Kyzar Photography

Love is the arms that are holding you. Love never fails you. -Brandon Heath

She called him her very own Gilbert Blythe. Now if you are like me and haven’t read Anne of Green Gables, you might not know who that is. Gilbert Blythe was a character in the novels that is known for his intense love and devotion. At one point while trying to gain the affections of his future wife he tells her…

…your friendship can’t satisfy me, Anne. I want your love.

That describes Josh’s feelings exactly, because he wasn’t satisfied with having Kelly as a friend. He needed her to be his wife.

Josh and Kelly were married on a beautiful April afternoon during a ceremony at Temple Baptist Church. Emotions were almost palpable as Kelly walked down the aisle. The tears of joy in her eyes, the comforting pat of her brother’s hand on hers, the bittersweet smile of a mother that is giving her daughter away but is joyous in doing so. When Josh got his first look of Kelly in her dress he got one of those huge trademarked “Josh” smiles on his face and let out an audible “Whew!” He had good reason. She was stunning. Let’s face it, he married up. Just kidding Josh. I think Josh’s sister Rebbeca described him best in her toast during the reception at the Squire Creek Country Club. She said the main rule of living with Josh was to simply love him. Give him your love and he will return that love devotedly.

Just like Gilbert Blythe.

I had a chance to take some photos of my cousin and her family from Fort Worth over the Christmas holidays.  Her son, Wyatt, was only a few months old, but man he hams it up in front of the camera. It helped that he had a constant cheering section behind me. I think mom and dad had gotten used to getting smiles out of him. Here are a few of my favorites along with a quick slideshow video.

Lauren contacted me a few months ago with a somewhat unusual request. She wanted bridal portraits taken almost a year after she was actually married. A little background information might explain why. Lauren was engaged to Evan, and Evan was actively deployed in the military until right before the wedding. On top of all the wedding planning, Lauren and Evan were moving to Ruston, AND Lauren was taking a new job as the Louisiana Tech Regal Blues dance line coach. Add all that together and she never had time to get bridal portraits taken. She is beautiful in her dress, so of course we had to remedy that omission. We had a great time during the session, Lauren’s outgoing nature and dancer’s grace made the shoot a lot of fun.

I recently got to shoot engagements for my buds Josh and Kelly.  These guys were great.  Spend a little time with them and you can tell that they are really perfect for each other.  Josh was our designated poison ivy locater and Kelly was our designated Josh locater so it all worked out!  We almost got run over by a train, did a little trespassing, and I think I may have blinded them a bit, but in the end we got some great shots.  Thanks guys for letting me capture some of these special moments.  You guys rock.

To see more of  Josh and Kelly, go the the gallery at the top of the page.

Chase Jarvis CURRENT: The Consequences of Creativity from Chase Jarvis on Vimeo.

I saw this mentioned on  Matt Lange‘s blog the other day, it is a really good talk given by Chase Jarvis last year in Denver.  In the talk he stresses the importance of realizing the age in which we live.  It’s an age in which each of us can be his or her own publisher.  We live in a digital world in which it is incredibly easy to both create art and then share that art with others.  It’s really impressive when you think about it.  Just a decade or so ago all the different media forms and digital distribution channels that we take for granted simply didn’t exist.  This gives the amateur like myself the opportunity to share my work with others and find like minded individuals.

The main point that Chase wanted to get across to all of us though was his “Create, Share, Sustain” paradigm.  “Create, Share, Sustain” is basically boiled down like this:

1. Create:  Express your creativity in whatever manner you want.  Do the type of work that most interests you.  If pinhole timelapse is your bag, then hell, go for it.
2. Share: Share the work you just made with others.  Be it via a personal blog, Flickr, Twitter, etc.  Just get it out there for others to enjoy.
3. Sustain: Do whatever you have to do to make ends meet while you continue to pursue the work you are creating.  It may be a day job in IT, waiting tables, or simply shooting a different form of photography that pays better.
4. Rinse and Repeat.

I was pretty pumped up after watching this video, because it was almost like it was directly specifically at me.  Now I know it wasn’t, so that means that there are many others out there like me who are in the same boat.  We can all take this mantra to heart: “Create, Share, Sustain”

By coincidence, Tyler from Moo and Loo Photography made a Twitter post this week about almost the same subject.  It it he linked a post called “Loving Your Day Job and Your Life”.  He ordered the book mentioned in the post and will be giving me his take when he gets it in.