Priester Photography

My Twinkie and my Momma...

My sister and I used to work together as carhops at a quaint little place called "DogNSuds".

On numerous occasions we were asked if we were twins...and we still get asked.

I don't see it.

People who knows us don't usually see it either.

And though we have some similarities, like the way we laugh and a love for reading,

we're sort of polar opposites.

We're two very different people who came from the loins of this woman.

I'm not sure I see any similarities between the three of us at all.

I know one thing. If you think taking a self-portrait is hard, you should try taking pictures of yourself with a mother who won't keep her face where she's told and a sister who's practically panicked at the idea of having her picture taken.

I'm sore today from running back and forth between my pose and the camera and I almost peed my pants three times from laughing so hard.

Out of 98 shots we got 10 keepers but at least now we'll having something to show the grandkids.

Expletives...

It has come to my attention that there are some people out there who don't know what expletives are.

Webster says this:

expletive n. 1. An exclamation, often profane.

2. A word or syllable employed to fill out a sentence, complete a rythmical pattern, etc.

We'll be dealing with the expletive as an exclamation today, though not the profane exclamations.

You should never, ever use the profane kind.

Ever.

One time, I used the profane kind of expletive as I was falling out of a tree in our front yard and my dad happened to be standing on the porch within earshot.

I got grounded.

I don't think that was fair.

I was falling out of a tree, for crying out loud! ("for crying out loud" is an expletive...it adds nothing to the meaning of the sentence but adds strength of feeling)

I would never be so unjust to MY children.

We're now going to discuss the following pictures of the lovely M, occasionally using the non-profane expletives.

Wowza shambowza, (expletive) this is wonderful.

I almost trashed this image in it's unedited form because of the foreground bokeh on her face. I'm so glad I didn't because it's one of my favorite shots. It looks like I intentionally placed the grass/wheat/weeds around both of her eyes. I wish I was that good.

Oh sweet gerbera daisy!...(expletive) this one is so peaceful, graceful and dreamy.

Can you say, "black and white is fantabulous"? I can.

This stinkin' (expletive) picture is rockin' the painted look and me loves it.

I ♥ polaroids.

Ok. Are you ready to blow your mind with intellectual stimuli?

An expletive can also be the word "there" or "it"...because it fills a vacancy in a sentence without adding meaning.

An example:

1. It is my opinion that this picture is captivating.

2. In my opinion, this picture is captivating.

In the first sentence, "it" is an expletive which is replaced in the second sentence by "in".

Question:

If "it" can be an expletive and expletives can be profane, can saying "it" be profanity?

*Disclaimer...I can not be held accountable for incorrect explanations of the English language on this blog. I've never been to college and hold no degrees of any kind, particularly in English or grammar...though I did almost win a spelling bee once. In other words, don't rely on this blog as research material for your homework or thesis.

Stop it, M!

I mean stop it right now.

These looks you are giving me are not acceptable.

Your father is going to KILL me.

Kill me, dead.

I would just like to state...for the record...that I am merely the photographer. I told her, "stand by the wall", and this is what I got.

It's not MY fault that the girl knows how to pose.

I have a portrait of her mother that would suggest that it's in her blood.

Also, her eyes are not helping the I'm-only-16-but-I-look-like-a-woman issue either.

Blame the eyes...not the photographer...Dad?...do you hear me? It's her eyes. I had nothing to do with it.

I will say that we had a blast getting these shots. We goofed (she calls the above shot her "urban chic" look)...

we acted silly (I'm not entirely sure what she's calling this look, but I love it)...

we laughed....

and laughed some more.

Uh....one moment...

I just had a thought.

This is my husband's cousin.

Which makes her my cousin.

Which makes her my girls' second cousin.

Which means this posing thing is in my girls' blood too!

Uh.

Mmmmm.

My

first.......

ever......

stop.......

motion........

video.

It's an idea that I came up with while falling asleep on Friday night and frankly, I'm just impressed that I remembered it to try it the next morning.

It's made up of 497 images (I deleted about 200 to make it fit the length of the song). The concept is mine but the kids added some of their own flair to it, e.g., the dancing out of the box and the blowing of kisses.

It took a little less than three hours to shoot and a little less than 2 hours for me to put together, which is way faster than I thought it would be.

