Two weeks ago, a young woman from my church, Alanna, and her unborn son, were killed in a tragic accident while on vacation with her husband in Florida.

Alanna was a joyful, sweet woman – the kind of person that no one could say a bad thing about – just genuinely loving and kind.  She always had a beautiful smile on her face.  I remember the few conversations I had with her being completely pleasant, and walking away feeling encouraged and more grateful for my life and work than I was before.  Our hearts have been so heavy within the GENESIS community, even for those of us who didn’t know Alanna very well. Her death affects us all because we are one Body. “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:4-5.  And it’s that much harder for those who knew her well and for whom she was a big part of their lives.  More than anything, my heart aches for her husband Michael, and her family.  It’s an absolutely devastating loss.

For the last 2 weeks, I have been praying that God would use this for good.  I have said it again and again, but her death, this whole thing is just so completely horrible – it’s so horrible that there is no way that God will not use it for good.  God does not delight in tragedy, but in taking ashes and turning them into something beautiful.  And I believe with all my heart that God will use Alanna’s death to bring about something beautiful in the lives of those left behind.  I believe that He will reveal Himself to us, and to many.  I have already seen it, and I trust that it will only grow as time passes.

I think Alanna’s legacy is her faith in and love for Jesus, and that above everything else, she would want people to know that about her, to see that in her, and to seek the same.  On her Facebook page, in her “about me” section she wrote the lyrics to the song Legacy by Nichole Nordeman…

“I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy”

This is the legacy she leaves.  Her entire life, and even her death points us to God.  That’s what she wanted most, and I believe that’s what she’s done.  And I rejoice in knowing that she’s with Him now – at perfect peace, in perfect joy, and hearing “well done, my good and faithful servant.”

For me personally, I feel overwhelmed with all I’ve learned in these last few days.  I look at how she died in the midst of such joy – she’d said it was the happiest day of her life – and I realize that life is just too short for anything else.  Life is too short to spend it being angry, or frustrated.  Life is too short to waste our time on foolish things, on too many hours spent in front of a computer or a TV.  Life is too short not to tell the people you love that you love them – not to show them that you love them.  And most importantly, life is too short not to be lived in light of what we believe is most important.  Alanna’s entire life, her entire personality, everything about her pointed the people around her to Jesus, spoke to them of His love. Will they say the same of me when I die someday?  I hope so.  I hope that I could leave half the mark on the people around me that Alanna has left.  I look to her example, and am deeply challenged.  I pray that my life would be different from here on out – that her life and death would not impact me just these last few weeks, but for the rest of my life.

You truly never know what moment will be your last, don’t waste them.

p.s. I wish I knew who the photographer was who took her wedding photo, so I could give him/her proper credit.  I pulled this from Facebook, and she didn’t credit her photog.  A reminder to all of us photographers to watermark our images…  If you shot this photo, please let me know and I’ll edit the post!

]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2012/04/life-is-too-short/feed/ 0 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2012/01/the-end-of-a-year/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2012/01/the-end-of-a-year/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:19:35 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/?p=1502 Today I’m officially observing New Year’s Day!  Every year, I normally spend New Year’s Day sleeping in (check), having a nice long quiet time of journaling and praying (check), work out a budget for the new year (um, pass, I don’t feel like it), going through my calendar for the last year (check), and reminiscing about all that’s happened (check).  It’s been a challenging year for sure, especially the last few months of the year when life got doubly stressful, but as I look back I have a much better perspective and am able to truly thank God for this year!

Here’s a little peek at my 2011 in no particular order…

Shot 14 fabulous weddings from January through December in Boston, on the Cape, and in Connecticut

Took voice lessons for the first time

Renovated my home office

Fell in love with my new neph-dog, Buckeye

Brought on CoCo as a paid office assistant

FINALLY bough an iPhone!!!!

Lead a LIFEgroup of fabulous women for a few months

Got published in The Knot Boston, twice!

Said goodbye to too many dear friends as they moved away

Joyfully welcomed back a few friends as they returned home

Spoke at the Boston PUG on Facebook Marketing, and with Enna Grazier at Inspire 2011 on Branding

Shot 12 Engagement Sessions in Boston, on the Cape, and in New York

Donated over $4800 to various non-profits as part of our GIVE program!!  So cool!

Sang lots of karaoke (sometimes while shooting weddings ;)

Helped organize and pull off the 2nd Inspire Photo Conference, and began planning the 3rd (it’s going to be sweet, you photogs should come!)

Shot 10 Family Portrait Sessions in Boston, Indianapolis & Chicago

Holiday Portrait Party!

sang on the Worship Team at GENESIS on a lot of Sunday mornings

Shot 5 Corporate photo sessions

Bought a new iMac to add to my collection

Discovered the Colin Firth version of Pride & Prejudice and held a British mini-series marathon that caused some random British accents to pop into conversations for a month or so

Travelled to Dallas for my cousin’s wedding, a photo conference, and a visit with a friend – whirlwind weekend for sure!

