A Tall Ship, and a Big Loss.

"Sea-Fever"

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

By John Masefield (1878-1967).

The HMS Bounty, by Madzi Bryll

In 2008, a dear friend of ours, photographer Madzia Bryll, was able to sail aboard the HMS Bounty (a replica sailing ship, used in the famous movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" in 1963). It was with heavy hearts we listened to the news on Monday, as they described her sinking and the loss of her captain and a crew member. Our hearts go out to the crew who lost their home on Monday, and to the families & friends of the crew members who were taken by the sea.

Madzia is starting to sell her photos & artwork from her time on the Bounty, online to help raise money for the HMS Bounty Crew Relief Fund, which will help the displaced crew, and the families of the lost. ALL her proceeds will go straight to the fund. (She is currently traveling, so there are limited prints available, but she will add more as soon as she can!) Please visit her site & see the works available & consider joining the effort!

Many sailors of tall ships (even in today's age) simply live on their vessel, so those who made it safely off now have no home. Please consider giving to the Relief Fund  today!

Chicago Bound! (Warsaw, IN Film Photographer)

So, I've rambled on here before about how I'm going to a film photography workshop in Chicago, and TODAY is the day I leave! (Please feel free to keep me, Naomi, in your prayers!)

I've been working so hard this year- to fund the workshop, to follow my heart, to find my voice. Part of following my heart (and raising funds) was I decided to offer some mini-sessions earlier last month. I was concerned about finding variety unique to each family, and was concerned with what I would capture in 30 minutes, but I'm so excited to finally share the results with you! Each family was so unique in their own way, and I definitely was able to capture who they were in that time frame! I'll be doing minis again, I'm sure, but probably in a cooler month!

Thanks to everyone who helped me reach my goal. Thanks to those who've watched us grown & encouraged us. We love you all! ~Naomi

Dream... and learn... (Warsaw IN Family Photography)

A couple weekends ago, my husband was out of town, and I needed an assistant for some family sessions I was doing. I ended up hiring my sister for the day. She's only 12, but an exceptional photographer.

Anyway, she captured a great moment, and I immediately edited and posted it on Facebook. When I posted it, I made sure to note that I had edited, but she had taken it. Anyway, we all know how glitchy FB can be at times, and somehow that info is no longer there... and the bottom line is, she was offended because she felt I was taking credit for her work.

So, here, in all its glory-

 And, in case you are wondering if she really is only 12, this one is shot by me-

She is, she's an amazing assistant, and she really did shoot that photo above! The End!

Johannah & Anthony- Sneak Peek! (Warsaw, IN Wedding Photographers)

I like even numbers... so when I found myself with 15 picks for the sneak, I was glad I got to go back and pick one more to make it the "right" number! This wedding was just so much fun, and I love what we have to share!

Johannah and Anthony had a gorgeous sunny day to get married by the lake. We were blessed not only to be there to capture their day unfold, but to also have a new friend by our sides to learn and photograph with us. It couldn't have been more perfect, and I'm so delighted to share this with you!

 The rings were captured by our secondary photographer, Josh Malik, of Joshua Malik Photography. Be sure to check his work out! This kid will go places!

Custom Converse? Yes, PLEASE!

My awesome sister!

The other day Samuel and I were heading out on the trails to blow some film, and hopefully take some new photos of "us". Lately we just haven't been able to capture what we want, via tripod, so on a whim we asked my 12 year old sister if she'd help us out. I've taught her about basic exposure and such in the past and she showed great promise just playing around. She was game, so I showed her what I wanted, and well, the results blew us away! Thank you SO MUCH, Emmalee, for helping us!

This weekend! (Warsaw, IN Photographer)

Busy weekend for Double K! Right now, Sam and I are participating in an online wedding photography workshop, thanks to CreativeLive and Zach & Jody Gray! We've learned a lot and are planning on watching this workshop again and again to help us add some creative lighting to our photos.

We're also getting ready to rock the Warsaw Premier Bridal Expo on Sunday! If you are a bride in the Kosciusko County, this event is NOT TO BE MISSED! Even if you have all your vendors lined up- free food, a runway show, cupcakes, what's not to love?! Sam will be running around with his camera, so be sure to say hi if you see him. Also be sure to stop by our booth, as I'll be handing out a special gift to all brides!

