My recent modeling photoshoot with Shonda

I am itching for a project!

I have been thinking about starting up my "strangers" project again. It is a project where I go out and take pictures of people I have just met or people that I meet along the street. I really love how many people I had found the last time I ventured out and started this project. People of all walks of life, people with different faces and expressions and a different story to tell. Wish me luck!

Happy Memorial Day

This is my Brother Brandon and my then eight month old daughter Gennavieve.

I am a person who is highly affected by a photograph. Whether it is a joyful emotion or a sad one, I believe it is one of the reasons why photography means so much to me. In celebration of the holiday this weekend I thought that I would include a few photographs that will pull at your heart strings as we celebrate the men and women who fight every day for our country and who have died so that we can remain free.

On a personal side of things, my older brother Brandon fought in Desert Storm, and my grandfather on my fathers side fought in World War 2. So, the lives of the soldiers have hit home for me. One of my husbands best friends from high school also fought in Desert Storm and Panama. He recently lost his life not due to war circumstances but will always remain a hero in my husbands heart. His name was Matthew Morelli.

There is a memorial page set up for Matt at this web site- http://matthew-morelli.last-memories.com/

Whether you see a solider on the street, are married to one, or just know one as a friend, give them a hug and tell them you are proud of them and the work that they do on this memorial day weekend. For the ones who are no longer with us, say a quick prayer of thanks to them as well.

Sincerely,

Shannon

Cinco De Mayo Celebration

I had the pleasure of photographing the dances of the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico troupe that performed this past Saturday at the Cinco De Mayo celebration. My friend and her daughter are part of the troupe and I was there to provide her with some personal photographs of the dances since she was going to be busy dancing. I was amazed and very impressed by how beautiful each dance was and how the swirling dresses and all the colors were outstanding! Even the first couple of dances where they were wearing white were fascinating!

So much pride on the dancers faces as they performed dances that are decades old and the crowd loved each one.

I was so impressed how they moved to the beat of the music and kept in time with all the dance steps.

Such beauty and grace honoring Mexico and its traditions. I did a little research on the dances and these are some of the best websites if you are interested in finding out more about the dance and its history.

http://www.balletamalia.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballet_Folklorico_de_Mexico

Thank you Selestina for this fascinating experience!

Animals my daughters and I have seen in person

Below are some of the various animals I have been able to capture with my camera. I hope to put together a photobook/scrapbook for my children with all the animals so that they can use it to learn by for school and to foster their love of animals.

I will continue this series with the other animals in blogs to come.

Work on Redbubble.com

I have posted a lot of my landscape work and animal shots on Redbubble.com for review and possible purchasing. I think the quality of Redbubble speaks for itself. I myself have ordered a couple of cards from my photographs to see the quality in person as well as a print from an artist I admired. I received my merchandise in a quick efficient manner and was very pleased all around. If you are interested in checking out my portfolio on there go to this link- http://www.redbubble.com/people/garrityphotog

Thank you for your support!

Model Photography

Introducing Megan Sheley. This is Megans Model Mayhem website if anyone would like to contact her for a photoshoot, etc. http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=677877



The first two shots were taken at Riggs Hill in Grand Junction, Colorado http://protophoto.com/subject.html?subject_id=342



This shot was taken on Main Street in Grand Junction, Colorado




This photo and the head shot below were taken at a duck pond in Grand Junction, Colorado

These are some of my favorite images from a model session I had last weekend with an upcoming model who wanted to start her portfolio. I have not done a lot of model photography but I do have to say that it is very challenging when you are trying to shoot outdoors and have to worry about light and location and how the model will feel. http://www.prleap.com/pr/51459/

That is a good website to give a few tips when going out on a model photoshoot.

I have to say I have a lot of respect for model photographers who have done this type of photography for a long time. Thank you for viewing my blog and come again!

Ducks, geese, birds, oh my!

Another female mallard prancing around trying to get the attention of the males. http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/mallard.htm


Here is a picture I took of a female and a male mallard duck. Another website that will tell you more about these creatures-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallard



This graceful looking pair really caught my eye. They stayed together constantly and decided to honk at another goose during this session . Here is a website that will tell you more about canadian geese- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_goose

Thank you for visiting my photo blog! I will be posting more shots soon.

Birds of Spring

This is a lovely mourning dove that was on my roof this past week. Here is a website that can tell you more about this graceful creature http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_Dove .


This is a small finch that came to visit yesterday. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/House_Finch.html



This is a beautiful robin that has visited a couple of times. Here is a website that should tell you more about these amazing creatures. http://http//www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Robin.html

I really enjoy photographing birds. Especially in the spring time as they are all out and singing different songs. I thought that I would start this blog with sharing a couple of my recent shots of three different birds that have visited my house over the past month.

Here is an information website that tells more about the basics of bird photography. I am no professional so consider me learning right along with everyone else. http://www.birdsofoklahoma.net/BirdPhotoBasics.htm

I hope to make my blogs on here informational as well as a place to put my photographs as I travel around the area shooting pictures of the beautiful mountains, animals, birds, people, models and more. Thank you for coming to visit!