Ryan J. Moore Photography Blog: July 2008

Just an Update

I haven't really just done an update on my life in the blog for a while so I just wanted to get out there and say some things. Overall things have been going very well, both personally and for the business. I have made some serious commitments and have grown the business a lot recently. I have really been making the upgrades to make me successful. The first major upgrade that is coming is yesterday - well last night I ordered Photoshop CS3 - Very exciting. I received an e-mail from Adobe about 2 weeks ago that was offering a killer deal on it, but the deal was expiring today the 31st, so I thought and thought and thought and finally did it. The software is usually about $700, but I was able to get it for $299 plus shipping, I really couldn't pass up that deal. So I am very excited to install that and use it. We have been talking about investing in a new PC as well for the business. I bought a laptop about 2 years ago I think that we were going to use exclusively for the business, but that didn't work out, we still have it but it has become increasingly personal now. So I Brandi really wants to invest in a new PC for the business. So I have been looking for the best deal on that. Also I have been doing a lot of reading on lighting and ways to improve my photos before we have non stop weddings and photo shoots. I we have Nikons for cameras, and Nikon has a pretty advanced lighting system with remote flashes and such, and I have one and love it, but I am looking to add another one to really enhance my photos, so I will be ordering a new one of those soon. Also I want to add a new lens to my collection, like I said before we have all Nikon equipment and love it, but the lens I am thinking of is a Sigma 105mm macro and portrait lens. I have heard a lot of great things about them and I think I am actually going to invest in it. I would really like to get all of these before our photo shoots coming up. We have a couple of family shoots coming up quickly. One of them if my cousin and her husband they want pictures of them with their motorcycles, my family is big into motorcycles, well everyone but me. I am very excited about this shoot because of the bike, and also because it will be in Millinocket and I haven't done one there before, there are so many great locations. The other photo shoot we have coming up is a family shoot. I am also very excited about that because I will get to practice some more "fun" posing techniques. I know the family through a friend and this family is very animated and it should be a great shoot. I am excited that I will get to share all these with everyone. I guess that's a good business update for now.

I was going to wait to share this information in the blog because I thought it might be a little pre-mature and might jinx me, but I need something to do at work so I am deciding to share it. Today I went to talk to a loan officer about a home purchase and to get the paperwork started. I went to Blue Hill to get everything taken care of and while I was speaking with my loan officer she asked me where I was from and I told her Millinocket. She said that she use to go there with her family because they needed to fly into a remote hunting camp. She said they always went to the flying service. I told her that my grandfather built the flying service. She said her pilot was Chink LeGassey, who was my grandfather. I was totally shocked to hear her mention him. Its such a small world. What is even more of a coincidence is that he passed away 17 years ago today. So I left the mortgage office and went to the realtor to put a counter offer in on the home that I want to purchase. My realtor called the owners and they verbally accepted my offer which is very exciting, all we have to do is get the papers signed and we are under contract. I just kept thinking that because of the connection with my grandfather that he is watching over me and giving me his blessing to purchase a home and move on with this. It brings tears to my eyes everytime I think about it. It really feels like a sign that this was meant to be. Almost every night I have been praying to God to bless me in this purchase and help me make the right decision, and I think today was my sign. I have been praying a lot lately and it really helps me. God is going to help me get through this I know it. The love I have for Brandi is going to get me through this too.

Anyway those are my thoughts and what is happening in my life currently. I hope I didn't bore you with it.

I will be post today's picture tomorrow, or maybe later tonight when I get home, we shall see.

Day 75, 76, 77 ------------------------------- Around the house...

Day 75 - Well i felt the need to show you our guard dog this week. This is Jonah's typical routine in the morning. He sleeps. All morning. The only thing that wakes him is either me yelling at him or me poking him. He usually doesn't leave his cubby all day. What a life.
Day 76 - Surprise - still in his bed, but in a different position.
Day 77 - Here is the final leg of my daily walk - the view down my street. I love this neighborhood.

Day 74 ------------------------------------------- After you read this one, make sure you scroll down!

Day 74 - I am just stunned, and SO glad I can share this with you. Scroll down, see my other post for today. I also want to shout out to a fellow blogger because I know how much she likes to photograph flowers. Check out her work at http://mainewaterbug.blogspot.com. As soon as we got back in the truck I said to Brandi you were going to love this spot! Hope you all enjoy!

WOW!

Oh My Goodness what a find! We went to Brandi's parents tonight for dinner and a little family time, and as soon as we got there Brandi's mother was very excited to show us this amazing photographic scene. It was an entire field of blooming sunflowers. I have never seen this before. I am truly awestruck. I could of stayed there and just photographed those beautiful bright flowers all night, and I couldn't wait to post them in the blog.

I love the green on green, with just a teeny bit of yellow showing.

