Capture The Moment - Deena Richardson Photography

Miracle Moments

2011-02-28T18:24:00.000-08:00

During the minutes immediately surrounding my father's death in January, a "person" stole his wallet off of his body. Almost unfathomable, isn't it? We have a pretty good idea of the person responsible...but still no wallet.

The mental image of someone doing that to my father was almost more than I could handle. I felt physically sick. I plotted revenge. I swore that I would find justice. Nearly two months later I can honestly say that all of those feelings are still present to some extent, but it is getting better.

The loss of money was not really an issue. Daddy kept his cash in a separate pocket. Credit cards were cancelled within hours....and thankfully none had been used. Daddy's name was not by any means a common name, so the chances of identity theft are slim. Even security was arranged for my parents' house during the time we were gone for the funeral. With all of those concerns taken care of, you'd think it wouldn't have been a big deal.

But I wanted the wallet. Not for the money, or the credit cards, or the license and social security card. I wanted the wallet back because for as long as I can remember, whenever Daddy would pull his wallet out in front of me, I'd inevitably take it from him and flip through the photo inserts. I knew that my dad had some photos of all of us growing through the years. I clearly remembered the photo of us on the couch. Try as I may, I could not let go of the image of the "person" who stole the wallet finding no money in it and throwing it to the ground, photos and all. I imagined cars driving over it, rain ruining it over time. My brother, on the other hand, immediately remembered the $2 bill that Daddy had carried most of his life "for luck". THAT is what he wanted back. As much as I mourned the photos, I could tell that my brother equally mourned the loss of that $2 bill.

Daddy's co-workers searched the area for the wallet. They searched dumpsters and checked the ditches. They did all they could. The police interviewed the "person", but as you can imagine, with no proof, there was nothing they could do. So we moved on. Still with the images in my mind.

Then about 4 weeks after his death my mother was putting the phone on the charger and looked up on the shelf in their office and saw something. Curious, she reached up and pulled down three sleeves from a photo insert. From my daddy's wallet. They were no longer connected to each other, and the best we can figure is he put them there on the shelf until he could get a new insert to replace the old, worn-out one that had fallen apart.

Those particular inserts, miraculously, contained the photos I remember so fondly, photos of the grandkids....and the $2 bill.

Mom came for a visit last weekend. I took the wallet inserts and scanned them into my computer so that I will never forget the mysterious world we live in.

Some moments are just too precious not to share.

Things my daddy taught me...(the first in an infinitely recurring series)

2011-01-26T16:59:00.000-08:00

This past Christmas, last month, I drew my daddy's name in our Christmas gift exchange. Not an easy task to buy for him. But back in October, he had expressed interest in some of my "framed" photography so that was a thought. The problem with giving my photos as a gift is that I never like to presume that any of my shots are worthy of someone else's "taste" in art. So, though I had a slight idea of what to give him, I had no specifics.

Then I remembered..... THE PICTURE!! All of my life, I have known of THE PICTURE. It is a beautiful work of art done by my Grandmother, my daddy's mom. She passed away before I was born, but the art has been rotated amongst the families for as long as I can remember. I also remember years ago that Daddy worked very dilligently (before Photoshop) shooting photos of the picture.

Here is where one lesson my daddy taught me comes into play. While I've often been told to find a specialty area with my photography, my daddy told me when I first started shooting, "Shoot everything!" I listened to him! Soooooo, two years ago (I believe) while waiting for the annual 42 Championship Game to be determined at our Family Round Up, I saw THE PICTURE on my cousin's wall. So, I switched around some lenses and shot probably 20 shots of it in about 10 seconds. Low light, poor preparation, reflections on the glass...but like Daddy said, shoot it all...ya never know.

I was at my "day job" when I had this idea for the gift, and I could hardly stand it until I could get home, sort through 1 million (or so) disks, and find the images I shot of THE PICTURE. I found it. Then I played with it. Worked on the lighting, sharpened it up...tried to remove the reflection. Then found a frame of approximate dimensions in my stack of frames (I do things backwards...find the "frame" and then scale the photo to match). Then for the next 6 days, I fretted and worried, and planned and thought. One thing I loved about the process...it involved 4 generations. My grandmother's work. My idea to "reproduce" it, my son and daughter helped with the planning and putting together of the frame, and my husband did the spray-painting of the frame. And, of course, Daddy would be getting the gift.

He seemed to like it. Had bought the hanging supplies a few days before he passed. I regret tremendously that I didn't get a shot of him with the gift. Well, I kind of got one, but as you will soon see, it was one of those "from the hip" shots. But again, I followed his advice, not only to shoot everything, but also to NEVER destroy a negative (or original version in this day of digital). So I found the imperfect photo. Just a captured moment on a crazy Christmas Day....that I'll never forget.

