Young

Braun

Messmer

Hostettler

Hatfield

McNamara

It's a simplified version of the opening of a poem written by Bessie Anderson Stanley in 1904:
"He has achieved success
who has lived well,
laughed often, and loved much."

A daily reminder of how to grow to old age and to be a happy person, but on no day are the three words 'Live, Laugh, Love' more important than on your wedding day. If the living, laughing and loving that Kaylan and Jacob had on their wedding day is any indication then their daily reminder will come from more than a sign on the kitchen wall.

Being a wedding photographer gives you an insight to a couple that most don't see. I'm with the bride alone. I'm with the groom alone. While everyone sees the first kiss I see the 2nd at the back of the church when no one else is looking. I see people young and old put on the fancy clothes and for a few minutes realize how amazing they really are. It's a blessing to be able to do this.

Here's some of my favorites from Kaylan and Jacob's day:

And then 9 days before her portrait session with Ingram Images she was fitted for her very first pair of contacts. Which is a significant step in the lives of any young woman, but for Alex even more so - because of the long road that she has already traveled.

My Woman as Art project frequently celebrates the difficulties and the long and winding roads that women endure, and yet remain beautiful.

My new friend Alex, at 10, is already a veteran traveler.

Just shoot.

Shoot everything around you.

Pick up whatever you have with a lens and tell the story.

Then put the camera down and soak in the moment.

Even in the midst of family and friends, those moments that the couple shares with me is so special:

When daughter helps mom with dad's ring: (This is probably my shot of the day...)

What follows are what I consider to be the best of the images I produced in 2017 in the areas of boudoir and artistic nude, and they are in no way a reflection of the value of the clients, as every single one was amazing and beautiful. I thank you all for visiting this year, and especially those of you who graciously allowed your imagery to be published here.

Please email [email protected] for information on how you can be in front of my camera at Ingram Images. 

While some might have been learning the correct technique to throw a little league curve ball, I was studying the moons of Jupiter in my evenings. I could then point out a variety of constellations when it was good and dark. I knew why Betelgeuse was red and Sirius was blue on a clear night. And I had stood in the cold and wondered why they only called them the “Seven Sisters” when there are in fact hundreds of stars in that cluster.

But I would only see in the books I owned - a total solar eclipse.

Because that simple function of planetary geometry is - simultaneously - the easiest and hardest astronomical oddity to see.

You just have to be in the right place at the right time and look up. Which is easy because you need no telescope. No binoculars. No map of the heavens. No right ascension or declination. It’s just there. But - you have to be in the right place at the right time. Period.

As a boy I vowed I would one day take in the experience in person.

So that is why I excused myself from the radio program, which I am very devoted to. Why I for months blocked out the date to be sure there would be no photo sessions. Why I spent hours looking for the best spot that was easiest to get to - with a couple of alternates in hopes of avoiding cloud cover. Why I dug out the old telescope that I suspected might be broken (it wasn’t). Why I purchased and assembled solar filters for both telescope and camera - and purchased those eclipse glasses months ago.

Here's what I brought home:

And my favorite:

Thanks to the folks in Cave-In-Rock Illinois for their hospitality, and the Potter's Church for allowing me to set up on their parking lot.

I want to go do it again tomorrow.

For a different reason than she did, I'm sure. As a photographer I'm always looking to be able to create 'magical' images. That's a lot easier to do in 'magical' places, and Babbs and her family absolutely created one at the lake home Saturday. From the food to the flowers to the friends to the garden to 'the point' to the window light. It was all magical. Thanks for allowing me to spend the day with you!

Babbs makes thread and yarn from wool via the spinning wheel, then dyes it herself frequently from plants she grows herself. Then it becomes works of art like is shown in these images. What some might consider a lost art lives on in the love from her hands as she works, and it shows in what she does as well.

One of the most interesting things about creating images like this is when the point in the session is reached where the client basically 'lets her hair down' and begins to create on her own. It's almost a transformation; a self-realization if you will.

And now she's 9....

And then there are those times when a wedding photographer has to hang on and see where it goes:

Yes. She does.

Congratulations to to both Amelia and Naem, and many blessings on your future together. 

It was an honor to be there - and now that everyone else knows we can show off the photos!

Special thanks to the folks at the Caborn Chapel Wedding and Event Venue for going out of their way to let me do what I do!

Warms my heart to know that I can show a client on the outside - what they FEEL on the inside.

Jenn celebrated motherhood of twins and a wedding anniversary with her album, and was gracious enough to let me show you how beautiful she is! A big thanks for that. It's one thing to show your husband this images, it's entirely something else to show them to the world.

