Michael Shattuck Photography

Chillin'

2009-07-02T18:30:00.001-05:00

What a great day to hang out on the porch with Vicki and my iPhone!

Samson

2009-07-01T06:10:00.001-05:00

My walking buddy

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T05:46:00.002-05:00

Easter, like Christmas, has come and gone. The celebration of Jesus Christ's resurrection from the grave, however, continues. C. S. Lewis popularized the thought of Jesus being "Lord, liar, or lunatic". He had to be one. The resurrected Christ, witnessed by well over 500 people (see 1 Corinthians 15:6), gives the answer to Lewis' statement in my mind. Of course it takes faith to believe in something...someone....we didn't see with our own eyes. Thank God for the written testimony of so many that did!

The Easter eggs have all been hunted and their hidden treasures discovered. It's back to busyness today. But it's really not just "another day". Today is an opportunity to experience, possibly a little deeper, the love of a Father who sacrificed His Son so that you and I could have the hope of a relationship with Him.

Gwen

2009-03-18T13:55:00.002-05:00

Rob DeMartini

2009-03-18T09:05:00.001-05:00

Ok, to be fair I thought I needed to add a shot from yesterday's visit of the big guy himself. So, ladies and gentlemen, the CEO of New Balance, Rob Demartini.

Leaders

2009-03-17T13:49:00.002-05:00

We had a visit from our CEO this morning. He's seemingly a very impressive character, although I really don't know him personally. I was asked to cover the event. Got to setup some inventive lighting to ensure some good captures in the dark warehouse. I did get some great shots of the CEO, Rob DeMaritini, but my favorite shot was this one that I worked up of our VP, Joe Clendenny. He's a very godly man that formed the company that was merged into NB corporate the day after I was hired (coincidence? haha!). While he isn't leading the big show, his presence is felt both here in Fenton as well as globally.

What's wrong with this picture?

2009-03-16T07:16:00.003-05:00

Grabbed this shot at the Missouri Botanical Gardens last Saturday. Went there to see an orchid show and this is the kind of image I looked to take...what's wrong with me??!!

Grover's coming!

2009-03-10T14:20:00.002-05:00

I loved Grover as a boy...especially the book "There's a monster at the end of this book". Oh, if they only made these in size 14!

Keep a look out for these sweet kiddo sneakers during Q2 of this year! Likely to spot them on my son's feet first!!

Peace for the taking

2009-03-09T06:18:00.002-05:00

How often do you hear people use the word peace to describe their lives today? What about to describe the cultural climate? Ok, what about even to describe their church?

It's not really a word we hear too much unless it's during a crisis, either personal or global (war, etc). Peace is something that we all crave. Yet it sometimes seems so elusive.

What if I pointed out a simple formula to achieve peace? Would I "buy it"? Would you? Or would we go on doing life as normal, same modus operandi, same results?

Well, read this: "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand" (Phil. 4:6-7).

Paul lays it out so nicely there doesn't he? Just do these couple of things and the peace of God is yours for the taking...and by the way, it's MIND-BLOWING! You won't be able to make sense of the peace you'll have because God is that good!

The key to all of this, though, is truly trusting God. When I begin to worry...and yes, I'm no amateur at that...I'm definitely not trusting God's sovereignty in my life. I, in a sense, I stage a coup and take control of myself again. And where does it lead? Well, let's just say that peace is not the final destination.

When I get to know God better, understand who He is, what He wants for my life, I come to see that He alone is the only wholly (and holy) trustworthy authority for my life. When I do that, restoring His reign in me, and allow Him to change my priorities and mindset it becomes so much easier to let go of worry and embrace thankfulness for God's work in my life. That change is the source of the peace Paul talks about.

I'm encouraged this morning, and hope you are too, that peace is ours for the taking. Even in these difficult times when worry abounds, we have God's promise. We just need to trust and turn to Him!

A letter

2009-03-05T06:16:00.001-06:00

I was reading a letter written to me, and others, a very long time ago. Seems like I've read that letter a million times but it always speaks something new to me.

Listen to this line. "God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him."

