Fast forward 12 months.  Because every good story had a circular element, at this session we all had to get drenched…this time in sweat.  Bless little Sophia’s heart, it is 100 degrees outside and yet she is still generous with her smiles.      Ok.  Now I have to tell on her.  When doing children’s or kids photography, things don’t always go as planned.  Sophia HATED her cake.  We all were rolling on the floor laughing.  At one point in time she turned her back to it and gave us all a look that said, “I’m done.”  However, we weren’t.  We played games.  Mom sat with her and ate the cake herself.  We all talked about the cake all while Sophia gave us looks that said, “I don’t believe you.”  The cake looked so yummy that at one point I thought perhaps Sophia and I could trade.  Eventually we wore Sophia down and I think just to humor us she showed a little interest in the cake.  As a food group it was a no go, but as a toy…it was a different story.  So, mom got her wonderful cake images and Sophia got us all off her case and was able to toddle to the ‘fridge to get her juice box.  All was well…

Sophia’s next chapter is starting now.  She is walking, starting to talk and just sharing her love all around.  Blessings to you Sophia.  We can’t wait to see what happens over this next year…

“Can we see Ms. Tina’s pictures?” a quiet little voice asked.

I looked down to see a winsome–yet a little shy–smile and a beautiful set of baby teeth.  (I must say, there is something about those pearly baby teeth. they just make my heart melt.)  Anyway, with big doe eyes looking up at me, I could not resist.  So, we started the Wood’s girls’ session sitting on the floor of the studio flipping through Ms. Tina’s wedding album.

We oohed and ahhed and then slowly made out way off the floor and to the chair.

Now mom wanted something timeless–classic.  And so that was the order of the day.

The story she wanted to tell was a quiet one–the quiet support one sister will give to another.  Small tokens (the necklaces and the bracelets) added extra layers of meaning to the story.  Everyone’s favorite image (the top one) just told the whole story.  Now I just want to sit back and enjoy.  :)

“Look, look!  I fit into my pants!”

My family looked at me like a crazy woman as I danced through the house in my slippers, ratty shirt and my FAB-U-
LOUS jeans that have hid at the back of my closet for many years.

Now, forget the fact that they buttoned at about my neck level and could be described as “acid wash” in some circles…the fact remains THEY FIT!

If you have followed this blog for some time and think back really far, you will remember me taking a part time job–at least I figure if you are spending 2 hours a day, plus travel, three to four days a week on something (2+.5=2.5×4=10) it counts as work.  Yes, I bit into fitness craze hook, line and sinker.  Read all about it…

The very sad part is with all the heart building, muscle sculpting, endomorphin pumping goodness going on, there was no rearranging in my closet.

I know, I know…the new weight loss philosophy is to build muscle and eventually it will start burning the fat.

My fat must have really loved its home because it stuck around–no matter how much muscle joined the party.

Enter trainer B

“Only 15% of what you are is what you do (excercize).  About 15% is hereditary and 70% is what you put in (nutrition.)”

Wait.  What?

I’ve been missing a VERY IMPORTANT part of the equation.

It’s about addition AND subtraction.

As I lay in bed that night, I felt God speaking.

“It doesn’t end with your waistline.”

Sometimes as Christians we really get stuck in the addition part.

When we want to draw closer to Christ we start adding in a lot of things.  We add in extra services, a Bible study or even quiet times.  We may experience some changes, but those spiritual skinny jeans stay just out of reach.

Since 70% of who I am is what I am putting in right now, I had to analyze it all.

I thought about the power of pollutants.

It doesn’t matter how much pure, clean water I add.  If I am continuing to put drops of pollutants in, it will never be clean.

This is nothing new to God.

David states, “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.” Psalm 101:3

God warns us against the “little foxes” who can spoil a vineyard. (Song of Solomon 2:15)

Why?

Because, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:34)

In other words, the small things that we know aren’t ok, but yet we hold onto are really “treasures” to us. They can affect the direction of our heart.

Since you can’t step on a biometric scale to gauge your spiritual fitness, you have to rely on the good ol’ mouth.

“For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)

There is a popular show on TV right now.  However, it doesn’t model Godly principles.  It’s pretty “worthless.”  After I watch it I find myself rather irritable.

I have a group of friends who really don’t lift others up.  When I leave them, negativity sometimes pours out of my mouth.

