Priester Photography

This family...

this family was a riot.

I usually have fun when I'm shooting because it's what I love to do, but this...this was ridiculous.

They entered the studio in a flurry of talking, smiling and laughing and exited it the same way.

I loved it. It was so refreshing.

A lot of the time, family sessions can be a little tense. It's not easy getting all of those bodies situated in an aesthetically pleasing manner to look pretty for the camera.

Typically, you'll get someone or a few someones in the group who aren't happy and therefore not cooperative.

I'll just say it...it's the men. It's always the men that give me trouble. But these men, bless their little hearts, did exactly what they were told.

The pop of the clan even went so far as to change his socks upon request (it's a long story)...and they weren't even his socks. They were my husbands. Yes, they were clean...what kind of psycho do you take me for?

Maybe it helped that I knew a few of them before they came to the studio.

The lovely woman on the right is my hairdresser...beautician...stylist. I don't know what I'm supposed to call her.

She cuts my hair. That simplifies it.

She owns a super cute salon called "Escarlate" in our teensy little town.

I rode the trade school bus with her husband in high school. I'm pretty sure he teased me many times throughout the year for various reasons, one of which could have been my nerdiness, but my memory isn't what it used to be, so we'll let it slide this time.

The woman in the middle used to be the secretary at the high school I graduated from.

I've been to yard sales at her house.

Yes, yard sales...that's the kind of girl I am.

The girl on the left, though I hadn't met her prior to this shoot, is the owner of a cute little boutique called "Jennie Annie's" in Farmington, Missouri. I haven't been there yet. But as soon as I visit, I'm sure you'll hear all about it.

She, like myself, has a love for all things antique.

As for the last two gentlemen, I don't really know anything about them.

Except that the one in the black shirt likes to tilt his head to the right (despite my suggestions that he tip it to the left) and the one in the middle wore the wrong socks to a photoshoot one time.
B

*The rest of their session will be up in the next few days. Thank you for your patience.*

My son's apparent lack of self-esteem...

Because I don't have enough brain power to formulate and articulate deep, artistic-sounding thoughts about each of these favorite shots from a recent session,

I'm going to instead regale you with a story.

A story about my eight-year-old and his lack of self-esteem.

Shall we begin?

Let's.

On the way to school today and out of the clear blue he looks at me and says...

"I'm the dumbest kid in my class."

I assume that he's being overly dramatic about a missed spelling word or homework he didn't like. Or maybe just trying to get some positive reinforcement, because he didn't sound ashamed about this development, or even slightly concerned.

I looked at him and said, "You aren't the stupidest kid in your class...you're smart."

He says, "No. Really, I am", in a very matter-of-fact way.

I'm contemplating how to respond to this and considering all the ways I'll most definitely be damaging his self-worth by doing so when he says...

"Wait a minute."

He then proceeds to count on his fingers and say...

"Nope. I'm the FOURTH dumbest kid".

The end.

I guess if he's okay being the fourth dumbest kid in class, then I'm okay with being the mother of the fourth dumbest kid in class.

That's sort of my job, right?

I just wish I knew where he got his lack of self-esteem.

Is that how you spell "fourth"?

You can see the rest of the proofs fom this session here under "Reagan Baby".

Clapper/Caplinger Couple Conclusion

I've completed correcting the captures of my cousin, the Caplinger, in her confederation with the Clapper clan.

:)

Why is that so much fun?

Here's their slideshow.

You'll also be able to see the rest of the images from the wedding here under "Clapper/Caplinger Wedding".

Just exercise a small amount of patience as the pictures will take some time to load.

The songs I used are perhaps a little unconventional but I like them.

In case you like hearing new music or are interested in purchasing what you hear:

The first one is Question by Old 97's.

Then we've got Hazy by Rosi Golan.

And last but not least is First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes.

So now that I've given you proofs and links to music and a slideshow, I need something from you...suggestions.

I need suggestions for some cute, quirky, quizzical questions to ask my future brides and grooms for the video segment of the slideshows. I don't want to ask them all the exact same questions but my creative juices are running a little thin in this regard.

Any help would be appreciated...just keep it clean, people. This is a family show.

Take one last look at this couple.

It's the last you'll see of them.

At least until their video is finished.

Yippee! This means we're (I'm) on the home stretch.

If things go my way tomorrow (don't count on it), I'll have their video up by midnight.

Yes, midnight. I'm a night owl.

But also an early bird.

