~Wow! What a 2010! ... ~



Wow...What a 2010! ... I think we probably all have a tendency to reflect on our year as we come to the close of it.  For me personally, I look on the year as a very busy one.  I am also excited to say that it was a year of beginnings and a year of endings.  In January of 2010 God allowed me to kick off my new business under the name of Tina Wright Photography and He is allowing Craig & I to watch this business begin to grow.  I cannot wait to see what 2011 has in store for us, and I cannot wait to focus my full attention on my business!  I will be able to do this because it was also a "year of endings" for me.  I am feeling great accomplishment in the fact that I finally finished my photography degree at Calhoun Community College this December!  I keep saying that "I am Happy Dance Done!" ... :) ... this only means that I completed the "degree", it doesn't mean that I will ever stop learning more & more about the field of photography!  God has given me such an OVERWHELMING passion for photography that only He could explain, and I can only look UP!  All I can do is Praise Him for giving it to me, and for encircling me with my family and friends that have supported me along the way, and are supporting me in it!  Wow GOD!  Thank YOU! :) ...   



Meet my biggest fans and supporters:  My precious family... Craig (my best friend, partner for life and in business, and I probably don't have to remind you, but he is also the Love of my life! :)... ),  Austin is next to him (he's our youngest), his girlfriend Breana is sitting in front of him, Alex (he's our oldest), and his girlfriend Corrine sitting next to him.  Our Scotties:  L to R ... Duncan, Kidli, Marley & Buckli.  (Just a side note:  Buckli & Kidli are the Mom & Dad and Duncan & Marley are 2 of their kids!)

(Thank You to my friend Marietta Crutcher for braving my family and taking this group picture for us! LOL!  I used to try & do it with a tripod & timer~ it's SO much easier with Marietta's help! Once we grew to 4 Scotties that challenge became too much and Marietta is a photographer friend that was more than up for the challenge!  Thank You Marietta! :)...)

   

                               

           

As we are closing out ~2010~ we also had a wonderful surprise on Christmas Morning!  A "Merry White Christmas" ... I wanted to include a few pictures from that morning as well! 

I began this Blog in January with this verse:  Romans 15:13 ... "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  I felt like God led me to use this verse as my "theme" verse, and I have carried this verse with me this year.  It has encouraged me and I pray God allowed me to use it to encourage others with it, as I hid it in my own heart.  This continues to be my prayer for you in "2011".

Thank you all for your love, your support and your encouragement!  I am looking forward to capturing new memories in the New Year! and "Stopping New Moments in Time" !

Tina :) ...

Tina Wright Photography

http://www.tinawrightphotography.com/    

~Common Grounds Cafe~

Tucked away inside the Brewer Library on the Decatur Campus of Calhoun Community College is a hidden treasure called the "Common Grounds Cafe"
If you haven't had a chance to visit the "Common Grounds Cafe" this is your personal invitation...it is the next best thing to Starbucks! Actually I am going to go a step further and say it's better than Starbucks because their menu has more variety overall than Starbucks does!

Helen Dunn is the Owner as well as the Manager! :)... She does an awesome job of keeping the place in tip top shape! Her smile is one of the first that you will see! :) ...  I had only been there just a few minutes when I could tell she already knew her regular customers, and knew them by name!  

Heather Berry and Jerica Johnson work along with Helen...

Their menu includes Coffee~ Lattes~ Mochas~Smoothies~ as well as Breakfast and Lunch Sandwiches! ...  They open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursdays.  I recently enjoyed a Smoked Turkey Sandwich while I studied for a test in between classes and it was awesome!

There is another great thing that "Common Grounds" does for Calhoun Students... They support their Student's Art work... you may notice in some of these pictures there is "Art" hanging in the background...  Some of that "Art" just so happens to be mine ... ! :) ... After my Photography Exhibit was complete in September I was asked by Ms. Beddow the librarian if I would be interested in hanging some of my photographs in the Cafe!  I was honored to do so.  They will be hanging there until the end of December.  It has been such a privilege for me to be able to continue to show my Gallery in the "Common Grounds Cafe" and I thank them for allowing me to do that!  In turn, I asked for their permission to highlight them on my "Blog"!  I was also recently honored with an article in "Calhoun Community College Library" , blog where they shared some very kind words about me and my photography journey.  Thank you again Ms. Beddow for your support and encouragement and thanks again Helen & your staff for letting me slip in and play for the day and do what I LOVE to do with my camera!  You guys were GREAT!  I loved watching you work!  :) ... and I loved the smell of that Coffee!!