All and all, I'm pretty stinkin' proud of it...and despite a few obedience issues with my own children it was a fun morning with the kids in the beautiful November weather we're having at the moment.

I posted it on YouTube last night and woke up this morning to a comment. My very first comment ever from someone I don't know! How exciting! They gave my video four stars out of five. FOUR! And said that we're good at it and should make more.

I'm blushing.

Enough talk...here's the video...
B

In case you're interested the song is "Bruises" by Chairlift.

Our fifteen minutes of fame...

which I'm turning into 20 minutes of fame by posting it on here.

Matt and I (and Skii from Heartland Satellite) made it to the front page of the big old Fredericktown newspaper. Exciting, no?

Matt looks really wide in his shot.

I don't because I made the newspaper let me submit my own image of myself and I'm a photographer who knows how to make myself look thinner. Photoshop helps.

So here's the questions and answers:

Name: Matt Priester

Age: 31

Occupation: Satellite Tech at Heartland Satellite

Spouse: Brandi Priester (Priester Photography)

Children: Three

Favorite TV Show: The Office

Favorite Movie: Bourne Identity

Favorite Food: Mexican

Favorite Song: "The Red" by Chevelle

Favorite Place: New Zealand

Favorite Hobby: None

What is one thing about yourself that most people don't know?: I have been married 14 years

Which actor would star in the movie of your life?: Matt Damon

What would you like to see in Madison County?: More support for small business and a Taco Bell

Problems...Matt isn't 31...he's 32. We haven't been married 14 years...we've been married 13 years. And he apparently only knows that we have three children but not their names.

Name: Brandi Priester

Age: 31

Occupation: Owner of Priester Photography and Home School Teacher to oldest daughter

Spouse: Matt

Children: Mercede-11, Summer-9, and London-7

Favorite TV Show: "The Office" and "House"

Favorite Movie: "Singing in the Rain"

Favorite Food: Schwan's Chocolate Almond Ice Cream

Favorite Song: Eclectic/Folk; anything not played on mainstream radio

Favorite Place: Anywhere warm

Favorite Hobby: Reading and photography

What is one thing about yourself most people don't know?: I have always wanted to be a writer--so, instead, I am a blogger.

Which actor would star in the movie of your life?: If Skii (Heartland Satellite) can pull off Clint Eastwood, I can pull off Angelina Jolie!

What would you like to see in Madison County?: A more open attitude towards new experiences and people

Problems...The movie isn't "Singing in the Rain", it's "Singin' in the Rain" (it does make a difference). Favorite song isn't technically correct because I love music that's on the radio too. Anywhere warm for "Favorite Place" isn't what I wanted to put but I chickened out. It should have read, "My own little world". And under Favorite Hobby I told him to put "Reading...and photography (duh)" but I was misquoted.

Misquoted, I tell you!

I'm over it.

And for those of you confused about the Skii/Clint Eastwood comment...Skii (a friend of ours) put in his 15 minutes of fame that the actor that would play the movie of his life would be Clint Eastwood.

Seriously, Skii? (raising eyebrows)

Though I'm also not sure how my husband thinks he can pull off Matt Damon.

Let's be realistic boys...shall we?

Three things:

In no particular order...

1. One of my clients came to pick up her order (she knows who she is). She said she was super excited to see them and I believed her.

She took her pretty little box of pictures and left.

At least I thought she left.

I had walked into the kitchen (probably to get something chocolate) and when I walked back through the living room I noticed her car still sitting in the driveway.

I was intrigued, so I lingered at the window. She had opened her pretty little box of pictures and was flipping through them with a big smile on her face.

I left her to have her happy picture moment in privacy...and I was happy.

2. One of my high school senior clients (you know who you are) came to pick up her pictures. On her way out the door she hugged me.

Hugged me!

She must really be happy with her pictures....that makes me happy.

3. A woman approached me at the school while I was picking up kids (she also knows who she is) and expressed that she liked my work.

She also said she read the blog.

Regularly...

Which brings the total blog viewer count up to four.

And I was happy.

Thanks guys. I feel so loved.

Also...(I guess this is technically four things) if you want a little chuckle you should read the ads below my posts. I just realized yesterday (I'm a little slow) that they change according to what I post about. They're surprisingly accurate though they take my words just a little out of context.