Some subtraction is necessary.

Through embracing a “clean eating” lifestyle (no processed foods), I’ve been doing some physical subtracting.  It’s starting to show…

Now, I can’t wait until the spiritual subtraction kicks in too.

What about you?  What is the best addition or subtraction that you have ever done?

Blog Roll:

Ok, so how did you shave off those 10 lbs? Many months ago Lauriena Cruz showed up on my facebook newsfeed with a comment about High Fructose Corn Syrup.  From there Dr. Mike Moreno’s 17 Day Diet came across my path.  What I gathered from both things was one principal–eat natural foods.

Isn’t organic expensive? I didn’t say “organic.”  I said “natural.”  That just means that we shop along the outer edges of the grocery store.  Instead of buying easy mac, I buy noodles, cheese, milk, spices and make my own.  We eat it one night and then I put the extras in single serving containers for lunches over the next few days.

Sounds a little time consuming…well, you know with those tv programs that I am cutting out I have to find something better to do with my time.  :)  Plus, a friend recently commented that for the first half of our life we sacrifice our time and health to make wealth.  The second half of our life we sacrifice our wealth and time to regain our health.  It really convicted us…

What do you get when you mix style and and athlete?  The answer is Brad–a senior at Monterey High School.

Now, senior pics or photos have turned into an adventure–an expression of who you are as a person.  You want your pictures to be different–as unique as you are.  Brad described himself as rather GQ.  We knew that an alley or a field wouldn’t tell his story.  Instead, we went and found luxury.

For the other part of his story we had to find some green.  A basketball player, a football player and an all around great athlete, this Monterey high school football player is already talking to scouts and making his plans for next year.

Thanks Brad for allowing us to a part of your adventure.

Cris & Dee Duncan

P.S.  Stay tuned for some incredible graduation announcements

Her Senior Style Photography adventure started in the studio.  Jordan was a study in contradictions.  On one hand she is high fashion (like her timeless little black dress) but she also rocks the leather and likes to drive…fast.  Her senior pics reflect all of those sides.

Ok, now I can tell you how funny she is, how smart she is and all the other wonderful things about her, or I can tell you the one thing we really observed.  She cares about her friends.  To us, the way you treat others really tells a lot about you and with that measurement, Jordan really is off the charts.

Best of luck Jordan.  Your senior photos rock.  Thanks again!

Cris & Dee Duncan

What can I say–Baby Valaree makes me smile.  She makes everyone smile.  Content, free and easy with her smiles and VERY expressive, our day always gets a bit brighter when this little one walks (or rather is carried) into our door.

Now, she started as a bit of a miracle.  When mommas call us with the great news, “I’m pregnant,” we always get a bit excited.  It is humbling and awe inspiring to know there is a life inside you.  You spend the quiet moments in your day dreaming about what adventures this tiny one will experience.  Who will she love?  What will she do?  How will she feel?

It brings us great joy when we are asked to be the baby or infant photographers that will help craft memories of this special life.

We met Valaree’s mom a few years ago when we photographed her daughter (a true cutie).  A few months ago she called us to say she had another blessing.

Now, this blessing  may have appeared tiny, but she is strong…

She is no stranger to adventures and in each one she had a cheery disposition and a family that literally would wrap their arms around her and instill in her warmth and love.

Last week, right after Valaree’s most recent infant photography session, Valaree embarked again upon an adventure.

This week her parents are meeting with specialists outside of this area to have questions answered, new areas to explore and to gain understanding of this adventure.

We believe that God can shape our adventure and we are asking you to join us in praying for this little one.  No, her life is not in danger.  Sometimes with special tiny blessings, they have a bit more adventure than some of their bigger baby friends.

We have fallen in love with Valaree and her family and want little Valaree to spend her days throwing out her smiles to anyone and everyone with carefree abandon.  She might need a little less adventure.  If you have a moment, just remember her in your thoughts and prayers.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy little Valaree and her smiles bring a bit of joy into your life today.

What do you get when you mix a talented athlete and a small school?  The answer is letter jacket that has every bit of available space filled with district, regional and state champ patches–rather like the one worn here by Blake.

