January 2007 – Otis & James Photography

Paint It Black

Oh Snap.
The ceiling up and went dark.
Oh Charlie.

Dang.

:: click images for larger ::

All Content Â©2007 Otis & James Photography
Pic Resolution Compliments of Otis Having a Real Old Camera. Classic.

Jessica!

There is a song, by the Allman Brothers Band, called Jessica.

Perhaps, my Children of The Blog, you have heard this song before. Perhaps, you have not.
As I write this, it is my hope that you have had the good pleasure of hearing this epically wonderful song. And why? Well, because the song has more in common with the absolutely wonderful Jessica that we had the goodgollygreatpleasure of working with this past week than just the name. You see, they are both epically (and, I’m actually turning to my dictionary to see if this is really a word…and the verdict is…well, Meriam-Webster is leaving me high and dry right now, so I’m turning to my e-lec-tronic dictionary, and the verdict is…YES! I have been vindicated by the e-lec-tronic dictionary! Hooray for me!) great!

Man, I will tell you this. We got this thing going on. You see…the Seniors, they come down to the FunCenter, and they tear it all up, crazy style. Mad like. The kind of tearing up that you used to only read about in the newspapers, but now happens on a daily basis in the Center of Fun. I don’t know how it happens. I don’t know how it is that we found ourselves in this situation of righteously rocking all consuming happiness that is all things FunCenter, and trust me – if I could bottle it up, I would, because it’s the stuff of greatness. Not greatness for us, but greatness of our Seniors. As the ever-lovely Jessica demonstrates, greatness is what they specialize in, and we can only hope to always be this lucky!

MuchLove to Jessica for taking time out of her hectic day and giving it to o&j, and to all of my superpeeps out there in the Land of Blog, sitting by the bluish glow if your com-pu-tahs – Enjoy!

Samantha!

Our Seniors are brave, brave people. They are willing to do anything for that perfect shot. Stick with me here, folks, I know that I’m treading the land of supercheeze right now, but you gotta trust me that I’m not going to lead you to the land of Velveeta, and instead we’re going to take a trip to KÃ¶Ã¶L…wait, that makes it seem like we’re going to be involved with some sort of a cigarette type thing, and we’re not…as, generally speaking, it’s not really the best idea for us to promote that type of behavior to our seniors…so let me re-phrase that, we are going to be taking a trip to the land of cÃ¶Ã¶lio (and, again, I do not mean that we are taking a trip to see the artist known as Coolio, as that would have nothing to do with what we are really here doing, which by this point I’m not even sure what I am actually typing about right now…I think I’ve got it…wait for it…Yes! We are taking trip to Ã¼berkÃ¸Ã¸lville (Yes, that’s it) because our Seniors are willing to do anyting for that parfect shot!

Take, for instance, the one and only Samantha! She braved the bitter elements (and by that, I mean the cold) in order to make the sweetliest sweet shots that we could get. The results? Fantastic! But don’t just take my word for it, you’ve got to hold on as I get through this part right now where I tell all y’all out there in Land of Blog how thankful we were to be visited by Samantha, and how great she was to work with! MuchLove, Yo! Now, you’ve just got to get through the part where I tell you all to – Enjoy!

Graham!

It’s time for us to break it down. It’s time for us to get back to what it is that keeps us real. Now, I know that you are probably sitting out there in your papason chairs (really, I don’t like those kind of chairs, as I always feel like a turtle on my back when I’m trying to get out of one, so I’m not going to waste my time on some internet search trying to figure out the correct spelling of the word, just take it for what it is, and if you feel so compelled, you can take a little bit of your sweet and prescious time looking up such things, and you can leave a comment with the proper spelling, and a short description of what the chair is as well as two paragraphs of the history of the chair, starting with its inception, and concluding with the current state of the chairs) wondering what it is that keeps us real.

It it Marshmallow Matey’s?
Is it heavy doses of Sunshine?
Is it LoveLoveLove, Sweet Love?

