J.R. Dude Photography

2011-01-03T18:09:00.003-05:00

The Jackson 5

These dudes are pretty cool. Brooke, the oldest of the five siblings, is being deployed to Iraq in about a month. She wanted to get photos with her two sisters and two brothers before she left. I was honored to be the chosen photographer!
Here's a snippet of our session last Thursday...more to come! I'm working as fast as I can, Brooke! :-)

2010-10-29T18:51:00.005-04:00

Rachael - Senior 2011 (sneak peak!!)

Rachael is the drum major for Greenville High School, planning to attend MSU and study medicine (yeah, just slightly more brainy than me!). She was WAY too cute behind the camera. I'm having trouble deciding which pics are best! I know she's been dying to see some of her pics, so I thought I'd wet her whistle. ;-)
In the meantime, I'm having fun working on these pics...more to come later!

2010-10-29T15:19:00.005-04:00

Claire - Class of 2011

I've been dying to do this senior session for about four years. That's about how long I've known Claire, a senior at Central Montcalm. She's horse-crazying, fun-loving, beautiful and one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. If anyone wonders if waking up early to catch "first light" is worth it, hopefully the first few of these photos will convince you.

2010-10-10T18:17:00.010-04:00

Senior 2011 - Stephanie

Have I mentioned that I LOVE shooting people with their animals? Especially horses? And when the people in the picture are just as cute as their animals, it makes my job pretty easy...
Meet Stephanie, a 2011 senior from Central Montcalm. I've watched Steph grow up from a young 4-Her to (WOW!) graduation. I can't believe how fast time flies. Here's a few of my favorite shots from the proof book Steph will be receiving shortly.

2010-09-02T17:14:00.003-04:00

Holden - 15 months

Remember this handsome fella? I took his pictures when he was just a few weeks old, and again with his family when he was six months. Well, we had all intentions of taking his photos at a year old, but you know how busy a summer can get. Between his momma's schedule and planning my wedding (oh, I forgot to tell you! I'm Jessica BEERY now!), we couldn't find a time that would work for both of us until the WEEK before the wedding! Whew!
There were supposed to be several family pictures, but Holden had other ideas...we were quick to grab some when we could!
Here's a few of my favorites. I'll post the link to the complete gallery soon...what a cutie!

2010-05-10T15:31:00.005-04:00

Family Photo Time

The Rasmussens contacted me about a month ago to shoot some updated family photos and we were finally able to match our busy schedules to get them taken a couple weeks ago. Jesse (the oldest son, wearing blue) left to join the military shortly after these family photos were taken. The very best of wishes for you, Jesse!!! Thank you for your service to our country.

Thanks again, you guys, for allowing me to be part of one of your precious last days together!!!

2009-11-19T09:25:00.002-05:00

New Senior Gallery

Gerrit's complete gallery is up and ready to be unveiled to the admiring public!!!
I hope he loves the photos as much as I loved taking them...what an awesome senior! Thanks again, Gerrit and Robin! :-)

2009-11-06T09:22:00.001-05:00

Sneak Peak: Gerrit's senior shoot

Wow, just when I think I've had the best photo shoot ever, another one happens!!!
Gerrit and I hung out around Greenville and got some sweeeeet shots...wow, once he warmed up to the session, he really started to show his personality on film. I was hustling to keep up with him!
Here's a peak at our session last week!!! I'll post the full gallery for you to enjoy later...

2009-10-21T14:32:00.000-04:00

The Lee Family

This past weekend I had the opportunity to take some updated family photos for one of my former co-workers. I had taken some photos of Holden this past spring, but he was turning six months old the end of October (which, of course, means he needs new pictures, especially with Christmas coming!)
While I was there I shot a few of mom and dad...and their cute puppy Molly. To give you an idea about how excited they were, everyone had new coordinating outfits...which matched the house!!!
Here's a sampling of our fun. If you want to see more, feel free to check out their gallery...thanks for the fun shoot you guys!!!

2009-10-10T23:59:00.000-04:00

15 minute senior shoot

For those of you out there who don't want to take a long time getting senior pictures shot, take a look at this quickie session from last week (before the weather got all yucky!). Meet Benjamin O., a senior at Rockford High School. He's my first client from RHS country, and I'm hoping he loves his pictures enough to spread the word! He didn't even want senior pictures taken, but his mom made sure they got done (way to go, mom!). We were in and out really fast, one outfit, a few different backdrops and POW. Probably my favorite senior session to date...hopefully Ben agrees with me! He definitely had the Christopher Reeve look going.

Thanks for the great and fun shoot, Ben! Hope you enjoy the results...here's a preview. For the complete 15 minute shoot visit his gallery.

2009-10-07T10:19:00.000-04:00

Visiting the Renaissance Festival

This past weekend my boyfriend and I, along with his older sister, two nieces and nephew, drove the HOURS to visit the Renaissance Festival in Holly. Nate and I had won some free tickets during my company's golf outing, and we were able to manage the trip on the very last weekend of the festival. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but the three little ones (all under the age of 4) were troopers and we all had a blast together!!! We didn't get to see everything (we were too tired by the time we got there), but we enjoyed the variety of colorful sights in the village. Here's a few highlights of our adventure...

