Tag Archives: Photo

Photo Friday

Happiest Place on Earth

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McNay

Last Sunday afternoon Wendy and I had the opportunity of visiting the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. We visited the McNay for the first time on our honeymoon  ten years ago. It’s come to hold a special, sentimental place in my heart. I posted to Facebook:

You can have Disneyland. Ever since Wendy and I visited the McNay on our honeymoon 10 years ago, this has been, for me, one of “the happiest places on Earth.”

The courtyard at the McNay is one of the most beautiful, peaceful places I’ve ever been and I could sit there for hours, especially with Wendy. On our visit last Sunday I couldn’t help but take this photo with my iPhone. There’s nothing extraordinary about the photo and I know it can’t possibly capture the true beauty of the place. Sometimes the power of shot has nothing to do with being great photography,  rather the ability of a shot to transport us back to a powerful time or place is what makes photography great.

Throwback Thursdays

TBT: Engagement

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Tom and Wendy Engagement Photo - 1

It was 10 years ago this month that Wendy and I had our engagement photos taken and our wedding plans were in full swing. So, for Throwback Thursday, here you go.

Tom's Photos

Blood Moon

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Blood Moon - 1

Last night we had a spectacular view of the lunar eclipse from our back porch. Wendy, Taylor and I stood outside and watched the event. It was a gorgeous evening and I set up my camera and tripod to take some shots and experiment. I loved some of the results like this photo.

Photo Friday

Morning Star

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morning star

I was up early a few weeks ago and the morning star was burning bright just above the horizon as the glow of impending morning created a gorgeous silhouette of the tree line behind our home. I grabbed my camera and snapped this shot.

Throwback Thursdays

TBT: Grandma’s Photography

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Vander Well family in front of Grandpa (Herman) and Grandma (Everdina) Vander Well's house in LeMars, IA. Photo processed June 1974
Vander Well family in front of Grandpa and Grandma Vander Well’s house in LeMars, IA. Photo processed June 1974

I’ve been slowly taking up the task of scanning my family’s archive of old photos. I came across this little gem from 1974 of my family standing in front of my grandparents’ house. There were two things that this photo brought to mind:

  1. Grandma insisting we must take a family photo before we would be allowed to leave for home (notice our shared excitement).
  2. Grandma, bless her, couldn’t frame a photo to save her life.
Photo Friday

Wendy with a Red Halo

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Wendy with the Red Halo

Some photos just happen in an unexpected moment, and this photo has become one of my favorite personal examples. Wendy’s favorite color is red. This past June while visiting Scotland’s Museum of Contemporary Art in Edinburgh, Wendy took a seat on a bench in one of the galleries to rest. I turned to look at her and realized that the artwork behind her made this gorgeous red halo. How apt. She had no idea why I lifted my camera and snapped her picture, but I loved the result.

Throwback Thursdays

TBT: The Boys

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the boys pic frame

This past weekend as I posted a photo (bottom) of some of the old high school crew getting together for Dave and Maria’s baby shower, I remembered a photo (top) of some of the guys who had traveled up from Des Moines on the Fourth of July 1986 to join me in Kamrar, Iowa where I was serving as the summer youth intern at the Community Church. Voila! I found it and thought it a great shot for Throwback Thursday.

In the 1986 photo: (L-R) Matt Hill, Dave Eick, Rod Torstenson, Moi.
In the  2015 photo: (L-R) Dave Eick, Moi, Doug Reeves [who I believe, in 1986, was in the Navy, serving on the U.S.S. Enterprise], Mat Hill.

Photo Friday

Sunrise Through the Wildflowers

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Wildflowers Behind the Manor

Last Sunday morning I woke early as the sun was rising. I could not help but notice how gorgeous the wildflowers looked at the back of our lot. So I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pics. I especially liked the way this one turned out and used it to update the header on my blog. Sometimes the most beautiful scenes are right in front of us. The play of the sunlight through a window, or the sun rising through the wildflowers. We simply have to open our eyes to see it, and be willing to take a moment to appreciate it.

Throwback Thursdays

TBT: Life Under the Umbrella

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Tom Travelers Teen

Archaeologists recently uncovered this gem (I found it in a tub of my parents’ family photos) from c. 1983. An early work by photographer Reed Davis (www.reeddavisphotopraphy.com). Anyone from the Des Moines area will recognize the iconic Traveler’s insurance sign that is a signature piece of the Des Moines skyline. The Traveler’s umbrella has been in a few different photos over the years.

tom travelers adult

About ten years or so after the first photo was taken, it was photographer Eric Smoldt  (http://ericsmoldt.com) who snapped this black and white photo of me under the umbrella on a downtown Des Moines photo safari.

Tom Travelers Wedding

Add another ten years or so, and it was Jeff Bokhoven (http://www.designerimagesphotography.com) who took this awesome photo of me and my best men on New Year’s Eve 2005, just before Wendy and I said, “I do.”

What’s really cool is that in the late 1970s and early 1980s my dad was partner in Eagle Sign Company who, at the time, owned and leased the Traveler’s Umbrella sign. So not only is the umbrella an iconic landmark, but I kinda get to claim it as a family heirloom.

What can I say? I love Des Moines.

Photo Friday, Tom's Photos

Photo Friday: Napping on the the Lawn

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2015 06 Wendy and Tay Napping - 1I’ve come to realize that there are some photos that you love, and you don’t really know why. This photo from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh is one of them. Every time I’m flipping through my photos and I see this one my soul smiles. I love the simple joy lying on the grass, napping in the sun. I love the way Wendy and Taylor are placed in such natural, beautiful surroundings. I love the blue of the sky meeting the green of the trees and the lawn. Of course, I loved experiencing that morning in the gardens when it happened and perhaps that is the most powerful attraction the photo has for me.

Anyway, I hope it makes your soul grin a little too.