Daffodil Garden Adventure

Hi everyone!
Today we went to The Helen Lee Daffodil Gardens in Gladewater, TX. 
Miss Jeanne, Miss Jessica and I had the most amazing day!
The flowers were amazing! The daffodils are on 28 acres of beautiful land, covered in amazing golden flowers. Where did all these flowers come from???

Well, a long time ago Mrs. Lee purchased an entire train car load of daffodil bulbs from Holland and some workers planted them. This is Mrs Johnson and Mr Dennis. Mrs. Johnson's grandparents, Mamie and Nathaniel Scott, worked for Mrs. Lee and helped plant these beautiful flowers. Mrs. Johnson is now the manager of Mrs. Lee's Daffodil Gardens and keeps all the visitors happy everyday. Mr Dennis works very hard to take care of all of the trees and the roads and the flowers! He is very busy!

I am very honored to have my picture taken with them. They work so hard to keep this beautiful garden maintained and open for people to enjoy every spring. Thank you Mrs. Johnson and Mr Dennis!

Daffodils smell so wonderful!

              Make sure you stop and smell a flower today....

it will make you smile.

 

It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and

it felt so good!

We saw a lake there named Lake Josephine. Mrs Lee named the lake after her mom and she used to go there to enjoy the flowers and nature. It is beautiful!

While we were there, we got to see some people get married! We watched from far away because we didn't want to be rude and interrupt their special day. Miss Jeanne says we always need to show respect for other people and use our manners. I think Miss Josephine and Mrs Lee would have enjoyed seeing people be happy at their lake and gardens. 

Here is a picture of me and Miss Jessica. We had such a good time I smiled ALL day long!

           Aren't the daffodils beautiful!!

Did you know that a lot of people come from all over Texas, the country and even the world to visit the daffodils? Some people have even come from Bolivia, Brazil, England, France, Ireland, New Zealand, and Scotland! Those places are a long way away. Wow!!
If you would like to know more about the daffodil gardens, here is a link to their website. http://www.daffodilgarden.com/daffodil_history.htm.












Thank you for letting me share my daffodil adventure with you

Keep Smiling!
Nik



~~All of the photos on this blog are protected by copyright and are the property of Jeanne May and Brick Road Photo. Thank you for not reproducing them without permission.~~ www.brickroadphoto.com

Location:The Daffodil Gardens

My new Facebook page!!

Hi y'all!

I am VERY excited to tell you my news!

 I have my own facebook page!

You can link to it here
https://www.facebook.com/#!/NikTheAdventurer  

It would sure make me smile if you would go there and "LIKE" my page or leave me a comment. 








I have promised Miss Jeanne to be safe when I post and talk to people on facebook and to always let her know who is on my friends list.  I made her these three promises.

I promise to only listen to good things on facebook

and always smile

I promise to always smile at the good things I see

I promise to only say nice things on facebook that will

make people smile

I am SO excited!  I hope to see you there

Keep Smiling
Nik

Winter Formal Photo Booth Fun

 

Hi y'all!

Miss Jeanne and I took the Photo Booth to the Winter Formal in Lindale Saturday night. It was the first time I have been to a photo booth event and it was a blast!!    The theme was Mardi Gras Magic.  We had a great time!  This dance was a fundraiser for the Star Steppers drill team so we went shopping before the dance and found this great blue hat just like the Star Steppers wear.  Since this was a formal event I also got a new black bow tie.  I even got a new camera!  It was pretty exciting!

The photo booth was SO much fun!

I had a lot of fun with organizers. 

These are some hard working parents y'all! 

I had a lot of fun with the girls

They were all so pretty and very nice to me

Hanging out with the guys

Oh my...  I think I am blushing

We had a great time with the Photo Booth at Mardis Gras Magic. 

I smiled ALL night long!

 

If you would like information on the photo booth coming to your event please email or call Miss Jeanne at 903-805-5340  OR you can go to our website www.brickroadphoto.com  and send us a message. 

 

Have a fun day and

Keep Smiling!

Nik

 

 

 

Meet Nik

Hi y'all!
My name is Nik,  I am the new assistant and copilot to Miss Jeanne at Brick Road Photo. 
I can't wait to share my adventures with you as we  photograph some amazing people, places and things around East Texas.  
This is my new home office! Her name is Mimi and she is the Brick Road Photo Mobile Memory Studio.

Isn't she pretty?  She makes me smile.

I get to sit in the front seat and be Miss Jeanne's copilot,  shhhh... just between us...she NEEDS a copilot in the worst way, she gets lost a lot and drives way too fast  since I am new at this job maybe we should just leave it at she gets lost A LOT. ;-)
Here I am sitting on the poles Miss Jeanne uses for the Photo Booth.  They are kind of long and make the perfect seat for me so I can see where we are going.

 I LOVE my new job, it makes me smile!