She said before the session that she wondered if her Inner Goddess would come out. It was a smiling, laughing, fun-loving, beautiful sight to see.

Much has been made in recent days of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and how it protects the the religious freedoms of those who serve couples on their special day.

My statement is very simple: I don’t need your protection in this area.

As a struggling small business in a small town in the Hoosier State I welcome everyone who selects me as their photographer, whether that be for a wedding, portrait session, or otherwise. My business has grown from a hobby pretending to be a business - to the real deal. I collect and pay sales taxes, have been a member of the chamber of commerce, pay property taxes on all the camera gear that I use, make sure my business interests are insured, and somehow still manage to pay the rent for my studio every month.

If I chose to be as selective in who my clients were as you think I am, I would likely have very few clients to serve. From a raw business standpoint - the more marriages there are, the larger my client base can be.

What I have chosen is for the Ten Commandments to serve as a guide as how I should live my life, not as a book of rules which I should be using to judge others.

One of the most thoughtful commentaries on recent days has been provided by Reverend Brent Wright, Paster of the Broad Ripple UMC. He says, “The Pharisees were disgusted at Jesus’ lack of religious purity, at his libertine social boundaries, and at his disdain for the rules of his own religion. They were disturbed by his willingness to associate with the filthy and the despicable. They insisted on their right to refuse service to the unclean, to marginalize those contaminated by what they self-righteously labeled ‘sin.’ They loved interpreting scripture in ways that led Jesus to call them hypocrites for worrying about specks in ‘sinners’ eyes while ignoring logs in their own.

The Pharisees’ perversion, which mutated what was surely a sincere pursuit of faithfulness into its exact opposite, should cause you to reconsider your support of RFRA and of your sense of ‘purity’ that calls on you to discriminate against LGBT people in general." Full text HERE.

Underneath his blog a commenter wrote to the affect - Yes, Jesus forgave the sins of the prostitute and told her to “go and sin no more.” And further the poster seemingly believes that if you choose to associate with a sinner without telling them to sin no more - you are in fact encouraging sin.

I say to you it is quite different. Jesus associated with the sinner, loved her and forgave her sin. The only thing that us as humans are qualified to do, is to associate with, and to love. We need to let God take care of the rest.

Your religious freedom act encourages neither - association and inclusion, or love of fellow human.

My suggestion? If you want to protect me - protect my clients.

Do a better job of making sure brides aren’t crying on their wedding day because their cake is delivered crooked. Make sure florists are delivering what they promise. Oh and make sure no one has to take their photographer to small claims court to get their pictures. (I have seen all of this happen).

Happy clients are paying clients, no matter their persuasion. Paying clients mean I get to collect sales tax for you, and to buy a new camera so that my county can collect tax on that.

And you can then go back to the government’s job of spending our tax dollars wisely.

So much fun! I did find out that 'whipped' icing is much easier to deal with - and it makes for a much cuter mess too!

There's always one 'moving target' shot that just turns out magical, and this is it:

Two brides means two sets of bridesmaids. And all this:

And then there was not a dry eye to be had: (Thanks Natasha)

Thanks for having me along for the day, and also a big thank-you to Erin at http://www.eriniviephotography.com for coming along. Over and over she said, "I'm not a wedding photographer," but the images show that she actually just hasn't realized it yet. Beautiful work.

What a fun day they had. Love the moments of them alone together - the 'first look' before the ceremony, them sitting at lunch, also before the ceremony. One of my favorite images is of the '2nd kiss.' Seems like that FIRST KISS at the altar is kind of rushed when everyone is watching, but at the back of the church, it was just the couple, married only for minutes, and their photographer. So special.

Thanks to Jill and Alden and both families for making me feel welcome and allowing me full access to capture their day. It was great.

Two girls (cousins). Fancy hair and jewelry. Manicures. Maybe even a bit of lip gloss. Their mom's wedding dresses, and lots of little clamps to make them fit...

Adaline:

Lydia:

Great couple! Thanks for letting me spend the day with you - and also a BIG thanks for picking spectacular spots to have photos done :)

I would declare him to be a bit apprehensive to start, but I do think he had fun.

Here's a few sneak peak images:

Throwback to April of 1981. A few days short of 33 years ago, actually.

It was the first time I ever saw one in person, and I had a camera in my hand.

I was 17 and my freshly-typed press credentials for the first launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia were pinned to my shirt.

I was fortunate enough to at the time be working for the Clarion, and with their help got press credentials, and the rest of the trip was funded by my grandmother - spending the time with relatives who lived not far away from the Space Center.