Change...

2011-01-25T09:22:00.001-08:00

Could NOT believe how long since I've updated. And how much has changed since that time. Perhaps the changes have provided me with some explanations as to the poor updating!

Since July...

My wonderful mother-in-law, Janice Richardson, passed away in August. She had been diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma about a year and a half earlier, in April of 2009. She fought hard to live so she could meet her newest grandchild, my niece Alexanda. She met her, she held her, she fell in love with her. The remainder of the summer was beyond rough. But through that tears, we got to say things we might never have said. That was good.

Then came fall. Fall was fun and busy and though our lives had changed, we kept on going, in "our new reality". That was a phrase that I started using to describe our family during the summer. I think I tried to put some normalcy into our world with that phrase.

I even wrote a note on my Facebook page at the end of 2010, detailing some of the changes, good and bad, exciting and scary.

Then came January 12th. Started out bad. Had a sick puppy. Doesn't sound like the end of the world to most, but considering we had lost our last puppy back in October, it struck fear in our hearts. I even posted some silly, tough sounding Facebook status that referred the fact that 2011 had better "back off" with the bad luck...I was going to have none of it.

Little did I know. That afternoon, I got a call from my mom. Daddy had died. Suddenly, unexpectedly, minutes after clocking out from his job because he felt sick. My daddy. My mom's "sweetheart" for nearly 50 years.

Naturally, the next few days, and now nearly 2 weeks, have been painful. On the one hand, he did not suffer. He didn't have to suffer so many things that he feared with his health. He was just gone. I have no doubt he is in Heaven. No doubt at all. On the other hand, there was no time for goodbyes. No holding his hand and assuring him I loved him, and thanking him for the life he has given me.

I've also been reminded of the importance of family....And I don't just mean the immediate family. The cousins, the aunts, uncles, 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins, the whole clan. The importance of lessons taught. The importance of so many things.

My brother says we will be forever changed but we will make it. How true. Forever changed, but also forever the same because we were raised on a solid foundation, thanks to Mom and Dad.

Hug your loved ones. Tell them you love them.

Worth It All

2010-07-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

So, as I've said in another post, I love reliving moments by going through the photos after the event....Sometimes, you just have an awesome set of circumstances that allows one to witness the moment, live the moment, and ALSO Capture The Moment in pictures.

We had just that moment last Tuesday night. Let me back up.....Monday night, my husband (coach) and son's ALL-STAR team lost 25-0. Not a great night. Though, I must say that even with that loss, I was proud of our boys. One moment that stood out in my mind was OUR pitcher walking over to third base line to give the other team's player a high five after he hit a homerun.

Then there was Tuesday. It just seemed like a magical night. One of our guys got a homerun, and from that point on, we were on our game. Unlike Monday night's game, these two teams were evenly matched. It was back and forth all the way. Ended up going into extra innings, and though they were last at bat, we ended up winning by ONE.

Now, I am a mom that doesn't usually yell during games. Always afraid I will yell the wrong thing, if truth be known. But Tuesday, I yelled, I rooted, I jumped up and down, I hid my eyes (and even hid the camera lens a few times, not wanting to "jinx" it), I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

There were so many moments that thankfully were captured.

The undeniable thrill of hitting a homerun....WALKING ON AIR across home plate!

Coach taking the time to say "Great job!".

Exuberance!!!

Boys not afraid to offer a hug of congratulations!

Fun and fellowship.

The thrill of the win fades with the next loss. But the photos are there forever. To remind us of how blessed we are!

Glass Family

2010-04-16T13:26:00.001-07:00

Had a great time with the Glass family on Sunday. Perfect weather...overcast so no shadows to worry about. Not too hot, not windy...just right. Only slight problem I had at the beginning was this sweetheart. She was very shy to start with.
That's when the telephoto lens comes in handy....Sent her off to go play with her brother while I "spied" on her with my lens.

Slowly she started coming around...at this point I had gotten closer, but she would only look at me if she was "connected" to mom or dad. She didn't even respond to my normal lame jokes!

FINALLY, she figured out I wasn't so bad after all. And I figured out her favorite word...."CHEESE!"

We had fun! Lots and lots of photos.

Feeling Blessed...

2010-03-29T17:16:00.001-07:00

I was editing some of the photos from the first weekend of baseball season in our household. I love baseball season. It's so....AMERICAN, I guess. :-) I came to realize that my boy, at the ripe old age of 11 is one of the "big guys" out there. It's fun to watch the t-ball players looking up to the older ones with such respect.