Watched Butler lose the NCAA Finals for the 2nd year in a row.  wah wah :(

Scratched the surface of understanding the word GRACE and what God’s love is really like

Spent a long weekend at Loon Mountain with some of my favorite photog ladies

Lots of visits from Mom & Dad (aka Mimi & Papa)

Discovered & fell in love with The Civil Wars, Pinterest, and truffle oil tater tots

The Great Giveaway!

8 friends got married, 3 more got engaged, and 6 had babies, adopt or get pregnant!

Spent as much time at the beach as I possibly could

2 weeks in Indianapolis, and the annual Guenin Family Vacation

Cried over the end of the Harry Potter series

Said goodbye as too many friends moved away, rejoiced as a couple of friends returned home

Watched my sister’s kids get far too big

Hunkered down for Hurricane Irene

Threw some fun parties

Cookie Face Race!

Dexter.  Psych.  Pushing Daisies.  Mad Men.  My So Called Life.  The joy of Hulu & Netflix…

Turned 34.  yep.

Finished reading through the entire Bible for the second time (it only took me 5 1/2 years…)

Did NOT have anyone move into or out of my house!!  A first for the last many years – so thankful for my awesome roommate!

Laughed a lot, cried a lot, went to the chiropractor a lot, ate too much pizza, drank too much Coke, sat at my computer a lot a lot a lot…

All in all, that’s a pretty great year!  I have more to be thankful for than I remembered yesterday – so that’s pretty awesome :)

Here’s to a great 2012!!

xoxo

Krista

Just for the record…  I graduated from Butler University, and I will be rooting for the BULLDOGS to win the NCAA Basketball championship tonight!  I think that you should too.  :)

**/edit/**

I’m so sad they lost last night, but I think this article is just awesome!  I was not impressed with their playing last night, but I am beyond impressed with how they handled it.

Fenway

3

The view from Left Field

Foul Line

The stands

self portrait on the dugout

The Green Monster

The field

batting cages

:)

Austin got a little sleepy on the walk to the park.   You’ll notice he & his Daddy are Indians fans.  That’ll happen when you’re from Ohio…

That baby is too cute!

Me & “Mommy”

I pretty much just want to kiss those cheeks all the time!

Fenway did not disappoint!

The only part of the game that I even remember was this huge fight that broke out when the Indians pitcher hit a guy with the ball, like for the 3rd time…

Just for fun, here’s a few photos of Marietta & I over the years…. hehe :]

Marietta & I met doing synchronized swimming.  Our first routine was a duet we swam together.  We were pretty cute, huh?  (~1987)

My first professional baseball game!  Rooting for the Braves at Cincinnati (1994)

And here we are now…  Times have definitely changed, but it’s so wonderful to have friends who have known you for most of your life!!!

]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2010/09/my-first-red-sox-game/feed/ 1 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2010/08/the-great-giveaway/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2010/08/the-great-giveaway/#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:02:37 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/?p=1195 Earlier this summer, my church GENESIS held an event called The Great Giveaway.  This was our way of reaching out and blessing the community of Woburn.  We’re a very new church in the area, and thought this might be a great way to meet our neighbors.  We basically had a HUGE yard sale where everything was given away for FREE!  Hundreds of people came and almost everything was taken by the end of the day (what wasn’t taken was donated to Salvation Army).  It was the coolest thing!  People could not get over the fact that everything was free, and that there were no strings attached.  It was so fun!

We spent HOURS going through all the donations, organizing everything, and then putting it out in the parking lot.  There was a TON of stuff!!

People were lined up at the entrance for hours waiting for the event to start.  It was so cool to watch them run when we opened the gates!

THOUSANDS of items of clothing were given away!

Just for fun, I shot some film with my Holga :)

Leg Warmers!!

And this guy found some roller skates, and rolled away on them – and they even matched his shirt!  He was so excited! :)

there was face-painting for the kiddos

and a bouncy house!

Even Justin, Gretchen & Chloe came :)

I am so blessed to be part of this community!    I definitely hope we do this again next year :)

Drove with my sister & her 3 kids (ages 3-7) from Boston to Niagara Falls.

Came down with bronchitis.

Visited my old synchronized swimming coach who was coaching at Nationals nearby.  The only other times I’ve been to Niagara Falls is when I’ve been to synchro meets!  (yes, I was a synchronized swimmer & coach for 15 years!)

Visited Niagara Falls and went on the Maid of the Mist for the first time!  Very cool – and very wet!!

Drove with Kyla & the kids from Niagara Falls to Columbus, OH.

are we there yet?  are we there yet?

Visited lots of Kyla’s friends in Columbus, ate lots of Graeter’s Ice Cream.  yum!

Drove with Kyla & the kids from Columbus to Mom & Dad’s house in Indianapolis.

cough.  cough.  nap.  cough.  whine.

Fireworks on the White River for Independence Day!

Watched a lot of the Tour de France with my Dad.