Once you arrived at the press center a couple of miles from the actual launch pad, a bus would periodically take the media out there.

Unload from the bus and there it was - about 300 yards away, standing and waiting to fly into space for the first time.

It was a heady couple of days for a kid photographer. My camera bag, such as it was; unloaded next to the crew photographing the launch from Time Magazine. I remember waiting hours and hours for a computer a launch computer problem to be resolved, and when it was not, the whole thing was unloaded and we had to come back the next day. Darn that was too bad. One more day in the big time. I stayed for it all. Post-launch press conference, video downlinked from the orbiter (projected inside a nice, air conditioned press room), trip to the Launch Control Center Complex cafeteria for food. but darn - the post launch trip for the press to inspect launch blast damage was cancelled.

With some reluctance, I packed up the little red Chevette rental car and left the space center.

I would not see a Shuttle again in person until just a few weeks ago.

Sister ship Atlantis, now retired and on display at the space center in Florida. They say it was 'safed', or cleaned of toxic propellants and other chemicals and brought here - basically in the same condition it was when it returned from space last.

The first one I shot on HP5 with a Canon AE-1 and a 200mm f/2.8.

The second one just a quick snap with the iPhone.

Kara

As usual, I found Erika to be far more beautiful in pregnancy than she did - and I'm guessing that when Matt got to see her posing he realized what I was talking about - as much as he was grinning. This was of course after we heard about her only being able to see half of her bellybutton.

Incidentally the bandeau top that she brought was PERFECT for this shoot. I covered enough, but let the camera see her beautiful tummy. And worked with the cardigan and other things she brought. If you're considering a tummy shoot - it would work well for about anyone!

Portrait

I know women all do it. I hear it nearly every day. Women look into the mirror and they see everything they think is wrong with them. And such was the case with this session - we started with a long discussion about all the bad parts my camera needed to avoid. How badly pale her skin was, and so forth.

sheet I wrote on a photographer's message board the other day that what I do as a photographer is not so much just make pretty pictures, but to allow the beauty and grace of who I'm photographing shine through. To get them to stop, even if for just a while, looking at all the bad parts, and focus on what they don't realize they have inside them. All the fancy tools of this trade, and all the complicated backgrounds, and props get in the way sometimes, and we lost sight of why we're doing what we're doing. In my case - it's for me to show my clients how they really are. How I see them.

Following the session I sent these three photographs to her phone as a sneak peak of the work we had done. "Is that me," she asked? It of course is completely her, and I spent only about 5 minutes retouching each photograph. Even today she was still wondering out loud in a text, "Does my stomach actually look like that?"

We all of course don't have stomachs that look like that, but I have found that in every single woman I've photographed over the course of nearly 10 years - there is SOMETHING, some part of YOU that makes YOU uniquely beautiful.

If you do not know what that part is; please, let me help you find it. Celebrate it. And capture it forever.

This this client - thanks for trusting me. It is the cornerstone of what I do after all.

They will become part of the continuing study that I seem to have undertaken - the beauty of women that women don't seem to know they have.

Today's client came with hair curled, no makeup, with a few articles of lingerie in a clear plastic bag. I asked her if she needed to do anything with her hair or makeup before we started. She said no, and within a few minutes we were shooting.

Before me an unassuming 21 year old who wanted to take some pictures for her boyfriend blossomed into a stunning, beautiful young woman - who indeed didn't need the makeup she wasn't wearing.

Soon her eyes had seemingly grown into the large, round orbs so desired.

Her expression turned to the simple, but sexy look that you see in fashion magazines.

As she posed in natural light by the front window, holding a piece of fabric to hide what was nude underneath, save for the curve of her left hip, which will gracefully draw the eye in the final composition.

There's an image made partially in profile, with her hair covering her face somewhat. The pose seems to enhance her lips. I'm pretty sure Angelina Jolie will want them back. (LOL)

The bewildering thing about this - I sincerely don't think she has any idea how beautiful she is. Which of course makes her all the more so.

I hope the photographs I made of her today will show her how she appeared to me today.

Hollie I would venture to say that some of the clients I photographed learned something about themselves during, or after their session. Some were nervous but quickly lost that as we began to make photographs. Others walked into the studio raring to go.

Elizabeth

I'm sure everyone who poses in such an intimate and personal manner has their own reasons for doing so, but whatever it is - they place great trust in me. I go to great lengths to uphold that, and I think that shows in the images that you're seeing here, and in the ones that went home as gifts.

