Port Wine Photography

Evan

ryan — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:54:14 +0000

The fun thing about taking pictures of teenagers is that it’s almost like you have a completely different person in front of you after a year goes by. Last year, I took pictures of Evan and his sister, Sarah Kate. Check it out HERE. I definitely had fun catching up and hanging out with him and the family in downtown Nashville. Best of luck to you as you graduate high school and step into your next journey in life!

Sarah Kate jumped into a few. I decided to leave out the pictures of them pushing each other.

Gotta love brothers and sisters.

The cool thing about this last picture is that this land was bulldozed after, so this picture is truly one of a kind.

Just another reason why I love photography.

The Vaughn Family

ryan — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:59:29 +0000

Great thing about this family is that they are actually my family! I had the privilege of taking photos of my cousins for the second time.

My little second cousin has grown up so much since the first time I took her pictures. See…

By the way, they were my first family photoshoot EVER. They asked this just-skilled-enough photographer (me) to take some family photographs a whole two years ago. I know…long time. Seriously, I appreciate them getting me started into making my passion for photography into a job. I don’t know that I would’ve taken that leap with out a little push. Love you guys!

This was the first time I tried some shots inside of a house with a family. We had access to this beautifully furnished model home in Nolensville, TN, and I think they rocked it pretty well.

I’ll let you be the judge.

The Galloway Farm Photobooth.

ryan — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:58:00 +0000

Hello to everyone!

If you want your picture, please email me at portwinephotography@yahoo.com. Send me the number of your photo(s) and I’ll get it to you ASAP.

I hope you enjoyed it! Please feel free to call or email for any further photography needs. Need a Christmas card photo?

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Charlie + Thomas

ryan — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:46:41 +0000

This is my first photo shoot in months, and it was like driving a sports car after not driving for a while (which I did). Charlie and Thomas were awesome and full of energy which I feel reflects in the photos. What you don’t see in these photos is all the funny faces they made in between. It’s always good to let kids be themselves while trying to get those classic photos that you’ll put in the family photo album. Hopefully, theses photos will remind Charlie and Thomas what they were like as little boys.

I took these at Cheekwood in Nashville, TN. This place is beautiful! I highly recommend this place to anyone wanting to take any kind of photos.

If you need family photos, senior portraits, headshot, or a photographer to document your life, feel free to contact me. These beautiful fall leaves won’t last for too long!

Enjoy.

Traveling through Thailand.

ryan — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:19:14 +0000

From July 21 through September 17, I was in Thailand. It was a long time to spend in another country. The first thing I found myself doing was comparing Thailand to Japan which I had just left. These two countries couldn’t be any more different.

For a majority of our trip, we were in Bangkok. The city is very spread out and you could spend an hour driving to the other side of the city. Bangkok was extremely chaotic. They have traffic lights, but only at the major intersections. Other than that it’s kind of a free for all. Not to mention there are motorbike taxis zooming in between all of the cars. We weren’t allowed to ride the motorbike taxis because they are the number one cause of death in Bangkok. The city also has a plethora of smells. Now, as a person who believes he has super-human smelling, I was not excited about this. You never knew when a bad smell was going to come creeping into your nostrils and leave you gasping for fresh air. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but there were a lot of bad smells (in the nose of the beholder).

New York City may be called the “City that never sleeps”, but I would argue it’s not the only one. I would be headed back to where ever we were staying around midnight, and people would just be sitting down to grab some food. The vehicles never stopped — which made it hard to sleep sometimes. But most of the things we did were at night anyways, so I was glad that the city was awake.

We got to meet many people, and one thing I loved about the Thai people is that they are very relational. It is common to see two guy/girl friends walking with their arms around each other or holding hands, and it not being anything more than a friendship. As an American, that took some getting use to. I formed friendships only as deeply as language barriers would allow. I discovered how crucial being able to speak another language is when trying to connect with people of another country. I’d probably learn Japanese over Thai just because Thai is a very hard language to learn. Just like the Japanese, there are many things that the Thai and Americans have in common. Whether we grew up in America, Thailand, Japan, or wherever, we are all alike on a deeper level than just our outer appearance.

The hustle and bustle of the city took some getting use to, but it was 2 months that I’ll never forget. I’m thankful for the variety of experiences I was able to have. If I do ever return to Thailand, I hope it’s the northern part where it’s more country side.

Here are some photos from Thailand (I’ll do my best to explain ones that need explaining):

Right: A woman goes through one of the rituals to try and gain favor from Buddha.

Young men hanging out at the floating market.

Left: This is a bridge where teen gangs hangout and well as a place where teens hook up for sex.

Right: An intricate bird nest at a home in Chacheongsao, Thailand.

This woman breeds fish for a living. If these fish don’t make it then she will have nothing to live on.

The woman above also breeds frogs. They will be sold to markets for eating. Here, a helper is feeding the frogs.

They paint them pink because they are novelty gifts for people.

A Thai, Christian wedding. They aren’t Christian, but Christian weddings are popular.

People also travel by boats that use the rivers and canals of Bangkok.

