Love was Reunited

Here are a few pics from my recent homecoming session with Larry. His beautiful wife, Rebecca, and there as well as their 3 kids, and his parents. They had a custom banner made for his arrival and decorated the vehicle. They were full of excitement for his arrival and gracious to wrap their arms around him again!

Interesting Session

This morning, I had quite an interesting session. I met a lady, who is a painter, at a local church. Her task...to paint a copy of one of the paintings hanging on the church wall. My task...to photograph the huge painting - in whole, in part, and up-close so she can use the photos to replicate it. Sounds kinda simple, huh?!? Oh heck no! They lowered the painting so I could properly access it. They turned the lights on, so it was illuminated accordingly. My and my trusty tripod, obviously sans flash, went to work. The catch is that the paining was very detailed, yet not so much. There were parts of it that you don't notice with the naked eye, but you can see in the photographs. There were parts you can see with the eye, but it didn't photograph properly. It was more challenging that what I was expecting, and I've photographed paintings before.

I wish I could post a pic of the painting for you all to see, but alas I cannot. It is going to be a surprise gift for a spouse of my client, so I don't want to be the one to ruin the surprise. :) However when we left today, the painter said that she would call me when she was done with her rendition so I could see and photograph it. Here is a section of the painting that is only a 1/9 piece of the whole.

Bobby, Candice, and the "Z" kids

I met Bobby, Candice, Zoey, & Zachary at the park for his pre-deployment session. It had been a long day, much less weekend, for me so I was a bit out-of-sorts by the time I arrived. They were great and very understanding! Candice was full of ideas for different poses and pics she wanted. That makes it so much easier for me because I hate posing people; it doesn't look real. Zoey had a beautiful and natural smile that just lit up her whole face and made me smile just seeing it. Zackary, was a typical 10-yr old boy: climbing on rocks, climbing trees, and full of energy. It was very apparent throughout the entire session how much Candice & Bobby adored each other. Bobby left yesterday morning, so I wish him all the best and I look forward to his homecoming! Here's a few pics from our session together.

Chris & Meg

 I met Chris & Meg at the park in Stroud for our pre-deployment session. They also brought little Zane for pics. Zane is 3-years old, so he was very shy at first. He didn't want to even look at me, much less me look at him to take a pic. But that didn't last too long. Once we started talking about his Spiderman hat, it was all good. They all played, tickled each other, and stuck their tongues out. Meg & Chris had t-shirts made with their names on the front and angel wings on the back. It was a cool idea and made for some great pics. When I was leaving, Zane shook my hand and said "thank you for taking our pictures". He was adorable! Here are a few pics from our session.

OpLove in Durant

Last weekend, Operation: Love Reunited was invited to attend the 1/180th weekend-long deployment event in Durant, OK. Saturday was Family Day at the armory. There was a BBQ buffet, a kid bouncy thing, a velcro wall, an inflatable slide, a dunk tank, and airbrush tattoos. It was a great day with beautiful 85+ degree weather. Everyone had a great time relaxing with their families and enjoying some awesome grub!!! A big thank you to the OpLove photographers that came on Saturday: Wayne & Jeannie Moore and Lisa Tate (as well as myself). Here are some pics from Saturday...

Sunday was the actual roll-call, saying goodbye to family & friends, and then loading on the buses. There were lots of smiles and laughter that were followed by the last minute tears. My heart goes out to both the soldiers and their families. As a photographer trying to capture the emotions, I get caught up in the goodbyes and cry too (which makes it really hard to take pics). And again, a big thank you to the OpLove photographers that participated on Sunday: Jeannie & Wayne Moore and Becky Croft (as well as myself again). Here are a few pics from Sunday:

I pray that God may bless and watch over the soldiers and families of the 1/180th, as well as all our men/women in uniform and their loved ones at home. You are ALL my own personal heroes...and I personally want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
- Ang