Merry Christmas, everyone!
This year’s December Photo Project has been particularly fun for me. I leave the DPP with a final image of a photographer who is happy, tired, satisfied and deeply joyful as she celebrates this Christmas season.
Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.
The story I have to tell is greater than three images and a few words in a blog post. But for now, these small markers will suffice for representing the larger story. At 1:00am Saturday I received a phone call where Brian Bradley’s voice said something like, “Let’s go, Tredway.” After that, my camera captured snapshots while one Maralee Bradley did the work of a lifetime. Seen above, she’s walking the hallways, smiling before all smiles vanished, and breathing deeply through a contraction.
This post lacks an ending. That beautiful reward a mama literally labors towards happened in a surgical room and, alas, only one person was allowed in. I was kind of hoping Brian would pass out at the last minute so I could dress in scrubs, but no such luck. ;)
The Facebook announcement reads, “For unto us a son is given! Joel Richard Bradley was delivered via C-Section on 12/24/11 at 5:11 pm after 14 hrs of hard labor. He is 9 lbs and 21 1/2 in long.”
I praise God for so much today! And when I finally hold that darling baby in my arms, you can bet I’ll photograph him.
Cutting Daddy’s hair required lots of concentration. Most of the time his face was quite zen-like as his girls buzzed around his head and, well, pretty much buzzed his head.
Only once did things get a bit hairy. Pun intended.
Tonight we celebrated the 40th anniversary of my folks with a lovely dinner and dessert. Happy 40th, Mom and Dad! I love you!
At the end of a long day, one where going out to eat seemed the only option, I wasn’t sure what I was going to capture for my DPP shot. Lo and behold, we saw two families we knew at HF Crave tonight. I recalled needing a portrait and they were cool enough to sit still for a moment. Thanks, friends! I hope a good burger and fries cheered up your little one. (I know that Black and Bleu burger made my tummy happy.)
My church is full of quite possibly the cutest children on the planet. Tonight many of them sang in a Christmas choir and they did a wonderful job due to the efforts of their fearless leader Vikki Power (thank you, Vikki!). Here is a shot of my buddy Josh who recited a giant portion of Luke 2. If you are like the rest of us lazy hacks and haven’t actually memorized the passage, here it is:
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Image from today’s photo shoot with Joseph Whittle, in honor of his Eagle Scout achievement. I hope his mama loves this shot, because I sure do!
The first rule of the DPP is don’t talk about the DPP.
Wait, scratch that.
The first rule of the DPP is… don’t leave your camera at home.
Seriously.
DON’T LEAVE YOUR CAMERA AT HOME. It is no good to you there.
Until it really kinda is.
Today I left my camera at home. I was all prepared to photograph my dentist, but somehow the notion of camera got shoved back behind 1) the desire to actually shower before going out in public and 2) my typical dentist office anxiety. However, I’d say things worked out well because, in the end, I snapped this image which I really love. On my way back into the house I saw the Morehead family coming home from lunch. After running in to grab my camera, I quickly snapped a few shots in the snow. Whew, I got my portrait for the day.
The gorgeous and talented Christine Weeks! My guess is that this woman can do anything. And if she can’t, please don’t tell me; I’m enjoying living in this fantasy world. ;)