Stopping moments in time... on "Common Grounds" ... Make sure that you take time out for a cup too!

Tina :) ...
http://www.tinawrightphotography.com/

~Reflections Past and Present~

Reflections Past and Reflections Present ... starting from 1978 ... and jumping to 2010!



The picture on the top was taken Craig's Senior Year "1978" and the picture on the bottom was taken this past August, 2010!  ... :) ...  and I took them both! LOL! ...  I could remember the top picture well, and I even described to Craig the jacket that he was wearing, although I couldn't remember the exact pose.  He was swearing to me that I was making it up!  But... at my 30 Year Reunion this past August, I coaxed Craig into letting me try & recreate the shot (obviously the best that I could remember it!) right there in the halls of Sheffield High School! Too Much Fun for me!! (Craig... ??? not so much...) ... :) ... I love this man!  He consistently lets me "play" and do what I do, knowing I have this crazy idea in my head, and he knows it's going to make me smile, even though he thinks it's gonna cost him some possible embarrassment.  I didn't care which row of lockers, I just knew it had to be in front of some lockers!  So... we made our way upstairs (avoiding some of the teachers who were working on their classrooms getting ready for the new year... and avoiding some of my classmates who were still hanging around!).  Craig, Thank You for being such a great sport!  I loved being able to combine my new shot with my old one!

Why am I just now posting these you ask???... Well... I only last night found my "1978" picture!  I knew that it existed, but I haven't been able to put my hands on it!!  Craig and I started dating when he was a Senior and I was a Sophomore.  We were involved in club activities at school, and my guess is that I took this picture after one of our meetings.  (Like I mentioned before... it wasn't unusual for me to carry a camera around with me!!) I finally found this picture tucked away when I was searching for these ...  :) ...

With today being Veterans Day I wanted to post a picture of my special Veteran as my profile picture on FaceBook.  Craig served in the Persian Gulf War on the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy.  He spent six years in the United States Navy and three of those years we spent in London, England as a family.  It was truly an incredible experience and many God Stories in the middle of it all! :) ...  I am very proud of my husband!  A 1978 graduate of Sheffield High School, a 1983 graduate of The University of North Alabama, a part of The United States Navy, Veteran of the Persian Gulf War, a God Fearing Man, Loves Jesus with all his heart, Loving Husband and Loving Father!

Thank you to my precious husband, for who you are and for serving our country! and... Thank you to all of our Veterans past and present for helping to provide for us the opportunity to live in this great land we call The United States of America ...

Capturing Memories ... Past and Present... 
Tina :) ...
Tina Wright Photography
www.tinawrightphotography.com  

~Where the Wild Things Are~

                                                             

I would like to say that this story began several weeks ago when my oldest son, Alex (age 24) asked me to make his Halloween costume for this year! :) ...  But... in actuality it probably goes back much farther than just two weeks, in this mom's eyes and mind at least! Because, by just being asked a simple question by my 24 year old ... that began with... "Mom...I know you're busy with school and everything, but I have a favor to ask you... Would you make me a "Max" costume, from "Where the Wild Things Are", for Halloween?" ... Now, I'm pretty sure, no matter... this mom, is NOT saying "NO"! :) and you see... My Alex has always been the one that loved Halloween and the one that I have gotten to sew for!  His list has included a masterpiece Mickey Mouse Costume (around age 3), a masterpiece Captain Hook Costume (1st Grade, and he even won 1st Place in the Costume Contest with that one!)... and I also made a Pink Tuxedo for him during his Senior year in High School, for him to wear to a friend's prom!  (too bad I wasn't blogging then!) 

My journey with "Max" began by first finding a pattern to improvise with. Alex brought me the book over to read, and the movie to watch, because you see... I had never read the book, or seen the movie!  I know! I know! ... Boy, was I ever missing a blessing!  He also emailed me pictures of "Max" from the movie.  I was on my way to coming up with the perfect "Max"!! ... My goal is never to do anything halfway! ... (God's Word challenges us to "Work with all your heart as working for the Lord!" ... Colossians 3:23)

I read the book the morning that I planned to cut out the pattern... imagine my surprise as I read this wonderful children's book.  By the time I reached the end of the story, I was in tears.  Here is why:  A young, rowdy boy gets into trouble, he is sent to his room without his dinner, his room grows into forrest of trees, he sees a ship, takes the ship to an island, "Where the Wild Things Are", they make him King of the Island, eventually the young boy realizes he misses his family, takes the ship back "home", goes back into his room and there sees a plate of supper ... "and it was still hot" ... :) ...

