What's in a name?

No pictures today, just some heavy text...

A few weeks ago I sent the link to my blog to members of my family.  My sister Betsy replied, "I love the photos-Dad would be so proud!"  I can quote it because I read it over and over and then moved it to my save file. 

My dad sadly passed away in March, 2002.  He lived a long full life but his passing was rather sudden and rather hard for me to swallow.  He passed right when Jay and I first started dating.  He never met him and this is something that continues to sadden me.  I know how proud he would be and I know he would be such a wonderful grandfather to Avery and Ander.  I wish so much he were here to be a part of their lives and so I struggle with how to keep his legacy going.  Even though he isn't here in person, he lives on in spirit and through me.  It wasn't until now that I realized how much... bear with me, I promise to not make this a novel!

My dad was an amateur photographer.  He took pictures as a hobby because he loved it.  I still have many of his photos and they are beautiful... of animals, street signs, random people, windmills, family (and me), etc.  He was really talented.  He bought me my first camera and never complained about developing pictures of the cat week after week.  Not once! 

Over the years I have continued to take pictures because I love it and because I love having the memories.  Well once I captured that picture of Ander it dawned on me that I may actually have a natural talent for photography.  I also don't think it's by coincidence that Ander looks a lot like my dad (just compare their wavy red hair! :))  I absolutely love capturing those beautiful moments, expressions, sweet smiles that only last a second.  To quote my sister Betsy again, "capturing the extraordinary in the ordinary."  It's not as easy as I previously thought but the result is oh so worth it to me for those select extraordinary pictures.

Getting back to my original point... after reading that email from my sister I had an "ah-ha" moment.  All of this really comes from my father.  This is his legacy and I owe any natural talent I have to him.  I can only hope to carry on what started with him; my photography is a way he will continue to live on.  My dad is not only in my heart but also very much in my art. 

Thus I am changing the name of my blog to Tyler Plank Photography to honor my father, Robert Fulton Plank.  I love you always and miss you immeasurably.

Alright I get it

In all of my cramming and experimenting I have gone from JPEG to RAW back to JPEG and my final decision is RAW.  There are many reasons why but I won't bore you all.  Here are pics from today shot and proofed in RAW.  The ones from the previous 2 posts were going back to JPEG.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  I was resistant to change because of the learning curve but I get it now... I hope.  I'm ready for this to get easier.  Grrrrrrr   :)  Thanks as always for letting me share!

How fun!

Awwww, thanks Mom for the old pics!  I'm so old I should add the "vintage" texture to the pics of Avery for better comparison.  LOL!!

Pictures of the day

:)

Fun fall days

The days have been nice and crisp and the rain has FINALLY let up (hope it lasts) so we've been outdoors a lot.  I put Avery in a sweater that my mom made and I wore when I was her age.  I'll have to dig up some pics of me in it as well (or my mom will :)). 

Shooting manually in RAW

I just wasn't happy with how my pictures were turning out with the automatic camera settings so I crammed by brain with everything I could find to learn how to shoot manual and in RAW format.  I'm still tweaking the proofing process but I think I am going to be pleased in the long run with how my photos turn out.  Avery looks a lot like her mother in some of  these shots... must be the pigtails! 

Happy Halloween!

This was Avery's first "real" Halloween and she dressed up as a white tiger cub (aka, "CAHT").  We went to a parade then to a friend's house where there was a huge inflatable slide.  We all had a blast!  Then onto trick-or-treating of course, which Avery really enjoyed also.  Ander was content to be held and ride in the stroller.  Next year will be more fun for him I bet :)  I took so many pictures and it was hard deciding which ones to post.  What a great photo opp!