Now, all of those things that I listed are beautiful things, and they may cause you to keep it real, but what keeps it real for us is our SeniorPeeps. Ahh yeah. Now, when I first got into the pictographic game, when I heard the term ‘Senior Portraits’, I thought it was something relating to Senior Citizens. I wondered why it was that there was such a need for extensive pictographs of our elderly, but I did not question. I wondered if it was a North Dakota thing. Honestly, I did.

This was not in the days of Otis & James, mind you, it was in the Pre-Otis (PO’d) age, as historians are sure to refer to it as, and once the Otis age began, I finally had it drilled into my head that it was not the old aged that needed the photographs, it was instead the youth, the future, the hope of mankind that need these sweet pictosnaps.

Which brings us to Graham. He came in to the FunCenter, and he reminded us of the future, of the hope, and what it is to take SweetBippySeniorSnaps! MuchLove to Graham & his entourage for stopping down to the FunCenter and giving us a little bit of their time, and to all of you out there in your mansions on Big Blog Hill – Enjoy!

Megan & Josh!

Well, well, well. Where should I begin with Megan & Josh. It seems like I have known them my entire adult life. It seems like we have met before. In fact, every time that they stop into the FunCenter I am convinced that I am their long lost friend, or that we are shooting their wedding (which, as it turns out, we are not, because there is no wedding…repeat, there is no wedding, but I always think that we have, or we are, or we might be, or we might have been, but then again,the 1990’s were pretty rough on me, so you will have to forgive my lack of ‘mental credibility’ as it comes to these thoughts), or that we have worked with them before, or something. Seriously, it’s always DÃ©ja Vu (the feeling that one has seen or heard something before, as is stated by Merriam-Webster) of the highest order.

Alright, where were we? Yes. FunCenter. Megan & Josh. Pictosnaps. OK. It’s all coming back to me now. So, I tied a tie, they went on back, and the magic began. Simply, it was magicalfantastical, and need I say more? Well, the answer that you come up with in response to that statment is not really of any consequence, so if you managed to come up with some sort of an answer, I’m going to ask you to forget about it, in fact, forget that I ever even asked the question and let us instead think of the glory day, the golden olden days of not so long ago, the days when the doors of the FunCenter opened up and we welcomed to our incense filled lair the one and only Megan & Josh, and they came here to show us just how it is that you take sweetlysnaps.

Megan & Josh, my friends, you were successful in your mission. You came in, and you rocked. For that, we are thankful, and we wish that every day could be Megan & Josh day, but it is not. Because if it was, it would be too much of a great thing, and we would get used to it and take it for granted, and it wouldn’t be as special as it once was, and we don’t want that to happen, so we will be content, satisfied with having just one (for the time being…2008 is booking quickly) Megan & Josh day, and using the samplesnaps just below to remind us of the greatness that once was, and will be once again. Well, having blown my own mind with this post, I think it time to give MuchLove to one and all, and to my peeps keeping it real in the Land of Blog – Enjoy!

Trish & Chad!

The rocking and rolling 24 hour a day superpartay that is Otis & James continued with a visit from the superfantasticallywonderliscious Trish & Chad! And why, oh why, do you think – my fellow bloggerites (technically, I’m the Mayor of Blogville, and you are my faithful servants, but as a good politician, I will pretend to be one of you, in order to build up enough trust to get me elected to another term, which, in all reality, I don’t need to worry about as I have temporarily permanantly suspended all open elections until further notice in the interest of ‘national security’ – even though it is more just in the interest in my own ‘job security’) – that this sweetly couple stopped down to the FunCenter on a day so fine?

Let me tell you this, and this only. They came down for some superawesome e.pics! And guess what, get some superawesome e.pics is exactly what they did do! Because would I really come here and tell you that they didn’t? But that’s not for us to worry about at this moment, as they did, and this is all that matters!

Much fun was had in the FunCenter, and none of it would have been possible if we hadn’t have had the good fortune of working with the one & only Trish & Chad! We would now like to give some serious serious shout outs (really is it still 1997) to these two lovely peeps for coming down to the FunCenter, and to all of my ‘fellow’ bloggerites – Enjoy!

Jessica & Kyle!