This should explain a lot about my mental instability and this "interesting" blog.

Please excuse all this texture. I just can't help myself sometimes.

It's like my addiction to Schwan's chocolate almond ice cream...

except that adding texture to pictures doesn't prevent me from being able to wear a bathing suit in public.

Maybe I should embrace the texture and not so much the chocolate almond.

But oh, how I love my sweet chocolate almond in a crisp, waffle cone.

I shall miss your creamy, chocolatey coldness and your decadent, almond crunchiness.

Don't despair, my love!

We shall meet again someday...oh, we shall meet again!

(sorry about that outburst...you should know by now that I'm prone to them)
B

Love and marriage, love and marriage...

♫ go together like a horse and carriage.

This I tell you brother,

You can't have one without the other. ♪

On this day 14 years ago this is what I was doing:

These were scanned with an obviously dirty scanner...please ignore the dust spots.

Ain't that the cutest young man you ever did see?

I thought so.

Here he is with his best man (right side) and our good friend that married us. Incidentally, these were three of the boys mentioned in the newspaper article a few posts back. And they would've looked as they do in this picture since the "rescue" took place the following year.

Just a little bonus information there.

This is me and "my girls". From left to right: My little sister, my maid of honor (the best man/hero's wife), me, Lori (her 13th anniversary was yesterday--Happy Anniversary!), and Leah (who actually "went out with" Matt years ago).

I hope you're writing this all down. There might be a quiz.

And one other interesting little tidbit from our wedding day pictures...

This little girl...

is now this young woman.

Wowzers!

Dancing with my dad. Yes, his eyes are red. He cried. A lot. In fact, the rumor was that someone called him four days after the wedding and he was still crying.

He probably wouldn't have cried so much if he realized that I'd still be living right next door fourteen years later.

Speaking of crying...this shot is for those of you who refuse to believe that I shed tears.

I'm not heartless...now I have proof! I love this picture, by the way. I love the mirrored image and the fact that mom is holding a whole kleenex box (she always has been the prepared type), the tulips that Matt bought me to carry down the aisle because I was going to carry someone else's bouquet to save money, and my wonderful hairdo that I did all by myself. Yes, I'll say it...I'm economical.

As someone who photographs weddings I've noticed that the one thing that most couples forget on their wedding day is to have fun.

According to our pictures, we didn't have that problem...

We goofed off during pictures....

made faces and giggled...

and I wore my teddy bear house shoes instead of ballet slippers. Hey... anyone who knows me, knows I am NO ballerina. Why try to fake it?

But as far as the fun goes, this next series of events was the icing on the cake.

Quite literally.

In this shot, Matt is whispering, "I'm gonna get Danny, you get Khrysy." And I'm saying, "For real?"

(Khrysy is thinking, "la-la-la, I got to buy a pretty dress...la-la-la", and Danny is thinking, "Mmm, cake!")

For real.

This cracks me up every time.

We took the tradition of shoving cake in your spouse's face to a whole new level.

And then, because I'm evil, I shoved some in Matt's face. Just look at the satisfaction in my body language!

It was a short lived victory though, because Matt fought back...

with a vengeance.

I had cake up my nose and down my dress.

Oh my. Good times!

----------------------------------------------------

I was sound asleep last night when Matt started shoving me and whispering, "Hey!"..."Hey."

I grumbled something like, "What? I'm not cleaning up any more of our children's vomit."

And he said, "Happy Anniversary" and rolled over.

I sat up and looked at the clock to see that it was 12:04 in the morning.

It must be true love because I didn't punch him in the face.

Forevermore...

I'm a little concerned by this image.

With technology advancing as quickly as it is, brides may one day be able to take ALL of their own wedding day pictures.

Where will that leave little ol' me?

Out on the street.

Cold and alone.

Oh, technology...what are you doing to me?

I guess we have a love/hate relationship.

Totally unrelated:

This song is amazing.

It makes me happy.

I remember singing it with one of my best friends and her mother when I was a teenager.

I love the variation on this one and the part where she goes, "woo hoo-hoo hoo-hoo Hoo"!

Just listen to it. You'll see what I'm talking about.

In conclusion...as I was wrapping up this post, this little guy showed up in front of my screen.

He was just hangin' around. I worked with him there for quite a while (going somewhat cross-eyed in my observation of him) before I decided he was posing and wanted me to take his picture.

So I did.

He's famous now, although he's no longer with us.

He lived a good, long life.