Category Archives: Jen

Personal Photo Project of the Week #75 Alpha



Mad with Joy

There can be no doubt that there are certain subjects that I photograph for certain people. For example, I photograph tulips and roses for my Mom. I photograph daisies and lilies for Jill. (A fact that lead to a rather embarrassing phone call recently that the story of which, may or may not be revealed in the next month or so.) I photograph dark alleys for Sara.

But irises? I definitely photograph irises for Jen. That shows what a deep level of friendship Jen and I have, because I HATE irises.

I know that sounds harsh. How can anybody hate a flower? After all, didn’t Henry Beecher put it best when he wrote:

“Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into.”

But irises confound me for two reasons. They bloom and are gone in what feels like 45 seconds.

Second, I have never been able to figure out how to photograph irises. They are all weird angles and they never seem to reveal their best parts for the photographing.

They aren’t like daisies or roses or (my personal favorite) moonflowers (although I also like marigolds, hollyhocks, coneflowers, dahlias…) that seem to be saying, “Come photograph me!”

They seem to be saying, “Try and photograph this!”

I made a solemn vow this year that the iris was not going to get the best of me. But even after two separate trips to photograph an iris patch, I wasn’t convinced that I had captured anything that was worth looking at.

I even put off editing the pictures for close to 5 weeks.

However, after editing the images I feel that I have captured something of quality. It wasn’t an easy dance like it is with the tulip or the hollyhock, but we got to the right place in the end.

Here are more pictures from the Mad with Joy Series.


So one of these iris pictures will end up as Jen’s birthday present. Jen’s birthday was week ago and I have yet to decide which one to give her. There will be more pictures published on Saturday (at the usual time), you can help pick out Jen’s birthday present by voting on which one you think is the best in the comments section of this website. (If you vote on Facebook, I won’t count your vote.) Although be warned, if Jen votes, hers is the only vote that matters.

Stay tuned for more irises tomorrow.

Evie

My Memorial Day was 1 of the more interesting days I’ve ever experienced. It was filled with violent ups and downs, but perhaps the highest peak was photographing Evie. Here are some of the pictures from that photo shoot.


Evie Gorshe

Evie Gorshe

Evie Gorshe

Evie Gorshe

Evie Gorshe

Evie Gorshe

Evie Gorshe

Evie Gorshe

Evie Gorshe

Evie Gorshe

Evie Gorshe

You can view a ton more Evie photos in the STORE by clicking on the link below:

EVIE

There is no doubt that Jen and Derrick produced one irresistible child!

Next week’s random Wednesday collection will involve the Little League Challenger program.

The Archives: Edition Twenty-One

These pictures come from: Backup/Old My Pictures/Labels

I once had an idea where I had my friends do a little exercise in self-realization. I asked them to pick a word. One word that they wanted the world to think of when the world saw them. Then I had them write that word on a piece of poster board and then I photographed them.

I was going to follow this up with a project where I had them pick one word that they thought was how the world perceived them.

I sometimes think about bringing this project back. Perhaps if bring back the BIG birthday party next year.

These are pictures from the Labels Project.


Sara - Labels

Jen Ensley - Labels Project

William McAlpine - Labels Project

Bill - Labels Project

Corey - Labels

Derrick Gorshe - Labels Project


Next Week’s Folder will be:

Backup/Old My Pictures/Master Wentworth

Personal Photo Project of the Week #70

Last week I removed and disassembled the Friend Wall. It is no longer in existence. No longer do I have friends on my wall.

I replaced the Friend Wall with the 9 Emotions Project Wall. The centerpiece of this new “exhibit” is a 24×36 print of the picture below. A picture that was the ultimate goal of the whole 9 Emotions Project.


I picked 1 person for each emotion. I like to think that there are reasons why each person was able to best represent each emotion.

Joy and Cousin Amy

Cousin Amy lives the joy of a life where she was told a diagnosis of her child by their doctor and told the doctor, “I don’t think so.” Then she went out and proved the doctor wrong.

Sadness and Willy

After the events of the last couple weeks, there isn’t a reason to cover this one.

Anger and Derrick

As hard as it is to believe, Derrick was the single angriest man I ever worked with when we were employed at the Boone Outpost of the Evil Clown Empire. I have numerous stories of him in my mind throwing searing tools across the room and punching things and telling the Store Manager to do unbecoming things to his anatomy that most people simply wouldn’t believe happened. Although once he was off the clock, he was the Derrick that everybody else knows.

Amusement and Shannon

When I think of Shannon I think of somebody that is amused by the simple things in life. Of course, that is the best way to be.

Fear and Jesse

Back in the days of Saturday morning basketball, I saw this look on Jesse’s face quite frequently. Pretty much any time he stood between me and the basket this look crept upon his face as he knew he was about to get embarrassed.

Jealousy and Jen

This one doesn’t really fit. Jen isn’t a jealous person and has very little to be jealous about. She has a great husband, a great kid, a great family and great friends. Basically she has all the right ingredients for the recipe to a happy life. I’m guessing that perhaps this is Jen showing off some long dormant acting skills. Perhaps she should pursue a role in one of the area community theaters. I know Jen LOVES community theater.

