Telling a Story Through Photos

Lora told me about an idea she had for a post before we left for vacation to Texas. The idea was basically the title of this post – How do you use photos to document an event/experience such as a vacation.  I’m just going to take a piece of our vacation to show you how I go about it.  (P.S.  Johnson Family – too many to make a post out of but don’t worry, they’re coming!)

First – I take a ton of photos.  I have my camera with me at all times.  Seriously.  And I never stop shooting.  When you start getting into the habit of doing this it is impossible to stop.  For me, when I’m having a great time, this is my way of freezing that feeling or moment for me to savor again later.

Second – Never waste good light.  Photography is so much about controlling light.  Sometimes the fun moments and memories don’t happen in beautiful light so you have to roll with it. But as soon as the light gets that buttery pre-evening glow, my camera is out no matter what is going on.

Third – Look for details.  I usually find some fun details that help me freeze in time whatever I’m experiencing.  These are close up shots usually at a wide open aperture (2.8 is what I have been using).  These shots usually end up being my favorites!

Break for back story on this post’s shots – We’ve had so much fun catching up with old friends that we havent seen for so long. Since kids and then moving to Ireland, we just haven’t been coming to TX for nearly a decade!  If I wrote about all the different experiences/people this post would be way too long so I’m going to pick our visit with Greg and Lalise who have ….hmmmm….what do you call it?  Vacation home? No.  Although that is essentially how they use it.  Studio is a little closer.  Maybe a combo of the two.  They bought an old Coke-a-Cola bottling company/warehouse and have remodeled (that isn’t even a good word to describe what they’ve done) into a super cool space.  Good thing I have pictures because my words aren’t helping me here…..

The above photo is taken from the courtyard looking into the studio.  These shots are taken just after the sun has set so there is a bit of color still in the sky but the interior seems to kind of glow with light.  (Also my favorite time of night to drive around and look at houses for the same reason – interiors just look so appealing to me!) The below shot is looking from the studio into the courtyard type area.

This is the guest quarters!  How cool is that?!

They have a horse trough on what used to be the loading dock that they use for a pool.

Greg and Sadie – super sweet dog….we think Greg is sweet too…

R stole Greg’s hat –

Here is an example of a detail shot.  Love the colors in this one.

Now I can’t stop daydreaming about converted garages and Airstreams…