Beach pictures

Although today is the first day of winter, it is 72 degrees outside, which reminded me that I was going to post beach pictures. :)
One of our family's favorite thing to do in the summer is to go to the beach. This year we went twice a week or more. Often we would meet friends there, and swim and run down the beach for hours. And of course a good tan never hurt either. :)

 

We all love boogie boarding, and we had many good days for it.

We were getting ready for a jumping picure, but this was so cute of Joshua. :) (second on the right)

Some of our friends live near a lake, so the next few pictures were taken there

Daniel, Ben, and Isaac at the lake

I stood in a boat nearby while taking pictures of everyone jumping off the diving board.

Tuck your head in, Daniel!

I love this picture, it looks like Ben is flying :)

This is watermellon we grew in our garden this year. 

Left to right: Morgan, Anna, Mom, Joy, Kendal, me, and Rachel

The pyramid crumbled right before Joy stood up, but it was fun anyway, despite the temporary pain. :)

Butler kids plus 5  in height order

Butler and Pollard kids

Mostly a random picture of my friend, Olivia and I at a pool party this summer

We found this starfish washed up on the beach. After we all enjoyed looking at it, we put it back in, since it was alive

 

 

Hope ya'll enjoyed the pictures, and Merry Christmas!
~Kelsey
 

Barn Dance

In November we went to another barn dance hosted by the Alexander family. We all had such a great time, and agreed it was the most fun yet. :)

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the actual dancing, because I did all but one dance, which isn't all that unfortunate, I had a great time!

 

 These are pictures from the obstacle course that was set up.

 

 

~Kelsey Morgan

Blessing Ceremony

Two weeks ago I attended the blessing ceremony of my friend, Rachel.
Kendal (my oldest sister) was part of the worship team for the event, so I came early and was able to photograph some of the happenings.

My friend, Cailin was the hairstylist and official photographer. She is very talented at both! (this is my friend Anna Marie to the right)

Sophia entertained us with interesting snippets while I sat on the counter taking pictures and Cailin worked on Rachel's hair. Sophia played "Mary Did You Know" on her harp for the ceremony.

 

 

 Rachel and I had a blast the day before decorating the church, and then decorating these cupcakes while watching Night at the Museum 2.

                                                    Stephen and Jimmy, Rachel's brother

 

                                                          Rachel was soooo gorgeous!

 

 

                 Adelaide, me, Rachel, Hannah Grace, Morgan, and Cailin after the ceremony (Morgan also played her harp for the ceremony)

                                                 
                                                              Cailin, you're the best :)

 ~Kelsey Morgan

My favorite quote ever...

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

-Mother Teresa

Calling opinionated photography peoples

 So today I was taking  photos of myself for practice. (my models were watching a movie) When I was going through them afterwards, and I noticed that in my favorite picture, I had accidentally cut the bottom part of my chin out of the frame. Whoops. Easy to do when you're using a 50mm prime lens and your arms are getting tired. I put the photo in my profile slot, but  I'll probably replace it, depending on feedback.
So my question is, would the photo look better if I was to: crop the top of my head out also, leave the picture the way it is, or delete it?  And please don't be too shy to give me your honest opinion, even if it is to stop photography altogether, 'cause I'm going to keep trying anyway. :) Personally I think it's an okay picture, but it would have been a whole lot better if I wasn't missing the bottom part of my chin, and if I had cropped the right part of the shot out, and not the left. But on the other hand, I'm not shooting for "okay" photos. Practice makes perfect, I guess.
Anyway, I hope everyone has a great week,
Kelsey

Favorite photos from recent photo-shoots

These pictures are from a photo-shoot my older sister, Kendal and I did while we were on vacation.

I love my Chuck Taylor sneakers, and I thought they would make a good prop. :)

                                                                       My dad and I

           
These were taken with my new 50mm "pancake" as my friend Cailin calls a prime lens :)
This is my sister, Anna. She makes a great model!

 

~Kelsey