Surprise and Sara

While Sara is one of the most intelligent and best educated people I know, she lives life in a manner where whatever comes down the chute next is a gift and she seems genuinely surprised by it. While that might now seem like it is a compliment, I think that this is one of the best compliments I’ve ever given anybody. To live life with such unabandoned joy is a great life.

Sympathy and Jill

Jill fits sympathy so well as she has one of the best hearts of anybody I’ve ever known. She would tell you (yes we’ve had this conversation) that it isn’t that her heart is better than most people, but it is the fact that artists (Jill is an amazing flutist) are lead through life with their heart. While this is true, it doesn’t alter the fact that the first thing you notice about Jill when you meet her is her heart.

Boredom and Jay

I’ve always felt that people that are “bored” are boring people. Jay is a lot of things, but he is not a boring person. However, that doesn’t mean that I’ve never seen Jay bored. Being the closest of friends with Jesse, Willy, and I he has been subjected to more sporting events than many wives and girlfriends. Usually this is the look that glosses over his face right before he taps out and goes home to do things that interest Jay.

I also asked all of my models to pick out who they thought did the best job with each of the emotions. I gave extra credit to the people who were able to pick 9 different people for the 9 different emotions.

Here is the feedback I got fed back. In the order it came back to me.


The 9 Emotions Project -Shannon
Shannon’s Pick

The 9 Emotions Project - Jill
Jill’s Pick

The 9 Emotions Project - Sara
Sara’s Pick

The 9 Emotions Project - Jen
Jen’s Pick

The 9 Emotions Project - Jay
Jay’s Pick

The 9 Emotions Project - Willy
Willy’s Pick

The 9 Emotions Project -
Jesse’s Pick

The 9 Emotions Project - Derrick
Derrick’s Pick

The 9 Emotions Project - Cousin Amy's Picks
Amy’s Picks

Next week’s Personal Photo Project with involve that most magnificent of creatures… the turkey.

Post No. 1,101

It is time once again for me to to do a random look at some of the statistics on the website.

First up is what are the 10 Most Popular Images in the Artistic Galler.

This one is actually somewhat of a shocker. A picture of Brandon has went from nowhere to be the most popular picture and the long time reigning champ Outburst of the Soul has fallen all the way to a tie for 6th Place. Although admittedly, I think spammers might have something to do with the rather large shakeup in the standings.


Brandon Kahler Senior Pictures
1. Brandon Senior Picture

Johnathan Stensland Senior Pictures
2. Johnathan Senior Picture


3. Battered School Bus – Hamlin, Iowa


4. Self-Portrait

Jen Smoking
5. Jen Between Sets of an UnHingd Show

UnHingd Publicity Still Alpha
6. UnHingd Publicity Still

2006 Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest - Outburst of the Soul
6. Outburst of the Soul

2008 Iowa State Fair Photography Salon - 1900>
8. 1900

Rebecca Peterson
8. Becca – Senior Picture

Piano Ruins
10. Abandoned Piano – McCallsburg, Iowa

There has also been quite a shakeup in the Snapshots Gallery Top Ten.

Here are the 10 Most Popular Pictures in the Snapshots Gallery:


Iowa State vs. Nebraska
1. Me White Trashing It

Iowa State vs. Nebraska
2. ISUCFVMB

Be Aggressive!
3. Alexis Cheerleading

Inebriated Saints Concert
4. Shannon and I at an Inebriated Saints Show

The Big Jesus Road Trip
5. Jesse and I with the World’s Largest Cheeto

Mother's Day - 2009
6. Logan’s Tree-man

The Big Jesus Road Trip
7. Jesse and I at the Surf Ball Room

The Big Jesus Road Trip
8. Jesse Endorsing the Bob’s Dog

Iowa State Spring Game - 2009
8. 2009 ISU Spring Game

Shannon at Backbone State Park
10. Shannon Reading Map at Backbone

Eastern Iowa Road Trip - 2006
10. Jesse and I in Clinton

Finally, a look at the Top Ten People to either contribute or be written about in An Artist’s Notebook.

1. Jesse – 163 – (+20)
2. Jay – 151 – (+7)
3. Shannon – 146 – (+6)
4. Derrick – 123 – (+6)
5. Teresa – 109 – (+13)
6. Jen – 107 – (+6)
7. Willy – 101 – (+8)
8. Sara – 96 – (+8)
9. Vest – 80 – (+19)
10. Dawn – 73 – (+9)

Wondering who the biggest movers were outside of the Top Ten?

1. Dad (+19)
2. Carla (+14)
3. Jill (+10)

In case you were interested in what the standings looked like 100 posts ago:

Journal Entry One-Thousand

The Archives: Edition Ten

These pictures come from backup/Old My Pictures/Deg-Porter Wedding

These pictures were taken at Scott and Melissa’s wedding. The last wedding I was in until Jen & Derrick’s wedding.


IMAGE LOST
Mr. Porter

IMAGE LOST
Scottie D. all tuxed up!

IMAGE LOST
Scottie D. in black and white.

IMAGE LOST
Scottie D in glorious color.

IMAGE LOST
Setting up chairs.

IMAGE LOST
Posing for George

IMAGE LOST
Future Mrs. Porter

IMAGE LOST
Nate

Next week’s folder will be: backup/Old My Pictures/Egg Toss