I had heard that Julia was an uber-talented singer/songwriter, but it wasn’t until this summer that I had the chance to see her perform live at Natasha’s in downtown Lexington. I once fancied myself as a musician, too, so I’m speaking from experience here—she’s the real deal. Julia has a perfect balance of old-soul and fresh youth. Stage presence. Lyrics that speak to a deeper understanding of life than you might expect at her age—15. And her work ethic? Wow. She inspires me to work harder at the things I’m passionate about.

Julia’s mom Gina contacted me to help out with the photography for the first album being released. So one sunny fall afternoon, I met up with them at an empty, older farm house in Paris (thanks Kris and Molly!). I love how this session turned out. It’s such a tricky thing…I wanted the images to reflect that juxtaposition of youth and maturity that Julia embodies so well. She’s thoughtful and poised one minute, then light and spontaneous the next.

Here are some of my favorites from that session:

Fast-forward to January 5 of this year. Julia’s fans packed Natasha’s for the album release party. Standing room only. Julia sold and signed albums, and then took to the stage to perform both some solo numbers, and well as some with her musical friends who’ve been so supportive along the way.

David McLean is her guitar instructor, mentor and friend.

Julia surprised him with a new look.

Victoria is not only a supportive younger sister, but she’s also quite a talented artist. Some good genes in that family!

Raw talent is essential to grow a successful music career, but equally important is the unconditional support from those who love you most. Steve and Gina are great role models on how to motivate your children in the pursuit of their dreams. In this shot, they presented Julia with a framed copy of her album.

And I got a signed copy. Pretty dang cool.

You can follow Julia’s musical journey HERE. Thanks for stopping by!

587 days ago, I posted THIS. I checked in last night to see how many of my 101 goals were complete. Turns out I have 67 goals still left with 414 days remaining. Not bad, really, but I’d better get a move on if I hope to complete them all in time.

But here’s the beauty in the 101 in 1001 list:

I completed 34 goals.

That’s pretty cool.

If you made a list with me back in May of 2010, I’d encourage you to revisit your list to see how you’ve been doing. What may surprise you is that, without even checking back in on your list regularly (I didn’t either), you’ve probably managed to knock quite a few out. How’d that happen? Call it hocus-pocus, but I believe that writing down goals prepares the body and mind. Once you’ve imagined yourself getting things done, it’s much easier to recognize opportunities for action as they arise.

If you didn’t make a list yet, you might consider checking into it. Need a bit of incentive? How about another little contest?

Between now and this Friday (1/6/2012) at 5PM, please post a link to your 101 in 1001 list from Day Zero in the comment section below. If you feel like you’d rather not have your list made public, no worries. You can send me the link to your list via email at shaun@shaunringphotography.com

I’ll draw at random one name. That person will receive one-hour of my time for a photography session or photography instruction. Cool?

If you feel so inclined please share this post with the people you know and love. It’s on the studio’s Facebook page if you’d like to share it from there. Yes, I realize your odds of winning will go down as more people join, but it’s a beautiful thing when people encourage each other to get positive things done in their lives.

Ready. Set. Go!

I just moved forward with my final Christmas gift purchase. I wanted to make sure I got Katie just the right thing. She’s going to love it.

Perhaps you’re needing just the right thing for someone in your life. Would photography be a good fit?

If you’d be interested in purchasing a session, package, or even one-on-one photography lessons for that person, I’ll be available through Christmas eve to take care of you. You can email me at shaun@shaunringphotography.com

I can take an online payment and email you something to print and put in a card. Easy, eh?

Just wanted you to know you have options!

And no post would be complete without some recent shots of cute kiddos.

You see, their wedding is July 20, 2013. With almost 2 years to plan, they have plenty of options—including photographers. Chris and Sara are EXACTLY my kind of couple. Warm. Relaxed. Real. Funny. Smart. I reeeeaally wanted to work with them, and I hoped that feeling was mutual.