Brittany

Rachel

Ashley

I hope the Valentine's 'season' this year was as fulfilling for my beautiful clients as it was for me. I received so many notes afterwards thanking me for the way they felt during and after the sessions:
"I don't think people understand. I was so nervous to have my pictures taken and ended up leaving there feeling like a total rock star!!! So, thank you!! For every time I have told someone about it, and they say, "oh, I could never do that", I tell them I thought I couldn't either and then I show them my photo, and they are awestruck. Your work is amazing and I think more people should know."

And when I contacted clients this week to get approval to include their photos here, so  many said they were 'honored'. Believe me, I'm the one that's honored.

Elizabeth
Rachel

I've called this Blog 'Beauty and Power' because I want to demonstrate, both in writing and in my photography, both the beauty and power that women have. Every one of these clients who's beauty you see here (and the ones that declined to make their photos public as well) are just as beautiful on the inside. Some spend hours in the gym, some don't. Some wear the badges of bringing life into the world. Others will. I think the complexity of the gifts women have are frequently lost on us guys. Perhaps as a group men would do better by our women if we thought about that more.

Brittany
Mercedes

Upon comparison you may notice that there's a little less 'lace' in my boudoir work than in other photographers'. Perhaps that's because I'm a guy and most of them are not. I'm hoping that you understand that I'm attempting to go above my gender to elevate the beauty that I see in women. My personal project "Woman as Art" tries to capture the sculptural quality of the female form. Some of that bleeds into what you see here, but there's also an attempt to show what the camera sees looking into the eyes.

This is a gift that can be given any time, by the way. And you don't have to give it to someone else. I hear from my clients that a photo session makes an extraordinary gift to give YOURSELF! No one has to be a 'model' but everyone CAN 'feel like a ROCK STAR!' Please contact me if you're interested, I'd love to work with you, just as I have enjoyed making images for the lovely ladies you see here.

Happy to have you two here, and I'm looking forward to making your wedding photos soon!

Apparently there are side-effects.

I made photographs for a woman Sunday afternoon for just such a gift, and we enjoyed a couple of hours making some amazing photographs. Unfortunately, I can't show them because like I said, they are personal and intimate.

Here's what she wrote me in a note afterwards:

"I don't think people understand. I was so nervous to have my pictures taken and ended up leaving there feeling like a total rock star!!! So, thank you!! For every time I have told someone about it, and they say, "oh, I could never do that", I tell them I thought I couldn't either and then I show them my photo, and they are awestruck. Your work is amazing and I think more people should know."

Awe shucks, now you're making me blush. LOL.

Abby is a HUGE proponent of normalizing breastfeeding. There is, after all, nothing more normal than eating.

I just love the way her hands are lovingly holding June here, and the little feet that appear on the right side of Mom.

Anyone who says newborns don't have personality, needs to spend more time around newborns...

It was both and honor and a lot of fun to do her senior stuff. She's on the Pike Central Soccer team, and I found out she's quite accurate with her shooting. I asked her to kick the ball when we were on the pitch - right at me. And she nailed me every time.

I took my time with Adrienne partially as a critique, and although I didn't tell her, I wanted to hear what she had to say about my mannerisms while I'm working with a client. How did I communicate? My body language? For the most part I let her pick the poses - sometimes I like to do that because I want to see what people will come up with - when they're challenged to be creative. And it is - their photo shoot after all.

Later she told me, "You have an almost unnerving way of studying people." 'Most people for some reason avoid a lot of eye contact.'

I did forget to warn her that I do that. Stare into the eyes of a subject. It helps me see what the light is doing, for one. If you look at the eyes closely in photos you can see what lights were where - windows, or studio lighting, maybe a reflector as well.

But sometimes - when you look into a subject's eyes - they look back.

Adrienne

India

"If you're living your life where you scare yourself a lot - that's really living." "You're going to die anyway whether you take the chances or not. You're still not getting out of here alive so you might as well scare the crap out of yourself and do the things that are really important to you."

Running a business that you put your heart in - is of course what he's talking about. Something that you really care about. Getting to know the people that you photograph. Not just turn out their images and move on to the next. But to put your creativity and your craft into every one. Photos you want to sign your name on.

Life to me is a lot about being scared. It happens on the radio. It happens here in the photo studio. Taking that next step in the journey when you don't know the destination.

I would believe it's the same for India, in the photographs you see here. She's thrown her creative energies into being a model. I don't know a whole lot about that part of the business, other than the powers that be want the models to be tall. She's got that down. She also knows that in order to be successful, she'll likely need to move on from Southwest Indiana.

