Memory Box Photography

2009 has but hours left. I look forward to ringing in the new year, and looking back on this one. As I look back and see everything God has allowed me to be a part of this year, it’s been amazing. God has been gracious and generous in everything. I’ve been very blessed to be allowed to do the two things I want to do with the rest of my life: photography and speaking to students, from junior high to college.

To have the nostalgiac look back, here is a handful of my favorite images from 2009. Not in any order, not ranked, not an exclusive list, and not necessarily the top of said list, but here it is: some of my favorite images from 2009 (starting with a “memory box” of 2009).

Charlotte and Blake were good friends of mine in high school. It was a lot of fun to be a part of capturing these images for them to have forever.

I didnt take this one, but used it in an illustration. Thats me. On my first day of kindergarten.

Christmas Tree at the Walker House. We always decorate it with the ornaments as a family. Mom did the rest of the master work.

Ashley is the little sister of one of my friends, Kristen. Word on the street is, Ashley outscored me on the ACT by a point, and is OBU bound. Congratulations Ashley!

What a fun shoot, taking pictures of Leighton and her big brother, Gunner.

Christian is one of my clients from Van Buren, and hopefully will be a friend at OBU. He’s a wrestler and has an amazing heart for the Lord. My first senior in Van Buren, and my rep there!

That’s right Rambo. You made the post! Ramsi is kind of my screener for creative things. If I ever dont know if it looks good to someone besides me, Ramsi’s always willing to give me her honest opinion.

OGN in San Diego with FSM. On our free day, we just went to Coronado and enjoyed God’s creation. The water was frigid, which was why I was on the sand, not in the water. Ha, a student saw this as I chimped the screen, and told me it was terrible. In my opinion, its one of my favorites!

Hayden was my first senior of the year. He was the one that said, “I thought I’d get some weird old lady or a creepy old guy. You’re pretty cool.” Thanks Hayden…

What a FUN wedding!! It was awesome to get to go with Stephen and Caitlin from engagement pics all the way through the I Do’s! GREAT couple and fun shoots.

When my friend, Drew Cason, said, “hey…you want to come shoot a bride in a river?” How could I say no?!

On a road trip with the fam, they let me bring my camera. I wandered off into a field about a half mile down from the gas station we were at!

Well, as promised, I’m trying to be a little bit more regular with the posts. I’m working on catching up, and as we speak, I’m setting up a wordpress blog! BUT, here’s a little teaser of a shoot I did last week.

Dan and Jessie were two of my favorite people when I was a part of the FSM Benton Youth group. Dan was a guy I always looked up to, being a year older than me and one of the most talented guys I know! When they talked to me about doing an engagement session with them, I knew I had to do whatever it took to be able to take advantage of that opportunity! Definitely a fun couple. So here’s a teaser from their shoot! And as always, click it for a bigger view!

Hey Internet!

Merry Christmas! It’s FINALLY here. A break from day-to-day life to take a step back and relax, spend time with family and those closest to us, and to remember the birth of Christ.

Part of the Walker’s “Christmas Traditions” is that we always get an ornament that kind of commemorate or symbolize what has gone on in our life for that year. We’ve gotten skiers, I have a baseball ornament or two, that sort of thing. This year, my mom decided to give them to use on Christmas Eve. So, we’ll start with my sisters.

Angela went on her first big mission trip to NYC and absolutely fell in love with the people there. Also…for better or worse…she got her driver’s license! Word is she’s a very good driver!

How Mom found this one is absolutely beyond me! Alyson spent her last summer interning for a church in Georgia. While there, she went with a handful of folks to Albania! That is an ornament that says Merry Christmas, with a snowman holding an Albanian Flag! I never in a million years would have guessed they made something like that, but my mom is the Queen of finding these types of things.

This brings me to my ornament. I took a few shots of it!

For any of you out there on the internet who dont know WHY this perfectly captures my 2009, let me tell you a little bit, and then show you a little bit more!

I am one of the few and the proud. I am a member of the men of the 4th Floor. How it got to be what it is now is beyond me, but its a group of guys who all live on the same floor of our dorm, and we like to dream. Big. Last year, we had a floor-wide Easter Egg Hunt. I’m not trying to brag, but I heard several people saying, “this is the funnest thing I’ve done in college.” It was childish, yes, but it was filled with fun and fellowship and good times. For months, we’d talked about, “What if the 4th floor had a tunes show, how awesome would that be!?”

Time out!!!
When I say Tunes, I mean Tiger Tunes. Tiger Tunes is a show that Ouachita Baptist University does every year in order to raise scholarships for students in need. It is a big deal. Each social club and a few other campus organizations on occasion will be involved, usually totaling 7-8 shows. Each group has 6 minutes to put on essentially a mini-musical, using rewritten songs (as you will see in a second. Keep reading!). Clubs work for the better part of a year preparing their show, and practice for weeks on end to make everything perfect. There is an explanation of Tunes in 30 seconds.

TIME IN!!!
LOONG drawn out story short, the fourth floor men got a spot in Tunes, the first show to ever be put on by someone other than an official social club/organization. Expectations were mixed. Some expected us to merely attempt to mutter words to a song, others expected a full on Broadway performance. Once we got the word that we were allowed in, 5-6 of us stayed on campus over Labor Day weekend and wrote the entire Tunes show for the 4th Floor. It consumed all of our creative juices for that time period, and was a lot of fun!

The general story line for our show draws on OBU history. We have a Tiger sculpture in the middle of campus. Our rivals, HSU (Henderson State University), are literally across the street from us. In OBU’s history, HSU students would come and steal the Tiger Tail. The premise of our show is the response of Security Guards to our tail being stolen. And, internet, for those of you who dont know anything about OBU, you may not get all of the subtleties in the humor of our show.

So, without anymore delay, I give you the 4th Floor Tunes show!

By the way, the man who walked out at the end is the head of Security on campus at OBU.

One of my favorite parts of photography is getting to know the people I’m working with for the day. A typical shoot is more of us getting to know each other rather than you standing and me fumbling with the camera. However, there are times where I get to RE-connect with people I’ve been friends with. When I found out Charlotte and Blake were engaged, I was ecstatic. I remember when they first started dating, back when we were all at Benton High School. I was so honored to get to do their engagement pictures, and here is a handful of them!

I’m looking forward to Wedding Season 2010! I’ve been toying with some ideas that I may start experimenting with before too long, but I wanted to post a couple shots!

Here is yours truly!

And my roommate, Drew.

I haven’t forgotten my pre-new years resolutions! They are in the works!