to my philosophy degrees.  In general, I try to maintain an attitude of disinterested disdain toward my students, but, as you may have guessed from the Snuggie post, they sometimes get the better of me and warm my cold, cold heart.

The truth is, I have some of the best students any teacher could ask for. In faith, intellect, and character, many of the students I teach and have taught are shining examples of humanity who I actually *ahem* respect. Some of them have even gone on to become my friends, though if they try calling me by my first name I will disembowel them. Now, before things get too mushy, on to the post.

On Friday, the kids celebrated the end of the term with a Christmas social. I shot photos and some video for them and, as a way to thank them for being pretty amazing, made this video. I hope they, and you, enjoy it.

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.

Share with your friends:

]]> http://www.lumosstudio.com/blog/2009/12/getting-ready-for-the-holidays/feed/ 2