Decking the halls

God Bless Brad and God Bless Adam. Outnumbered three to two by the girls in their household. And yet, they seem happy. They aren't scathed by the whirly-girly that goes on around them- but I bet you a nickel that Brad knows just exactly what a smocked bishop is! I really enjoyed visiting your brand new house and taking pictures of the three happiest kiddos I know! Thank you all!!! jg.

Three wise men... and a great Mom and Dad!

Happy Christmas to the Hoellein's. Ben, big brother to Thomas and Zachary, helped us enjoy the throws of Christmas readiness when he invited us in to take pictures of his little twin brothers and his mom and dad. Melanie and I have twin nieces, but boy oh boy, I cannot imagine the business of it all with three! Yet, Deidra and Andrew seem calm, relaxed and completely ready to take on whatever their three boys play out! Deidra and Andrew- you were wonderful. Your house was beautiful, your boys are precious and we cannot thank you enough- Have a Merry MERRY Christmas with your three wise men, who are really little angels!
jg.

Little moments in a Big world

Having a three year old who tumbles and romps and talks and acts like one much older causes memory lapse when it comes to babies. On a blustery night last week, I visited Sarah Havens to take pictures for a hopeful Christmas card. Big sister Emma was ready for photography, but Liam- just getting used to being in the big world wanted nothing to do with it. He didn't like the camera, he didn't like the flash and he most certainly wanted nothing to do with any of this picture nonsense. But, with Emma's help and some gentle cuddling from his mommy, we were able to do it. Christmas and all. Sarah, though I know you thought it was less than perfect with his crying, we loved every minute. Baby Liam is a doll and he couldn't be more perfect. Enjoy these days of gentleness- you know how quickly they are gone. A HUGE thanks to Emma for her guidance and poise. We promised her Ariel pictures in her nightgown and in return we got some great and sincere pictures of how big sisters interact lovingly with their baby brothers. Thank you so much Sarah- you all were fantastic!
jg.

little english

today was simply a fantastic day. i had the opportunity to work with shannon latham and her super classy company to photograph shots for the upcoming line of little english clothing... and oh what fun it was! my expertise in all things feminine (see prior blogs for the united attack against me by the women in my life)hopefully made me a good candidate for this job! can't wait to go through the pictures and melanie can't wait to drain my wallet on these absolutely adorable dresses and outfits... all kidding aside, i am stunned by the direction that shannon has for her company... her vision of beautiful childrens clothing that capture the heart of what we love so much about this state and community in which we are so fortunate to live. her farm in woodford county was beyond picturesque and her willingness to let -not just me- but a dozen kiddos run crazy through her house right before a dinner party is endearing beyond words. thank you so much shannon for this rare opportunity and i look forward to working with you on many more warm sunny days with happy children and fabulous clothes! i will post a couple of pictures soon...in the meantime, check her website out at www.littleenglish.com
jg.

lee hill, capturing autumn

we photographed lee hill this past autumn sunday underneath a bare ginkgo tree who graciously dropped her leaves leaving a yellow blanket of soft fan-shaped origami, perfect as our backdrop. a windy saturday left the prettiest trees barren and crumbled to brown the maple pinks and poplar golds. gone were the graceful willows with their feathery leaves of yellowy red. left behind on most of our favorite spots were prickly skeletons of a once beautiful tree. and yet, amidst the falling beauty we found the ginkgo tree with lee- and he, like i, found it quite the spot for picture-taking. he buried pinecones, and tossed leaves, ran with dad- and even found a quiet moment alone with mom.

i love the beauty of nature- the changing seasons, the new excitement each landscape offers for her three month billboard of the year. i love how the camera captures those colors and makes them sharper and more brilliant than the human eye does. i admire my professional counterparts who shoot nature in her quieted form- and yet, for me, what makes it beautiful is the happiness that is put it in with moving life. for me, the falling leaves are grander if they are being thrown by a child. the cornflower blue sky is more vibrant when it creates the background for happy faces.

i have sometimes questioned whether i have a good direction in life. and now, watching lee hill and the many others i have been fortunate enough to capture on camera, i am pretty sure i know my direction and i have found my destination.

i have the many happy faces of some fantastic families and their children to thank for that- oh, and a couple of very vibrant ginkgo trees.

jg.

