Taking it back to the old school...

Believe it or not, once upon a time there were cameras without LCD screens on the back. You couldn’t “chimp” down & see your shot & know to change your settings & exposures. You had to do everything manually, I mean everything: metering, focus, the whole nine yards. These were the glory days of photography. This is when photography was difficult. It’s so watered down, easy, & push button now kids can do it. And they do!

These were the raw days of photography that are seemingly long gone.

So I present a challenge…

Let’s shoot the next week fully manual. Tape up that LCD screen, set everything to manual (including focus) & have fun! No Photoshop, no editing. Set your files to jpg. You can set it to B/W if you want. But the key is manual.

This will force you to think about lighting, composition, exposure, focus…

To make things interesting I’m putting up a $25 Starbucks giftcard to the best photo! Email you submissions to contest@nashvillephotogroup.com. The day after Christmas I’ll post the anonymous images to my Facebook page & we’ll let the voting begin! We’ll let the masses vote for what they think is best overall. Just dump the images straight off of your camera & email your best. This will be your first chance to see them. One shot per person please. No editing, just emailing.  Don’t cheat, I can check the EXIF/metadata if I must. Besides this is for fun. Good luck!

Just like your grandpappy did it... sorta...

She sat proudly on a wooden stool. Her hair done perfectly…smile gleaming…wearing her favorite sweatshirt, that she was sure to tell me was a red-orange color and not only red or orange. I sat across from her on a small apple box holding my camera asking her a couple questions. She was so proud to be in front of the camera…sitting in a professional photography studio setup with pro photographers, lighting, hair stylists, and makeup artists…all there to serve her.

I had met her and her family just a few minutes prior during Help Portrait here in Nashville this past weekend. I was given the honor of shooting some photos of her family. After I had finished the family photos, while another member of our team was proofing, editing, and printing the photos for them, she and her cousin grabbed my jacket and motioned for me to squat down so they could ask me a question.

I knew what was coming…and I couldn’t wait for them to ask.

“Could we each have our own picture taken?”

Being a father of two young children, I could see the joyful anticipation in their eyes. They waited for my answer, which was an exuberant “yes”! Their faces lit up. At that moment, they each knew they, individually, were special. All I did was talk to them for a few minutes, give them my undivided attention, get to know them a bit, and take a couple photographs. It was such an enjoyable and effortless investment on my part, but it meant the world to them. As children, they felt a certain sense of worth that I would take time to focus on each of them.

Those next few moments were some that I will not soon forget.

He was first. We talked about basketball, his favorite teams, and how he loved to play basketball. He smiled from ear to ear. When asked if we scored a lot of points, he just smiled a humble smile and looked off and away from me as if to dodge the question in an act of humility. His smile was contagious. I smiled the entire time I was talking with him and while sneaking shots between answers.

Then it was her turn. She was so proud. It was her moment. Still smiling from the young boy that preceded her, and after taking a few minutes to exchange a couple small questions with her now that she was the focus of my attention, I asked her one question.

“What do you absolutely just love to do?”

Her response… “I love to make hearts.”

With my own heart reeling in anticipation, I responded, “I bet you make perfect beautiful hearts. Show me how you make hearts. I would love to see them!”

Her eyes lit up, her smile widened, and her hands went right out in front of her.

Shutter – Click.

There are countless people around us..every moment, every day, who need to know they matter.

They need to know they are important.

They need to know that people care enough about them to slow down and listen.

My world, again, was turned upside down by a young child when I slowed down enough to listen and to love. As we near this Christmas holiday, let me challenge you and I to be people who slow down in the midst of increasingly busy and packed schedules, become people who intentionally listen in the midst of the din of the cacophony, and love in a season when so many struggle with acceptance, hurt, and pain of feeling altogether unloved and unimportant.

Some moment that we might view as insignificant could quite possibly be the very essence of hope and love someone is praying for.