I hope these photographs go in the portfolio with her.

I got my first, hard look at what I was doing with a camera back in 1980. I was working as a teenage photojournalist at the Daily Clarion, and was pretty handy in the darkroom as well. The publisher of the paper was a man named Larry Hiatt, a large, imposing figure for a 17 year old, loud and opinionated. He was the newspaperman of lore.

Addison He took to using a red wax marker and ‘pointing out’ errors that we made in the paper every day, typos, grammatical errors and such.

The day before I made a shot of some kids playing at a local bible school. I thought it particularly artistic and somehow convinced the editor to run it on one of the inside pages. It may have been artistic but it was apparently not photojournalistic. Which is why Mister Hiatt cut it out of the paper, marked it up with the red marker and left it taped to the door of the darkroom where I’d be sure to see it. And so would anyone else who walked by:

“THIS IS CRAP!”

There was no sandwich of redeeming qualities to this critique. Three words just about covered it. Be artistic on your own time.

It may have been three of the most valuable words I ever received in critique. Because, yes - I am now artistic on my own time.

I’ve been critiqued in other areas of my life over the years as well.

In college when a professor selected the ones in the Radio/TV classes that would be successful in their choice of major, and which ones would leave the program (passed that one).

Dillon A few years later when I went to Oklahoma City in an attempt to be an air traffic controller - the director of the program very somberly predicted that he knew more than 80% of the people in the room would not finish successfully (I became a statistic).

I guess my point is - the biggest critique I or any other photographer could get is when someone gets out their checkbook. Whether I’m successful or not - the grade I will get is determined by the clients and friends who I work with.

If you fall into this category, thanks for your vote of confidence.

If you’d like to fall into this category, I look forward to working with you.

Thanks.

"Your stuff really is amazing. It looks "professional". Not like those people who take pics and charge for it and say they're professionals. Your stuff looks like things I see in magazines."

Then Maria said she doesn't give compliments unless they're warranted. So I better take this one seriously.

Thanks.

I have droned on over the past couple of weeks to anyone who would listen about being sure as a photographer to create a 'body of work', that I treat what I do as art whether anyone else sees it or not, and that at least in my opinion - a timeless work of art will still be a work of art 30 years from now.

I'll probably be gone by then, but what I'm doing now will be still be here. And I want that to still be treasured heirlooms, not passed along in a box, like so many snapshots, or now - disks with print rights.

You can call me old school if you want. And yes, if I make your photograph - you'll get a digital version for social media. It's my sincere hope though that you'll treasure a real photograph as well.

I shot hundreds and hundreds of rolls of film when I was a young photojournalist. And spent hours and hours in the dark room.

And hours.

Push-processing film. Test strips and the purple filters for the variable contrast paper. The coated paper that could be developed, stopped, fixed, rinsed and dried pretty quickly. The Ektamatic machine that made prints that were dry in a couple of minutes. The dance of the hands in dodging and burning.

And I was never really very good at any of it. But I knew what good was.

Before everyone starts to think I'm going all 'curmudgeon', and thinking of days gone by - I will tell you that I am better at what I do now, and a big reason for that is that I work in digital.

There is something though that I think I have lost, and that the photography industry as a whole has lost as well. And that is the workmanship on some level and the attention to detail that was required to produce a fine print.

This is why the details about one of Ansel Adams' most famous photographs are so important. If you read his words as quoted HERE about how the photograph came to be you'll see the workmanship involved in making him one of the most famous landscape photographers in history.

And here's one of the most important quotes, in my opinion, "Fine prints are like a musical performance, “Mr. Adams says. “The negative is the composer’s score and the print is the performance."

So when your photographer urges or insists on producing your prints him- or herself - instead of just handing over files, I hope that you're getting a virtuoso performance.

A journey of my own creativity, and one that I'm blessed to share with clients, models and friends.

There are of course business owners who lay awake at night worrying about cashflow, and I've had some of that myself, but more often than not, my mind goes to other things. Well, one other thing.

Photographs.

New ideas for photographs. Small, subtle changes I could make to make photographs more meaningful. Using water in photographs. Using fire in photographs, New lighting in photographs, more natural light in photographs.

Sometimes I think about why I'm spending so much time thinking about all that.

And today I found out why.

I read a blog from Tim Ferris (Experiments in Lifestyle Design), where he says:

Creating consumes. It is all day, every day. It knows neither weekends nor vacations. It is not when we feel like it. It is habit, compulsion, obsession, vocation. The common thread that links creators is how they spend their time. No matter what you read, no matter what they claim, nearly all creators spend nearly all their time on the work of creation.