That idea of pleasing God is sure fading today. No doubt the majority of people know what would please God but simply don't care to do that routinely. It's so easy to choose ourselves, giving in to our own desires for whatever...what we eat/drink, where we go, what we watch, who we hang with, etc etc etc. And I'm not even talking serious "bad" stuff...just what would honor God in the routines.

It so easy to put aside all of our knowledge of God, who He is, and just live. Yes we think about Him on Sunday mornings and a very VERY small percentage of people crack up the Bible sometime during the week. And even though we might have a hard time saying it, we sort of live like the rest of the week is "my time". No, we might not be partying it up or whatever...but are we living day to day in the desires of a Holy, Mighty God.

I remember blogging a couple of years ago about the Barna book, Revolution. It's setting on my desk at work actually (the book, not the blog entry). Such a great title b/c it really is a revolution to think about moving from such a bland, ChrEaster (those who go to church on Christmas and Easter) faith to a vibrant, living faith in the Living God. It's a day by day, moment by moment thing that is possible. After all, we're reminded in that pastor's letter (incidentally it's from Paul) that God gives us the power to live that kind of revolutionary faith-life.

That's what's tough...and what keeps me and so many others from having constant, consistent victory. It's tough to take life in bite-sized pieces. I need to learn to live this moment. Honor God with this moment. Praise Him in this moment. Make sure that I'm completely aligned with Him right now. And when this moment passes, I'll do the same in the next. And when I screw up, I need to remember to just get up and keep moving ahead...so hard to do, right?

How else can I think that the abundant life is possible? Forget it! There's too much difficulty and heart-ache in this world to try to go it on my pathetic strength and with my pathetic perspective on life. I choose God. I choose Christ.

Diggin' the green

2009-03-03T09:53:00.004-06:00

Not sure exactly why but I'm really digging this green and white combo. So clean. You a fan of green?? This is the first in what New Balance is calling their "Candy Series". And yes, they're available...um, now.

Fantastic quote

2009-01-09T10:57:00.001-06:00

From a radio broadcast today:

"Jesus did not come into the world to make bad people good, but to make dead people live." - Ravi Zacharias

Let your spirit rise!

2009-01-08T14:20:00.002-06:00

New project

2009-01-05T18:48:00.003-06:00

I've been working on an idea for a photo project to entertain myself with, as well as providing some nice wall decoration for our half-barren living room walls. During Christmas break, though, I had a breakthrough. After years of studying the trombone, it unfortunately spends way too much time just sitting there in my office. Sad, sad story. So, I decided to pay it its due respect and immortalize the thing in a fun way. Wanted to share a couple of the images with the world.

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-24T08:39:00.002-06:00

Ok, I'm a shoe geek. (WR904TR)

2008-12-23T12:35:00.003-06:00

There. Let me just lay it out there...I have come to pretty much breathe shoes. I'm around them all the time and have come to just be plain fascinated by them. So many colors, shapes, sizes, widths (thanks to NB), technology. Shoes are really amazing and so often overlooked.

I've been a bit hesitant to constantly be putting shoe shots on my blog...but no longer. It's what I do. And it doesn't just pay the bills, as they say. I dig 'em!!

So, this is the latest shot that caught my eye. This ladies runner will be coming out in Q3 of next year. Don't let it get (run) away! Get it?? :-) Just love the colors. They scream, "Check me out...I'm running!!"

Stop the madness!!

2008-12-20T07:36:00.002-06:00

This is a bit (ok, maybe not JUST a bit) of a rant post. The "madness" I'm referring to is the shoot-for-free photographers out there that are seriously dragging down the industry. Open up that ridiculous "Clist" ad engine and you'll find endless posts for people looking for someone to come shoot their wedding, engagement photos, special events, even stinkin' fashion shoots with a line of amateur apparel they're designing. Know what the kicker is? They want someone that needs experience to come do it for pennies, IF NOT FREE. FREE!!

Here's the reason why they want it. It's quite simple. Here it is: they can get it. Yeah. They want someone to come and do the work of a photographer for free and they'll get it because there is a literal endless see of people lining up to do it for just that amount of money ($0.00).