Help-Portrait

This weekend I participated in the Help Portrait event in Nashville TN. Help Portrait is a nonprofit started by friend and celebrity photographer, Jeremy Cowart. The goal of Help Portrait is to give back to the community. To GIVE a portrait instead of just take a photo. During Saturday’s event I had the pleasure to do that and more. Throughout the day hundreds of participants were bussed in from around the Nashville area. Our friend and fellow photographer, David Bean, graciously donated his Westlight Studio for the event. He was so inspired by the days events, he decided we should take it to the streets to give to others in need.

A group of us headed out to a local park and then down to Broadway where we met a homeless man, named Mack, who was sitting out on the street. It was a cold and windy and he was sitting in the shade. We introduced ourselves and struck up a conversation. He told us how much he wished he could have a new, insulated pair of boots. A couple years ago, he had been doing some side work to make some money, and he fell off a 32′ ladder and shattered both heels. We also spoke about sports. It turns out Mack was a huge Titans fans, although he had never been able to go to a game. He told us he would love to go to a game one day, but above all, he needed boots. We prayed with Mack, spoke of grace, and how God loves us all, and will provide, regardless of the past sin in our lives. He was a very insightful, intelligent man. It was a pleasure to spend that brief time with him, but it was time to get back to the studio, so we bid him farewell and continued on our way.

As we were headed down Broadway, the four of us agreed that we felt that Mack’s requests would be granted. A few moments later, we ran into a man selling tickets. He had one ticket left to the Titans game the next day. David and I looked at each other; we couldn’t believe our luck. David asked the man if he would accompany us back to his studio to the Help Portrait event. On our way back to the studio, I found the boots Mack had told us about online at a Dick’s Sporting Goods near by. I called the store and they confirmed they had the boots in stock.

When we got back to the studio, we told Mack’s story, and the volunteers began giving donations towards the ticket. When we had pulled enough money together, we purchased the ticket and asked the ticket sales man to hang around so he could present it to Mack. David and I jumped in the car to go back downtown to pick up Mack so we could give him his surprise. We found Mack sitting in the same place we had met him earlier, pulled up to the curb, and invited him back with us.

When we got back to the studio, we presented the ticket to Mack. He was overwhelmed with joy and in complete disbelief. We gave him a cup of hot coffee and food and told him we still had one more surprise in store; his boots. I asked him if he would like to come down to the store with me and try on the boots. When we got to the store, Mack and I went to the shoe department. The employees were skeptical of Mack, but they brought out the boots he was looking for. He tried them on and said they fit perfectly. Mack had also told us that his socks had been stolen, so I had him pick out a really warm pair of winter socks.

As we walked to the check-out to pay for the boots, I noticed the price tag. They were $179 and the socks were $40. I was taken back at how expensive the items were. For a moment, I had an inner struggle with the price. I didn’t want Mack to see my reservation about making such an expensive purchase for someone I barely knew. But the I realized, even though I would never spend that much money on one pair of shoes or socks, this may be the only pair he would get for years. He needed them. I looked over at Mack. He was beaming with joy. He was clutching those boots like a new born baby, and kept saying. “This must be a dream. God is so good.” And then I decided, it didn’t matter if the shoes were $20 or $1000, I would find a way to pay for them.

When the cashier rang up the items, I glanced at the register, the total came to $95. I was shocked. I handed her my card in disbelief. I was afraid she had rung them up wrong. But she hadn’t. I looked at the receipt, the boots were 70% of the regular price. That was when I realized, this wasn’t so much about Mack anymore. It wasn’t about taking pictures or Titan’s tickets, or boots. It was about me and my own heart. God had his hand on every event of the day. We were doing it all for Him. All of a sudden, my mission had changed.

