Frozen in Eternity

I've just put some photographs up for sale on my Etsy shop "Frozen in Eternity."
I'm rather excited about it and I'm ready to see how it all turns out.

If you'd like to, feel free to take a look around :)

Candace Nicole

Rest in Peace, Dear Grandmother

We got the call that you had passed,
Our hearts to suddenly sink.
Our mother’s cry pierced the morning sky
Her sadness was so deep.
It was all a blur, to see you there
Not a breath, no, not even a stir.

I remember your wonderful smile
That could light up any day.
You were full of fun, and always happy,
You always were aglow.
Your cheeks were pink like little roses,
Your teeth as white as snow.

Time has passed, yes, seven years.
Yet, this year is the worst.
For I am now full-grown,
And fully understand who it was that passed.
I miss you, dear Grandmother,
But I know that you had to go.
To live without his love would have been agony,
That much, now I know.
To have you both here would be like heaven,
But I’ll hold the memories dear and keep them alive.
For in them is your happy life
Which is a treasure to us all.
I’ll never forget you, dear Grandma.
I’ll treasure you forever,
And the time spent with you.
I love you.

Rest in Peace, Grandma Margaret O’Harra
3/5/2003

By: Candace Nicole
(All rights reserved)

Dreams: the stuff that life is made of.

It has been said that time is the stuff that life is made of, but I would like to give credit to dreams. Dreams are the stuff that life is made of. They contain our aspirations, our wishes, and our thoughts. Dreams take the things which we think about and put them into bright, large, fantastic plans. A wish we have that is filled with the people we love so very much, the things we think about, and the things we want to do. Our dreams cannot be realistic. In order to dream and imagine, you must think outside the box. Only then can you begin to dream. When we create our dream and make it our own, it will begin to unfold. We work to fulfill that dream. The dream has given us motivation, and a reason to live. When we have a dream, we have a purpose. We are not living day to day without goals or aspirations. Once you realize your dream, you can achieve the impossible. You can outdo, out-think, and out-run anything that stands in your way. You can achieve anything.

But we must remember to balance our dreams with our reality. We cannot focus on our future so much that we forget our present. Those who surround us now may not be in our future. While we are working to accomplish our dreams, we should still spend as much time as possible with those around us. The ones who are with you now are here to your advantage, whether they ridicule your dreams or they encourage you in every way. You can still learn from those who ridicule you, but you must be careful that they do not give you reason to destroy your dream. You must keep hold of it and not let go.

Everyone has a dream deep, deep, deep down within us. Some of us don’t realize it, or we ignore it. Others discover their dreams and begin to grow them and create an even bigger picture. Sometimes people will wait years until they discover their dream. This dream is normally discovered when someone or something walks or comes into their lives, which enables them to think outside of the box. It causes them to dream.

Sometimes our dreams have to be tweaked. We may have included something in our dream that we cannot possibly keep within it because we realized that it didn’t fit. We sat back and tried to see how our dream fit with our present and we realized that something in our dream was irrelevant, or we were leaving something out that is very important to us. But, a little tweaking should not cause us to scrap our ultimate goal.

A dreamer should never stop dreaming. If, and when, the dreamer accomplishes his dream, he should still dream on, making the dream larger and more spectacular than before. But, unfortunately, dreamers do stop dreaming at times. They become discouraged and decide that it can’t be done, or they have reached their goal, and they think that it cannot go any further, or be developed more. Dreamers should never stop dreaming. Once they stop dreaming, they lose their motivation in life. They can become confused, lethargic, even depressed at times. When this happens, the dreamer needs a serious wake-up call. Dreamers were not designed to stop dreaming. They were made and programmed to keep on dreaming and never stop, no matter what comes their way. When a dreamer stops dreaming, it becomes a discredit to God and His creation. God created the dreamer to dream and never stop dreaming. That is the way a dreamer is made. I say it again: a dreamer should never, ever, stop dreaming.

The Dream

I dreamt of stars above my eyes as I fell to sleep.

Their calmness and serenity were unmatched,

Floating on that darkened sea.

As they glowed with grace and gleamed with beauty,

They could relax anyone’s mind.

I felt at peace with the world, with the dark night,

The cool breeze, and the sounds of the birds.

Never before had it felt so right, so restful, so perfect,

As the night of which I speak.

There was not a cry to be heard,

Only the gentle voices of nature and its families.

The gentle wind blew softly, wrapping its arms about this peaceful sleeper,

And the stars sang a song that pierced the night sky with beauty and grace.

The moonlight gently fell on the sleeper’s face as she slumbered, and soon she would awake.

For dawn was to come, and then she would see the glories of nature,

And the sunset that inward she would take.

Candace Alphin

(All rights reserved)

It's a PhotoFusion Revolution, baby!

Well, yesterday I had the amazing opportunity of attending the PhotoFusion Revolution Tour 2010 with Clay Blackmore and Ross Hockrow. And it was, well, amazing! I learned so much. They discussed portraiture, posing (they brought up a couple for an example of posing a bride and groom for portraits), wedding photography, HDSLR cinema, shooting with flash, lighting techniques (they brought up a lady to show how to do basic posing and the lighting techniques for the different poses), making people happy with your product, and so much more. There were maybe 50-60 people there; I went alone. Mom dropped me off for the seminar and went shopping (Fun!). I came home with a catalog from Canon and Midwest Photo Exchange (Woo!). I was rather nervous at first when I got there, but I started to feel better. I'm going to say that I'm 99.99999...% sure that I was the youngest person there. But, hey, I had fun. I got to act like an adult! :P

They showed beautiful pictures of weddings, babies, Bar and Bat Mitzvah's, businessmen and woman, familes, singers, athletes, and so much more. I took almost 5 full pages of notes! We were there for 4.5 hours, but it was fun. I enjoyed hearing what they had to say and seeing them perform their techniques.

Half of the seminar was about portraiture,  but the 2nd half was about HDSLR cinema. That is, making professional videos with a DSLR camera (Fusion!). Pretty amazing, huh? They spoke on the different types of storytelling, the different types of videoing, different gear that can be used and the techniques that they are used for. They showed quite a few wedding videos, and they were all so beautiful.

We had a 2 hour drive to and from the seminar (it was in Akron, Ohio), so on the way back Mom and I sang songs and talked so that we could stay awake until we got home. We arrived around 21.30 (9:30 pm), but the drive was worth the experience.

Analysis of the day: I really enjoyed myself. It felt so amazing to sit with people, who love photography like I do and who make this their life's work, and listen to other people who also loved their profession and wanted us to feel the affection that they felt for photography. It was inspiring.

If you're a photographer, and if this seminar is going to be near your location, I definitely recommend this seminar. They have some great teachers there and you'll definitely have an amazing time.


Note: The orange words are hyperlinks. :)

How do you penetrate a person?

How do you penetrate a person's mind? Stimulating conversation.

How do you penetrate a person's heart? True friendship.

How do you penetrate a person's soul? Pure and honest love.

Candace Nicole

Breath of Winter

It blew across the fragile land,

Its voice sounded like of death.

It ruled the desolation for a time,

And during then was cruel.

It commanded the trees,

“Wither! Wither and let your

Leaves fall to the ground.”

After a time of rebel, they would obey,

Their green to gently lay

Upon their newfound graves.

And thus was the end of fall.

For the wind’s name was Winter,

And then was it’s time to rule.

By: Candace Nicole

(All rights reserved)