Look at them all!!! Amazing!

This one, I couldn't believe the size of the "face" on it.

I love the jaunty little petal sticking up on this one, it reminds me of a feather.

Another amazing thing about this field is it was a true field, they were planted in perfect rows!

Brandi's mom posing with the sunflowers, she says she reads the blog and is looking forward to this post, little does she know she is in it....and she better leave me a comment!

Un-Freaking-Believable!

I am making sure to give Brandi the photo credit she deserves. She took this shot, I love the red on white!

Gotta love home style veggie stands! Especially when there is a little sign that says to pay on the honor system. I love Maine!

Ok here is my challenge, I love this place and I don't want it to disappear too quickly, so here is what i am looking for, anyone who is interested in a "trash the dress" session with your wedding dress and you LOVE sunflowers, let me know, we'll take a stroll through the field in your wedding dress and enjoy the beauty of the sunflowers. OR if you are a senior and want some INCREDIBLE pictures with some AMAZING flowers let me know. OR if you are thinking of taking some family pictures let me know. If you want to do this, I will be sure to give you a great discount!

Day 73 ------------------------------- STOMP ON!

Day 73 - This evening we went to the Bucksport Bay Festival. The reason for our trip was that the Gilpin Railroad Incident was playing. One of our good friends has a sister that plays in the band, and the band is GREAT. We had a very good time, and to end the night was FIREWORKS! They were very nice especially sitting with Brandi on the river. BUT, i think the most important thing is I POSTED ON THE SAME DAY AS THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN!

Anyway - Stomp on Bucksport and GRI!

Day 71 & 72 -------------------------- 73 Coming Soon!!!!!!!

Day 71 - This is what my new CD's of pictures are going to look like. When I bought this computer i was very excited that the CD burner would burn a label onto the front of the CD itself. What I really wanted was to burn a picture onto the front of the cover, but when I got the new computer home and checked out the software it wouldn't burn a picture onto the cover. Well I finally upgraded the software so I could burn the picture right on the cover. YAY, I am excited for it. With the new software I can burn DVD case covers as well, so I think I am going to start presenting the disc in a DVD box with a fancy cover. I am always looking for ways to make my presentation a little more presentable. I have big visions and I am finally getting the client base to present my vision on. I am glad things are going well for our business. Also I should be adding a new lens, a new flash and..................... Photoshop CS3 really soon. I got an e-mail the other day where I can get more then 5o% off CS3. I have been himming and hawing about getting it, but i think at this price i will get it....YAY. Not to mention I should be getting a new website in early fall. Very excited!
Day 72 - So I went into work early today and i did not have time to get a great picture for today. And i didn't get one at our work outing either because i just didn't feel like being in people's faces that day. So during my break I walked around the building to a swampy patch of cattails. I have been meaning to get out there and get a picture. I am pretty impressed with the picture considering that I didn't get a chance to really play with the composition any because I had a hornet dive bombing me...ugh! either way I am happy with the pic.

Leave some comments!!

Day 68, 69, 70 --------------------------I must have been hungry this week!

Day 68 - Another walk picture. This is a great shot from the walking trail along the waterfront in Bucksport. I love living here.
Day 69 - Once I uploaded this picture I wasn't very happy with it, but it was the only picture I had for day 69 so i had to use it. BUT, it is of my favorite M&M's - PEANUT BUTTER!!
Day 70 - Part of my Breakfast - I love the Lots of Pulp kind!!

There has just been so much going on lately it seems that my head is spinning. I mean in the end things are home are great, I love Brandi very much and we have a great time together its just frustrating that we don't get to spend a lot of time together anymore. I work nights and she works days so the only time we see each other during the week is when one of us is sleeping. Tonight we will get to spend a little time together because tonight is my class night. I am able to get out of work early to take my class and then I get home around 8:30 or 9:00 so I get a few minutes with her awake. I can't wait to finish this class and be over with it, this class frustrates me to no end. The professor just pops in a DVD and we watch that for an hour and then we go home, so yes, its great that we get to go home early each night, but we also have to write a paper on the video, and the comment I always seem to get is "tell me something I don't know" well the professor in his laziness does not talk to us so I don't know what he knows and what he doesn't, all I know is that he knows how to push play on the DVD player....big whoop, so I really can't wait until that class is over and I will not be taking his class in the fall if i can help it!

Let's see what else is going on - Brandi and I have been house shopping again. We always casually look for a house to buy and there is one next door (yes it was a Project 365 picture). So I don't know what to think about the recent events. First of all I really like the house and it has a lot of potential, which I love, but I haven't been able to get my parents to come down and see the house to see what I am missing, so we have been trying to arrange that, hopefully it will work this weekend. Anyway, the new spark was the woman that is selling the house called us yesterday to see what our intentions were. So Brandi spoke to her after she gave another couple a third tour of the house and I guess they put in an offer on the house, but she still talked to Brandi like she was waiting for our answer. I just don't know what to think about this development. Plus buying a house is a huge deal! I just don't know! I will of course let everyone know what happens!! Stay tuned.