Visited with some old college friends & their babies.

Pool party.  boat rides.  playground.  Did I mention bronchitis?  doctor’s office.   sprinkler park.  water park.

Brother-in-law arrived.  Kids excited because “now we’re a family!”

Drove with the whole fam up to Monticello, IN for Guenin Family Vacation 2010!  25 of my favorite Guenins vacationing it up for 3 glorious days :)  Lots of baseball and swimming in the pool, and Euchre, and food, and more boat rides!

Visited a dairy farm.  Almost saw a cow give birth.  scarred for life.

Drove all by my lonesome to Chicago.

Ate at some of my favorite restaurants with some of my favorite girls!

Photo shoot.  Photo shoot.

Drive back to Indy.

Nephew’s 7th Birthday extravaganza!  Star Wars.  Toy Story 3.  repeat.

Got caught on the boat in the POURING rain.

Photo shoot.

Drove solo from Indy to Columbus to Rochester, NY to Woburn, MA.

sigh.

It sure was FUN!  And super exhausting ;)  I would share more photos, but I think my clients need me to get back to work after all this time off!  Back to editing I go…  :)

Looking at clouds…

watching dolphins swim free…

having a ridiculous amount of fun with my niece & nephews, sister, bro-in-law, and parents…

We will be sure to grab some family portraits too!

I’ll even get a couple photos of ME!  (my sister took this one :)

And my nephew, Tristan took this one!

And, since it’s Mother’s Day… Here’s me & my Momma!  Happy Mother’s Day Mom!  I love you, and double-love that we get to spend the day together on the beach!!!!!!!!  S.W.A.K!

Ok, I’m off!  Have a great week people!

I was hanging out with my friend’s baby, Tellen, the other day.  And I could not resist photographing her gorgeous little face.  I mean her little nose, and her chubby cheeks were seriously just TOO MUCH!!

She looks a little freaked out, but trust me, we’re totally buds!

See!

Oh.  my.  goodness!

Apparently this last shot right here, this sleeping child, made me the “Tellen-whisperer”  :)

Tellen – you’re too cute for words!

The day started with some intensive teaching in the morning, and we spent some time trying out what we’d learned and playing with Doug & ASA’s gear in the afternoon :)

here’s Doug…

At one point we broke up into teams and had to recreate one of Doug’s favorite shots using a model and whatever lights we wanted.  We got pretty close to the same lighting Doug used in his original…

Later, Doug gave each person a real life challenge.  When you’re on a shoot, crazy things can happen and it’s good to be prepared for any situation.  My assignment was to shoot with one off-camera flash to get a nice portrait while balancing the ambient light using gels.  The trick to my assignment was that I had 7 minutes total, and was NOT allowed to use my LCD screen to see if I’d gotten it right.  Not even the histograms!  As someone who’s never used gels, this was a little crazy.  You’ll see that I’m showing you the image in black & white…. I think I got a good shot, but the color was totally off!  Sometimes the best learning experiences are failures ;)

Thanks Doug for a great workshop!  Here’s to playing more with lighting at my shoots this year!

- Seminars, Workshops, and Conferences, oh my! I’m not kidding, there are so many to choose from it’s overwhelming!  I finally settled on just a few that I thought would be really helpful.  Justin & Mary Marantz’ Spread the Love workshop, Doug Levy’s Get Lit Workshop on off-camera flash, Inspire Boston which I helped my dear friends the Graziers organize, and the Southwestern Photojournalism Conference in Dallas.  Each was awesome for very different reasons, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to blog about them in the coming days to tell you all about them!

- Albums, albums, albums! This is the time of year when we finally have some time to sit down with my brides and help them choose images for their albums.  And I’ve brought on a new album designer, Andrea, who’s doing an amazing job creating beautiful albums that tell the stories my brides hope to someday share with their kids and grandkids.  I’ll try to blog a few designs for you, so you can see for yourself!

- Marketing… This is also the time of year when I go back to the drawing board on my website and decide it needs all new photos!  So, I’m busy working on that and trying to narrow down my favorites, which is always the hardest part!  It’s also when I need to sit down and rethink my marketing strategies, make sure I’m only advertising on the right websites, and reaching the right brides (i.e. the fabulous brides who want to work with me, and vice versa).  This basically means a lot of decision making for me – and I can say without reservation that decision-making is not my strong suit ;)

- Taxes. ugh!  ‘nough said.

- Reconnect. The best part of the off-season is that I actually get to spend some time hanging out with my friends – both in the industry and outside!  So, each week my calendar seems ridiculously filled with lunches, dinners, karaoke nights, and all sorts of fun things!  I’m not complaining :)

Oh, I’ve also finally gotten around to editing some of my personal photos from last year!  Here are a few of my niece & nephews – because they’re the cutest and because a post without photos is lame!

