Las Posadas de Tome

Every year in the tiny farm town of Tome, New Mexico, dozens of church-goers gather to reenact the religious procession and ceremonial ritual when Joseph searched for shelter for Mary on their way to Bethlehem. They go from house to house looking for shelter and are turned down at each resident. Finally, they find a place to rest at their last stop—the church. The following is from the second stop on their journey.

It's reenacted with great dramatic, pious fervor, and is called Las Posadas (posadas means "inn" or "lodging place"), because it's based on the Christmas story as told and written by Saint Luke.

"In those days Caesar Agustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazaeth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting his child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-8)

*Since this is my photography blog—and my place for learning and practicing—I want to fully disclose that I am NOT happy with how I took these and the way they turned out. I know what I want to try for next time, but I was also very eager to share this special tradition with people who might have never heard of it before.

Sunday Scavenger Hunt

I'm leaving Georgia for a vacation to New Mexico today and I'm anxious to take photos while I'm home. Here are this week's scavenger hunt items: 

1. Winter

If you saw what the original photo looked like, you'd be very impressed with what I did. I know I'm proud of this! The original was badly lit, with horrible shadows and the colors just weren't meshing well. But I played around with Elements until I got it to look decent, and then I added my bokeh to give it that wintery touch. It's not really winter in Georgia yet, so this is the best I could do.

2. BW with Selective Coloring

I'm usually not a fan of selective color, because I think it makes photos look cheap and very 80s-like, so I tried to give this some character before taking the color out. I ran PW's seventy's action and then her heartland action. I thought it was too bright, so I brought the brightness down and found the opacity shade I liked for the flag.

3. The Wind

It just so happened that we had three very windy days in a row. Saved me the problem of figuring out how to capture the wind!

4. Framed

This is a frame I bought for my husband. We have a corny inside joke dealing with rulers, so the second I saw this I knew I had to buy it for him. He's had it for over a year, though, and hasn't filled it yet. Oh, the differences between men and women.

5. Remember When

Yes, that would be me during a circa 2006 Christmas party. It makes me smile whenever I see it. 

 Happy holidays.

I want: The Kelly Moore Bag

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is my husband, but seeing as how I may not get to hug and kiss him on Christmas day, I'd like a rain check for my present. My birthday is just a month after Christmas and since this bag is on back order till mid-January, so it'd work out just great.

I've spent hours reading reviews online about the difference between The Kelly Moore b-Hobo bag (check out the review on the page) and the Epiphanie Belle bag and after much consideration, it's the Hobo bag that fits my situation, needs, and personality. It took me awhile to nail down a color, but black is versatile enough that I can take it with me wherever I go. 

I'm not planning on making photography my business, because it's purely a hobby that I'd like to improve on. I like to take my camera with me wherever I go, and while it fits very snug in my purse, it's not very protected. I want a camera bag that doesn't look like a camera bag. I want it to have the protection it needs without being bulky and ugly. The Hobo fits all my needs and I'm anxious to carry it around with me.

So what do you say, Santa? Can I have a belated Christmas/birthday gift?

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday

Some days I really wish she'd talk back.

A Family Session: The Herrs

Happy Monday! Here's a sweet session with my good friends Natalie, Nick, and Elliot. I just had a blast shooting with Brooke Ashley Photography and hope The Garntos and Herrs had as much fun. 
 

I can't tell you how much I'm in love with this little boy. He is absolutely, positively adorable. And on that note, his mom and dad are just as great. Actually, check out the blog his mom writes, it's called Oven Love and she'll have you drooling in no time!

Sunday Scavenger Hunt

I wish I could be more consistent with my editing, style, and composition. I feel like I really get it sometimes and then completely fail the next minute. I'm happy with a few of these and wish I could've deleted others. Oh well, this isn't a competition, just me practicing and learning for the next time.

1. holiday colors

Yesterday I went to a Gingerbread House Party and had a blast. This was my very first gingerbread house and I already can't wait to make another one!

2. winter/ holiday icon

Part of our Peanuts nativity scene!

3. a tree

Here's a sneak peek of tomorrow's post. I absolutely loved shooting at this Christmas tree farm.

4. quiet

We had our first "snowfall" of the year this week. It lasted about three minutes, but it was so peaceful while it was falling.

5. favorite color

There's a new cupcake shop in town and they had a white tree with light pink ornaments. I happen to love light pink, so I found it very pretty.

A Family Session: The Garntos

This past Sunday I had the pleasure of tagging along with Brooke Ashley Photography for two family sessions. Not only that, but I'm friends with both families, so it made my first shoot that much smoother. 

They picked a Christmas tree farm for their location, which turned out to be the perfect spot. The only downfall was how much the temperature dropped while we were there. Poor little Brennan started to freeze his little toes off, so we had to cut their session short. 

The Garntos: 

Seconds after this last photo was taken, little Brennan could barely move because it was so cold, so we called the session a bit early. On Monday I'll post part two of that days!

Bokeh

I learn best by practicing, so when I heard about this Bokeh Party I couldn't wait to join in. But first, I had to learn how the heck to take a bokeh shot. After a lot of trial and error I think I understand the gist of it, and I'm extremely excited to try this technique in the future. 

Getting very up close and personal with one of my sparkly Christmas tree ornaments!

Not too bad for a first attempt, right? See more fun bokehs here:

A Family Session: The Smallwoods

This weekend I had the opportunity to test out my new camera by tagging along on some Christmas photo shoots with friends. I had an absolute blast and discovered that photographing people is so much harder than it looks. Not to mention, I went home tired and covered in dirt, stickers, and wind-blown hair. But enough about me, here are some pictures! 


The Smallwood Family at Pineola Farms:

More to come tomorrow and Thursday! Since this was my very first time taking pictures of people (on a different level than just snapping a picture here and there), I'm really excited to look back on these photos in a year or two to see how I've improved.

on cloud nine

This photo encompasses two of my very favorite things right now: cooking/baking and photography. This is the second series of photos I took with my new camera (don't worry, I'll stop saying that after this post!), but I'm just so excited about the way these photos turned out. Of course, I'm my own critic and I already notice flaws with this picture, but that makes me even more excited to look back on this post a year or two from now and see how I've improved. 

Coconut Macaroons

via The Tale of Two Kitchens