I guess if there's an addiction to be had - that's it. And while NASCAR is on in the background, here I am - thinking about photographs.

I said during my 'acceptance speech' that what I aim to do with the camera is to create more than just 'pretty pictures.' I want whatever I do to have a deeper meaning - be something that's cherished, not for how pretty it is, but for the story it tells. That's true with wedding photography, but even more so with portraits, seniors, infants, and some of the other photographs I spend time making.

That would be the case of course with this photo of my step-daughter Meganne. Jackson will soon be a month old, and although he sleeps pretty well on anyone's shoulder, his mother's shoulder is clearly a special place.

It's also clear how deeply she loves her son. She seemed to go away to a special place when I asked her to remove her glasses, turn her head to the side, and close her eyes.

It's probably not so clear that Jackson's older brother, nearly three, was in constant motion underneath both of our feet. Constant. Motion. (equally loved, by the way).

This is the kind of photograph I always hope to be able to make. The background may change, and the lighting too. 

But there will always be this special meaning in the photos.

Her response was simple, and took me aback, "Why?"

I had to think a bit about that answer:

I told her that a long time ago people started pointing a finger at me, and calling me an artist. I poo-poo'd that for a long time, but eventually came around to believing it to be true.

I make art with my camera, and my lights (including natural light), and the shadows. I make art that hopefully, looks into the soul of the person in the photograph, or sometimes shows the sculpture that God gave them. My calling is especially to celebrate the beauty and grace that God gave women.

That's a mouthful that I struggle every day to prove true.

So the short answer to the question: "Why?"

"To make art with me!"

(Well, she thought it was a good answer.)

All that being said, I AM booking seniors right now especially. Call, email or message me today.

And for the curious, the lovely model in this photograph is Hannah, who once hailed from the Tell City area, but has since moved on to greener pastures. I made the photograph with natural light.

I've photographed Kaytlyn for a long time, and she appreciates my "Woman as Art" work, and jumped at the offer to help me with some ideas that I wanted to try in the new studio space.

I love the reclining shadow in this one. It's kind of representation of 'the body before' and soon to be as Kaytlyn already has her workout plans in place.

The 2nd photograph is also beautiful to me because of the sculpture that the human body can be. Yes, I left her stretch marks in on purpose. Badges of honor, I think. A mark of the ability to give life.

By the way, we made this photographs on Tuesday (July 2nd) and Jasmine was born 3 days later. Mother and daughter are doing fine.

I got called out on that blog - as someone said that all the photos they could find were of gymnasts or bodybuilders. "Post some curvy girls" they said.....

I have always endeavored to find beauty where it exists. And here it is:

"Cliff, I really don't think I compare to the lovely ladies I have seen you shoot. Not even in the same category! "

The answer to that is:

In all reality the lovely ladies I have photographed are - just like you.
Real-life women, with the same doubts and fears.
They've just taken the trusting jump out of the plane, believing that the parachute I offer will open and they'll be free and safe - and that they'll see something in themselves that they've never seen before.
And it always does (the parachute, that is).

Don't wait for perfection. You're already perfect, just the way you are.

None so profound as this video.

It tells me two things. 1. How just a few words, a simple statement, or ONE power image can change someone's life. 2. How poorly we as a society are at telling the story, or making the image so simple, and yet so powerful.

In an age where 'more is better' we have come to believe that more words, more background, more Photoshop tricks all get thrown in to things that we say, texts we send, images that those with cameras take. The simple 8 words at the end of the video though, tell us that thought and effort go a long, long way into making a difference.

It did for me. I urge you to watch it.

Thanks,

Cliff

I've photographed Kaytlyn's wedding, her tummy for her first child, and now her 2nd. An extraordinary young woman and a good friend.

There's a fascinating article on the Internet now where the CEO of Yahoo says there's no longer a thing called a professional photographer.

As long as Kaytlyn and my other friends are around to inspire me - that will always be a false statement.

The 2,200 square feet made a lovely place for a wedding, and in fact I MIGHT consider renting it out if someone is looking for a place to get married....

I do want to thank everyone who brought the confetti and poppers.....

Can't thank my daughter Brianna enough - she has 2nd shot weddings with me several times, and this was her first real go at it by herself. OK I did set the lights up and whatnot, but she caught all the fun....

I shot Mr. and Mrs. Greenwell's wedding - 31 years ago. I believe I was 18 at the time. Just a quick, out of focus iPhone pic today. It was good to see them.

I saw a friend post on Facebook this evening that she was EXTREMELY angry.