So, that’s what I’ve been up to!  Now it’s time to get back to working on those other blog posts…  I’ll talk to you soon!  ;)

]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2010/03/the-off-season/feed/ 0 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/07/out-of-the-office-2/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/07/out-of-the-office-2/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:27:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/07/out-of-the-office-2/ Well, it’s that time of year again! Time for Guenin Family Annual Vacation!! Which means, I’m heading to Indiana for a couple weeks :) First up, I’m shooting my cousin’s wedding, then a week at home with my parents, a few portrait shoots while I’m in Indy, and then 3 lovely days in Cincinatti with my WHOLE FAMILY (see last year’s family photo below)! It should be a great trip!

I won’t be answering emails or non-urgent phone calls while I’m gone. But, I’ve got a couple blog posts brewing for you so you don’t miss me too much ;)

Have a great couple of weeks, friends!!

Well, it’s not all sunshine and roses, and this past weekend was proof. I was scheduled to shoot 2 weddings this weekend and through different, and horrible circumstances outside my control, I wasn’t able to photograph either of them…

Last week, I came down with chicken pox. Now, I’ve had chicken pox TWICE already (lucky me, huh?), so this third time was very mild. But chicken pox is airborne and that’s not good for someone photographing other people’s weddings. Even though I felt fine, and the lesions were starting to heal already by Friday, there was still a chance I could spread the infection. So, on Friday morning the bride and groom and I finally made the decision that it would not be wise to take the risk by having me there.

Thank God for the Boston Photographers Guild! The BPG is a group of local wedding photographers who come together online and in person for support, encouragement, and community. Before I had even contacted my bride, I sent word on the BPG forum asking for help. And with just a couple hours’ notice, I had a great photographer to replace me at the wedding along with a fabulous second shooter and assistant!

I can’t tell you how hard it was to send another photographer to shoot one of my weddings in my place!! I knew she’d do a great job, but I also knew she wouldn’t take the same pictures I would. I’m a control freak and putting the event, my business & reputation in the hands of someone else, made me realize that I was totally not in control. Talk about humbling! I also knew I’d miss seeing it all come together. I’d miss meeting the families and seeing the couple enjoying their day. I realized just how much I enjoy getting to know my couples when I’m at their weddings! You just see such a different piece of people when you see them with their closest friends and family. And I love that. I was so sad that I couldn’t be there.

Thankfully, the bride & groom were incredibly gracious and understanding. They even called me from the airport before they left for their honeymoon to let me know how wonderful the day went, and that while they feel like everyone did a great job, they still missed having me there. It was so comforting to know that we did the right thing, and they it worked out well – but it was also really sweet to know that they missed having me there as much as I missed being there.

I wish I could say that that was all that went wrong this weekend, but that was just Friday…

By Sunday my chicken pox were all but gone, and I felt very confident that I was no longer contagious. Thanking God, I headed down to the Cape excited to shoot the wedding of two friends. I arrived just in time to find out that they had called off the wedding :( It was so incredibly sad, and my heart aches for both of them. Everyone agreed that it is better they call it off than to go through with it with doubts and end up unhappy or divorced. But, that doesn’t make it less painful or sad or awful.

My brother posted a blog the day before that turns out is unfortunately well timed. He wrote, “To my friend who is suffering right now – my prayer for you is not so much that you would have answers, but that you would see God. Despite the pain, confusion and hurt, my prayer is not for relief, but that you would see God with clarity. For I know if you can learn to see Him in the pain, you will never miss Him when there is peace. If you can see Him in the storm, you will never miss Him again in the calm. If you see Him, you will see a God who not only sees you, but you will see that He cares.” I pray that for these friends as well – that they would see the God who is their strength, their comfort, their refuge, and the One who loves them.

These last few days have been stressful, and sad. There have been lots of tears. But this is real life. Things happen. People get sick. Things don’t go according to plan. We have to rely on other people and let them help us. Sometimes we have to make decisions that hurt. And somehow, life goes on. And I think we’re stronger in the end because of it.

I hope that this is not only the first but also the LAST time I’ll have to miss a wedding I’m scheduled to photograph. And I pray that this is the last time one my weddings gets canceled. But, I am thankful that if that’s not the case, God has a plan for all these things. ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/06/its-not-all-sunshine-and-roses/feed/ 5 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/05/im-back/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/05/im-back/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 16:14:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/05/im-back/ Well, I’m back from vacation, and it was FABULOUS! Hopefully it won’t take me another year to get photos up for you guys ;) Since coming home, I’ve been catching up on emails, shooting, and editing a LOT of images! There should be a bunch of new blog posts coming very soon, starting NOW! ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/05/im-back/feed/ 0 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/04/going-on-vacation/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/04/going-on-vacation/#comments Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:48:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/04/going-on-vacation/ It’s been a busy week around here! Wedding albums being designed and ordered, I’ve had 3 photo shoots, and most importantly – I’ve been busy preparing for my family vacation in FLORIDA!! :D As of tomorrow morning, I will be on vacation for a whole WEEK! YAY!!