It's also fun to watch the boy t-ball players trying to impress the girl t-ball players. It's times like that when I wish I had a video camera in my bag.

I also love the old fashioned values....taught by all the parents to all the players....

Remove your hat when saying the pledge....

Always take an opportunity to provide instruction and encouragement....

Be enthusiastic.....

Give it your all....

Congratulate a job well done!

Yes, there is a lot of reason to be concerned with the goodness and safety of the world sometimes, but then again...there's a lot of reason to be thankful!

The Imperfect Necessity

2010-02-21T16:19:00.000-08:00

I get a bit wrapped up sometimes in getting "professional" shots. Ones that have some value for potential customers. I find that I sometimes forget to get the day in and day out snapshots. I sometimes take the shot, but then don't feel they are "technically correct" enough to share.

Today, I'm sharing from our weekend. Just some snapshots. In imperfect places with imperfect lighting, and typically zero time to prepare.

At the Blue and Gold Banquet....some of the Cub Scouts visiting with my father-in-law, inquiring about his patches.

My boy getting recognized later in the same banquet.

It was a big day for him....Here he is "getting some leather" from the Baylor catcher after he threw out the first pitch at the first baseball game of the season for Baylor Baseball.

Here he is on Saturday evening. After the above events AND a church lock-in, he was tuckered out!

Perfect moments deserve to be captured. Perfectly or not!

Cookbook

2010-02-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, I wanted to do gifts that had a bit more meaning than usual. 2009 was not the greatest of years in our family, so I really wanted to make it special.

My daughter has taken a great interest in cooking. At first I felt guilty, because I thought she was just helping cook dinner because her mom was tired and grumpy. (Who? Me?) Then she started experimenting, and I realized that she REALLY enjoyed it. So I thought that might be one inspiration....

Then there's the relationship my daughter has with my Granny. I say "has" even though Granny passed away in 2001, because Heather, like my mother and I, believes in "Pennies From Heaven". The thought that when we find a penny on the ground, it is a message from Granny, sending us her love. With this past year being as it was, we found it surreal that there were pennies every time we turned around. (And once, she sent me a dollar...while I was filling up with gas at the gas station!)

So that was a second inspiration!

When we cleaned out Granny and Grandpa's house, I brought home a recipe box. I honestly was looking for a specific recipe, which I never found. (Jalapeno pickle recipes are always appreciated, by the way)

Here is the box....

I knew there were more recipes that I had brought home, but couldn't remember what they were in. The very day I was planning on starting on the cookbook, I cleaned some shelves I have in the dining room. Lo and behold...there was an old 3 ring binder full of recipes and notes from Granny. I was about to casually take it to my office when I flipped it open to a random page...

There, in Granny's handwriting, was this:I literally RAN with the binder to my office, tears running down my face. Now I KNEW this was the right gift to make for my daughter.

So this is what I put together:

I had to add the "and such" since I have a whole "chapter" of Granny's clippings from newspapers and random notes she had written and thought enough of to keep in the binder. I also threw in a few pages of photos, of course.

The recipes are scanned, so that they retain the original "flavor" of Granny's recipe box. Complete with grease stains, gravy drops, and an occasional correction on a recipe.

There were even a few surprises. Granny is my mom's mother. But mixed in her recipes were some from my aunts on my dad's side:

and one from Backflip Johnny's mom (who is my aunt's sister-in-law.) Backflip Johnny is a rodeo clown that my family has enjoyed watching at small town rodeos around here for several years. One day I posted a shot of him on Facebook, and my cousin responded with "HEY! That's my cousin!"...From the other side, of course. Heather loves thinking that she is a "cousin-in-law" to Backflip Johnny, and was therefore excited to see his mom's recipe in the book.

When I present a family with their photos, I know I've done well if there are tears. Well, in this case, Heather cried....and so did I.

Thanks for letting me stretch a bit on my "photo blog" by capturing a different kind of moment.

Cowboys And Indians

2010-02-13T18:07:00.000-08:00

I hesitated for a long time to write anything about the Cowboys And Indians January issue...thinking at first that I might curse it. Then, just got very busy.

For starters, I have been reading Cowboys and Indians for quite a few years now. I think I read my first one in the Dr.'s office. Then I bought one with Robert Redford on the front. I've always liked the photography in the magazine, all the way from the ads to the featured photographers that have 10 page spreads. I've looked forward to the January issue, which features the photography contest.

I've entered 3 times now. And this year, one of my photos got chosen as a finalist, and therefore got printed. I was very thrilled!

Below are the shots I entered this year. The last one, of my son Garrett, is the one that made it to the finals. Already working on ones for next year.

