Well, little did she know how much I would come to love the farm.   In fact, I love it so much that I got my own chickens!  I guess you can say I’m “part farmer” now.  Pictured here are some of my birds.  The above photo are a few of my Delaware chicks and the photo below is one of my Welsummer chickens resting on my home-made roost.

Here’s a photo of me attempting to ride Laurel’s horse Duncan bareback on my first visit to the farm a couple years ago.  When I say ride… I mean that I fell off.

Congrats to Scott & Ashley!

The photo special will be this Saturday, June 26th.  The cost is $75 and includes the digital files for a 30 minute session.   The special will take place in downtown Panama City at McKenzie Park.  Appointments are very limited so please call me to get your appointment set up. 850-248-0520

Does your child have a favorite toy?  stuffed animal? blanket?  Be sure to bring it!

Mommy and Daddy read him his favorite story.

Michael loves his mommy and daddy very much!

Then it was time to run around!

And then mommy and daddy let him ride his favorite thing!

He sure loves his tricycle!

Touchablue is a blueberry farm just down the road and Laurel wanted to pick some blueberries!  So I packed up my camera gear to get some photos.

Admittedly, Laurel did most of the picking.  She’s been picking blueberries (and muscadines) since she was a kid.

My favorite part was taste testing the blueberries to make sure they were just right for picking.  I’m surprised any made it into the bucket.

While we were picking we heard an older couple a few rows over bantering back and forth.  It got quiet for a while and then she sneezed.  He replied, “Well, at least I know where you are now.”  Haha!  As they were leaving Laurel said, “Quick, get a picture of them!”

I love seeing/meeting (or hearing through the blueberry bushes) couples that have been married 50 or 60+ years.  You know they are full of stories and they tend to have a sense of humor about life.  Laurel thought it was cute that this older couple was out doing something together.

We continued picking blueberries until our bucket was full. So how much did we pick?

Seven pounds worth!!!!

We brought them home and got them all cleaned up!  My mother-in-law is great at canning and turning fruits into jelly, jams and preserves (her muscadine jelly and pear preserves are my favorite!)

Here’s a jar of her blueberry jam she made last year.  This stuff is so good!

We have all sorts of adventures here on the farm so I thought I’d share one that we had today!  Hope you enjoyed it!

On a side note:  I would absolutely love to shoot an engagement session here if you know anyone that would love this location.

This conference wasn’t about the “how-to’s” of taking photos but the BIG PICTURE concepts of doing what you love and creating the life you want.  It wasn’t the “what” of what you do but the “why” of what you do.

A little history:

I’ve always been a visual person.  As a kid I loved drawing, painting, and coloring.  Throughout middle and high school I took all the art classes offered.  I also began picking up my grandmas “huge” video camera.  Remember those cameras that took VCR tapes? HUGE!   I very much preferred to video tape the church Christmas play than be in it.  I got my first digital camera in college, a whooping 2 mega-pixels, and began taking photos!  It wasn’t anything fancy, just a consumer brand camera and my photos consisted of family and friends.  I still have that camera actually and the photos are stored somewhere on discs.  I’ll need to find a few and post them on here.

Fast forward a few years – my love for video was re-ignited when I saw a friend and co-worker, Derek Boggs, editing video on his Apple Power Book G4.  I was working as a middle school youth pastor at the time and got excited about being able to edit video for the church!  Derek had a consumer level video camera that he graciously let me take on youth camps and mission trips.  I was hooked!

A couple years into my passion for video my interest for photography began to resurface.  I got my first digital SLR camera and began taking photos.  I jumped into my manual, began reading blogs/forums, and took tons of pictures.  Most of my pictures were of flowers, trees, landscapes and my dog.  Most of them were bad, some were decent, and a few were good.  I was hooked!  The bad photos made me want to get better and the good photos inspired me to keep going.

Fast forward just a little – eventually my photography turned back towards people.  I had the privilege to learn from a fantastic photographer in Panama City.  She gave me some great opportunities and great education.  I was learning, growing and seeing my work change before my eyes.  I was and still am so excited about photography!

And then I got married!

Photo by Ruth Berry Photography

On June 20th 2009 I married the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.  The emotions of falling in love, the “is she the one?” question, getting permission from her parents, proposing, and experiencing my wedding day has changed me and my photography.  I’m a bit of a romantic at heart anyway, but experiencing the emotions first-hand gave photography a whole new meaning.  I’m all about my photos being technically correct, and I strive very hard to be the best photographer I can be.  But more than that is capturing the emotion: the laughter, the anticipation, the joy and the love.  When I look through my wedding photos I can’t help but fall in love with my wife all over again.  And when I photograph a wedding, I can’t help but remember my wedding day and fall in love with my wife all over again!  This is why I do what I do.

At my core level I love families.  I love being able to preserve the start of a family on their wedding day, the expansion of a family as they have children, and the depth of a family as I witness generations all gathered together in one place.  It’s a great honor and privilege to be invited into the lives of families and capture who they are, to preserve the emotions of here and now for generations to come.

I’ve had the great privilege of getting to know this couple over the last couple of months.  I can’t tell you how many conversations we’ve had about backyard chickens, farming and various books concerning the food we eat.

I met up with Nathan and Michelle in the beautiful Watercolor FL for a wonderful engagement session.  I am so super excited for their upcoming wedding this weekend!!!