Today it was too rainy to take pictures, so we drove to Longview to do a little shopping. The people are so nice in Texas, when I smiled at them through the van window, they smiled right back, some of them even waved! How exciting! 

I love to make people smile!

We are taking the photo booth to Lindale, TX on Saturday night.  Their High School is having a Mardi Gras Magic Winter Formal dance.  We were invited by the Lindale Star Steppers, I am so excited BUT I have nothing to wear to a formal event so Miss Jeanne and I had to go shopping.  Look what I found!  Some great Mardi Gras decorations and a very handsome black tie and a blue sparkly hat, just like the Star Steppers wear.  Exciting!

 

It was nice to meet y'all!  I can't wait to share pictures of how much fun we had at the dance.

 



I am new here and would love to hear from you and make new friends. I love your comments, they make me smile.

 

 

Keep Smiling!

Nik

 

 

 

Authenticity

au·then·tic·i·ty

[ àw then tíssətee ]

The DICTIONARY defines authenticity as

NOUN

1. genuineness: the genuineness or truth of something

 

AUTHENTICITY... one of my favorite things in a photo.  

 

OK I admit it!!  I am not a Photoshop or any other heavy photo editing software fan.  Please don't misunderstand, I think PS is incredible at retouching, removing a blemish, power line, or for intended special effects.  My hat is off to those who have mastered PS, it requires a great deal of skill. 

 

In the last several years, there has been a trend towards "perfection and over processing" in photography.  Perfectly shaped models with perfectly clear (plastic) skin and perfect teeth under perfect blue skies that didn't start that way, THEY were created! Some people want "created perfection" and in that case I acknowledge from the beginning I am not the photographer for them.

 

Why the aversion to "perfection" in my photography?   When I first started taking portraits I was approached by an older woman who's grandchild had been born with only one hand.  She asked me if I could just "Photoshop a little hand on for him".  I was horrified and deeply saddened by every part of that request,  I declined the portrait session and vowed to always keep it  real. 

 

This morning, while surfing through a couple of the photo blogs I follow, I was SO thrilled to come across this article on The Digital School of Photography blog.  It is a guest post by Rebecca Lily  She discusses the trend toward authenticity in photography. (woohoo)   

 

My favorite quote from that post

 

"So where does this trend lead us in the world of photography? Someplace better, I believe. As the trend towards authenticity evolves, it inevitably changes the mindset of society for the better. This is part of the influence that we have as photographers, and part of our responsibility. I am always delighted to see wedding and portrait photographers that spend more time learning how to capture a person’s real, natural beauty with good light and a flattering angle – rather than liquefying and plasticizing them in Photoshop. How we as photographers approach our subjects tells a story to the world – and to ourselves – about what we perceive as beautiful and acceptable, and sets a standard to those who are watching us.

I am hopeful when I stand on my tiptoes and look ahead to where the photography industry is going. I see this trend developing into a new and better way of thinking, of seeing. Publications begin to celebrate the everyday and the common in favor of the glossy. Models begin to look like real people. Homes begin to look lived-in rather than like museums. Nature begins to look like nature and not like Super Mario-world. Authenticity begins to shine.

And it’s about time"

When I read Rebeeca's post my heart smiled. I LOVE real and  I feel like I have done my job when I can capture someone or something in the most natural authentic way possible. A photo that shows who they are and possibly what is going on in their life at the time, not how well they have been posed.  

This is one of my favorite photos, and for me,  proves the beauty of authenticity, the beauty of real.  This sweet little girl's daddy was leaving town on a business trip the day after our photo session and she was a just a little out of sorts about him being gone.  A couple of times during the session the poor little thing just needed a "posing break".  This is one of those breaks and what turned out to be one of my favorite pictures, it touches my heart every time I look at it.    

 

Woohoo for authenticity,  woohoo for real,  and woohoo for embracing what God has given us and accepting ouselves for who and what we are.  

"Be yourself, everyone else is already taken" Oscar Wilde

 

Jeanne

The challenge continues

A month ago I was inspired by a friend to post a photo a day. (thank you Diane) It has been a great experience! I have started seriously loving my camera again and have remembered how much I enjoy and love photography. The creativity is flowing again! Woohoo!
I will be continuing the photo a day challenge on my new photography blog page www.brickroadphoto.blogspot.com. If you have been following the posts on my personal blog www.itsasimplelittleblog.blogspot.com  
Please come on over to www.brickroadphoto.blogspot.com and follow me. I will still be posting (boring) life updates on the "simple" blog page, but as my business "brickroadphoto" grows I need to separate things a bit.
SO the challenge continues AND East Texas is just waiting to be photographed!
Bring it on! I would love to have y'all along for the ride.



These boots are made for walkin' ...



Have a safe and fun weekend. My friends to the north, keep an eye to the sky and be safe.
Jeanne
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