This friend had recently gotten married at the end of 2012 - and unfortunately, chose a different photographer to capture that day.

Now that photographer has moved away, turned off her phone, and blocked the bride from her Facebook and several other social networking sites. This of course leaves the bride with no way to get a hold of the photographer - now that the photographer has moved to Tennessee. She's gotten no images from this photographer. And is totally out whatever's been paid to the photographer.

You shouldn't have to check with the Better Business Bureau before hiring someone to shoot your wedding, but it may get to that - if clients don't educate themselves.

If a person has started a business making photographs - they should care enough about that business and their clients to have a REAL website. Not just a Facebook page. They'll register the name of this website with GoDaddy or whoever and it shouldn't have a 'blogspot.com' or 'zenfolio.com' or 'smugmug.com' at the end of it. (The photographer in question doesn't). They'll sit down with a bride to be and go over what's wanted - and then present a CONTRACT that both the bride and the photographer will sign (This photographer didn't). They might even have invested hard-earned money in a place of business (and the accompanying utilities, liability insurance and so forth (The shooter we're talking about didn't).

Hopefully they'll be able to show you REAL wedding albums and photographs, that you can hold in your hand. I've spoken before (twice) about how photos can be stolen digitally and put on websites and Facebook. In fact I saw tonight one of the original perpetrators that I spoke of - is doing it AGAIN.

Want to make sure no one who reads this thinks I'm bitter about losing work to others. As my friend Erin says, "There's plenty of customers to go around." But what's happening to people who don't get treated right by others with a camera - reflects on the industry as a whole.

Below is Kaytlyn and Travis. They got married outdoors in Oakland City last June. Once that little girl in her tummy decides to grow up some - there will be a pregnancy shoot. :)

The latest thief: a so-called professional photographer from Henderson.

Here's a screen shot from FB before the offender took down the image. If you look very closely at the bottom, you'll be able to see who it is.

The photograph is actually the intellectual property of Teresa at http://artfromtheheartphotography.com/ in Springfield, Missouri. A simple Google Image Search that takes about 20 seconds to do - found this out.

To make matters even worse - the local photographer that was stealing the image indicated on her Facebook page that this was a photograph of her deceased son.

As Kerri (http://www.kerrizeienphotography.com/), one of my photographer friends eloquently stated, "The photography industry is getting crazy with people who purchase cameras, create a face book page, and steal images to post as their own work."

Be careful out there.

Wash your eyes out by visiting some of my other friends' work:

http://www.juliehope.com/

http://www.eriniviephotography.com/

http://amyjuarezphotography.com/

Oh and mine too, LOL

If you look a little farther you'll notice I DO get out of the studio - for two things.

My on location portraiture seeks to relate the subject to what they do, like say Stephen, who spent the football season of his senior year in the weight room - recovering from a knee injury. This photo tells that story.

Some people have asked me why I'd photograph Dustin without his shirt for his senior photos. Because he's a lifeguard, of course. And it also shows him with the scars left after a kidney transplant.

I'm also out and about for another reason - to play photojournalist. I started out in newspaper photography, and still enjoy finding a way to tell a story with photographs. I was fortunate enough to photograph my daughter and the rest of the Marching Titans for 4 years - and last fall to photograph my Great Aunt and Uncle's interment in Arlington National Cemetery.

This coming weekend I'll be photographing a historic Saturday for Gibson County. More details to come.

The lovely lady above is Misty. A good friend who hosts a weekend radio show on Country 98.1, WRAY. And yes, we set fire to stuff later in the shoot.

To the left, Maggie. I have been making photographs of her since she was 16. She's been on my business card and is still on the home page of this website. It was an honor to shoot her wedding. Just wish there hadn't been a foot of snow on the ground - would have like to have done some outside shots as well.

Right up my alley.

I was inspired by several of the ideas that she sent me, so much so in fact that I've taken to calling some of my work, "Woman as Art." A rather bold statement, to be sure. Nonetheless inspiring to me.

She later told me that she was ending a marriage and that she hoped these photos would help her reconnect with her body and with her own strength as a woman.

She came to my studio this week, and here are some of the results.

Here's what she wrote me afterwards:  Thanks for your time today. I felt more comfortable then I could even imagine I would have felt. I had a great time and left feeling very empowered. It's been awhile since I've had that feeling. Thank you.

Then Saturday we finished up with the Blair family. Daughter Ryleigh seemed to take to the camera, quite well. Actually she hammed it up the whole time.

I've known Kaytlyn for about two years and did her pregnancy portraits before she had MJ.