When I asked if they’d booked any vendors yet, they paused, looked at each other, then looked back at me with serious expressions. And for a second, I thought the worst—In my mind’s eye, I pictured them telling me they’d chosen another photographer. I thought we’d really hit it off when we’d met at the studio. We’d stayed in touch since then. Sara would email me with questions about venues and vendors, and I’d try my best to be helpful. Looking back to that moment, I don’t know why they would have invited me out for coffee to tell me bad news, but they’re incredibly sweet people. It would be like them to want to break it to me gently. I know it’s crazy, but those were the thoughts running through my head during that long pause.

To my relief, Chris’ smile broke through first, followed by Sara’s, and it was then they asked me to be their wedding photographer. A proposal! Whew.

With a decade of experience and a fairly well-established brand, you might assume that I’m past the point of being insecure. I might seem 100% confident, but inside, I’m still that little boy taking a drawing up to his teacher’s desk, looking for a smile and approval. There’s always that voice inside saying Like me! Like me!

And I suspect that we’re all that way a bit.

To Sara and Chris—YES. 100 times YES. I appreciate your trust in me. For liking my work. You’re amazing people, and I can’t wait to spend more time with you.

Thank you to Kimberly and Adrian at Hunter Valley Farm for letting us come out on a cold, Saturday morning.  Quite a spread you’d got there!

Way to rock the boots, Sara!

If you’ve been following my work for long, you know how much I loath jumping pictures at weddings. Sara and Chris feel exactly the same way. Which is why we chose to spoof the jump. To show that it’s not that we can’t. Bwahahaha!

Love this.

Timeless.

I almost always do sessions closer to dusk, but this one was mid-morning. The lighting is waaaay different. Felt good to change things up.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by! If you feel so inclined, I’d love for you to connect with me. Take care!

By now, I’m sure you’ve also heard about Cooper’s House on the local and national news. If you haven’t already checked out his Facebook page, it’s a great place to go to become informed about what’s been happening and get involved.

We love this family. They’re as down-to-earth and warm as you can imagine. I was over there tonight getting a shot of Cooper’s house all decked out in holiday lights. We talked about how things were going, and the family is optimistic that the Andover Forest Neighborhood Association will reconsider its stance on removing Cooper’s therapy playhouse from the property. There’s an overwhelming amount of public support for Cooper, but ultimately, the homeowners in that subdivision will need to make a big decision on what kind of a neighborhood they want to create.

Yep, that’s right. Create. Neighborhoods aren’t maintained. They’re not protected. A neighborhood’s value isn’t in the soil, bricks and mortar any more than a church is a building. A neighborhood is created daily by the choices its residents make in associating with one another. In helping each other. That’s what makes houses homes.

Let’s encourage the Andover Forest homeowners to take on this responsibility and be an example to all neighborhoods.

Here’s that shot from earlier tonight.

To my photography friends: The trick to photographing a wedding at Talon is to *gasp* ignore all the other photographers’ blog posts out there (including mine). It’s been photographed so many times that, if you’re not careful, you’ll fall into the same rut of shooting all the same shots as everyone else.

I wanted this wedding to feel different from the others because, well, my clients are special—to me especially. Each with their own unique story. Heather and Brandon met with me earlier in the year determined to hire me as their photographer. They trusted me with their big day. I think they’re awesome, too. Funny. Laid back. Hot….LOL.

I hope you enjoy my telling of Heather’s and Brandon’s story. Magnus Lindqvist and Jeremy Davis helped me out that day, and I think that together, we produced something pretty great.

Congrats, Heather and Brandon! Let’s hang out again soon!

Here’s the highlights slideshow:

To see ALL the images, you can click HERE:
If you like what you’ve seen and want to stay in touch, HERE’s a great place to start. Thanks!

Lastly, thanks to all the great vendors that contributed:

Venue: Talon Winery
Catering:  3 Peas in a Pod
Cake:  Leora Blevins
Music and Photobooth:  A to Z Productions
Flowers:  Jenni Roberts with CK Florist
Decorations:  Especially For You
Suits:  Men’s Wearhouse
Gown:  Allure Bridals
Matron of Honor and Flower Girl: Dessy
Makeup:  Macy’s Clinique
Hair:  Shawna Stigall Salon at the Towers
Vintage Bentley:  Gold Shield Transportation

It’s not something we had planned for Carson since birth, but homeschooling is something Katie and I have moved into naturally and confidentally. With Katie’s background in early childhood education and my having worked as a teacher (holla to all my Brookside Elementary friends!), it’s a natural fit. 