Why is this frustrating? Well, it's because the middle of the market is slimming out. Peoples' expectations are lowered significantly when they find out they can save a bunch of money and end up with photos that are pretty good. More and more people go this route...less and less realistically-paying jobs come available...and sad ole' me can't find extra work. Pity!

I've read more blog posts than I can count on this topic and have been somewhat apathetic. I think it's because I'm a studio photographer that shoots freelance on occasion. My bread and butter job is full-time and going gangbusters! But I'm seeing more and more how the freelance stuff is getting very thin. Studios around the nation are in trouble because of this very issue I'm discussing.

There's not really a solution...and my frustration is subsiding as I type. It is good in many ways that there has been such an enormous boom in photography. After all, it's not like I've been in the field 20 years or anything. But there still is a difference between a professional and an amateur. You should still recognize the need to pay more for someone that has those 20 years of experience versus the new kid on the block that just bought his first dSLR and is still figuring out what a layer mask is.

This is in no way an elitist slam against amateurs. No way!! It's great to catch a job...it's great to make $2.48 shooting anything when you're used to doing it for ZIP. The issue I take is with the clients who are driving all of this. In the words of a very wise shrink, "stop it!!"

A much needed facelift

2008-12-15T15:48:00.002-06:00

I'm not going to let the whole cat out of the bag, but suffice it to say that New Balance is going to be introducing a new line of walking shoes that have been given facelifts. "Walkers" are notorious for being plain and often unsightly (ooh, did I say that out loud?). But when I lifted these off the shelf today to shoot them for a March 2009 launch, I was thoroughly surprised to read that they were walkers and not running shoes. Right on New Balance!!

What do you think? Would you consider buying this walker?

Testing

2008-12-09T20:09:00.001-06:00

Just installed some kind of app on Facebook that allows blogger.com posts to automatically be added there. Let's just see how it works!

Capturing "reflectivity"

2008-12-08T12:33:00.002-06:00

Strange topic, right? Well, the thought has been passed along to us to try to come up with some possibilities for demonstrating the reflectivity of NB's running gear (apparel and shoes) in our photography. So, we've been working on some possibilities. When you get everything setup just right, it's pretty wild the way the reflective material POPS! I've been saying "whoa" all morning. Such easy stuff to overlook when you're buying your new kicks or running jacket. But this stuff is your best friend when running at night...the material SCREAMS, "Watch it dude...I'm runnin' here!!"

Attention to detail

2008-12-04T14:20:00.002-06:00

When you have the opportunity to spend a lot of time with shoes and athletic apparel you begin to develop the ability to notice details. Sometimes those details give you the feeling of looking at a highly tuned sports car...others like looking at the snout of an alligator (really, some of our football shoes!). Today I was face-to-lace with an upcoming (Q2 2009) training shoe and felt like I was looking at a little road...a small pathway to somewhere. Where was the designer daydreaming about going??

Doug Sonders on Kelby's blog

2008-12-04T08:22:00.003-06:00

Scott Kelby, author of about a ton of digital photography-related books, had a guest blogger session yesterday with Doug Sonders. It was a great post, showing one of Doug's shoots from beginning to end (shoot through post). Do yourself a favor and check out the blog post and Doug's site for some great photographic inspiration.

Be sure to let him know I sent you. It'd get you big cred points...except that oh yeah, he has no idea who I am. Doh!

New Balance - Abby Cadabby

2008-12-02T11:07:00.004-06:00

I couldn't resist sharing these even though they're another pair of Sesame Street Collection shoes like the last ones I shared and they aren't out until next year. They're just too stinkin' cute!

Thankfulness

2008-12-02T05:47:00.003-06:00

I've been wondering what today was going to feel like...what emotions, thoughts, feelings would I have? Would it be just another day? More memories than usual? Tears?

A year ago today I had the amazing privilege of reading Scripture into the ear of a man who took his last breath on earth and opened his eyes in the midst of the Creator...my dad. I've relived that late night literally countless times over the last year, remembering every sweet and excruciating moment. Honestly, no more meaningful times passed in our relationship for years. Isn't that interesting?