  By the time I reached the end of the story I was in tears... I saw so many beautiful pictures along the way, literally and very figuratively.  Here is a young boy who realizes the love that he still has at home, longs to go back, goes back into his room and arrives with a hot plate of supper waiting on him.  I could see Jesus, and how in spite of ourselves, He allows us to make our own decisions and still waits for a time for us to return to Him, if we have wandered away. God's Word tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Even those times we neglect our personal times alone with Him, and He patiently draws us back to Him waiting with that wonderful plate of supper... and "it is always still hot".  I could see that Mom and that Dad who waits so patiently for their dear, sweet child that has "run away" or they perhaps have just closed their parents out, yet those parents are still waiting and that wonderful plate of supper is there... and "it is always still hot".   Isaiah 26:3 says "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on Thee." ...  I pray we all continue to look Up and always seek the One who gives us Peace and be Thankful for the fact that "our supper is waiting for us... and it is still Hot" ... Because of Jesus... Amen! :) ... 

So many things to learn from young "Max" and as he did a lot of growing up on the island "Where the Wild Things Are..." I believe he took those lessons back home with him.  I took time to watch the movie while I cut the pattern out... I personally thought it was nicely done. 

and while my "Max/Alex" ... "Let the wild Rumpus Begin!" ... he didn't have a ship to sail away in but I did have a small tree for him to climb!  LOL!  and to Alex, I say "Thank YOU"!  for allowing us to make some new memories this year and for introducing me to "Max" and all of the "Wild Things"!  What a Treat! :) ...

                                                                                             

Stopping "Max" Moments in time,

Tina :) ...

http://www.tinawrightphotography.com/

~Working at Tate Farms in a Whole New Way!~

During the month of October, if you have never travelled slightly farther North of Huntsville to Meridianville, and ventured your way "off the beaten path", and visited Tate Farms then you, my friends have been missing a yearly treat! And... it's not too late to get in on the fun this October! ... Not only can you take a wagon ride out to pick your own pumpkin straight off the vine, but there is a full day's worth of  fun activities to keep you and your children busy for hours!  Refreshments are also available at the Barn Cafe when you get ready for a break, with plenty of picnic tables to have a seat on and enjoy your "snack" or "meal"!  Hay maze... Cotton Jump...Animals...Play Ground...CORN CRIB! (better than the balls at Chuck-E-Cheese! parents can get in the these too!) ...  Country Store...Barn Cafe... Cotton Candy...Funnel Cakes... Corn Train Ride... and More! ... :) ... Just click the "link" for all of their information as well as their hours of operation! ...

For me, Tate Farms is only about five minutes from my house and I have the privilege of watching their cotton grow yearly from my back yard!  I also have the privilege of knowing this family personally, I attend church with many of them, love them, and consider them dear friends, just like family to me!  When my family moved to Huntsville in 1998 I was invited to work with them, but wasn't able to do that until the next year when my youngest, now 17, started Kindergarten.  I began working with them in 1999 and continued to work with them basically every season until I went back to school in 2008!  (and even that first year, I worked part time... I LOVE TATE FARMS and have always LOVED working there, even if I could just work on Saturdays! It was always such a treat!)  

My new Tate Farm Story begins here ...  recently I had the awesome opportunity to do my first ever official "Portrait Session" at the farm!   Now mind you, I have TONS of pictures that I have taken over the years, but as a professional photographer this was my first.  I was so excited to get to spend time with this sweet family and we had so much fun! It was a unique family portrait session, and I knew that there would be challenges.  The farm is open to the public and it is busy and active, so one of the challenges is "dodging other guests".  All in all, I was pleased with our afternoon ... Tate Farms is gracious and open to allow photography to take place on their facility, and they encourage it!  They have such a beautiful farm, and over the years I have thanked the family time & time again for sharing it with me! ...



The Kissel's & I played... took a wagon ride... and also found some spots to take some more traditional family photos as well.  At the farm you have a variety of choices for fall pictures.  However, sometimes I think some of the best ones are sometimes the candids...  

Thanks again Tate Farms for such a wonderful afternoon!  I can't wait to take my next clients there for their "unique family portrait session" ...

Stopping moments in time,
Tina :)
http://www.tinawrightphotography.com/