I was up at our farm in Indiana over the 4th. The Queen Anne's Lace is blooming everywhere and I had the 105mm macro lens out doing some closeups. I came across this bud as it was beginning to unfold. the individual branches of the bloom reminded me of the mechanical creatures chasing Neo and the ship on The Matrix. Sometimes fantasy mimics nature, I guess. FYI the Queen Anne's Lace is a member of the carrot family but I have never eaten one of their roots.
Nature photography has always been one of my great loves. After all, I did get a degree in Environmental Science. We used to go on field trips to the Red River Gorge to study the plant life and geology of the area. I always packed a camera to photograph things so that I could have a record of images to study for later testing. To this day, I can recall many plants and their latin classifications....Dr. Mary Wharton sort of drummed that into our heads. In any event, I still love the natural world and being out there in it.
One of the things we learned to do was to take a line survey. Basically we stretched a very long string through an environment and recorded every single plant the line crossed over. You would get a list of plants as well as the frequency of occurance. In this process you could get a very accurate idea of how a certain local environment was functioning. I remember doing a survey in Hart County Kentucky: Flora of West Central Kentucky in an Old Field Progression Stage. Filled with lots of "flowery" scientific jargon, the paper yielded an "A".
Next time you take a walk in the country, take time to closely look at all the different plants that surround you. You may be surprised at the diversity....Naturally.
The last few weeks I have been engaged in research for an upcoming book concerning medics in World War 2. My dad was a medic in the 44th AIB of Patton's Sixth Armored Division. A good many of dad's photographs are going to be used in this book and I have been scanning and restoring these images in preparation. In this process, I have become rather nostalgic and thinking about a lot of my family history, the history of this country and the history of our studio. In September, we will have been in business full time for 32 years....we purchased Guy's Photos in 1978. We have seen a lot of things come an go over the years. Photographed a ton of babies, families and high school seniors...may 2 tons....I quit counting after 1000 weddings and that was years ago. In photography, you have to keep up with the times...yet, I have come across some photos in my searching that are simply timeless....look on our facebook page in the coming weeks and I will try to post some of these...many are already on there....if you LIKE us on facebook you will be able to see updates as we post them. Hope everyone is having a great summer and if you want to cool down with some cool images....stop in and take a look.
Yes, that's right. The studio is going to the dogs...and cats...and whatever...This month we want to do our share in raising funds for the American Cancer Society in their Relay for Life. This issue is very personal to us as we are currently in the middle of a fight against cancer in our family. The prognosis is very good and we are expecting a complete cure but the process is difficult to say the least. Of course, we have helped out this cause in different ways over the years and it isn't new to us. Suzann's mother passed away from ovarian cancer some years ago. Thanks to the research that has been done over the years, cancer is not the death sentence that it once was and we are thankful for that. During these times we are growing closer in our faith in Jesus Christ, growing closer to our friends and to each other.
For your $35 donation to Relay for Life we will provide you with a session and a 5x7...this is good for pets, children, and families. Give us a call and help us in the fight against cancer.
I just wanted to let everyone know that for the next few weeks we will be raising money for the American Cancer Society and the Relay for Life. For your donation of $35, we will give you a session and 5x7....Just give us a call to schedule your session. This is a very personal issue for us right now as we are dealing with a cancer issue in our own family. Luckily this cancer was caught early and is very treatable even curable...however, the emotional stress that accompanies surgery and chemotherapy is tough on everyone. Please give us a call and help us in this fight against cancer. Plus, it is a good time to get a family or child's portrait taken. Spring is in the air, things are warming up, flowers blooming....such a wonderful time of year. God gives us spring to remind us of the fact that when we travel through a winter period in our lives that He is there on the other side just waiting to restore life and breathe regeneration into His creation.
Spring is here...at least it's getting a foothold on things. The above round barn was built by Suzann's ancestors just outside of Greensburg, IN. It is known as the Pleak Round Barn and is on the Historical Register. This farm was a part of an original land grant from the 1830s. Our place is just a few miles from the original settlement. I am sure that many of you may have a place that you are equally proud of. I love the land, and relish the oncoming spring with great longing. I love to see the land green up, the wildflowers bloom, the smell of a passing thunderstorm, catching fish out of the farm pond...it all just makes me feel wonderful in some way.
Our new farm and ranch photography albums are designed in such a way that you can almost hear and smell your place as you turn the pages. Well, there may be some smells that are not as wonderful as others....but anyway...I am just chomping at the bit to create some of these albums for our photography friends. Give us a call, our consultation is free. What does your dream album look like?
Wow! We are developing a new service for our national clientele that will knock your socks off...in a good way. I am talking about our new Farm & Ranch photography albums. This is an awesome new service that will encompass a wide range of photography styles culminating in an heirloom qualtity album. In a nutshell, we will come to your farm or ranch and spend the day (or more depending on the coverage you select). In that time we will photograph your family in both formal portraits and candid images taken while you carry out your daily chores, etc. We will also create beautiful landscape images that will show off your farm or ranch. Got prize animals?...cattle, horses, livestock...we got you covered. Details of all sorts of things from saddles and spurs, to barns and wildflowers. Got the crops being planted, haying, corn crop coming in?....everything that defines your operation...we will capture in photojournalistic style.
After the photography is finished, we will design an heirloom quality album using artistic styling, printed and bound in Italian Leather. These albums range in size from 9.5x13 all the way up to 16x20. We also suggest using Kodak's metallic paper which yields a wonderfully intense color and nearly 3D effect on landscapes.
Our website will be changed in the near future to show a gallery of samples of our farm and ranch photography. In the meantime, you can view samples on our facebook page. Just do a search on facebook for McCoy's Image Studio, become a fan, and look at the farm and ranch photo album. Dream about your spread and imagine what we can do for you. Give us a call...we would love to talk about this new service.
Wow!...we were asked to photograph this magnificent piece of machinery for the American Motorcyclist Association magazine. Bike is shown here with rider Taylor Wood. This bike is bad. Taylor holds the world's record in his category as a drag bike. I really enjoyed the opportunity to photograph this bike and Taylor with his dad Andy. If you are a biker, please check out the article in the upcoming issue. When released we will post some more images on our facebook page so stay tuned. I just never know what kind of job is going to plopped into my lap and we have had some really cool jobs over the years. This one was very exciting...including the snow we had to deal with and the trailer getting stuck...but that's another story...
Want to see this bike up close and personal...I understand they will have it at the Carl Casper Custom Car Show this weekend in Louisville.
