FREE Photo Shoot!

Big news! From now until mid-July, I will be offering one-hour photo shoots…FOR FREE! That’s right—you don’t HAVE to pay anything.

Now here’s the catch (but don’t worry, it’s a good one).Terra Ayers and I have just committed to going on a week-long mission trip to Haiti in late July. It’s going to cost around $3,000 for the both of us to go. We have no idea where the money will come from, but we’re trusting God to provide it. 

So, while the photo shoots are technically free, I hope that, in return, you would make whatever donation you feel is best from your family to support us. 100% of the donation will go toward the trip costs. If by some chance we raise more funds than the two of us need, the surplus will go toward helping other team members who may be still raising money. And it’s tax deductible ;)  

If you’ve already scheduled a shoot with me, I’m keeping the price set at whatever we discussed; however, most, if not all, of that will go toward this trip as well. 
And whether you’re able to give or not, we CERTAINLY ask for your prayers and thoughts as we begin preparing for the trip.

Just call me or send me a private message to set up your shoot!

Thanks!

Light Painting

I got introduced to a new form of photography on Saturday night.  Light Painting.  My buddy Kent Peggram has been doing it for some time now.  Saturday night was my first experience…and I can’t wait to try it again.  The idea is to use different small light sources at night or in a dark room to create shapes and textures and what not in one single exposure.  Here are some of the better ones from Saturday night.  These are all one frame compositions straight out of the camera with no editing or effects applied.  

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In this one, Kent held a wireless flash behind his back.  He triggered it once and then I stood behind the tree and moved a small LED light back and forth.

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In this one we had Kent stand in three different locations.  He started on the right and I triggered the flash.  Then we moved left and I triggered a flash.  Finally he landed in the middle where he triggered the LED light in front of him.  If you look at the photo up close, you can seem me standing on either side triggering the flash.  Still learning.

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In this one we had me standing in a shed.  Kent used the LED light to light up my face for a few seconds and then he walked towards the camera moving his arm in circles towards the camera, making them bigger as he got closer with the light in his hand.  To get the light trails that start at the ground, we both took LED lights on started with them on the ground and then jumped in the air, bringing them up with us.

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For this one I started off in the back of the shed.  I triggered the wireless flash to make the standing silhouette of Kent.  Then I moved in front of him and took the LED light and moved it from his hands down to the ground.  Then kent took the flash from me, got on the ground, and triggered the flash again behind him as he laid on the ground.

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In this one we both and LED lights and we just walked around making random shapes.  This was probably a 4 minute exposure.

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This is definitely my favorite one.  For this one, Kent stood in front and I traced him with the LED light.  Then I stood behind him and he traced me.  Then Kent went to the porch and made a random person sitting on the stairs.  If you look hard enough, you can see our wives sitting on the porch in the background laughing at us nerds.  

 

This is a cool idea and I’m really excited to do more experimenting with single frame exposures like this.

Good Times

Since I”m starting to put more of my polished stuff over here…http://ayersproductions.500px.com/#/0…I might start putting more on here besides pictures and video. That ok with you?

I’m in a pretty good place right now. The wife and I are pretty happy with jobs (especially my brand new job at www.imagequix.com). Christmas is on the way. We got to decorate our very own house for the first time ever! Life is good right now. I say that with a little hesitation. Is it ok these days to say that life is good? I don’t know. It seems like it’s pretty bad for a whole lot of the rest of the population. Huge jobless numbers, natural disasters, sickness, famine, Lindsey Lohan’s playboy pictures getting leaked early…it’s a tough world right now.

So am I selfish for proclaiming that “life is good”? I don’t think so. It’s only good because I see God working in it. Nothing good has been a result of my own doings. It’s all been blessings from God. We don’t have all the money in the world or all the nicest things out there…but we have God working in our lives in VERY noticeable ways. I can’t help but see him working in many situations in our lives lately, from my new job, to good things happening at Terra’s job, and relationships being built/changed/stretched for the better. Now more than ever, I’m trusting God and what he’s doing in our lives.

A lot of this has come from giving. Throughout our marriage, Terra has challenged me in the way I give. It was tough at first, but now I can’t imagine it any other way. It’s become a JOY to give our FIRST fruits of our paychecks every two weeks and then see how it returns to us in so many different ways. If you’re on the fence about giving, give me your ear for awhile. I’d love to talk with you and share our experiences.

So I wasn’t planning on this post going the way it has…but there it is. I guess if I had to sum it up, I’d say that life is good right now because I’m trusting God more and more and God is showing me that with that trust, he provides.

GAIHN

This is a video I produced for GAIHN (Greenville Area Interfaith Hospitality Network). They are a program that our church helps support. The program is designed to help find homes for homeless people. These are two individuals who have recently made it through the GAIHN program and are currently living on their own.

Holland Park Church New Members Video

This is a video I did for the Holland Park Church. It’s to serve as a sort of “welcome” and introductory video for people who have recently placed membership at Holland Park Church. Let me know what you think.

(Click on the word VIMEO in the window to see it in HD)