A football player, a basketball player, and a man with a heart for The Lord.  This is a son that any mother would be proud to claim and I don’t think there is anyone prouder than his momma.  All throughout his senior portrait session she kept bragging on him–and there was a lot to brag about.  However, this is what I love.  We have the honor of working with a lot of seniors.  Some are very talented and they know it.  Confidence ooozes out of them.  Then there are those that are highly talented, grounded and truly interested in making other people feel special.  Blake would fall into this category.  It was a true joy to spend the afternoon with him and his momma.

Blake did a homeroom or studio and gardens senior photo session.  We started in the front garden to shoot the basketball photos, went to the back gardens to photograph some “green” looks and then we went back into the studio to craft some dramatic football portraits and set up some scenes for some timeless formal looks.

We kept trying to get Blake to be serious, but he is just flat happy.  He constantly was smiling.  He also likes camera aware images (looking at the camera) so his senior portraits are a collection of happy, smiling images.  His momma loves that. 

Thank you Blake for coming and seeing us again.  You truly are a man of purpose.

Blessings!

Cris & Dee

To see more, click here.

Ok, so in the last post I shared how we select our senior pics or senior poster images.  First, we look at the person–not how they look on the outside, but who they are on the inside.  As soon as we met John–a senior at Lubbock High School–we knew that we were going to feature one of photos in our senior section.

A musician, a writer, a scholar, a son, a brother, a friend…however, what made us laugh the hardest is when we went to his house for the second half of his senior photography session.  Earlier this year his mom looked around their house and saw that there wasn’t a recent family portrait.  (Ok, so I don’t think there were any substantial family portraits.)  She knew that her son was destined for great things and she wanted to preserve this moment.  We love photographing seniors in their own environment.  Now, most moms aren’t so keen on having us shoot in their senior’s room (I am guessing I will be one of those.)  However, John’s walls were adorned with art–his own, vintage posters of concerts, signed album covers, etc. Let’s just say it was him.  The images were very organic–sitting in his chair reading, playing the guitar, and then there was the dog…

When we went to the back yard to photograph the family I think mom was a bit surprised when John whipped a bow tie out of his pocket.  The family was dressed up and he didn’t want the dog left out.  (You will have to wait for another day to see these family portraits.)  Everybody laughed, but I just thought is was nice how he thought of all the little details.  That must be the writer in him…

Anyway, in the studio, we wanted to tell the story of who he was during his senior year.  That meant that we grabbed the books, the paper, the pencil and crafted the story of a scholar.

Thank you John for allowing us to tell the story of your senior year.

Blessings!

Cris & Dee

What can we say about this Coronado High School Senior other than “wow.”  When she walked in the door immediately we thought, “Classic Hollywood.”  She could have walked off the pages of Vogue or any other fashion magazine.  Very few people outside of the 90210 zip code can pull off the, “I’m not smiling but I look incredible” look.  Kristen not only pulls it off, she rocks it out of the park.

The internationally award winning gymnast has been seen on the sidelines cheering on the Mustangs for the last few years.  However, what really counts is what is on the inside and there is where she really shines.

Now, we do a lot of senior photography sessions where mom or friends come along.  Sometimes pets or younger siblings join us in the adventures.  However, Kristen brought her dad.  Having spent his entire life in the printing and photographic industry, he was very interested in the process.  We were very interested in their relationship with each other.  As the mom of a girl, my heart has always been for Elizabeth and her daddy (Cris) to have a close relationship.  When she is a senior in high school, I want her to be able to laugh with her dad, go out to coffee with him and just have an easy, close relationship.  This was obviously the case with Kristen and her dad so we started taking notes…

When we select samples for our wall or images to use in advertising, its not just about the images.   We want to use pictures of people who we respect.  Kristen topped our list and it is with joy that we are using the following image this year.

So Kristen, thanks for trusting your senior pics to C j Duncan Photography.

We know that you will go far in life.  Blessings for the future!

Meet Erica–a senior at Morton High School.  She came in for a Homeroom Session–or a studio and gardens senior photography session.  It was crazy cold on the day she arrived, so we skipped the outdoor adventure and stayed toasty and warm.

When we first met Erica, we thought she was a little quiet.  It took a few moments for her to relax and then she could not stop laughing.  From the zebra print, to the vogue-esque fashion look of the gray to the scenes that Cris build just for Erica–there was nothing she wasn’t willing to try.

With her sisters here to cheer her on, it was a wild time.