A Few Reasons I Love Being a Photographer...

2010-02-03T19:05:00.001-08:00

While driving home in the VERY dreary, VERY gray weather today, I found myself looking forward to getting home and getting at the computer, and.....playing with flower photos! I know by the calendar that Spring is just around the corner, but it doesn't make it any easier on dreary days like today. So that got me thinking about reasons I love taking photos.

There's one! You can pull this up and gaze at it when it is 43 degrees out. Soon enough I'll be out "chasing wildflowers" every chance I get!

During a stressful day, you can pull up a photo like this.......

....and remember how peaceful that morning was at Lake Brownwood with good friends, good stories, and the whole day of laughter to look forward to!After every event, where I've served as the official or unofficial photographer, and everyone is saying what a great time they have had and we need to do it again soon....I am usually feeling lucky because I WILL get to relive it again by going through the photos one by one!

Enjoy the MOMENTS...

Basketball

2010-01-10T17:05:00.000-08:00

I am happy that the gym that my son plays in this year has better lighting than the elementary gym. Still not the greatest of lighting situations, but not too bad. Thought I'd share a few pics from Saturday's game.

This is Ben. Seems like I've had him in one shot or another since we moved here to Lorena. Great kid! Great parents!

I love the determination on this shot.

And, of course, my boy! I had to throw in some special effects for him.

My Grandpa

2010-01-08T17:35:00.001-08:00

Still creating new photos out of old photos. This is my Grandpa. He passed away 9 years ago this March. When I shot this photo, he was at a stage where he didn't want me taking his photo. He always thought we were "wasting film" on him.

So for this shot, he and my husband were sitting on the front porch, with the dogs all around on a lazy hot afternoon. I had just pointed the camera at him, and he fussed at me, so I pointed the camera at my husband and said, "Oh, Grandpa, I'm taking a picture of Mark, not you!" Took the shot of my husband, then quickly turned and shot the one of him above. In the originals, you can actually line up the door frame behind them, and you have a great image of two men chatting away the day!

Here is the shot of Mark the same day.

Always take the shot! Even if you have to be a bit sneaky to do it! These may be my most cherished photos!

Colorful Capitol

2010-01-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

Playing around with some photos I took a while back. I love doing this.

Patterns and Such

2010-01-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

In the past few years, I have a fascination with photographing Christmas lights in various ways, using the zoom lens, etc. Last night we were at the German Restaurant in Walburg and I had some fun with their Christmas tree. Then I came home and put those results into another program of mine, to make even more designs. Just having fun! Below are two examples!

What I'd Do If I Didn't Have A Day Job....

2010-01-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

The title for this entry came to me one morning this past week. My daughter had walked past the dining room window and said simply, "PINK". Random words coming out of a 14 year-old's mouth is not really unusual. Then she pointed to the sky and it was the most beautiful color of red/pink/purple that I've ever seen. As the morning routine progressed (I was the only one that had to get out the door since school is out for the holidays) it got pinker/redder/purpler....(New word!).

All I could think of was, "If I didn't have to get to work, I'd go 'chasing the sunrise'!" I have taken a few days off in the past few months, and I did get the chance to find out what I would do if I didn't have the commitment of a day job.....Below are some examples....

New Year...

2009-11-29T19:29:00.000-08:00

OK...so maybe it isn't really a new year YET, but I figure since every day is the first day of the rest of your life, it can also be the first day of the new year to come! (Can you tell I am ready to escort 2009 out the door?)

I've been extremely negligent in updating this blog, but I hope I can change that. I've also been extremely busy with new projects and tweaking old projects.

My latest favorite thing to do is playing with textures... Thought I'd share a few examples.

Something Different

2009-06-14T19:09:00.001-07:00

I typically don't do this much processing on my images, but this weekend I ran through a lot of old shots and this is what I came up with!

Baseball, baseball, baseball!

2009-06-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

Seems like we have been all about baseball these last few days. My son's team won the first three games of the city and area-wide tournament. Lost their first one today. It's double elimination, so we are still in it!

Play again on Friday, and if we win we will play at high noon on Saturday!

Wanted to share a photo from last night's game. My wonderful son scored the winning run! And let me tell you...it's not easy to cheer, focus, click and jump all at the same time! :-)

Movin' Along...

2009-06-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

I really need to get this blog up and going!

Still trying to figure out what this blog should focus on. Thought I'd start with a few recent wildflower photos....

This shot recently got Best Of Show in the Abilene Reporter News. I was very excited...

The photo was taken near Lake Waco, right by the dam. Every year I head out in search of bluebonnets, and this has been my most successful spot in the area!