And just because I’m getting pumped up, here are some photos from last year’s Florida Vacation!

My niece Reilly

My sister, Kyla and baby Caeden

Michael & Tristan

One of my favorite photos EVER! Me with my little Reilly. Gotta love that face!!!

We had a family portrait session on the beach one evening. I’m debating whether or not to bring my tripod so we can get one of the whole fam… It’s a whole other bag though and you shouldn’t have to carry a lot of stuff on vacation!

The kids were having a great time, no really

The kids and their Kiki :)

It works a whole lot better with my sister running around and being ridiculous behind me. Way more genuine smiles – especially when she fell down in the sand ;)

My Mom & Dad – the amazing people who make it happen!

And this will be my view for the next few days! Don’t be jealous ;)

I’ll be responding to emails and phone calls when I get back. Have a great week!!! :D ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/04/going-on-vacation/feed/ 0 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/03/ozzy-the-cat/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/03/ozzy-the-cat/#comments Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:58:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/03/ozzy-the-cat/ About 7 1/2 years ago, I was living in Chicago and working in a photo studio as an assistant – just beginning my career as a photographer. One day, we got a call from a client asking if any of us wanted to adopt a cat. I’d been thinking about it and told her I might be interested. She asked, “well, what about 2 cats?!” I didn’t really want to become a cat-lady ;), but she told me about what beautiful pure-bred bengals they were, told me how her Mom was sick and couldn’t care for them anymore, and she convinced me that I would love them :) Ozzy & Harriett have been my roommates, best buddies, and a big part of my life ever since.

Late last year, Ozzy got sick. He got down to 5.5 lbs, started losing his vision, and just didn’t seem right. Over the last few months, the vet has run all sorts of tests, and finally diagnosed him with FIP in January. FIP is a viral infection he’s probably had since birth, but only now has come out. It’s terminal and there’s really nothing that can be done except keep the cat as comfortable as possible. It’s been rather horrible watching him get sicker and sicker, and always wondering what would happen next and when he might die. And trying to feed him has been incredibly stressful because he neurologically just couldn’t seem to make his mouth work right half the time. It’s really been a difficult time for both of us.

So, after a few months of fighting it off, the disease seemed to catch up with him this week. His eye sight got significantly worse, his legs didn’t seem to be working right, and he just seemed sad. Every once in a while, he’d just look up at me and cry :( I was praying and praying that God would just take him and that I wouldn’t have to put him to sleep – but in the end, Ozzy needed me to do what was best for him. So, yesterday I took him to the vet, and we put him down :’( It was incredibly sad, but also a bit of a relief. I’m glad he’s not suffering anymore, and I’m glad I got to say goodbye and spend some time with him before he died, I’m glad he knew he was loved. But, I am really going to miss having him around. Ever since I started working from home full-time, Ozzy has been by my side every moment I’ve been home – which is a lot. I realized today that I’ve spent more time with him over the last few years than any other person. And now, he’s just not over on the other side of the room sleeping while I work. He’s gone. And for such a little guy, he’s left quite a vacuum…

previous 2 photos were taken by my friend Cynthia a couple weeks ago

I’m not the only one who’s going to miss Ozzy. Poor little Harriett has spent her whole life with him. She’s become more detached in the last few months as he got sick and a little grumpy, but they were still close. I tried to get her to say goodbye, but she didn’t really get what was going on. She seems to know something is wrong, but I don’t know if she realizes Ozzy is gone.

These were taken yesterday before our appointment.

and this is the last photo I’ll ever take of Ozzy. He slept under that blanket all day, and I just laid there and petted him. Poor little guy…

Ozzy, I love you buddy! I’ll miss you so so much! xoxo

I didn’t really get any photos of Revive b/c I was helping a sick friend – but I could hear them and they were phenomenal! You should buy their cd :]

I did get to see Brandon Heath though, and he was awesome! I only knew his first hit, and was very impressed by how great the rest of his songs were. I must buy more!

The crowd loved him too

Third Day was AMAZING! My friend and I snuck up to the balcony to get a different view…

Oh, it was just so good!!!! I can’t tell you what it did for my heart to be surrounded by so many people worshiping God together!

At the end, Dave from Revive, and Brandon Heath came out and joined Third Day to sing God of Wonders.

here’s a video of the song I found on youtube…

After the show, Revive and Brandon Heath came out to meet fans. My friend Suze was not leaving without meeting both, so I waited with her and took some photos. Here’s Suze & Shea with the boys from Revive…

When it was my turn, Rich (Revive’s bass player) decided that he wanted to play with my sweet camera. This is my ha-ha-please-don’t-break-my-camera-face

Then the guys started growling at the camera…

And Rich got a little carried away…

Or maybe a lot carried away

So, my camera was returned unharmed, and I was glad. And then when we went over to meet Brandon Heath, Rich came back to take a few more photos for me… This is me with Brandon Heath :) He’s giving his best Blue Steel here.

