New Name, New Blog

I'm married!

On November 3rd, 2007, after being engaged for almost two years I married my husband. Yay!

So, in the spirit of changing things (my name being the most daunting at the moment, but dishes, and other wedding gifts that will replace college thrift store finds also come to mind), I am changing over to a new blog. It will now be DawnMcKinstry.blogspot.com since I'm saying good bye to DeGraw and "becoming" a McKinstry.

Jump on over and take a peek. I'll post some honeymoon pictures, and maybe some pics from the wedding, if I can track some down (the frustrating part of being the bride is that I don't have any pictures of my own from that day). But I'll have lots of good ones when Mary Beth is done with them. :)

Favors and Supplies

My living room is being taken over!

There is a stack of supplies which starts at my fireplace and is slowly expanding out into the living room. I'm beginning to wonder if by Friday we'll just have a path to get from the front door to the kitchen.

Although, I have to say that it's much better than it was 12 hours ago. One of Bill's groomsmen came over last night and hung out with us. As he left this morning we pawned some stuff off on him to store in his trunk until Friday. Thanks Matt! I was beginning to wonder how exactly I was going to get all of this stuff over there in one trip.

So here's a few pics of the (smaller) mountain of stuff. And a few of my favors, that I lovingly made by hand. I think they are absolutely adorable. My unnatural fascination with them may very well come from the fact that I had to make all of these. And when I mean make, I mean that the brown ones come to you flat. You have to make it a box yourself. That was a little more work than I expected. But totally worth it in the end.

A few gifts:

I'm Almost Married!

So I appoligize for not blogging in almost a month (yikes!). Believe me, I'd much rather be blogging than doing the things that have kept me from it (working).

Also... One week from now I'll be married!! Bill and I are getting married in Cedar Key next Saturday. I went there this afternoon and had such a good time wandering around for about an hour or so taking pictures. I had forgotten that it was the Birding and Wildlife Experience until I got there. And I was so absorbed in taking pictures as I was walking around, that I was totally shocked to see a bald eagle in the City Park! How cool was that!

Take a peak at the beautiful little town where Bill and I first started our relationship.

Hummingbirds

There must be four or five pairs of hummingbirds living on my property. One day they were buzzing around from my live oaks to this tallow tree in my front yard. They wouldn't sit still long, but I managed to snap a few shots (over about 30 minutes). These guys are fast! (and if you're wondering, they are Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Archilochus colubris) Enjoy!

Technorati

Technorati Profile I've signed up my blog on Technorati, if you're on there too, add me to your favorites, and I'll do the same.

Blog Stalking

I wanted to use this post to take some time to recognize other photographers' blogs that I regularly (we're talkn' daily) visit. Each of these photographers inspire me and I always come away from a post learning something. So take a look:

My wedding photographer, Mary Beth Tyson, who inspired me to pursue photography:

http://www.marybethtysonblog.com

Jasmine Star. This girl is amazing and she is totally open to giving advice and helping other aspiring photographers:

http://www.jasminestarblog.com/

The Image is Found. An amazing couple that shoot some cool pics and have a great sense of humor:

http://www.theblogisfound.com/

Jessica Claire. Talented photographer and creater of the ShootSac (check it out, I'm holding back from splurging on one):

http://www.jessicaclaire.net/

Another photographer who offers advice, Becker:

http://www.beckersblog.com/

So those are just a few of my favorites. Check them out.

And to add a few pics, here's a few of my fiance Bill while we were in college that always make me smile.

Look how skinny!

Kicking butt in the log birling competition at the Mississippi State conclave

Sporting the Man Capris just prior to the birling competition

And dancing at our first Conclave at Clemson. He thought he was so cool. We didn't start dating for another year. I'll let you imagine why:

And I Simpsonized us a few weeks ago. This is so accurate, he's just missing the full beard, but it still looks just like him. I love it!

Really Big Tree

It's been a while since I've posted. And I wish that I could say that's because I've been so busy shooting, processing, etc. But unfortunately no. I've been swamped at work. Fuunn stuff. Plus I've been finalizing my wedding plans. So that's pretty much been all of my free time right now.

Anyway, I took these pictures last weekend near our house, in LaCrosse. Bill did some research and found the location of the largest live oak in Florida. So we drove there Saturday afternoon. Check out the pictures. I even threw in one of me next to the tree giving it some scale. And there's one or two of Bill. Much to his dismay I made him sit still while I got some portrait practice.

I love how this one turned out. It kinda looks like I used a fisheye. But it was just the curve of the tree.

What a happy camper. Can you see me?! That tree was huge!

Bill actually took this one and he is super proud of it, so I have to give him credit for it.