There was this one time, and we were sitting around in the FunCenter (do I use that word too much? You know, the term ‘FunCenter’ really started off as a joke a long time ago, but has since grown into an actual term, and now I think that the studio is really known more as the FunCenter than as the studio, which is good, because the term ‘studio’ kind of resides in the Land of Lame (LOL…wait…no pun intended LoLz!) and it is a good thing that we were able to get rid of the term stu-stu-studio and instead come up with a sweetly sweet term that has way more street cred (and for those of you that don’t know, street cred is what makes the FunCenter different from all the rest…what we got you couldn’t come up with after a meeting or much discussion…oh no…what we got comes from the soul, and if you don’t got soul, you don’t got it. Got it?) than the term ‘studio’ – like, seriously, every lame photog from here to kingdom come has a studio, but we’s got oursleves a FunCenter, and I’d like to see you top that, yo) wondering how it was that our day was going to be saved from skulduggery and boredome, and what should happen at that very moment but we should have the good fortune of being joined by the one and only Jessica & Kyle for some totally awesome e.pics!

Yay!

All was right in the land of Otis & James (not in any way related to the ‘Land of Lame’) as we completely and totally tore it up during our all together too short, but yet totally sweet time together! We would like to extend MuchLove to this wonderful couple for giving us a little bit of their sweet and prescious time, and to all of you out there wondering if I’m ever going to get to this one magic word – Enjoy!

The Sistah’s Zander!

Ahhhhhh Sistah’s Zander, why is it that you are so wonderful?

I guess that this is kind of like asking why it is that the birds sing, or the sun shines, children laugh, and the world goes ’round…they are the grand mysteries of life, and they are better if they are just accepted and not questioned.

Now, some in the scientific community may beg to differ and say that we actually do have reasons for those other things, and they may have ‘science’ on their side, but I’m not going to buy into all of that hooey and malarky. All that I know is that they are mysteries to me, and I don’t need to understand them. I just need to know that they are, and I can say with confidence that the Sistah’s Zander are totally and completely awesome, and they tore it up here in the land of Center and Fun (it can also be called the FunCenter, if you so desire), and our time with them was filled with, but not limited to:

Sweetness
Rocking
Laughter
Love!

If I were young and hip (I’m just kidding, I am young and hip) I would then be all like ‘<3’, but I don’t think that they need this to know that we absolutely loved working with them, and when they left we wiped a solitary tear from our eye as we knew we would soonly be longing for the times when they used to be in the Center of Fun (remember, you can call it the FunCenter if you would like, but I’m not going to force anything upon you, do as you will and I will just accept it).

I guess, to make me feel bettah, I can look at the supersweetlysamplesnaps that are residing just a few short words below and know that my heart will be filled with magical sweetness and lots of love.

Alright, do you got all of that? I thought so. Now it is the time when I give Muchlove to the Sistah’s Zander for stopping by the FunCenter, and tell all of you out there in the land of blog shivering on a day so cold – Enjoy!

The Family Livingston!

Not that long ago, in a place not that far away from where I am currently at, we had the good golly great pleasure of working with this lovely group for the very first time. In fact, they had come to the FunCenter before it was even known as the FunCenter. The first time they were here, our studio was actually located in what is now known as the packaging room. The location may have been different, but the level of rocking from this fabulous family has not changed.

Shortly thereafter, we again worked with this wonderful family, except the newest member had made his grand entrance and it was time for some newer familysnaps! Again, they came on down to the FunCenter, and our time was absolutely wonderful!

So it was with great joy that this past week we again found ourselves working with this fantabulous group! We’ve moved into a bigger room, and soon we will be shuttering the doors of the current FunCenter and moving right on up the street to our new location. But before then, we gave it one more go, and the results – as usual from this fam – were totally and completely fantastic!

It’s so awesome for us to see our o&j families grow! We can use the blog as our own little photo album. We want to thank The Family Livingston for again, stopping by the FunCenter, and for being such great clients! We hope to see you again at the new FunCenter, but until then – MuchLove from all of us, and to all of you out there in the land of blog – Enjoy!

Can You Handle This Hotness Vol. III

:: Live Blogging Thursday Night ::

Ahh Shucks, I don’t know if it’s possible to turn it up any hotter than this…dang.