We drove away from the store, Mack thanked me countless times. He explained this was the first time since the accident, he would have a comfortable pair of boots for his disabled feet that were also well insulated and warm. I am not usually an emotional person, but it was all I could do to hold back the tears. I didn’t want to cry in front of this brave man. I told Mack I would take him wherever he needed to go. He explained he needed to be at Room at the Inn by 3:30 to be able to stay there for the night. Knowing at this point God was obviously on my side, I tapped into my inner Southern California freeway driving skills to ensure he would be there on time. I sped and weaved through traffic. We pulled up to the Room at the Inn, and I was speechless. It was 3:29. Mack would have a place to sleep tonight. I was so overwhelmed by God’s presence in our day and what all He had allowed us to accomplish.

In photography, people don’t see everything that goes on behind the scenes. The lights, cameras, assistants, make-up, or edits. They just see the final product. The final image. Life is like that. Too often, we don’t take the time to get to know a man on the street. We don’t know their circumstances or what has led them there. We just see that they’re different from us.  My new friend Mack doesn’t know about exposure, f-stops, white balance, or lighting ratios. All he knows is he has a new warm pair of boots and a place to stay. Today’s final image wasn’t about dressing someone up or making them look nice for the camera. It was about providing for someone in need and the internal changes in me.

- Jeb Wilson

At one point, I was shooting some photos of Kristen looking out of the window in the front room of the house and looked over her shoulder to see a painting of President Andrew Jackson. In that moment, I began to imagine President Jackson standing in that same room looking out over the front yard of the home appreciating the beauty of the afternoon sun over the hills and trees of Tennessee.

Needless to say, their wedding was an unbelievably beautiful event. Everything, down to the smallest detail, was perfectly suited for their wedding. Here is a short list of some of the vendors that made their wedding so perfect.

Venue : The Hermitage – Nashville, TN
Cupcakes : Sweet 16th Bakery – Nashville, TN
Catering : Martin’s BBQ
DJ : Expressions of Music / DJ Mike Hale

This year, I have had the opportunity to travel, photograph, and tell the stories of incredible human beings and humanitarian work that is happening around the world. I can never fully explain the joy that I experience in completing these projects, telling the stories, and bringing help to those who need it. I have been humbled by the incredible attitude of thanksgiving that I have experienced in the lives of the many people I have met around the world. Despite very difficult and challenging circumstances, these people have shown me thanksgiving and true joy.

We recently completed the post-production work on the Heal Our World project from my time in Nigeria in September. You can see some of the work both here on the NPG site and here.

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone here at Nashville Photography Group.

- Caleb

Be sure to check out our wedding page & follow us in Facebook & Twitter.

This recent trip to Nigeria with Heal Our World has been much of the same.

I met an American husband and wife team who have given 20 years of their lives to helping and healing the people of Nigeria, even to the extent of them working long hours at home in the US so that they could continue to travel to Nigeria multiple times a year to continue the work and lead the local teams on the ground. I met a Nigerian couple who have spent almost 20 years in the regions of Northern Nigeria, a region normally volatile towards Christianity, bringing the message of hope in Christ through medical outreach programs, rehabilitation programs, and community development programs. They, an their children, have been threatened with their lives, and yet they press on.

The people of Nigeria continue to remind me that life is not about schedules, to-do lists, and accomplishments. Life is not about work schedules, sticking to my plan to accomplish more and more in my day. Life is about people. Life is about family. Life is about the relationships that give meaning to the time that we exist on this planet. Nigerians model a relationship first / people first mentality. No matter where I went in the country, men and women would go out of their way, stop what they were doing, to come over, learn my name, and express a sincere and heart felt word of gratitude and blessing for coming and helping their community. Men would stand with tears in their eyes and shake my hand saying “bless you for coming” simply because we showed up with free medical examinations.

Bless me? Really?!

These people would go out of their way to bring me food, some of which I could not eat, gifts, drinks, and whatever would make my stay more enjoyable. Even as I sit here in the airport en route home, I am humbled by their generosity and thankfulness.

It has challenged me to be a person who is more focused on people, the relationships around me, and on what really matters in these years that I have been blessed to live.

I hope something inside of you resonates with this as well. Click here to enjoy some of these from the second half of my trip to Nigeria.

