Who needs cake when you’ve got a tutu like this?
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Well, the crazy holiday season is over. I have begun to BREATHE again! January is always a good month of reflection on the previous year for my business, and is a time of restructuring and business development. I am excited to have new offerings this year, and hopefully my website will get a much needed overhaul. First up, Valentine’s Day! As a special incentive, the first 5 spots to get filled will receive a complimentary album containing 10-20 images from your session. These albums are ones that I’ve had on hand at the studio and are no longer a part of my standard offerings, so this is a HUGE bonus! They are sized at either 2×3, 5×5 or 5×7…first come, first served! Contact me at heidi@heidilynnephotography.com to sign up for a spot!
by admin 2 comments The internet has been a flurry of ‘gratitude’ lately…there are posts/blogs/tweets detailing what we are or should be grateful for. And as tomorrow, a day to give thanks, is finally on our doorstep, I am feeling grateful as well. I was very lucky to have the opportunity to photograph a very special wedding a few weeks ago…my step-brother and his beautiful bride…and it has reminded me of many things for which I am grateful… I am grateful that this day in early November was crystal clear, with blue skies and warm air…early November weather is a crap-shoot, and we could not have been luckier. I am grateful that we had this day of love and inspiration, because the following few weeks would prove to be some of the most difficult of my life (I live in State College, remember?). I am grateful that he found her…she has brought so much love to our family. I am grateful that she found him…seeing true love, happiness and fulfillment is a gift to all those who surround them. I am grateful that I was able to experience and photograph a Jewish wedding ceremony…the first of my life…it was one of such tenderness and love. I am grateful that I don’t photograph weddings regularly…this was EXHAUSTING. I am grateful that I was able to share my gift with them…at the end of the day, this is what fills my soul.
“Let’s get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France, Let’s get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance, Let’s get rich and build a house on a mountain making everybody look like ants…” That’s what I want to do…
Last Saturday, I drove to Pittsburgh for my step-brother’s wedding…both as an attendee and as the very lucky photographer. And as that amazingly beautiful blue-sky day unfolded, the details of the most heinous crimes imaginable at Penn State were released to the public. Crimes that were committed by a beloved assistant football coach…a coach who was metaphorically painted as a hero and was a trusted member of our community. And now, we are seeing the very real, very disturbing picture of evil that has lurked in our world for the past several decades. Each day of this past week was worse than the day before…I began to dread getting out of bed and turning on the morning news. And Facebook…what a nightmare. As if the details of the abuse on these poor innocent children wasn’t bad enough, friendships quickly began to be divided. Insults were thrown…defensiveness ensued. By the end of the week, the media circus had shown our community to be one of rioting extremists who, by the judgment of their actions, can only mean that they are in support of those who perpetrate sexual child abuse. Those who live here…those who work here…those who are deeply woven into the fabric of this community…we walked around in a haze-like fog all week. For those who managed to actually have a productive week at work…I salute you. For me…I had a very real lack of focus. I found myself feeling confused and distraught…melancholy and grief-stricken. I was brought to tears more times than I can count, and I certainly don’t need to see any scientific reports proving the physical effects of emotional distress. We were rocked to the core, and the punches continued to fly even when we were down for the count. I don’t expect anyone to understand what it is like to live in ‘Happy Valley’. And how we can have any emotion other than anger at all of the names listed daily in the media reports. But this is our hometown…and they live in it. The Paterno’s, the McQueary’s, the Curley’s…I have worked with them, their children/grandchildren go to school with my children…they have been a part of my life. So I mourn for the victims…I mourn for the familes of the victims…and I also mourn for the families of the accused. ***** I decided yesterday that I need to ‘get out of Dodge’. The bickering, the judgments, the satellite vans and the heartache was too much for me to handle…so I decided to come back to Pittsburgh, after being here only one week ago. This is my safe-haven, where I come when I need to have my soul soothed a bit. But driving here on THIS sunny Saturday felt very different. As I listened to the reports of how our community has risen…how we’ve all come together in support of the victims and of our community in general, I began to realize how fiercely loyal and proud I am of Penn State. And I regretted leaving my transplant-hometown…because right now, I feel a greater sense of belonging than I have at any point during the past 18 years here. So many people have written over the past week about how we are not defined by one very sick man or by the lapse of moral judgment by any particular individual. Clearly we are not. What we are is a strong support system…a community that has been beaten and battered down, but at the end of the day, we will rise up and dust ourselves off, and we will SURVIVE. by admin 2 comments |
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