Buckhead Photography Project

I am so thankful that there are people in this world with VISION! It may take many people to bring vision to life, but it usually begins with one person.

In this case, the vision came to a few key people at Buckhead Church. They had an epiphany of sorts after walking into the building each Sunday, greeted by throngs of people and blank walls. Being big supporters of the arts , they dreamed up a plan to turn those blank walls into a photography gallery. Not for the purpose of simply displaying art, but to create conversation and flesh out the big idea behind a sermon series.

The first opportunity was to submit photos for a series about “relationships”. Healthy or unhealthy relationships. Great ones, broken ones. Whatever. Relationships can be simple or complex.

Over 50 photographers were included, and nearly 300 photos were submitted. Out of those a series have been selected, and are about to go to print. A photo I submitted has been selected: it is an image of my friends Tania and Scott, taken when they became engaged. I am thrilled, not only to be a part of this awesome project, but to be able to use this thing I'm passionate about to support the mission of my place of worship.

A gallery night will be on Thursday, May 28th at Buckhead Church starting at 7:30 p.m. Artists, friends and family are invited to view photos from the participants of this 1st assignment. Visit www.buckheadchurch.org for directions. Please park underneath our building in the parking deck. We look forward to seeing you there!

And of course, here is the photo:

Hop Hop Hop goes the Easter bunny

And snap snap snap went my camera. There's nothing like the double excuse of a major holiday plus photo class homework to enable a photog to sit family members down for portraits. Thus the series of the family...... I can say this much for them: these people are NOT without character by any stretch!

Peaceful

Every other week my family gets together at my parents' house for dinner. My sister usually arrives straight from school with all 3 boys. The oldest both have homework, and the littlest often does his best to distract and demand attention from the various adults trying to assist with homework, cook dinner, etc. We love it, of course, but it's a madhouse.

But yesterday, the little dude had actually managed to expend SO MUCH energy earlier in the day that he was tuckered out and fell asleep in the van. And even stayed asleep when carried in and tucked into Grandma's bed to finish his nap. An anomaly, indeed.

He looks so peaceful here....quite a contrast to his usual energy level these days.


















(And I took this one from an angle so you could appreciate the eyelashes. Are they not totally wasted on a 3 yr old boy? I'm just sayin'....)

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday we had a VERY unusual event for this part of the country: a massive storm that dumped snow all over the South, from Alabama through Georgia and beyond. Due to (thank goodness) the warm snap we had experienced the day before, the ground and streets weren't cold enough for much accumulation. But it was sorta pretty while it lasted!

Once it started, just before Noon on Sunday, the appearance of the ground and cars changed rapidly. In an hour the view from the back of my apartment building went from this...
















To this.

But work waits for no one, so I tentatively got on the interstate, driving VERY slowly. I did snag one shot looking out the window of the car....everything looked so beautifully gray and frosted.

Products for newborn photography {Atlanta Baby Photographer}

This is VERY exciting--I'm so glad I'm finally able to share this! Recently I connected with a photographer in California through the photo-sharing community Flickr. Shelley DeJager is a fantastic children's photographer--you can find her at www.shelleydejager.com We began chatting about ourselves, our work, and some of the lovely newborn photography we had both been admiring on Flickr. Several groundbreaking pros have been setting the bar with unique handcrafted wraps and cocoons. She was interested in acquiring something similar, and being a knitter, I had already been thinking, "I could make one of those!" Basically, we were on the same road and didn't know it.


Long story short, we came up with a plan: I would try my hand at making them, and since she had several newborn sessions coming up and I didn't, she would road test them. So after lots of trial and error, I sent my samples on their merry way to California. Shelley had a beautiful baby girl to try them on, and here are the results!


This is the Candidi Cream wrap, basically a tiny blanket just the right size to snuggly swaddle a newborn without a lot of additional fabric. The soft color and open texture shows off the baby's skin and allows toes and fingers to poke through.















































This one I may call the Baby Bowl! The size and more chunky texture worked perfectly to cradle the baby and curl her up into a little ball.

















































The Cocoon is somewhat peanut-shaped, in a loose and openwork crochet pattern. She fit perfectly, and her little foot sticking out is adorable!
























Shelley kept the ones she liked best, so no doubt she'll create more beautiful images in the future. (Huge thanks for use of her images) These were really fun to design, and I look forward to making more of them, both for myself and possibly other photographers.



If you're interested in commissioning your own pieces, please contact me at n_parker@live.com

Don't all 30-ish singles like Chucky Cheese?

Since my sister and the boys were sick with a virus on my actual birthday, we didn't end up celebrating until a few weeks later. We went to THEIR favorite place, Chucky Cheese. Once we got into the cake and gift portion of the event, we got some strange looks. I guess it's a little different to celebrate an adult's birthday at Chucky Cheese. But it's brilliant, if you think about it: where else do adults stand a chance to have a few moments of peaceful conversation, safe from interruption? Well, at a place where the kids can contentedly and safely run free?!

We had a good time. Here are a few snaps...

More Dominick

Finally posting more from the session with actor Dominick Rocano.