carter and the changing seasons

carter wasn't discontented by the chill in the air. he didn't mind that we were dragging him to and fro, plopping him down on cold rocks, damp earth and chilly benches. he was happy. intrigued. and thoroughly enjoying the leaves. i must briefly thank mother nature for this- the golden, red, hot pink and orange hues of autumn- it's probably the prettiest time of year in my opinion. i think carter thinks so too. he thought the leaves were not only good for crunching- but also munching. organic living at its finest i suppose. not much more than a month ago, i believe i saw summer leaving. she was walking down richmond road wearing a paisley hat, shaking her head at the chill in the air. but if she had just stayed a little bit longer she could have caught randall cobb play almost every position on the field on a crisp night in commonwealth and she could have seen carter zaluski enjoy autumn at its finest.

autumn is not just a great time to take pictures, it's a great time to reflect. i wax on and on here on this insignificant little blog and send my thoughts out there to the great unknown to get one very important point across. i take pictures, not for the sake of taking them, but because they are important to me and i have to assume that they must be important to you too- or you wouldn't have paused to read this blog.

they are important, just as the seasons, to capture how we change, how we interact, how we grow and what makes us tick. that's why i don't use the backdrops, or the umbrellas. i prefer the leaves in the mouth. the blanket on the ground. the ball that's been bounced a thousand times. the hand holding. the laughing. the pictures you get when you least expect them. the pictures that show the change, the growth, the love, and the happiness of our short time here on earth.

take a cue from this happy little boy in the picture above. drink it in. examine the leaves. in a blink, those leaves will be replaced by holly berries and evergreens. earthy green will hibernate until summer returns donning her flip flops and shorts. don't miss any of the in between. i know carter won't!

jg.

happy birthday madison!

fun, quadrupled. madison lambert had her 4th birthday party this past sunday...and what a party it was. no mistake where madison lives- we just turned on the street with the enormous inflatable birthday cake and took our cues from there.

this sweet birthday princess was the tangible happiness of the age of four. the bouncy, energetic, carefree persona that represents our own youth. she was everywhere! running, jumping, sliding. she had no idea that it was a chilly 58 degrees because she was fluid motion.

here are just a few of the "still" pictures of madison. so many pictures left to edit- friends, mom, cake, spongebob and a few other characters. once i finish my piece of birthday cake, i'll be sure to post some more.

jg.

a brief recess from pictures and a moment for reflection

september 10, 1996 will be forever etched into the synapses of my brain and scars in my soul. the day my father--the greatest man to ever walk the earth--departed this life for the great thereafter. r.i.p, dad. i miss you.

death isn't one of those things that we are without. we are conditioned at a young age to expect the unexpected and to prepare for a passing of a loved one. why must we prepare? my guess is that we must prepare so that we don't miss out on the little things in life (i.e.--a hug, a handshake, a story, a family meal, a lesson learned, a laugh).

i often do soul searching to find out what kind of person i am. i can honestly say that i would not be half of what i am today without the guidance, the wisdom, the patience that my father had. i learned from the best.

rest in peace, dear dad. and as the legendary cawood ledford said at your funeral, "may the lord hold you in the hollow of his hand."

jg.

too much... is a good thing

more persons, on the whole, are humbugged by believing nothing, than by believing too much

-p.t. barnum

and isn't it true? we get caught up in who we are too often... or maybe, it is better to say that we get caught up in who we are supposed to be too often. afraid to be naive. afraid to not be what others expectations require. and so we wake in the morning and bathe ourselves in apathy-the indifference of adulthood that gives us the facade we need to protect ourselves from the humbugged world.

sometimes too much is a good thing. too much joy. too much innocence. too much child-like wonder. too much lollipop on the one sunday of the year when the circus came to town. today we reveled in the too much. we caught it on our way downtown and it followed us all the way to section 32, row L, seats 1, 2 and 3...and for three hours three people ages 3 to 34 believed equally, wondered communally, laughed heartily and loved enormously. we grabbed too much by the tail with our trunk and successfully created a memory that we have now promised with our pinkies that we will each year enjoy together.

p.t. barnum wasn't wrong. and today we treasured the greatest show on earth and were humbugged by nothing.

jg.

the first of everything..Karson Little

how do you describe the first moments of life? breath one, hour one, day one? indescribable moments of joy via the tiniest of features. Karson Little provided a canvas of firsts. first breath, first day, first cuddle with big sister Kaitlyn.

hospital moments are usually not photographed. when hospitals are involved, the occasion is typically grim. save one. the happy birth of baby brings joy unimagined. the hospital, sterile and cold, is somehow transformed into the shelter for a mini family reunion.

these pictures were so much fun- standing on the fringe of a happy family and capturing their joy together.

