The Best of Friends

It's Saturday night, and Aaron and I have just said "goodnight" to two of our best friends and a pair of the happiest, most free-spirited, loving little boys I've ever met.

I'm so thankful for the incredible people God has strategically placed into our lives. Friends to laugh and cry with. Friends to adventure with. Friends to learn from. Friends to pray and walk through life with.

You know who you are...and I hope you know how much we appreciate you.

Strike A Pose

Ok.

That's it.

From now on, "test shots" will only be taken after I strike a pose. More bad "test shots" from Saturday:

This could become quite the fun little wedding photography game...

Student Driver

Toby and I were on our way back from dropping Sam off at school this morning when I saw it:

A "Student Driver" car.

As I passed the white Ford Focus (adorned with the "Student Driver" teepee on top) in the right-hand lane on 3rd street, I glanced over to see a terrified teenage boy with a death-grip on the steering wheel and his hands at "10 and 2." I also saw a nervous instructor riding shotgun and two more teenagers giggling in the back seat.

Poor kid.

I felt kinda bad for him. I remember the days when my instructor made me drive on the most terrifying streets and interstate on-ramps in Charleston. I was a nervous wreck. I'm pretty sure I vowed never to drive again.

But those memories faded with time. And so will his.

If he thinks driving with the instructor is nerve-racking, he should wait until he goes to get his driver's license.

The Mean Police Officer-lady at the DMV (decked out in her snazzy navy-blue uniform, shiny gadgets, and clipboard) will get into the car and intimidate him by not saying "hello" (or any greeting at all for that matter). Then, she'll tell him to take a right turn out of the parking lot and he'll run over a curb for the first time in his life. When the time comes for him to show his parking skills, she'll tell him to "pull over" and find a place to park on the busy downtown street. She'll tell him to "move" because he has parked directly in front of a driveway. Then it will be time to put the emergency brake on...and he'll accidentally pop the hood instead.

For some unknown reason (pity, perhaps), Mean Police Officer-lady will allow him to pass the road-test on the first try and send him inside to pick up his license.

What? Me? That didn't happen to me. And even if it did, I would never admit it.

Keep practicing kid. And don't let Mean Police Officer-lady intimidate you.

Saturday

Shooting the Fox/Renner wedding in Charleston this past Saturday was fun. I hadn't shot a wedding with Sean in a few months and it was nice to pick up the camera again.

Taking photos for 10 hours on Saturday helped rejuvenate my love for photography. I realized that I've been making excuses for why I "can't" do certain parts of photography well.

There's no reason for excuses anymore.

If I want to excel and use my God-given gifts, then I need to learn what I can at every available opportunity, practice more often, and stop making excuses for myself.

And now for a "fun" photo from Saturday:

Sean: Hey, stand right there [in the middle of a one-way street] so I can get a test shot...
Me: Okay...

The lighting looks great.

I, however, do not.

Oh, the joys of being a photo assistant...

Your Votes Have Been Tallied...

This little photo contest has been fun!

Thanks to everyone who took time to vote for their favorite photos. We're going to have one photo contest each month, so come back soon to check out our next batch of creativity :)

Before the competition officially began on Tuesday, Aaron and I discussed how the "winner" would be chosen.

After much contemplation, we decided to take the top three photos, count the number of votes for each photographer, and turn it into a percentage. The photographer with the largest percent of votes in the top three wins (...and we should have put that in writing because now someone is trying to change his story...).

Here are the results:

1st place: photo 4 (Aaron) - 26 votes
2nd place: photo 6 (Allison) - 23 votes
3rd place: photo 3 (Allison) - 21 votes
4th place: photo 1 (Aaron) - 17 votes
5th place: photo 2 (Allison) - 13 votes
6th place: photo 5 (Aaron) - 2 votes

Allison's photos: 57 votes (56%)
Aaron's photos: 45 votes (44%)

As you can clearly see, the top three is composed of one of Aaron's photos and two of mine. I received 63% of the top three votes and Aaron received 37%. Best overall winner? That would be ME :)

I'll give you credit, Darling. I thought I would easily sweep the top three...but you gave me a run for my money. You get all the glory for having the "favorite" photograph (by a mere 3 votes)...but I'm still the "best overall photographer." Oh, yes I am.

As much junk as I talk about how much better I am at photography than you, we're actually pretty evenly matched (in this competition, anyway). I can't wait until the second round of the Fowler Family Photography Contest next month!

While we're on the topic of photography, I'll have you know that Aaron and I are going to Charleston this weekend to help Sean photograph a wedding. I'm Sean's second photographer and Aaron is, well, the assistant. I'm just sayin'... :)

I love you, Sweet Pea! Don't be grumpy because I won...

Vote or DIE!

Ok, people. The photography contest is way too close to call at this point. The polls close tonight at midnight, so get your votes in NOW!

To those of you who "just read" blogs and "never comment"...we need your opinion! Don't be shy. We want to hear what you have to say.

Thanks to those of you who have already left your votes and comments.

This is fun!

Fowler Family Photography Contest #1

I bet you didn't know that Aaron and I are insanely competitive with one another.

Okay. Never mind. I bet you did know that.

Anyway, one of the subjects we've been most competitive about recently is who has more skills in the photography department.

Ever since I was a very little girl, I remember looking at professional photographs and thinking, "I'm gonna learn how to take pictures like that someday...". I started learning about photography at the age of 13 and fall deeper and deeper in love with it as the years pass. Taking a good photograph is the only artistic gift the Lord has blessed me with...and I'm okay with that.

Aaron is a million times more "artistic" than I am. He can draw. He can paint. He can sculpt. He can shade. He can pick out perfect color schemes. He can even take a good photograph every once in a while (but not quite as well as I can).

Aaron is a "jack of all trades." I'm only good at one.

I haven't mastered the art of photography, but I learn a lot from this guy and like to think I'm pretty good at it...or at least better at it than my husband is :)

Aaron and I have been talking about having a little "photography contest" for a few months now. After work yesterday, I proposed that he and I pay a visit to the beautiful Anne Springs Close Greenway by our house and throw down.

The rules are simple:

• two Nikon cameras (a D70 for me, a D80 for Aaron)
• two identical 50 millimeter lenses
• one Gigabyte of memory per camera
• no staged photos
• all photos must be taken on the premises of the Greenway
• only cropping and toning allowed when editing photos in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

You're responsible for settling the dispute of who the better photographer really is. Our photos will be anonymously mixed together and numbered 1 through 6. We need you to pick your 3 favorite photos and leave the numbers in a comment at the end of this post. Don't worry if you don't see your comment post immediately - there's a safety feature on Blogger that allows me to screen comments before they post to the "comments" section.

Can't figure out how to leave a comment? Send an e-mail to aafowler85@gmail.com with your 3 favorites listed.

PLEASE play along with us! Aaron said he didn't think anyone would respond. Let's prove him wrong :)

May the best photographer win...

(Click on each photo to get a better look)

(1)
(2)

(3)

(4)

(5) (6)