Things we’re excited about:

Flexible scheduling. I don’t work 9-5, M-F. Most of my work is during the afternoons, evenings and weekends. If Carson were in a traditional school, I’d rarely see him. Also, I get the occasional opportunity to travel with work. Being able to travel as a family is nice. Lastly, homeschooling doesn’t have to take 8 hours per day.

Control over the pace of the curriculum. Notice I didn’t say “control over the content.” Carson will be learning all the same content taught in traditional schools, it’s just that we’ll be able to speed up and slow down as necessary. If Carson wants to spend extra time studying something that interests him, no problem. If he blows through concepts quickly, we can move on to more advanced ones.

Social opportunities. Our schedule is open and we’re beyond the bounds of school districts. Carson can go to any classes or groups he/we want. That’s very freeing.

This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for you, Katie, for taking on this incredible responsibility. You’re organized, nurturing and passionate about Carson’s future. You are perfect for this.

Backpack Bear visits each day and has a note for Carson.

Carson and Backpack Bear checking out the weather (rainy that day). Notice the drawings on the windows.

Jumping jacks.

Love this.

We’re not really advocates for homeschooling, per se. It’s not for everyone. We get that. But if any of you are curious about what resources we lean on for ideas and encouragement in parenting/teaching, here are a few of our faves:

Bluegrass Homeschool Learning Cooperative
Positive Parenting
Starfall (their kindergarten curriculm covers language arts, science, social studies)
Singapore Math
Handwriting Without Tears
Dr. Sears
Attachment Parenting
Mrs. Jump

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Katie at mamabubblering@yahoo.com . We’re not experts, but we’re happy to chat about these things.

To Tiffiney, George, Jordan, Courtney, Michael, Ally, Cooper, Spencer, Rachel, Rosie, Rob and Charlotte—-Thank you for enriching our lives. You rock.

Carson had a great turnout of friends for his dinosaur-themed Oogles-N-Googles party, at which our friend and cake artist extraordinaire Brandi Romines (Happy As A Lark Cakes) surprised Carson with the biggest edible dinosaur cake you can imagine. She spend an enormous amount of time making sure everything was perfect, modeling it after one of Carson’s toys. Thank you, Brandi! You’re amazing at what you do and deserve tons of success!

Awesome, right?

Pretty impressive, eh?

Flying dinosaurs.

Ally as a triceratops.

Volcano!

Carson loved all of his gifts, but he’s especially fond of books and stickers.

While we were singing Happy Birthday, Carson was sneaking a few bites.

Everybody needs hugs.

Especially the kind that lift you off the ground!

After partying with Carson’s friends, we went back home to have both my and Katie’s families over to hang out.

Auntie Rebecca.

Elijah.

We made sure to give Cera a gift, too. Kept her busy for quite some time.

Aidan is a big reader, too.

Nana!

Mimi and Pop-Pop.

The boys and Gigi.

Even Ben from next door popped in.

Dear Carson—You can’t read all of this now, but one day, you’ll stumble across these posts. I hope you’ll always know how much we love you and how proud of you we are. You’re awesome, buddy—and such a big boy now!

To Purvi and Paras—Thank you again for choosing me to document your day. It was amazing.

Magnus was second shooter on this wedding. Awesome shot, bro.

And below, you’ll find a slideshow with all of the highlights! When you’re finished with it, I’d love for you to connect with me HERE and stay in touch! Thanks!

Venue – Embassy Suites
Cake – Tinker’s
Video – Something Mohr
Flowers – Stems
Catering – Shalimar
DJ – PM Sounds and Lighting
Makeup – Ana Crane-Simpson
Hair – Kinnari Shah (always good seeing you, Kinnari!)
Decor – Mandap World