I consider it an honor every time I get the opportunity to travel the globe and shoot amazing stories of humanity. I am often confronted with truths of poverty, injustice, cruelty, and hopelessness juxtaposed against meeting some of the most thankful, happy, and genuinely joyful people I have ever met in my life. This trip has been quite the same so far.

Nigeria is simply an amazing country on incredible beauty and incredible need. I have spent the last 3 days in the small town of Uyo in southern Nigeria. The team from Heal Our World, in coordination with the hospital staff from Faith Medical Center (a small struggling local hospital), and Church of God Mission, has conducted 3 days of free medical clinics at the hospital in Uyo. The medical team saw well over 300 patients with a wide range of medical conditions including cancer, malaria, viral and bacterial infections, HIV / Aids, stroke, high blood pressure, hypertension, and simple malnutrition and dehydration. People came from far and wide, up to over an hours taxi ride away, to wait many hours to see a doctor so that they could be treated by the team.

The team of nurses, medical doctors, chiropractors, pastors, pharmacists, and counselors worked with the patients to diagnose and administer free treatment for their conditions. Each patient was prayed for with a local pastor and given medical counsel on their condition so that they would be better educated on their ailments and the process of healing.

I am watching the physical, spiritual, and emotional lives of people being changed right before my eyes. I have often come back to my bed at the end of each day wondering how on earth I could capture even a small percentage of the work being done here in Nigeria. To say I am under-qualified for this task is an understatement, but, each day I pray that Christ would give me eyes to see what I need to see. Click here to view some images that have come from early in this trip from my time in Uyo.

- Caleb

I am so incredibly excited to be traveling back to Africa today to shoot for another non-profit organization that is dramatically impacting the lives of people. On this trip, I am traveling specifically to the country of Nigeria to shoot a project for an international medical missions organization called Heal Our World.

The team that I am traveling with is a group of medical doctors, chiropractors, dentists, and medical professionals who have a specific intention to spread the hope and love of Christ by meeting the medical needs of people in some of the remote villages in Nigeria. Heal Our World has been active on the ground in Nigeria for well over 10 years sending multiple teams every year to do medical specific missions programs due to the great need in the region.

I hope to post some thoughts and photos from the journey as I am on the ground in Nigeria, but due to government control of the power and the fairly predictable shutting off of power for elongated periods of time, I am not sure if that power, let alone internet connections, will be available.

Be sure to check out our Humanitarian portfolio to see work from previous trips to Nigeria.

- Caleb

We have spent countless hours working with designers, web developers, and just flat out beating our head against a wall developing, what we hope, is a user-friendly website that can showcase our photography. A couple features we hope you will enjoy:

- New Portfolios : We have expanded our portfolios to include a much broader view of the work that NPG is doing and the photography we are providing for clients. Being that we are a collective of talented photographers, we have a lot more work to showcase across many portfolios. Hopefully, this site allows people to see the expanse of work that NPG is involved in.  A bit of a secret that we are working on making common knowledge, the photographs in these portfolios can be clicked on to view in a larger size in a lightbox style application.

- Blog : We decided that it was finally time to jump onboard the blog bandwagon. After many of our followers asking for info on shoots, latest behind the scenes shots, and tips on photography, we thought it appropriate to incorporate a platform on our new site for information to be given, and conversations to be started. Congratulations…you have found it. We hope you enjoy it. If you have suggestions, please send them our way!

- Team NPG : Meet the crew that makes up Team NPG. These are the good people that make NPG what it is. This is the collection of artists whose work you see.

- Social Media Integration : NPG has been an early adopter of social media. Be sure to locate NPG, and our individual photogs on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

We hope you enjoy the new site. Feedback is appreciated. Remember, all the cool kids tell their friends to check out NPG! Be sure to check out the mobile version on your mobile device and to also connect with us on Facebook and twitter.

Talk soon.

- Caleb and Jeb