Reese riding a pony (was it her first time???)

Yes, it rained while we were there...and LOTS while we were driving.

The flaming jugglers posing for my "big camera" — how embarrassing!

Jayden enjoying the honey sticks...

Riding the SEAHORSE

King Jackson
Princess Reese
And cute little jester, Jaydee

2009-09-23T08:46:00.000-04:00

Out in the back pasture

Nothing worthy of photos around your place? Well, take a closer look at what you look at every day. There's plenty of beauty all around you! I decided to take a 30-minute photo vacation last night and (after dousing myself with deep woods OFF) took a walk through the back pasture. This is what I found...

2009-09-23T08:13:00.001-04:00

Urban-y grunge

I've been having more fun with my Photoshop lately, experimenting with different looks. I've had some recent requests for "urban style" senior pictures, so I played around with some pictures I took of a coworker for our Daily News Web site. I was trying to go for the dirty, washed out kind of look. What do you think?

2009-09-09T08:40:00.000-04:00

My favorite Morgan

I think I'm going to order a enlargement of this one...we were just having fun out in the pasture with my camera. Max is a little camera shy, but he's learning! :-) Isn't he such a pretty boy!!!

2009-09-09T08:13:00.000-04:00

My great-grandfather's Ford 8N

We recently had to take down two old box-elder trees in our back yard, providing my dad plenty of opportunity to use last year's Christmas present — a new Stihl chainsaw. While my dad loves his new machine, he has another favorite machine that's been around a lot longer. This Ford 8N belonged to his grandfather, and Daddy has invested time and money to keep it running through the years. This is the tractor that took us on hay rides through the fields and the machine I learned the basics of stick-shifting with. She still purrs like a kitten and hopefully will for a good long time.

2009-07-31T08:05:00.000-04:00

More Fair: Why I love shooting horses...

Look at these beauties!!! Though not always behaving as their riders would like, have you seen anything so awesome! I think this is why I keep coming back each year to shoot the horse show events— despite the sometimes-blistering heat, misbehaving camera, burning sun and clouds of dust. I do it to capture horses in their complete and total awesomeness. ;-)

Yes, the girl fell off but was no worse for the wear. I actually shot a series of 6 photos of this rear and they plan to frame the series of photos. :-)

2009-07-31T07:58:00.000-04:00

More Fair: Equestrian Cheese

Not sure if these fairground cuties were tired or bored or what...but I just couldn't help capture but snap these fun "horse portaits" between shows. The owners LOVED these pictures!!! I wish I was that cute when I yawn—what a hoot!

2009-07-31T07:48:00.000-04:00

Fair Week!!!

Okay, so fair week was two weeks ago now. It's taken me a while to recover and get enlargement orders mailed out to the 4-Hers, but last night I finally had a hour to collect some pictures to show you what I do every year—shoot the Montcalm County 4-H Fair horse shows. This involves waking up and getting to the fairgrounds (20 minutes away) by 8:15 a.m. every morning all week and leaving around 9 or 10 at night (with lots of water bottles and sunscreen applications in between)!
A big thanks goes out to Meijers in Greenville for giving me a deal on my THOUSANDS of photos they develop for me throughout the week on a rapid basis. I couldn't keep my customers impressed with how fast the photos are developed without them.
Here's a sampling of the youngsters I enjoyed through my lens that week...wow, they've grown up so much the past few years.

2009-06-30T23:28:00.000-04:00

Sunny Daze

This past Sunday I did something I feel like I haven't been able to do for a while...just sit in the yard and take pictures of what I see. Just for fun. No pressures, just noticing lovely things around me. Summer is already going way too fast, so it was nice to just slow down and enjoy it from one spot in the yard with my 300mm lens...

My deadly and adorable "panther", Gus

My Morgan, Maxwell, ever convinced it's greener on the other side of the fence...

Isn't this what summer should be about?

God's designs are always the best and most beautiful.

My enthusiastic little friend, Stetson. He's always the first to welcome me home from a long day at work. Gotta love those eyes...

2009-06-16T22:24:00.000-04:00

The sister galleries are up...there's three to browse through.
1.) The sisters together. Can you tell they have a lot of fun together?
2.) The older sister, Riley. She was quite the pretty young lady.
3.) The younger sister, Marlee, who kept us all entertained with her "Shirley Temple" personality. She was a total ham for the camera!!!

2009-06-16T14:27:00.001-04:00

Sisters, sisters

Yesterday I had fun shooting two little girls from my church...we went to their grandparents' house and goofed around (while calling it a photo shoot!). Shooting kids is both challenging and extremely rewarding. These two youngsters were ever willing...just not for too long. "I think we should try a new place," was the cue we'd spent too much time on one rock. But there were lots of options and the girls were ADORABLE! Hopefully their mom (and the relatives begging for updated photos) will enjoy the memories. I'll post the complete gallery soon...