I’m not sure what we’re doing here…

It was such an awesome night! Photos with handsome musicians were just the icing on top of the cake ;) Thanks Rich, for the fabulous photos – I’ll cherish them always!! ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2009/03/revive-brandon-heath-third-day-concert/feed/ 2 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/where-have-i-been/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/where-have-i-been/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:36:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/where-have-i-been/ Hello darling clients, family, friends and blog-readers! Have you missed me? I feel like I’ve been gone forever! I thought I’d drop you a line and explain what’s been going on… I know some of you have been worried ;)

The truth is, it’s been a rough month! I mentioned in an earlier post that I’d been sick. First I had a sinus infection, and then just when I thought that was over, I came down with vertigo. The doctor thought the vertigo was caused by the sinus infection and gave me some antibiotics. After a few days, I was feeling pretty much better, but still just a little bit off. Then I flew home to Indianapolis for Thanksgiving. I wasn’t feeling too great the day I left and spent my whole first day home asleep in bed. But after some rest, I felt better and got to spend a couple days hanging out with my family and even catching up with an old friend. And then my antibiotics ran out. And suddenly, I was feeling majorly dizzy again. So dizzy I couldn’t even drive up to Chicago to visit one of my best friends! So, back to the doctor I went! This doctor agreed that it was probably the sinus infection, and gave me another antibiotic, as well as a nasal spray. Plus, my Mom found a seasickness patch in the medicine cabinet, and gave me a couple of those for good measure. So, I spent Thanksgiving totally light-headed and antisocial, but started feeling a bit better before coming back to Boston last week.

When I got back to Boston, though, I noticed that my vision was really wacked out. I start out a little far-sighted, but now I seemed to be REALLY far sighted. It was freaky! So, back to the doctor I went… She figured out that the patch was dilating my eyes, which explained the vision problems. But, she was a bit concerned that I was still a feeling light-headed. So, she encouraged me to stay on the antibiotics, but also ordered a CAT scan and an appointment with the opthomologist. She told me that she really doesn’t think I have a brain tumor or anything, but decided we should check, just in case! That made me feel all better ;-)

Today I’m feeling a lot better – only light-headed if I bend down, so I’m thinking it probably has all just been a really nasty sinus infection. I just got back from my CAT scan, and my optho appointment is tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully by the end of the week we’ll have a much better idea of what’s been going on in my head!

All that to say, I haven’t been able to work quite as much as usual – especially with the whole not being able to see thing. Of course, that’s been stressing me out because I want to get everything up online for my wonderful clients and make everyone happy with photos in time for Christmas! So, please know that I’m doing my best to catch up – I’m even hiring some help to come in this week and get things moving! So, keep your eyes peeled for lots of photos over the coming days – and if you think of it, pray that we’d figure all this out and that I’d be super healthy for the rest of the winter (or at least the rest of this year)!!

Thanks for being awesome!
kg ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/where-have-i-been/feed/ 1 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/11/out-of-the-office/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/11/out-of-the-office/#comments Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:16:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/11/out-of-the-office/ Just so you know, I’ll be out of the office from now until December 2nd. I’m heading home to Indianapolis for a nice long break for Thanksgiving! I’ll even be hitting up Chicago for a day while I’m there :) I’ll have some access to email and voice mail, but if you don’t hear from me for a couple days, it’s because I’m spending time with my friends and family. and sleeping. a lot. If you’re a friend of mine and want to hang out while I’m in town, leave a comment or shoot me an email!

And because posts without pictures or something are dull. I present to you the best song about Indianapolis, ever ….

bye bye :) ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/11/out-of-the-office/feed/ 3 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/11/rock-the-vote/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/11/rock-the-vote/#comments Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:30:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/11/rock-the-vote/ I voted this morning, did you???

I’m definitely excited to see what happens tonight! Either way, we’re making history tonight, baby!!!

We decided to drive up to Woodstock and just wander around and see where the wind would take us. After a lovely drive, and a yummy lunch, we walked around the cute little town.

One of the first things we saw was this… a little more disturbing than cute, but definitely interesting! And yes their shirts say “poop” – that apparently stands for Protest Outrageous Oil Profits, but it just looks like poop…

Covered bridges remind me of Indiana :)

After we looked in all the shops and got some tea & cider, we headed back up the road to a great little farm stand we saw along the way. It’s called Fool on a Hill and it was very fun! I mean, check out these bears – what’s not to love?

This is my beautiful friend Danielle, I couldn’t resist shooting her in the gorgeous sunlight

Fool on the Hill also had some random stuffed cows all over the hill. We just had to play…

I’m not sure why Danielle is kissing this cow’s eyeball, but whatever ;)

After playing with the bears and the cows, we kept on down the road to Quechee Gorge. It was beautiful! I kinda wish we’d gone there earlier and walked down the trails a bit, but oh well. You can only fit so much in a day!

