Capturing Love

Now....some of you might be thinking, "Oh my goodness, what is this she is posting..." because this is not my typical book that I would blog about. HOWEVER, I am SO SO SO grateful for Blogging for Books for their new opportunity for bloggers to branch out and try different genres of books. It makes blogging SO much more fun!

When I first saw this book, I saw it was about photography. Now, I am in so shape or form a professional photographer, but I'm a sucker for a good photograph that captures the essence of a moment. That was what drew me to this book. 

I thought it was going to be about all pretty pictures....that was what I was excited about. But this book was so much more than that. While this book is geared toward the photographer and helping capture the special moment between the same sex couple (this is what they refer to the couple as throughout the book) with amazing images that took my breath away, it is a great in depth "instructional" if you will. There are so many great tips and techniques for any photographer. It's chock full of different ideas. Whether you are shooting gay or straight sessions....anyone can learn from and gain from this book. Focusing on different angles, settings and emotions for the couples is an important part of creating the mood and capturing the couple in any photography session. This gives added advice on "general" portraits.

I also had a new perspective on the same sex marriage. I think they are beautiful and this book captures the moment for each couple beautifully. 

Martie Maguire (formally of the Dixie Chicks) states it wonderfully in her Forward about what this book is really about: "...this book not only offers an amazing collection of images of love between two people, their families, and friends, it also offers a practical and insightful step-by-step instruction for photographers on how to capture these unique wedding moments. It breaks down a million and one reasons why approaching a nontraditional wedding may require a different set of skills and considerations, and in the this book lie many ideas and solutions."

I hope you take the time to look at the amazing pictures and maybe learn something in the process. 

***This review was done solely off my own views of the subject matter. I received this book free from Blogging for Books in return for an honest review of the product. I am not getting paid to review these books.***

Silenced

When I first got this book, I was intrigued. I started reading it and the first sentence got me hooked. However, I started the second chapter......looked at the spine of the book, and didn't realize it was the fourth book of a series....

The only downfall to being a book blogger, is the company's don't always tell you that a book is part of a series...or silly human error on my part that I didn't bother to read more in to it before I started reading it.

But...I kept on hoping that I would understand. And honestly...the book did a good job of doing that for me. I may not have known who all the characters were at first, but like meeting new people, you eventually get to know them.

Now I'm almost tempted to go back and read the other books to learn more about everyone...from the beginning.

10 Days Without....

What would you do if you went 10 days without something you thought to be essential? Would you be able to survive without your phone, iPad, computer...? What about shoes? Or a coat?

Daniel Ryan Day did just that...amongst many other things. He went 10 days without shoes, 10 days without furniture, 10 days without a coat....to help raise awareness for many of the world's problems. Things we take for granted. He shared his story with us and he challenges the reader to take that step and go 10 days without something.

Sounds pretty simple doesn't? I tried it and I didn't even make it one day without my shoes. JUST THE FIRST CHAPTER ALONE! It's not as easy as it sounds. In the 1st World...we are spoiled. We take so much for granted....we are so dependent on so many things.

This book should be a regular in churches, businesses, etc....to challenge people to open their eyes and help humanity.

The Queen's Handmaid

I have never read anything from Tracy L. Higley before. What drew me to the book was the fact that it took place in Ancient Egypt. I've been fascinated with Ancient Egypt since I was a child.

I enjoy historical fiction books and I was glad I picked up this book. It helps when the author takes time to do research of the time period. This story was wonderfully told. I could visualize the events taking place as if I was actually there. It's also nice that it a good, clean read.

If you like historical fiction, I would recommend picking this up.

Passion

I will never forget the first time I ever heard Louie talk. It was on the Indescribable Tour with Chris Tomlin. His message still lingers in my soul, reminding how small I truly am in this vast universe, but how much more I am loved by this great God of the universe.

I've always wanted to go to Passion Confreneces. Every year I told myself I would go. I had a friend that went every year. The only thing holding me back was money: traveling to GA seemed like a bit of a stretch for me when I was having barely any money to live and pay bills as it was.

I've listened to all the Passion artists from Chris Tomlin to Christy Nockels. I have been involved. It was great to see that they streamed this years conference I think that I know of for the first time. It had so many wonderful artists and speakers. One of my favorites: Beth Moore.

Now she is one of the speakers that are included in this book. When I first got it, I didn't realize it was going to be a bunch of different speaker/artists talking about the passion movement for younger generations. While I'm an "older" younger generation, I was still moved by what these stories had to say. It gave me inspiration on how to involve the generations to come. These people have really made an impact for Christ in younger hearts and I want to be one of those people too.

Ragamuffin Gospel

So many of my friends have read this book and reread this book. It has taken me till now to read it. It was well worth the wait. I have read many, many, many, Christian "self-help" books, and many i have questions and went "huh?" or "what did i just read?" or "seems i've heard all this before..." But this book was a challenge. It was hard to dig deep inside of myself and admit certain things to myself. But I did it. In order to have a better relationship with God, there are some things that I am going to have to understand that are difficult. But with God's grace and mercy, I can get through them, and this book helped me see that. No matter how broken and torn we are, God's grace and mercy is ALWAYS enough for us.

Cloak of the Light

I normally don't read books like this often. I don't read "sciency-y" or "supernatural" kind of stuff often. I seem to gravitate towards the "romance" novels or ancient egyptian-esque stuff. I know. call me weird. honestly, i was more drawn to the cover of the book than the title and the description, but i decided to give it a chance.  i was a little apprehensive at first, because, like i said, i normally don't read these kinds of things, but once it got into it, i actually enjoyed it. the story took a little bit for me to 'get' in to, but once it got going, the story started to take on a different dimension in a good way.