J&B Bridal Show
Date: Sunday, January 8th
Time:  12:00 pm
Place:  Laird Hall at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA
Ticket Price:  $5.00

To our graphic artist, Amanda:  Without you, we would be sunk.  You are amazing.  You do more work in one week than I ever could.  Thank you.

To Justin, the other photographer.  :)  You made a lot of brides cry this year, but luckily, all good tears.  I’m looking forward creating more tears with you next year, (and warning DJs that you will be requesting ‘Baby Got Back’.)

To Jon, Jen, Hope, and Selena, thank you for being awesome second shooters!  Jon, I know you’re now doing amazing things in New York, so don’t forget us little guys when you start shooting for Vogue.  :)  Jen, Hope, and Selena, I hope we get to work together more in 2012!

To my amazing partner, manager, accountant, color editor, HR admin, secretary, wife, and mother of my two children, Janelle.  Who works from 9 am – 12 am some days, editing photos while still taking care of the kids and keeping our house spotless.  Thank you.  There really are not words to describe how much I appreciate you and all that you do.  Thank you for supporting me in this crazy endeavor, that has went from just me shooting 7 weddings a year for some extra money, to now needing 4 people, 13 hour days, juggling 100s of clients and orders.  You are the reason this place works.  Thank you.

I’m really looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us!  We are already on track to an even better year with lots of new opportunities!  Have a happy and safe New Year everyone!  To all of our 2012 brides, we are really looking forward to working with each one of you!  This next year will go by faster then you realize, so enjoy it!

I’ve been freelancing for the publisher for over three years now, and this is the third year they’ve invited me to participate in the fashion shoot.  I have to say, this year was my favorite shoot to date.  The fashion shoot always has a theme, and this year it was fairytales; I was given the task of Sleeping Beauty.  The other stories were depicted by the talented Turner Photography team and included the Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, and Snow White.  Oh, and the shoot was taken at the Berkley Springs Castle!  It was very cool.  :)  All of the dresses came from J&B Bridals, who, in my opinion, are the best in the area.

Not only was our image on the cover, but we have several spreads, plus I was interviewed for a story about ‘trash the dress’ sessions.  (The images associated with that article were not taken by me.)  Anyway, I took a few snapshots of the magazine, check it out!

Below are the rest of the images I submitted for the bridal fashion story.  I could not wait to share these!  The model, Natalie, did an amazing job!

Also, make sure to check out the January/February 2012 edition of Hagerstown Magazine!  There is a great story about a very talented local girl named Hannah!  I’m sure you will hear a lot more of her in the future!  The photo of her was an image the magazine commissioned me to take.  It was a blast creating this with her.  She was very fun to work with, and is probably the brightest 10 year old I have ever met.

Thanks to everyone at Hagerstown Magazine!  You guys are always great to work with!  And thank you to Amanda, our graphic artist, for helping me out that day!

On Sunday we went to visit Danny, Becky, and Aiden.  At that time he was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, or HLHS (I’ll be calling it that from now on in this post).  HLHS basically means that the left side of the heart did not form properly and doesn’t work.  In some cases, the left side of the heart is basically non-existent.  However, in Aiden’s case, he has the left side of his heart, it’s just a little smaller and wasn’t working.  The reason it didn’t work was because it was being blocked by a membrane that started growing during the formation of his heart.  This membrane restricted blood flow to the left side of his heart, which made it slightly smaller, and did not allow it to work.

On Monday, after several tests, the doctors concluded that if they removed the membrane from the heart, the problem may fix itself.  The alternative, and ‘safer’ surgery would have been a three step process over the next 2 or 3 years.  Well, at around 2 pm, we got a call from Danny that Aiden was being taken into surgery ‘now’.  The doctors felt that if they waited any longer, they would miss the opportunity to just remove the membrane.  If this surgery didn’t work, Aiden would have had to have been put on life support until they could do the usual surgery for this condition.

Going into surgery, the surgeons also knew of several possible complications, and honestly expected them to happen.  For one, their were a couple of arteries that were too small for regular blood flow and they expected to have to enlarge them.  After just two hours of surgery, the membrane was removed, and as hoped, the heart began to fix itself.  Even the arteries that were too small enlarged enough to move the right amount of blood through his tiny body.  The doctors and surgeons were amazed!  The only part of surgery they had to do was to remove the membrane.  The rest fixed itself.  Danny told us that when the main surgeon came to speak with them, that he was glowing he was so excited.

The surgeon then told Danny and Becky, that the next 12-14 hours were the most critical.  They expected his heart to start losing strength and pressure as his body went more into a rest mode.  They assured Danny and Becky that while these episodes were going to be critical, they were very normal and expected after this type of surgery, and that they were prepared.  Well, it’s now been well over 24 hours since surgery, and Aiden did not have one single ‘episode’.  After the 14th hour had well past, the doctors have told them that Aiden is well on his way to recovery, is out of the woods as far as any ‘episodes’, and that everything should be uphill from here on out!