The beach at Pattaya.

Performers preparing to go on stage for the Queen’s birthday celebration.

Chicken’s foot and chicken blood (the brown cube).

We had to sign our names in a ledger to enter a Thai prison.

A Thai prisoner playing guitar for worship.

Journey in Japan.

ryan — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 01:51:11 +0000

From June 30 through July 21, I was in Japan. I never thought I would go to Japan, but it was definitely a country I was interested in visiting. We flew into Tokyo and stayed there for a little bit to get introduced into the culture. Initially, I thought of Tokyo as this ultra-high tech city, but in reality, it is much like the big cities of the U.S. Granted there are a few differences. The city is extremely clean for being the most populated city in the world. The neighborhood where our house was located was so quiet at night for a city. All of the cars were small mostly because parking is limited. Big SUVs were very rare. When I went into a McDonalds in Tokyo, the toilet had a bidet. I think a lot of these things have to do with the fact that the Japanese are clean, respectful and environmentally conscience.

The thing I enjoyed most about the Japanese people was that they have servant hearts. People were very helpful if we were lost or didn’t understand something. There is much that our culture could learn from theirs (and vice versa I’m sure).

We went to Hitachi (yes, the place where all those electronics are made) to join up with a group called CRASH. Then, after about a week we joined with another group called BeOne in Ishinomaki. Ishinomaki was one of the cities that was devastated by the earthquake/tsunami on 3/11/11. Here we helped with clean up. Because we were usually cleaning all day, our team was unable to get many photos, but we weren’t there for photos. We were there to serve and love the people whose lives were wrecked.

There is much more to be done in Japan. We were told a statistic that because of this earthquake/tsunami there is 100 years worth of trash to be cleaned up. As overwhelming as this is, they are working diligently and volunteers are coming frequently.

I would love to go back someday. I’m thankful for the relationships built and the heart I now have for the country of Japan.

Now…

Some pictures from my journey in Japan.

Good Life

ryan — Sat, 21 May 2011 07:46:37 +0000

It’s been too long since I posted photos up, but Hawai’i is keeping me busy. The Big Island (officially called Hawai’i) isn’t exactly the beautiful lush place you think of when you think of Hawaii. It has the lush parts, but there are 13 different climate zones and Hawai’i has 11 of them. Yes, even a desert. So, it’s a very wild place. I love it.

Here are some photographs for you to enjoy:

(Feel free to stop by my other blog Awake My Soul to see what’s really going on in Hawai’i)

Leaving for Kona, Hawaii.

ryan — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:13:20 +0000

The day is finally here!

I’m off to live in Hawai’i (The Big Island) for 3 months. Then, 3 months in some, as of now, unknown location. You can follow my adventure on here or through my Facebook page, Ryan Bledsoe Goes To Youth With A Mission.

Check the blog for some fun, adventurous, and beautiful (hopefully) pictures.

Thanks to all who gave! Expect a little “somethin, somthin,” in the mail.

Ryan

Help Me, Help You, Help Me.

ryan — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 23:41:07 +0000

So here’s the deal.

I’ll soon be leaving to embark on an adventure that will surely change me for the rest of my life.

A couple months ago I decided to apply to a YWAM school. If you don’t know already, YWAM stands for Youth With A Mission. They are dedicated to making Jesus known to youth and then sending those youth out to do the same for others. They have schools spanning the entire globe, but I chose a school in Kona, Hawaii. As my family would like to say sarcastically, I’ll be suffering for Jesus.

This particular school is called Photogenx. Photogenx’s vision is to use photography as a tool for cultural transformation through portraits of the people. They want to be a “voice for the voiceless”, and bring up current cultural issues. Just an amazing idea. I’m a photographer, so what better way to spread the Good News than through a passion God has blessed me with.

Here is where you come in.

For three months, I’ll be getting to know God more and training. The training is all leading up to the Outreach which is where I’ll be carrying out the Photogenx vision in a foreign country. It’s much like a mission trip, but it’s three months long. And it costs some money.

I’m willing to work for that money.

I want you to HELP ME, HELP YOU get the quality pictures you’ve been wanting, so you can HELP ME raise money for my outreach trip. Getting the picture? (Pun intended)

Between now and the beginning of April, I’ll be scheduling photo shoots. You are always welcome to give money, but wouldn’t you like to get something out of the deal?

Here is a list of the types/prices of photo shoots you can choose from:

The “30 Minutes” Photo Shoot – $100

Senior Pictures – $150

Family Pictures – $200

For more information on each or other photo options, email me at portwinephotography@yahoo.com

Show me the money!

(Had to do another Jerry Maguire quote)

Best of 2010!

ryan — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 23:38:09 +0000

Here is either my favorite shots or the ones that I felt captured a good moment. Hope you’ve enjoyed my photos throughout 2010, and look forward to many more in 2011. My life is about to have some big changes. The next blog post will invite you to share in that adventure with me. Thanks so much to everyone who encouraged me and gave me opportunities to use the creative gifting God has given me.

Ryan