The light just kept getting better and better

leaves

Random wall o’ graffiti under the bridge by the gorge

Ugh, I really hate photos of myself. It took everything in me to let you see this, but I’m trying to lighten up, so here you go :) (though, I must admit that Photoshop made the decision a little easier ;)

This is a picture of Danielle taking a picture of me taking a picture of her through a hollow log

I mean, that just looks fake! but, it’s not, I promise :)

I forgot how much I love road trips!!

The biggest disappointment of the day was discovering that we had MISSED the peak of the Fall colors in Vermont by a week or two. As we drove up we kept asking, ‘why are all the trees dead?’ But we pressed on anyway and I’m glad we did. But, it would have been a little more fun (or at least a little more pretty) if the trees were a little less bare…

This sign pretty much sums that up…

I snapped this on the way home, somewhere in New Hampshire. THIS is what we were looking for. Oh well! It was still an awesome trip!

Thanks for a fun adventure Danielle! You’re an awesome adventure-buddy!!

A few weeks ago, I was on my way home from church and I saw a woman walking down the street. I drove past her and felt very clearly that God was asking me to go pick her up and give her a ride. I kept trying to shake the feeling because, heck, Mom always told you not to talk to strangers and to never pick up hitch-hikers, right? But, the Lord kept prompting, and I finally gave in and turned around. It turned out she wasn’t going too far, and I gave her a ride. She was clearly having a hard day and needed a little kindness from someone. After I dropped her off, I prayed for her, and didn’t think of it much again until tonight.

Tonight I was driving home from GENESIS and I saw her again, in about the same place, walking in the opposite direction. So, once again, I drove past her but felt like God was asking me to turn around. And so, once again, I turned around and picked her up. She recognized me and thanked me. But when I asked her where she was going, she told me that she didn’t have anywhere to go. She’s homeless and was just planning to walk around all night to stay warm.

So, I pulled into a parking lot, kept the car running and the heat on, and just listened to her story for a couple hours. I tried to offer to pay for her to stay in a hotel for the night, but she refused. She told me she’d tried some shelters but they were all really scary and that she felt more comfortable risking it with the drunks out on the streets at night. And it broke my heart that I couldn’t help her more. I didn’t think my roommates would be too pleased with me if I invited to her stay with us, and I don’t know of any shelters in my area at all, much less one that I could recommend that would be safe. So, in the end, I had to let her out of the car and watch her walk away. She thanked me for my kindness, but I just felt sad that I couldn’t do more.

What good is it to be nice to someone, or to love them, if you don’t take care of their needs? This is a question I’ve asked myself a lot having seen all I’ve seen in the mission field. It’s a question I have asked of the church quite a bit. James 2:14-18 says “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” What is the church, what is my church, doing to help this woman and others like her? What can I do? I can pray for her. I can give her a ride and a couple hours of warmth. I can give her food. I can give her compassion, mercy, love, and respect. I can listen. I just wish I could do more. And I wish I could point her to others who would do more.

In Chicago, I worked with an amazing homeless ministry called Breakthrough Urban Ministries. I absolutely love that place. In Boston, I’ve heard great things about Rosie’s Place – in fact it’s one of the organizations that benefits from my Give program (check out my website for more details). But, I don’t know of anything in Woburn, or nearby. Do any of you? Seriously, I am looking for suggestions. The next time I see my new friend, I want to be able to truly help her. Give me some great ideas, people! :)

And one final thought, or encouragement. The next time you walk by a homeless person, or drive by someone struggling down the street, what will you do? Think about it. Pray about it. And ACT on it. Don’t just say you want to help people, or say you love or care for people. Do it. Imagine the difference it would make in people’s lives if every one who claims to love Jesus (or anyone at all), actually went out of their way to show that love to others. Just imagine what that would do…

And M, if you found my site and my blog from the card I gave you, and if you’re reading this – please know that I’m praying for you. I pray that God would keep you safe tonight, and warm. And I pray that you would find Jesus out there, and that He would pull you up out of this hard situation so that you would know how much He loves you. And I pray that we would meet again someday, soon. ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/10/on-my-way-home-from-church/feed/ 9 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/09/the-flip-flop-regatta/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/09/the-flip-flop-regatta/#comments Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:00:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/09/the-flip-flop-regatta/ A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of photographing a big fundraiser for The ALLY Foundation. The ALLY Foundation was established in memory of Alexandra Nicole Zapp, who was murdered by a repeat sex offender on July 18, 2002. The Foundation, founded and run by Ally’s mother and stepfather, has a mission to prevent opportunities for violent sex offenses, to educate the public and advocate for necessary changes in culture, attitude and policy. For the past six years, her friends and family have celebrated Ally’s life and raised money for her cause by combining some of the things she loved – sailing, celebrations, and flip flops. The result has been the Flip Flop Regatta.

I wasn’t able to actually photograph the race that weekend, but I did get to shoot the Mount Gay Rum Tent Parties on both Friday and Saturday nights. Both events were so fun, and I’m so blessed to have been a part of it!