Aiden still has a long way to go, and he is going to be at the hospital for at least a month while he recovers and receives treatment.  However, barring any unforeseen issues, his heart is fixed, and we have witnessed a miracle first hand.  In fact, this was my brother’s facebook status just a few hours ago:

‘The doctors start there rounds every night at 8:00. Today was a very positive move forward. Aiden is puzzling them because he is doing so well post-op. He is a strong little guy, and I know why he is doing so well. God is holding his little body at every moment.’

Aiden still needs your prayers.  He has swelling in his hands, feet, and face.  The doctors say this is normal and it should go away in a few days.  Aiden is also not urinating as much as they would like.  This has improved as the day went on, but the doctors would like to see more of an increase in urine.  (I’m sure Aiden is going to love that I wrote about his pee when he gets much older.  To 12 year old Aiden, if this blog still exists and you’re reading this, I apologize for embarrassing you.)  :)  Again, the doctors expected this to happen, and it is normal, however, it needs to get better.  Also, please pray for a continued fast recovery, and for Danny and Becky.  They have been so strong through out this ordeal, but I know it can be hard being away from home, and their two precious girls.  The girls, also need your prayers, they are missing their mom and dad, but are having a great time staying with us, and we love having them here.  Those two keep my two kids very busy.  :)

Tomorrow, we are taking the girls down to see Danny and Becky, and they will be staying with my parents at the Ronald McDonald House for a few days.  Speaking of the Ronald McDonald House, I went with my dad yesterday to help him check-in for my brother.  That place is amazing.  I’m sure you may have heard that before, but really, it’s amazing.  Beautiful artwork and photography hanging from the walls, hardwood floors though out, a huge playroom for kids, Tempur-Pedic mattresses…  Seriously, better than some hotels I’ve been too.  :)  Plus, it’s only $10 a night.  When you’re faced with a medical situation that is going to keep you for over a month, you need a place to stay, and the Ronald McDonald House provides this and more.  It’s an amazing charity that I plan to start giving to on a regular basis.  To learn more, check them out here:  http://rmhc.org/

Thank you all for your prayers and support.  As I said in my last update, my family and I have learned a long time ago, that putting faith and trust in God is the only way to get through these types of situations.  By all accounts, it looks as though Aiden is proof that miracles can and do happen, and you have witnessed this miracle with us.  God is alive and very, very real.  I can see his hand in everything that has happened up to this point.  He has been involved in every little detail, right down to the fact that I was supposed to be on vacation this week, so Justin has been in the studio taking care of business.  Had I not had a vacation lined  up, no one would be covering the studio right now.  There are many little things like this which all equal a plan laid out by a loving Father who takes care of His children.  Prayer works, and there is always hope.

Congrats Lindsay & Luke!  I’ll see you in a few hours!

I didn’t decided to become a photographer because I thought it would be easy money, because it’s not.  I also didn’t go out and buy a camera and say, ‘wow, I take nice photos of my kids, I think I’ll be a photographer.’  I didn’t choose photography, in a very cliché way, it choose me.  After about 10 years of a hobby, and then 3 more years of it being a part-time gig, photography became my full-time job, but not because I wanted it to be.  My nice, easy 9-5 job was sent to India, and I just knew that I needed to make Aesthetic Life full-time.  When I started A Life, I thought a lot about what I wanted for my business, and why I wanted to do it.  I also put a lot of thought into our name, Aesthetic Life Studio.  I could have easily made it ‘Rodney Cool Photography’ or ‘Cool Photography’ (that one, not so much), or any variation of my name, but I didn’t want to limit what we did or who was doing it.  I also wanted a name to express our companies purpose.  Our mission is to ‘Capture the Beauty of Life’ (and yes, that is trademarked) :) and to create art out of natural beauty.  Our philosophy is that every life is a precious and beautiful gift, and should be photographed in a way that not only preserves what someone looks like, but captures who they are.  Their spirit, personality, and individual beauty.  This is one of the reasons why we do not over process our images to the point the subject looks plastic.  We believe they are beautiful how they are, and the retouching done is to enhance the beauty already there, not make them look like someone their not.

So, why is this relevant to the CURE shoot?  My point is that assignments like this are why I chose to be a photographer, or I should say, why I feel called to be a photographer.  I do this not for money, or art, or to make a name for myself.  I do this for people.  I want to help them, and I feel photography is my outlet to do so.  By photographing for this magazine, I will be helping to tell the stories of cancer survivors to give hope, or by telling the stories of the dying to give them a voice, dignity, and honor.  Or even by telling the stories of those who lost loved ones who are telling their story to give comfort and hope to people facing loss.  This is the reason I do what I do.  Capture fleeting moments in an artistic way, to express beauty and life.  By doing so, it is my hope that love is shared, and in the good and bad times memories are shared, cherished, and provide comfort.

Congrats, guys!  :)

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