We really hope to see you there! ~Naomi

Megan & Scott- 10-15-11 Wedding (Fort Wayne, IN Wedding Photographers)

You've probably already seen Megan & Scott on our blog- We did their Sneak Peek right after the wedding, of course, and they also had a First Look I blogged. Megan and Scott both come from wonderful families, and we know this because we spent the entire day with them. Even through some tough spots everyone pitched in and made the day amazing.

We were also joined for the day by my friend Mary Bodkin, of Mary Bodkin Photography. Mary helped with 2nd shooting duties, and also provided some helpful feedback.

Grab some popcorn because this post is a whopper! (But totally worth it!)

Ceremony: Forest Park United Methodist Church
Officiant: Brenda Ginder
Ceremony Musicians: Kyrous Music
Hair: Lindsay Larson
Florist: One of A Kind Events
Cake Designer: Hall's Takes The Cake
Reception: Fort Wayne Woman's Club
Caterer: Ceruti's

Megan & Scott- Sneak Peek! (Fort Wayne, IN Wedding Photographer)

Megan, Scott and their families are truly special people. They are warm, caring and kind, and it really shows in the amount of friends who gathered to help make their day truly worthy of them! We loved being a part of every moment of happiness yesterday! I'm so excited to share this with you!

Roxie was so involved with the wedding preparations, I'm inclined to think she WAS part of the wedding party. At least in her heart! This shot was captured by Mary Bodkin, of Mary Bodkin Photography. Mary is a long-time friend & came to help us out this weekend.

You'll understand what the flower girl is staring at when you see this next shot!

Are they not STUNNING?!

Love these two together:

 They did it!

 This is another shot from Mary:

And this really is the way to travel in style:

Rather than share the first dance of the couple, I'm going to share the Father/Daughter dance, and the Mother/Son dance, because I just love both these moments so much:

Megan and Scott- you two are an amazing couple! You can consider us as just two more friends rooting for you two to succeed in everything! ~Naomi

Finding your passion

This post is going to seem a little random in some ways. A couple weeks ago we had a bride ask us if she could see some of our own wedding photos. Since our wedding anniversary is on Saturday, I thought that this might be appropriate to share, but mostly because this post is actually about film- and our precious day was captured (mostly by us) on film. We obviously didn't take the following sequence- it was snapped by our best man, Johnny, to whom we will be FOREVER grateful!

And if you want to know more about the tennis ball (Wilson), you really should ask me in person! The story is just too good to tell on a blog!

So, back to film, last week I entered a Twitter contest put on by Jonathon Canlas and to my surprise, I actually won! I won a copy of his FIND (Film Is Not Dead) guide and a pack of film! To win, he had asked followers to Tweet how they find and refine their vision.

My Tweet was: "I'm finding myself stepping away from what I thought I liked, and pursuing what I LOVE."

And, to follow up on that, we are looking at changing some of the ways that we do our photography, and how we offer our services. 2012 is going to see some changes for Double K, but they will be great & awesome changes! We hope you'll stick around to see what is in store! ~Naomi

Our little family- June 2010

My husband & I can't have children... but that hasn't stopped us from filling our house with pets! They actually are our "kids" in many ways, including short attention spans & the ability to do many things for a treat. Sam's family needed a photo of us with the dogs & so we asked our friend, Katie Stine, to come out for the day & help us take photos. She really blew me away with what she captured!! Here are some highlights from the day- This first two are from me:

 I love how you can see Lizy looking back to be sure me & Duke are following!

Some from Katie:

I snapped this one of Miles, being OH SO adorable! He's a shy little thing so it isn't very often he looks at the camera, even for "Mommy"!

Kat got this one of Lizy:

These are all Kat:

Our "Three Musketeers":

We never miss a chance to smooch:

As a thank you to Kat we had her over for lunch- Sweet N Sour kebabs were on the menu, followed by gourmet s'mores. These are some photos I snapped-

How do you make gourmet s'mores, you ask-

And yes, they were every bit as heavenly as they look:

Thank you so much, Katie, for the wonderful day & the amazing photos!! Duke would be more than happy to give you some kisses, if you feel you need more compensation for the shoot! ~Naomi