Crashing Fury

Sunlit Leaves in Spring

Does anyone ever get tired of spring?  All the various hues of green, budding flowers, blue skies, and gentle breezes makes spring such a wonderful time of year!  (I try and soak it all in before summer gets here. :)

Delighting in Jesus,

Kimber :)

Zachary

I was going through some pictures I recently took at a birthday party, and I came across lots of pictures of one particular boy.  I had so many pictures I liked of him that I decided to give Zachary (for that is his name) his own post of pictures!  (Hopefully the birthday party pictures will be coming soon too! :)

"But Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.'"

Matthew 19:14

At this last birthday party I was praying specifically for the Lord to give me pictures of individiual children. As always, He was more than gracious! :-D

Delighting in my beautiful Savior,

Kimber :)

Cherry Blossoms In the Sun

"The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come..."

Song of Solomon 2:12a

Pine Needles in Winter

How To Get A Flat Picture to Become A Creative Picture

Level:  Easy

Camera Type:  Any

Length of Post:  Medium

Let's pretend that someone asked me to take a picture of a sign on their front door.

This is the sign.

The first picture I took (above) is pretty boring...just a sign.  Nothing in the picture makes you go "wow."

This is what I call a "flat" picture.  It has no creativity, no different perspective.

So I got on the floor and aimed my camera up at the sign instead of standing level-to-level with it.  This is what I got:

 Compare this picture to the one before this one.  Which one looks more creative?  Which one gives you another perspective than what you would see as you walked in our door?

One of the main reasons of photography is to give another person a different perspective on something than what they would normally see (among other things).  That is what makes a picture "stand out."

I took some more pictures of the sign from different angles too:

Here I focused on the "Peace" angel instead of "The Wassenbergs" yet you can still see our name in the background.

Here I focused on the "love" angel.

And here I focused just on the last name.

If you were looking to have the entire sign in the picture - than this is your picture.  It's not like the first one where I was level-to-level, I was still on the floor aiming my camera up towards the sign.

See how many pictures I got out of the same sign?  They're all focused on something else and they all give you a perspective other than what you would see on the door when you walked in the house.

In this picture of the angels wreath I was standing above the sign on a bench.  (Not very safe, but it worked!) 

You rarely want to take pictures from the same angles that everyone in the world sees them at.  Always try and be to the sides, below it, above it, etc. and it will improve your pictures greatly and give them a unique air!

Here I show you two pictures...both of the "Love" angel.

Look at them closely.  Which picture was I level-to-level with the angel?  Which was I not?  Which gives a perspective to someone else of the angel than what they would normally see?  Which one do you like better and why?  (It's okay to like the level-to-level look too!)

Here again is an angel with a different angle.

The sign from another angle and perspective.

Just remember:  when you go to take a picture of something (I'm speaking of things not necessarily living things) always look at what you're going to take a picture of.   Ask yourself "What can I do to get a different perspective on this?" "How does everyone else see it and how can I get people to see it differently?" etc.

Now go experiment!

Delighting in Jesus,

Kimber :)

Matthew Beninghove's 3rd Birthday Party

(I've recently started taking pictures for friends and referrals to improve upon the gift the Lord has given me.)

February 17th, I photographed Matthew's birthday party!  He's such a sweet little guy and I loved his "firefighter" theme.  (His party was held at the Fire Station on 360.) 

The birthday boy!!

Matthew's brother, Micah.

Micah was absolutely loving on Daddy and he would give me a huge smile when we put a firefighter hat on him - so cute!!! :)

Some of the firefighter decor:

Around 10 AM people started showing up for the party!  Once everyone was together, the children played a game.  I forgot what it was called, so I'll have to rely on you to fill in the details!

Listening to Mrs. Beninghove instruct all in attendance on how to play.

The game went as such:

Mrs. Beninghove had a little disc-shaped thing in her hand that would call out one of the shapes on the floor.

Then the children would have to rush and get to those shapes and do whatever the speaking disc told them to do.

The kids had lots of fun going back and forth across the floor!  It was a little frustrating to some of them because there weren't enough squares for everyone to get on but they ended up doing group huddles! :)

The next game they played was Hot Potato!  Almost all of the children played this and they had lots of fun throwing it back and forth, passing it, etc.

In a circle...

The one with the "potato" is Matthew's sister, Maddie.

Isn't Matthew cute?!

After lots of laughing and smiling (I had so many pictures it was hard to pick 3!), they went to the tables and decorated their firefighter hats with stickers!

Once everyone finished decorating to their liking, it was time for cake and ice cream!

Mrs. Beninghove made a beautiful cake.  It really looked like a firetruck: 

Lighting the candles.

Blowing them out!!

Once the cake was cut up everyone got to eat!  Along with cake, popcorn, fruit punch drinks and more, they had ice cream sandwhiches!

Here are some of the faces of the children as they ate their ice cream sandwhich:

Everything was absolutely delicious!

My cousin, Cadence, really enjoyed her cake!!

Yummy!

Getting cleaned up!

Justus...another of my cousins!

Sometime after eating my sister, Lexi (right), picked up Micah and he layed his head on her shoulder.  He really is a sweet little boy!

Before presents, some of the little ones went over to the pool table that was there and started playing with the balls

   (Thankfully they only got a few squished fingers!)

Matthew

Two Mamas fellowshiping.

Once all the plates were cleaned up and thrown away, Matthew opened his presents!

As I was taking pictures all the children were inching closer and closer to Matthew.  They were all so excited to see what he got! :)

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Once all the presents were opened, everyone got their coats on to go listen to the firefighters and to tour the firetrucks!

Going in!

Listening to one of the firefighers talk.

After they finished talking and asking the children questions, one of the firefighters got all dressed up for us in his fire gear.  The little ones weren't quite sure what to expect! :)

Once he was all dressed, the children were allowed to touch him, his equipment, and everything!  They wanted to make sure that the children were not scared of them in case they happen to get a call to their home.

Matthew never came up and touched them at all.  He stayed at a distance and watched! :)

After the children had their full contact they were allowed to enter the firetruck!

Lining up!

Once they finished touring the back of the truck, another kind firefighter put them up in the drivers seat. 

When everyone had gotten their fill of the truck, firefighters, equipment, etc. they stood outside for a group-children picture!

Everyone then rushed into their warm cars and the party was officially over.

Before we left, Matthew was allowed to go and sit in the fire truck some more as the special birthday boy!

The firefighter that was with him allowed him to turn the siren on and everything!  I think he got a little scared but it was still neat hearing it up close like that!

Mrs. Beninghove and Micah were both nearby when the siren went off.  Micah got scared and laid his head on his Mama! :)

In the bay.

We stayed and talked to the firefighter some more before leaving.  Maddie, Matthew's sister, was sitting on the fire truck as we all listened...

Some details of the firetrucks:

And the fire station:

Leaving...

So that ended Matthew's 3rd birthday party!  Before I close up this post, I want to give you my favorite picture of Matthew from the day:

Delighting in Jesus,

Kimber :)

P.S.  - Just for the record, I took 395 pictures at his party (not counting the deleted!)