Open Hearted

Hooray for a new magazine! I've been immersing myself in June the last few weeks trying to wrap up the next issue of Insights. In the process I've had a super amount of fun. Here is a photo/illustration for one of the articles. Obviously the style is referencing ............... yup, Dr. Seuss. And the grinch. The article takes note of characters such as the Grinch and Scrooge and their dramatic heart transformations. A not so subtle urging to make apparent the feelings of the heart with the doings of the hands. Love big, live big. (that is my synopsis anyways lol)

 

 photo credit: old man © shutterstock.com/olly

As usual when I am working on things like this, I can't help but reflect a bit and take it to heart. Actually, that's not true at all. Its very easy for me to read through all of this stuff and not take any of it to heart. Sometimes though, something will pop out at me and really hit home. Here is one of those. 

What does it mean to live magnanimously? 

ummm...give more of myself than I keep. Be selfless not selfish. To be noble, wise, and as the cliche goes, "the hands and feet of Christ."

Am I doing it? 

Ouch. Rarely. I can't even imagine being that person. My best moments barely register on the "magnanimous scale" ... I have an incredible amount of excuses though...

Shouldn't I be?

May Long!

you know what's killing me? I've been creating up a storm and I can't share any of it on my blog! Its either for the wedding, gifts for people, or for work and not blog-able! Trust me, I've been creating! And it's been fun. This week I finished half my wedding invitations and I'm starting to hand them out. They look awesome, but I'll wait until after the wedding to blog about ALLL my creative projects. (you know how i've mentioned that I have this "thing" where I want to keep everything a surprise?)

So for now, here are a few shots from my Whistler May Long, in an attempt to re-acquaint myself with my Rebel :(  It worked I guess, the shots aren't bad, but all I see when I look at them is "the D7000 would have had waay more detail in the clouds, and the sharpness would have been breathtaking..."   I'm spoiled. Thank you God for Creation!!!! (oh and handsome fiances :D)

IFLC flags!

I just realized that I haven't loaded up a design piece in a really long time. So here's a recent piece I did for our year end package. I have so much fun doing these types of pieces, which challenge me to organize information while creating something graphically interesting!

While I'm at it, check out our latest Insights magazine! The magazine takes up most of my time at work and contains a lot of stuff I'm proud of. I love the opportunity I have to create the entire magazine with my own creative vision every month! Best of all, I LOVE being a part of something I believe in, something that brings the truth of God's word to Canadians.

Oh Sister!

I gave a bit of a story in my last post, but here are a few more details! My youngest sister Jenna is graduating highschool this year so we decided to do something fun. Not only was it an excuse to get some fun photo memories, I got to use her as a practice model! The advantage of directing your sister is that you aren't afraid to make her do things lol! 

Jenna is the youngest of 4 girls, and I'm so excited that she's going out on her own next year to adventure. I'm gonna miss her after being at home with her this year, but I'm leaving too (YAY marriage!!) so its a prime time lol! She's taking off to England in the fall for a year of Capenwray and adventuring. I'm maybe a little jealous. Jenna is amazing: gorgeous, independent, charismatic, and adventurous. She's by far the trendiest of the sisters, but I like to think its because she learned from those who went before ;) I can't wait to see what she accomplishes in the coming years! Jenna, you rock! And I'd like my white sweater back please. :D

I brought along my favorite stool as a prop, and we had fun in the dandelions. And oh my word, isn't she gorgeous?!!

Sneak Peak: Oh Sister!

There are a few things going on. First, I did a photo session with the littlest sister yesterday and it was a HUGE SUCCESS. I LOVE the photos!!! I can't keep them to myself! But Second, I'm at work and I want to actually eat lunch during my lunch-break, so I only have time to show you a few from our oh-so-fun session. More to come today or tomorrow!!!

The Colour Moment, part 3

Trucks!

Saturday was such an awesome day to hit up Granville Island because the Cement Factory was having an "open house." Basically this meant that kids could climb into cement trucks. And that I could take photos of cement trucks. And kids.

A Rarity

I havn't done this much, if ever, on my blog...but here goes a purely personal, design-less blog post. But I'll keep it brief!

I just came back from walmart, and on my way home I made a list of things that aren't my favorite. You know how you do that in your head, in a "if I had an ear to listen I'd rant until the cows came home" kind of way? It went for a bit and then I started to feel dumb...because its a gorgeous day. And so I started to list things that ARE my favorite. So there you go. Perspective.

Not my Favorite:
-when I spend $40 at walmart and get charged $5 in HST
-when my moms delicious tasting slow-cook chicken smells TERRIBLE as its cooking (...so weird, I know. but true.)
-when you finish a GREAT book and don't know what to do next

My Favorite:
-Dwyane
-my job
-my new car
-the future
-being cozy (gimme a book and a big blanket anyday!)
-chewy candies
-absolutely free salvation (i just jesus-juked myself because this should be at the top)
-creative revelations (i had a few this week)
-sunshine

and those are just the top 7 that came to mind, but I could probably go on until the Canucks win the Stanley Cup. God definitely uses sunny days to remind me that I'm blessed!

The Colour Moment, part 2

This one is short and sweet. Another thing I learned on saturday was that Granville Island is a great place to find dogs! And not just your regular golden lab variety...the sweet city dogs with tons of character. I also learned that the do not like to look at the camera as you press the shutter.

Vancouver Photo Workshops: The Colour Moment

This past Saturday I was SERIOUSLY privileged to spend the day at an Arthur Meyerson photography workshop in Vancouver. The first half of the day was spent in class, looking through samples of his work and other respected photographers, discussing in essence, what really makes a photo. As in: what makes your photos different than every other Joe Bloe's? He talked about finding your own "composition key," which basically boiled down to figuring out what makes your photos tick. I had an "aha" moment...if I apply the elements of design which I know so well to my photos before I take them...kinda dumb, but I had never thought about planning out my photos that way. I usually just go by "feel" (which is also great), but it definitely became a challenge to myself.

I went home that night extremely exhausted,  inspired and refreshed. I loved spending the day with other creatives and hearing . Hearing about photography from someone who's been doing it in film, polaroids, and digital SLR --experiencing the evolution of photography--was extremely valuable. A lot of the photographers I admire are from my generation, and we just can't bring that experience to the table!

We spent the afternoon at Granville Island taking photos, with the assignment being to capture these four things: light, colour, moment, gesture. It was definitely a good day of learning, being reminded of what really makes a strong photo and being challenged to "see" rather than "look" at what is around us. It was also a bit freeing to be "on assignment" and feel justified in taking photos of people around me, something I'm usually too scared to do! So anyways, I took over 500 photos that have no practical purpose, so I'm going to share quite a few! I think I'll break it up over a few posts over the next few days.

This first batch (my first draft said "patch"...why do i find typo's so hilarious?!) is my "kids" collection. The kids were fun, colourful, and not shy. This is where I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone: these are not my usual type of photos!