So, what do I feel today? Pondering that very question this morning as I let the dog out, got a cup of coffee, and sat down to look at some Scripture, I realized that what I feel is thankfulness. Read this from Lamentations 3 (msg):

I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there's one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
God's loyal love couldn't have run out,
his merciful love couldn't have dried up.
They're created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He's all I've got left.

For the writer of those words in Lamentations it's likely that they were remembering the destruction of their beloved city, Jerusalem. For me, I look back to a year ago and I think of the heart ache and pain associated with watching my dad's short, fruitless battle with cancer. I look back to wondering what we would do without either of us having jobs. What would we do without having a car of our own or a home for our family? Such big questions that weighed so heavily on us.

But, again, looking back I see the clarity and wisdom of the writer(s) of that lament. God's mercy IS new EVERY MORNING. It's something we don't even ask for. It's just there. We wake up and God's love, his infinite, boundless love is there to meet us. I'm overwhelmed with that truth.

I'm thankful today because of the immense peace that overtook the darkness of my dad's death. You would have thought I'd gone into shock that night as I smiled from ear to ear trying to imagine even a trifle of what he must have been experiencing. I was so blessed to have been there with him as he fought through those last couple of months.

I'm thankful that God's love and mercy held us safe when we didn't have a clue what we'd do when we went off salary with our mission organization. We trusted Him and we see now that that was all He required. I'm thankful that He provided a new house, a car, everything we needed. And I'm thankful that I woke up today and felt His love and mercy surrounding me...in the form of His eternal promises and in the form of my family who loves me so much.

Adopting again

2008-11-30T17:26:00.003-06:00

You know, once you've gone through the adoption process (especially with 3!), to think about doing it all again isn't nearly as daunting. We've had this in the back of our mind for quite awhile but decided to move ahead with it a few months ago.

It was great to have this conversation with our kids. "What do you guys think? Do you think we could do it? You know you're going to have more responsibilities." They reacted and responded incredibly well, excited about the possible addition to the Shattuck pack.

Thinking about everything, we knew we wanted to rescue a little one, but weren't sure whether to go for a boy or girl. Didn't know exactly what color, although again we have a few favorites. Often, though, it's not the prospective adopting family's choice as you're paired up with the best match by the adoption agency.

A little over a week ago we had our home study. The lady was very nice that came over to visit. We'd actually met her before at a local store where we had an opportunity to chat about some of the "animals" her agency represents (you know how that goes...each with a different personality...and some that are real characters!). She asked all of the important questions about each of us trying to get an idea of how serious we were, whether or not we knew about the kind of adjustments that would ensue, and generally to get an idea of the atmosphere here to make the right match. In the end, the meeting went great and we left it knowing we'd hear from her later when she had a chance to talk to some foster families to see if there were any matches for the Shattuck pack.

A week or so passed and I thought I'd make contact just to get an idea of timeline and final procedures since we hadn't talked about that specifically. I received a friendly reply basically stating that sometimes it takes what seems like forever while other times it's super quick...be ready to be patient. If you know anything about our last adoption, patience is something that was deeply ingrained in us. For this second run at it, we felt prepared for anything.

Imagine our surprise when we received another email yesterday afternoon that contained information that a possible match had been made! It seems that a sweet 4-year old named Linus has been with a foster family in the area for awhile and is hoping to find a family like ours to join!! Could it be that easy? No droves of phone calls to this agency or that? No begging the embassy for help?

Linus has had a busy life, working hard to please everyone around him while growing up in Wichita. You wouldn't believe all that the little guy had to go through before making his way to his foster family in MO. And now we're just a week away from meeting him, giving him a chance to see what he thinks about us. It would be amazing if it would work out to bring him home by Christmas!

Oh yeah, did I mention that Linus is a former racing greyhound? Oops. :-) Sure thought that I'd already typed that part. We'll see how things shape up next weekend on his visit. You can read more about him and the adoption group here (his official name is "Extreme Lighten").