For instance, yesterday I blogged about how one of my eyebrows is lower, correction...higher than the other. Now there are ads for "Cosmetics for skin flaws" and "Applying Eyeshadow".

Last Friday I blogged about a twin senior session I was working on and apologized to their mother because she had so many pictures to choose from that I wasn't sure how she was going to do it. Now there are ads for "$29 I'm Sorry Flowers" and "Learn How to Forgive". :)

This is going to be a fun new game.
B

Again with the absence of a sneak peek...

the thing is, I haven't wanted to take the time away from editing to post a sneak peek.

I've been a very busy woman.

Sorry I've been robbing you of the joy that is the sneak peek.

I know you miss it.

But the good news is...

I've finished with this session.

I'm all caught up on editing sessions.

It's a good feeling.

I get to experience it for one more WHOLE day.

Because I have another session on Friday night.

I'm not complaining. I love this job.

Because I get to make images like this...

and this....

and yes, this.

The only bad thing about being so busy is that I don't have time to blog about the really interesting stuff, like my aging issues, pictures of toilet paper dust (click here), sunsets and the meaning of life, the universe and everything (name that book).

I decided to go instrumental with this slideshow. I adore Gregory Page as I've never heard another musician who sounds quite like him. He gives me goosebumps. This is his song "One Cloud For Two". He also has a vocal version of it but I was feeling non-vocal (if you can believe that).

If you'd rather see her images without the accompaniment of music click here and select Miss Anderson.

Just a thought.

No pictures this time.

(I am working on your senior pictures Miss Anderson...but need to regroup my thoughts before I look at one more blasted picture of anyone.)

So here's my thought...

One of my eyes is lower than the other.

I've known this for quite some time but thought it was just from aging...you know, droopy eyes.

Upon further examination I've come to the conclusion that, in fact one eye is NOT lower than the other, but one eye is HIGHER than the other.

AHA!

Let me explain...

We were in a car accident about 11 years ago which resulted in my getting several stitches in my left eyebrow, not to mention a broken wrist, a severely bruised thigh and a nearly dead husband.

Stay with me though...we aren't focusing on the once nearly dead husband at this juncture (he's fine in case you were worried), we're focusing on the stitches in my eyebrow...

Eleven years later that eyebrow is still where it was 11 years ago...stitched into place. The other eyebrow, however has been a bad, bad eyebrow and is slowly trying to slither it's way off my face.

Since I'm a glass is half full type of person I'm glad to have discovered that it is indeed one eyebrow that is higher than the other instead of one being lower.

Sigh.

All is right with the world despite the fact that I'm doomed to look like a Van Gogh painting in the near future.
B

No time for sneak peeks....

We're just going straight to the finished product.

This little pipsqueak wanted nothing to do with me.

I balanced a Smarty candy on the top of my lens while prepared to take her picture hoping it would get her attention and maybe a smile.

Instead, I got this from her...

She wanted the Smarty and she wanted it NOW.

So she got it (how was I supposed to say no to that face?),

and then she was happy,

and I was happy.

The End.

Well, not really the end...I was being dramatic for effect.
B

I used a super cute little song by Elizabeth Mitchell called "Three Little Birds" because they're a little family of three and also because it's too cute not to use. I dare you not to like it.

If you don't want to see the slideshow and would rather just view the images you can see them here under "Brotherton Family".

Beautifulness IS a word,

in case you were wondering. I just thought I'd clear that up.

That being said...here are the Kemp sisters in all their beautifulness.

I spent way too much time looking for a song for their slideshow because they like country and I'm not into country at this present moment. I finally gave up and choose two songs that I really like. Sorry girls. Forgive me.

The first one is called "Simple Life" by The Weepies. Their mom said something about them being "simple girls" so I thought it was fitting.

The second one is called "New Soul" by Yael Naim. I actually found her music when I heard her beautiful voice on a MacBook Air commercial. The song is about being in a new world and facing challenges...also fitting being that they're seniors and are about to enter the "real" world.

Looking back on my high school days though, I wonder if the "real world" is really a scary place compared to the world of high school.

Maybe equally scary.

I highly recommend right clicking the video and selecting "watch on Youtube" so you can view it full screen...also, clicking HQ (high quality) makes a huge difference.

If you want to see the proofs without the slideshow you can view them here under Kemp Seniors in a short while.