My grandfather carried it home from Europe at the end of World War 2. I don't know if he ever took any photos with it, but I suspect that he did. There was an old roll of Kodak in it that we found after he passed, buy nothing came out when I ran it through the dark room.

I also don't know how he came to own it. Just that it was in a drawer at Grandma and Grandpa's and I did get to see it once or twice. After Grandpa passed, it was given to me. Inside its leather carry case, which had a broken latch that he'd fixed with a screw from his workbench, were (and still are) the papers from his commanding officer authorizing him to carry "captured enemy material."

You can only imagine what might have passed through the lens.

I do know from research it was made in Germany, and likely in the late 1930's. And as a collector's item, it's worth about $375.

My grandfather, Arthur R. Sprinkle, grew up in the Lancaster, Illinois area; and as a farm boy, knew how to drive a truck, which wasn't that common in the early 1940's. The family rumor is that they asked for a show of hands at the end of basic training, looking for someone who knew how to drive.

Congratulations, Private Sprinkle, you're a member of the 496th Medical Collecting Company.

My grandfather was an ambulance driver. Not without danger, apparently. We do have a photo of him leaning against his ambulance, and there are bullet holes visible down the side. There's also a photo of Grandpa enjoying a little R&R in Paris. We're not sure he could remember any of that time.

We honor all veterans this weekend, and for me especially - my grandfather.

Special thanks to Kaytlyn for grabbing hold of the old camera during a recent shoot. I'm shooting her wedding this coming weekend, by the way.

There's as many ways to light a subject as there are people with cameras. Some are good, and some - not so much. I hope that the real photographers among us use the light in much the same way that a sculptor uses a hammer and chisel. Seeing as how photography is capturing a three dimensional scene and representing it in a two dimensional frame, a good photographer will use that light to give his subject definition and shape, to show the gentle line down the cheek to the chin, the texture of hair, and the beauty of shoulders and various other that make us what we are.

God created us as sculptures, at least in my opinion. Our own work of art that is uniquely us. Gotta say capturing this is what drives me in my portraiture. Yes I have to accommodate client requests, which I am more than happy to do, but given the chance to create on my own you'll see me turn to a simple background, with dramatic lighting meant to enhance and sculpt.

I have invested a considerable amount in lighting gear to this end, but there are times when you have to throw all that out and use what you have. I need to practice this more. There are several photographers around who's work I admire who simply manipulate the natural light around us to achieve the same goal. There's definitely so much more than just having someone lean against a tree or fence and praying that it turns out right.

One might ask how photographers learned to do what they do. I'll let you in on a secret. We look at a LOT of other photographer's work. We see something interesting and then try to figure out how it was done. We try to copy it. We try to twist it and make it 'our own'. We experiment with that twist. We also get our own photos critiqued by those we respect. If you look through my Facebook page, you'll see comments from a nationally-known photojournalist (who first mentored me when I was 16), and a respected art photographer, as well as several local shooters who I have great respect for. Oh and we might take a class or two.

In my humble opinion, at least, 'The Right Light' is as much something that you feel as it is something you see. You don't know exactly where it is, but you know when you're there. That was a lot of help, wasn't it? LOL....

Little Kara was one of a set of twins and weighed just over a pound. And she was beautiful. The family posed with her for some 'traditional' shots, and then we created some moving images of her little hand wrapped around dad's pinky.

Those photos will never be in my portfolio. They belong to the family.

While I was there, grandfather asked me why I do this.

I told the family the answer was simple. I want my images to make a difference to someone. Yes, it's amazing when I can set stuff on fire, shoot into the sunset, and get a shot so sharp I can tell if you're wearing contact lenses. It's an honor when I post a photo and a couple of world-class photographers tell me 'good job', people I consider mentors and look up to. It's flattering when a dear friend who would know - calls me an artist.

But in the end, all I want is for what I do to matter; to be remembered; to be of value.

I think many photographers will tell you this, and this is why we will all say in unison, when it comes to weddings, seniors, babies - anything that matters, pick a photographer that can tell your story. If you have to go bargain basement, find a different area to be bargain hunting in. Find a photographer that does it because that's where his or her heart is. If his or her heart is in it, they will have learned their craft, can set their camera in the dark, can see the light.

Think anyone with a camera will do? Read this and then look at the images at the bottom

Hey it's soon gonna be senior picture time, and I'm gearing up to do some really cool stuff. I want my senior work to really show off who you are, and will go anywhere and everywhere to make that happen. If you can think it up, we can shoot it, and yes that includes setting stuff on fire. Call, text or email for more information.