Friday night’s party got off to a very, very wet start…

But the The Cocabanana Band was great and helped keep everyone’s spirits up, and feet moving!

The event chairs, John Ricci and Koryn Okey (formerly of Boston Weddings Magazine)

Ally’s mother Andrea, step-father Steven, and sister with a friend at the party on Friday night. Andrea and Steven were two of the nicest people I’ve ever met. It’s really amazing what they’ve done with this tragedy in their lives, and the hope they’ve been able to see through it all.

Me and Koryn at the end of the night :)

Saturday turned out to be a PERFECT day for sailing!! Not a drop of rain, and plenty of wind and sunshine.

After the race, everyone came back to the Tent Party for some more fun, as well as a silent auction. There were some amazing items up for bidding!

There was also some delicious food & drinks provided by PapaRazzi, Hot Tomatoes, and SoulFire.

Saturday night’s festivities included a brief address from ALLY Foundation founder, Andrea Cassanova. There was a lot of excitement about the event…

…and a lot of emotion. The regatta is a fun time and an exciting opportunity to raise money for a great organization. But for those who knew and loved Ally, it’s also a reminder of why they’re doing this in the first place.

One of the winning teams from Saturday’s race

And on to some fun from the dance floor!

I ran into my friend Tiffany, of Alternate Angles, that afternoon. She was having a blast!

The dance floor was rockin’ all night long – thanks to the awesome band that night, Infractions!

A final shot of Steven & Andrea

And the view from the pier on Saturday night… amazing!!

Thank you, Koryn and Andrea and Steven, for inviting me to be a part of this event! Thank you for making me feel so welcome and so appreciated. And a special thanks to the sponsors of the Flip Flop Regatta: Mount Gay Rum, Vineyard Vines, Sperry, Atlantis, US Sailing, CleanHarbors, Island Issue, SmartWater, Long’s, Fairmont Copley Plaza, and Papa Razzi. This was a great event, and they couldn’t have done it without your help!

It was a fabulous weekend, and I’m so glad I could contribute to such a great cause! If you’d like to learn more about The ALLY Foundation, or make a contribution, please click here!

If you’d like to see more of the photos, click here. ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/09/the-flip-flop-regatta/feed/ 1 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/09/portraits-for-mimi/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/09/portraits-for-mimi/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:51:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/09/portraits-for-mimi/
That’s my Mom – or Mimi as her grandkids call her. She’s pretty great. She owns her own business and has worked her butt off for as long as I can remember (except those 2 years when I was a kid and we lived in the Bahamas – when she played Bridge and sat by the pool with me all day, but whatever ;). The older I get, the more I realize that I am so much like her – or is it that I’m just becoming more like her? Either way, it’s both a little scary and comforting at the same time :)

My Mom needed some new photos of herself and her employees for work – and hopefully for a website someday… Mom works in the glamorous world of nursing home consulting, and that market hasn’t really gotten too techy just yet ;) Since she’s the most wonderful Mom, she hired her daughter to take the photos. And since she’s the most wonderful boss, she offered all of her employees the opportunity to get some family portraits done as well! So, when I was in Indianapolis earlier this summer, we headed down to Greenwood (the town I was born in) to spend some time with the women of Herrin Associates, and their families…

First up, my Mom, Shelia. She doesn’t really like having her picture taken (kinda like me), but has started getting used to it over the past 6 or 7 years. Do you think I look like her?

Next up was Beth :)

and Beth’s husband and 4 grandchildren

The kids weren’t too excited about the whole thing, but they put up with me, and we managed to get some great shots of them!

I love these…

And then there’s Kathy! Kathy’s family wasn’t able to come for photos, so we just stuck to business…

…at least mostly. I got her laughing quite a bit when I was asking her about whether or not my Mom’s a good boss :)

And last but not least was Nancy. Nancy has worked for my Mom for like 20 years, and is such a great lady!

She brought a bunch of her family with her and we got a ton of portraits of them – starting with her son and his adorable daughter…

Then we shot Nancy and her husband with their grandson, Garrett.

Then it was just Nancy & Ernie. They’re pretty cute!

While we waited for Nancy’s daughter to get off work, my Mom & I took Garrett across the street for some ice cream from this little walk-up place, called Mrs. Curl. It’s so small-town Indiana, I love it! (I loved the ice cream too!)

Last up was Brittany and Garrett.

He’s a cutie!

I swear I’m good with kids! Really! I think Garrett was just squinting, not snarling!

Brittany arrived just as the sun dropped down to the perfect spot, so we got some beautiful, warm light to play with…

And I’m fairly certain that this was Garrett’s favorite part (next to the ice cream, of course).


It was such a fun afternoon! Thanks Mom for letting me take your picture :) And for being such a great role model for this business-owning daughter of yours. I’m amazed by all that you’ve done, and all that you’re doing – and I’m super proud of you! I love you so much!!! S.W.A.K. ;)

I’ll get back to you when I return! Have a great week!! ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/07/officially-on-vacation/feed/ 2