Thank you Ben and Tara, Kaitlyn and of course Karson- and by the way, Happy Birthday!

jg.

where there is a will, there is a way

will loves bubbles... and his bright green ball. he definitely does not like the feel of tiny pebbles beneath his bare feet and he prefers that his hand not be held in the arboretum. on the hottest day of the year, in the sunniest patch of green- we photographed will and his mom and dad. it was hot. it was humid. it was unlike the former summer months with cool breezes and mild temperatures. it was not a good day, really for anything, save a swimming pool or a tall glass of ice water.... and yet, where there is a will, there is always a way. we snapped happy and busy and playful and aside from the occasional reddened cheeks, you would never know that the heat was stifling.

thank you jenny and dan for sharing the hot afternoon with us! you were both a delight and we so enjoyed capturing will.... and his way.

jg.

state fair

grab a tub of popcorn, some cotton candy and surrender your soul to the memory of a happy day. soon the state fair will be here! complete with the tenfold talents of youth and sage. ten days of nostalgia, achievement and sensory overload.

there is something about a fair in general that suspends time. where the advancement of technology and the evolution of intellect pauses briefly, allowing the simplicity of life to shine through. where battles are fought in quart jars of jelly and bragging rights are given to the hand holding the lead of a blue ribbon dairy goat. where the smell of hay and feed and cattle mix with carmel corn and funnel cakes. this is life abundant. this is every grandfather grasping the sticky hand of boyhood and showing him the efforts of a year well-spent.

timeless are these days, as proven by our recent photographs of will. will- whose grandfather wore this very state fair shirt. will- whose reddened cheeks showed evident the hot august day. will- who will no doubt save this piece of legend and give it to his own one day.

thank you will- and thank you to your grandfather- for allowing us to view the essence of happiness, spent in the heat of youth in the greatest state of being.

jg.

taylor and lucian

right smack dab in the middle of rain and clouds and an otherwise disagreeable week, occurred a beautiful Sunday afternoon. i had the fortunate opportunity to photograph some adorable, happy, and busy subjects. attached are taylor and lucian. taylor is nearly three and lucian is soon to be a one year old.

full of energy, vibrant, happy, curious children. the backdrop is a beautiful family garden complete with pebbles and mulch for eating (!), rocks for plopping in the pond, and pathways for running! happy are the days of youth!

enjoy!

jg.

hiatus

hiatus/hahy-ey-tuhs/ noun. a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. whatever it's defined, we have had it. i suppose as with most, summer means vacation, vacation means beach, beach means sandy laziness, and the return home means a more postive outlook on the routine of our daily lives. unless, that is, when the return home is followed by a feisty attack of appendicitis on a wife who does not like going to the hospital. definite interruption in the continuity of work.

i thought about photographing the whole fiasco, but i didn't imagine it would go over well... especially after my jokes about whether or not she wanted to sign a DNR at the emergency room failed miserably.

nonetheless, our happy little family is back, refreshed, renewed, and less one cranky appendix. (thank you Dr. Rogers!)

and so i begin again. now thinking thoughts of august. the majestic month that brings backpacks, new tennis shoes, sharpened pencils, new beginnings, and big adventures....

it's a great time for grabbing your own camera and catching those first day of school jitters and excitement... you remember... that picture on the front porch, school bag in hand, new shoes, new clothes, new everything. snap away august. or call me.... i'm always up by at least 6:30 ... plenty of time to get the wide-eyed excitement of a brand new year.

pencils ready? the hiatus is over!

this is scary

check out this story that I found on yahoo.com. as a photog, this scares me!