2009-06-10T08:53:00.000-04:00

Baby Holden

Babies are sooo precious!!! I'd never done a newborn photo shoot before last night (aside from snapping photos of the cuties I watch in church nursery), but I totally fell in love with taking pictures of Holden L. last night. Momma said he was more fussy than usual, but we still managed to squeeze in a nice shoot (complete with 3 outfits, two diaper changes and four feedings). What a little bundle of joy!!! See the complete gallery here...

2009-06-10T08:47:00.000-04:00

Candice and kitties gallery

Check out the gallery of Candice with her two kitties...

2009-06-02T18:00:00.001-04:00

Of girls and their cats...

After the rain cleared out Monday afternoon, the partly cloudy skies made for some nice lighting as I shot six-grader Candice with her two precious kitties, Archie and Mittens. Here's a sneak peak at their cuteness... I'll post a link to the gallery when I get them ready.

2009-05-28T08:22:00.000-04:00

Looking up

Ps. 121: 1-2
"I lift my eyes unto the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
Maker of heaven and earth."

2009-05-27T10:44:00.000-04:00

"I come to the garden alone"

I recently had the opportunity to visit Biltmore Estates in Asheville, N.C. Known as the largest house in North America, Biltmore also has lovely gardens and greenhouses...I just had to show you some of the vivid colors!

"And He walks with me and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am his own!
And the joy we share as we tarry there...none other has ever known."

2009-04-01T17:41:00.001-04:00

First Sign of Spring

I was shooting the scene of a six-month old fire today (the home will soon be demolished) and spotted these little beauties poking their heads out of a former flower bed...life amongst the ashes. Doesn't God make such simply beautiful things?

2009-03-17T12:16:00.000-04:00

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Apparently there was something yummy there in the dirt...but I'm thinking fried chicken sounds good right now.

2009-03-11T15:06:00.000-04:00

Ducky Day

The Flat River in Greenville is the pit stop for dozens of Canadian geese and mallard ducks. Sometimes they enjoy a few crumbs of tossed bread, so they're not very afraid of people. I enjoyed taking advantage of their bravery...

2009-03-09T11:29:00.000-04:00

Man's Best Friend

There's just something about the face of a dog...this champion Schnauzer lives a couple miles from my house and I was excited at the chance to take some pictures of him. You can barely make out his eye through the show-cut hair...

2009-03-05T13:24:00.000-05:00

Old Barns

One of the most beautiful things about living in Montcalm County is taking road trips through rural farmland. Some of these old beauties seem just waiting for someone to stop and notice them. So I tried.

2009-02-02T11:47:00.000-05:00

A Senior Gift

After shooting Jesse's senior pictures this fall, his parents wanted to do something special for a graduation gift. Jesse LOVES his Ford Mustang, but his parents wanted to order other photos for his senior package. So they asked me to put together a collage of sorts — something that would highlight this farm boy's favorite set of wheels.
Being the first time I'd ever done one of these collages, I thought it turned out pretty good (there's always room for improvement next time). They wanted something simple and classy, so hopefully I could capture that side of Jesse in this collection.
Congratulations on your graduation, Jesse!!!

2009-01-27T08:58:00.000-05:00

A Tribute to the Guys...

I know it's the dead of winter and the very thought of senior portraits is either faint history, or seemingly forever in the future (will it ever get warm enough to be outside again?!? *brrr!*), but I wanted to say "thank you" to the guys who have allowed me to capture their special moments on film...here's a few of my favorites.

Gotta love the lip chewing...

King of the "mountain"

Jesse's pride and joy

I love the evening sun hitting his copper hair...

He only wore the sweater for this one photo...but isn't he handsome?

Thanks, little brother, for letting me shoot your graduation pics.
I'm excited to see where the Lord will lead you in the ministry!!!

Thanks guys!!! You all looked handsome and took great photos. It was fun individualizing your sessions to suit your individual style and "cool"ness!!! :-)

2009-01-20T13:27:00.000-05:00

I was totally captured by the light shining through the frost-coated trees along the Flat River...I decided as soon as I had a free moment to run down and snap a few pictures. I didn't last very long without a hat and gloves (it was about 2º outside)...so I didn't get as many as I'd like. But here's a sample...

The view through the trees by the new Flat River Trail bridge:A shot off Lafayette street to the west:
Leftover frozen Christmas lights on the lamppost:
The view from my favorite bench on the trail:
And of my favorite bench... :
Light through the frosted trees on the hill:
The river was absolutely beautiful with the fog rising above it:
Although I was frozen by the time I got back (talk about pounding pain in my fingers), these photos were sooo worth it. :-) Enjoy the beauty of God's creation!

2009-01-15T08:59:00.000-05:00

Well, this is my first official posting on my photography blog...I've had fun tweaking the design of it, and hope to soon be posting samples from my photography sessions for you all to enjoy.

But, for now, it is a bitterly cold day and business is always slower during the cold winter months. I thought I would encourage you to check out, if you haven't already, my Web site, an awesome birthday present from my best friend (and boyfriend). It isn't perfect yet (for instance, there's no link to this blog on it yet), but it's definitely an impressive work in progress (well, at least I love it!!!)
www.jrdudephotography.com
It's one of those that's pretty easy to remember. :-) Go ahead...poke around. And if you have any tips for making it better, let me know!