How about a business update. Things have changed quite a bit for the fall, we have three weddings books right through the end of October which is very exciting because I have some big plans about updating the website and getting some new equipment, but I still have to think of something to do in the winter, there aren't a lot of weddings in the winter, so after October its kind of the wait until may. Anyway - that's my update for the day! Enjoy the pics!!

Favorites from the engagement shoot yesterday!!

This is the engagement shoot Brandi and I did yesterday and I am SOOO excited to share it with everyone. The couple was great to work with and I can't wait for their wedding!!

Bling Bling - Brandi took this photo of the ring - LOVE IT!

Gotta love the smile when he looks at her...awwwww!

I love them all, I just can't pick a favorite!!!

Look at them having fun. They were such good sports on Sunday as a dragged them all over the Belfast waterfront taking pictures in the heat and humidity.

I love the lighting in this one, where they are in shadow except for her face, it really shows it well...LOVE THEM!

The shadow on this one was my favorite!!

LENS FLARE!!! I love it, I couldn't of planned it better!! So nice!

Let me know what you think - leave me some comments.

Day 65, 66, & 67 ---------------------------------- YAY!!

Day 65 - Ok this is just me being weird, i was trying to take a picture of the tv and the remote together, like i was trying to change the channel, but that didn't work out so good, so I flipped the camera upside down and took a picture of my face. I kinda like this one because you can't see my chin fat.
Day 66 - YUM-O, I love turkey burgers, enough said.
Day 67 - Brandi and I had the opportunity to do some engagement photos today! This is a couple that we work with at the bank, and we will be photographing their wedding in October right on the ocean, it should be AMAZING! We had a great time with them today running all over the Belfast waterfront taking pictures. I plan on having a big post about their engagement pictures when I finally get them all done. I wanted to post this one as a bit of a teaser of what is to come. I am very impressed with the photo's overall. I was able to try a couple different shots that I have been waiting to take, the above shot is one of them. I have seen photos of the hand hearts before and Brandi and I have been doing them for a while. Our couple did not know about the hand heart so I was able to teach them something too! Hopefully they will do that over and over again. Keep looking over the next few days for the complete engagement blog!

Day 62, 63, 64 --------------------------------------The last 3 Days

Day 62 - So today I was sent on a small shopping spree for work. We had to decorate our area to reflect Australia, and well the best I could come up was the Australian Outback, and this was or mascot - Indiana Jones and the Taters of the Lost Ark - LOL how funny is that. When you press his hat it sings the Indiana Jones theme song. It has been my entertainment for the week!
Day 63 - I had class today, only a few more weeks and my summer call will be over, and then 2 more classes and i will have my MBA - YAY! They are changing the name of the college from Husson College to Husson University. I could honestly care less because I have not invested a lot of actual attention to the college, all I want to do is to get my degree and move on, although it will be disappointing for me to worked so hard at Husson College only to have my diploma say Husson University.
Day 64 - I was bound and determined to take a picture of the sunset today. So after work I went down to the Belfast Waterfront, I took the picture but on my way home I found a better one and it went along with my Urban theme I had going for a while. You wouldn't think that a mill would look so good with a sunset, but I do enjoy it. Hope you do too ---- LEAVE ME SOME COMMENTS!!!

Day 59, 60, & 61 ------------------------------ i need to start posting every day!

Day 59 - We had to meet two clients today for wedding that we will be photographing in the fall. We are very excited about that, they are two great couples and they are getting married in two great places, I know they are going to turn out great. So in between client meetings we were able to be tourists. We stopped in Camden and walked the streets, went into all the shops and down by the harbor, and we also went to the new winery store in Rockport and did a tasting. It was a very nice day - day 59.

Day 60 - Today was another late night photo, we lounged around all day today and then we went to dinner with some friends in Lincolnville. Dinner was very nice and we had a great time of course! We ended up playing cards until 11 - so once Brandi and I got home she headed right off to bed and I went in search of today's picture. I took a picture of one of the most frustrating things I can think of - searching for a replacement battery for a portable phone! I can never find the right battery and no one carries them. So we did find one that we thought would work, but of course - NO. So the search continues.
Day 61 - So since we were so busy this weekend, we did not make it to the grocery store. So I didn't have any bread for toast or fruit or anything - sooooooooooooo I had to make a waffle! HEHE - and it was yummy - chocolate chip waffle. Anyway Today is the start of the work week, so I must go get dressed and get off to work. I will try to be better about posting everyday!