Mo. family Christmas photo turns up in Czech ad
Ap
By BETSY TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer Betsy Taylor, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jun 10, 9:23 pm ET
ST. LOUIS – It's an international mystery: How did a Missouri family's Christmas card photo end up in the Czech Republic, splashed across a huge storefront advertisement? Danielle Smith said Wednesday that the photo taken of her family last year got sent to family and friends, and was posted on her blog and a few social networking sites. The photo showed her and her husband Jeff holding their two young children.
About 10 days ago, one of Smith's college friends was driving through Prague when he spotted their huge smiling faces in the window of a store specializing in Europeann food. He snapped a few pictures and sent them to a flabbergasted Smith.
"It's a life-size picture in a grocery store window in Prague — my Christmas card photo!" said Smith, 36, who lives in the St. Louis suburb of O'Fallon.
Mario Bertuccio, who owns the Grazie store in Prague, said the photo was from the Internet. Details were sparse, but he said he thought it was computer-generated. When told it was a real photo — of a real family — he said he started taking steps to remove it.
"We'll be happy to write an e-mail with our apology," said Bertuccio, who said he would send the Smiths a bottle of good wine if they lived in his eastern European country.
The Smiths and photographer Gina Kelly hadn't authorized anyone to use the pictures. Kelly said she has asked a professional photographers' organization to help figure out how her image wound up in Prague.
Smith has gotten 180,000 hits to her Web site since she recently posted the story about the well-traveled snapshot. She said the photo wasn't used in an unseemly manner, it was just used to tell potential shoppers about the store's delivery service.
Smith said next time she posts a photo on the Internet, she's going to lower the resolution or add an electronic watermark to make it hard to reproduce.
"This story doesn't frighten me, but the potential frightens me," Smith said.
____
Associated Press Writer Karel Janicek in Prague contributed to this report.
____
On the Net:
Danielle Smith's blog: http://www.extraordinarymommy.com/blog

passion

it often happens in ways that we don't want it to. it = life. we get fat and sassy with things that we are comfortable with and often fail to open our eyes to see those things that challenge us and inspire us to capture the moment. photography is a passion and it is a way to tell a life story. if I do my job correctly, the pictures I take should make you feel something. that's the struggle. that's the challenge. that's the passion.

forgive me for being a fat and sassy "do-er" and give me the drive to get moving on this passion again!

as I often hear in a prayer at church, "Lord, grant me the energy to change the things I can and the awareness of the things that I cannot."

I can change this.

jg.

welcome back, june!

so i believe that if june were a woman, she would be beautiful. maybe a young bride with possessed by intense joy.. or maybe she might be a grandmother just home from picking strawberries with her granddaughter, with the warm smell of fruit on sweat-stained skin. if nothing else, she must be a mother carrying damp bathing suits to the laundry room after watching children run through a sprinkler until daytime sunshine was overshadowed by dusk. this is summer, undoubtedly the best- happiest- time of year. i feel like the world massages the tension of winter and spring out of their shoulders on memorial day weekend and then welcomes june, whatever form she may be, to come and relax with a glass of sweet tea for 30 days... or so.

happy are the days of summer when ties are sometimes replaced with short sleeves and bermudas. grass is softer for tumbling this time of year. water is the medium we use to soothe our wayward souls. june is the wonderful adjective-evoking season of love, strawberries and bathing suits. join in the fun!

jg.

Avery

something gets us up each morning. something gets us going during the workaday week and probably something much greater gets us up on the weekends. if i had to pick a reason that my vantage point of the world is behind varied lenses of a reliable camera, I suppose the answer would be avery. she was my muse and continues to be on a regular basis. from the moment she entered this world she was a happy face to the camera. capturing her life as she lives it makes my life worthwhile. my love of putting her in picture was the natural progression toward putting others in picture as well. i feel that i can connect to you and your life because i understand- based upon my own little family- how much it means to capture life in action- or childhood in action- or love in action. i suppose that's why i take the pictures i take...
don't get me wrong-i love seeing pictures of avery dressed up for picture-taking. sitting pretty on the stool of photographic mastery. it has its place amidst of all of us. there is a certain timeless quality of a posed portrait that is a staple of every home. ..but those are not the pictures i create. just as with words, or stories, or even a blog, i like to find the story to it all. whether it's bubbles at dusk or barefeet at noon. my job is to capture it.
avery gave me that ability.
she is fluid motion and boundless energy. the cross-examination of every new experience and the angst of every studio photographer. so instead i focused my photography on her, as she is- and usually, sometimes effortlessly, she gives me raw happiness. captured. unadorned. unplanned. unexpected.... and it's beautiful. and now i have been fortunate and blessed enough to pass my love of capturing the beauty of living on to anyone who wants to have it.
what it all adds up to is a menagerie of life. these pictures- your pictures- are a novel spun in photo, a wordless story that tells a thousand tales.
and though my story is titled Avery... yours is whatever you imagine.

jg.

Thursday--we didn't forget

Hello all. I know that it's really Friday but I'm writing for Thursday. We haven't forgotten about the blog--just got a little busy. More to come soon.

jg.

hadley rose jones

the combination of a perfect spring afternoon, blooming flowers at the arboretum and a bright pink tutu makes for happy happy pictures. besides the fact that she is my bff, I think she's infectiously adorable and fantastically photogenic.

enjoy the pictures and be on the lookout for a brand spanking new price-sheet, with some upcoming events!

more tomorrow-

jg.

going to the dogs...

every good home and each wonderful family should be in possession of an ill-behaved dog... or maybe two. our home inhabits two such animals. daphne and isabella. the cautious observer and the unsuspecting thief, respectively. never a dull moment on our street... as if it were not enough to be outnumbered by females to the point that i find myself posting things about lacy socks and smocked dresses... even our dogs are the feminine variety.

we have daphne and isabella- or perhaps they have us. two italian greyhounds full of vim and vigor... endlessly scolded, perpetually lazy, admitted cowards, and common thieves.. loved and coddled as though they walked on two legs instead of four. couple them with avery and melanie and our happy bow-clad family unites a concerted front against me. despite it all, i accept it happily and figure that as the odd man out, i am at least something to spectate and be amused by.

dogs make great companions and i find that they make great pictures too. at the very least they are great for helping the guy with the camera go unnoticed amidst laughter and chase. children tend to smile when dogs are around- unless of course they aren't around usually, at which point, mass chaos ensues. nonetheless, my point is only that i like dogs... and so far, most dogs like me. they are unpredictable (much like children) and they do their own thing (again, much like children).. and they are usually happy (well, it goes without saying.)

having the travel-size version of a greyhound, i am often tested in the capture of fluid motion and quiet solitude. and yet, almost without fail, their pictures turn out as portrait-worthy candids.

we are working on scheduling a photo shoot during the dog days of summer. hopefully we can incorporate some great pound puppies into the mix and make it a fun day for children and canine alike. who knows, maybe a toddler who didn't have a puppy can take one home and have a friend for life- and the picture to prove it.

keep watching for details!

-jg.

commenced...

since it is the month of may- the season of commencement, might i pass along a few ideas that apply here- to this blog- to this small little business- and to you as you live your life in our little neighborhood of the world. choices are made, and changed, and often made again. in the true spirit of pomp and circumstance around us, i offer three for you.

three choices that have made all the difference in my life. first, believe in something larger than yourself. look beyond your own piece of humanity and have faith that there is something out there greater than any of us can fathom on our own. second, find joy. find the sticky sweet satisfaction of too much ice cream- the contagious nature of giggling children- the overwhelming loyalty of an aged couple- and the unmatched taste of ice water at the end of a hard day outside. there is joy all around. no sense in not bringing it with you wherever you go. finally, cherish your family. cherish what brings you home at night. the comfort of a loving spouse- the unconditional hope of a parent- the warmth of an obedient pet- the innocence of a child. these are what matter as we briefly inhabit the earth. we get caught up in forward motion. we make choices of advancement. capture your own expectations. find your own contentment... and surround yourself with that which makes you most happy.

-j.

let's start at the beginning....

hi there! welcome to jesse gabbard photography. we specialize in portrait photography that is your life, on location. there is no studio here. no brown or blue watercolor backgrounds, lighting umbrellas and other equipment you probably associate with portrait photography. just me.. well, and a camera... and sometimes my wife, who would probably prefer not to drag around my lenses and bag, but does it anyway.
i work evenings and weekends, for now. my partner is mother nature and though I would prefer you not tell her, she is sometimes high maintenance. she wants dark, when we need light and she offers rain when we need dry. so sometimes, to accommodate her, we have to rearrange and do creative things. no doubt, however, there is nothing much cuter than a toddler in the rain... so why not capture it. perhaps though you might prefer that she not be wearing a smocked bishop and lacy socks as she plunges into a muddy puddle. i digress to point out that we will work around her schedule, and more importantly-yours!
what we do is make every attempt to provide you with an album of pictures that will provide a memory down the road. we want you to look back in ten years and say "there's jane on the playground by our house." "there's henry in his crib that grandmother bought him." "remember how much molly loved dragging that blanket around everywhere she went?"
we want to capture those memories and preserve them. i suppose to put it simply... we want to capture life as you live it.
so call us. let us know what you want. think of some fabulous places in town that you would like to call the background of your picture. pick a couple of dates. we will be there.
oh, and because i know you will stress about it- pick some clothes you love to wear. don't put everyone in khaki and white because you think that's what you are supposed to do. wear what makes you happy.
that's all for now. there's plenty more to say... but it stopped raining and the grass needs mowing.
- jesse