missionary – nancy merrill photography

Thankful November 24th: My Faith

You are getting two post today because yesterday was too full to do a post (gone from 8 in the morning until 11 in the evening). And the first one today was for fun (see Thankful November 24th: Chocolate for reference.) This post will be much more serious. I’m sure that many people who follow this blog and read my posts are aware that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes known as the Mormon Church). I haven’t tried to make it a secret. I have also tried to not be overbearing about it. I was born and raised in Utah in a family that is very actively involved in this religion. When I was 22 years old, I served as a volunteer missionary to Wisconsin. I married my husband in the beautiful Mount Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, Utah. I have been living my religion as best as I can for almost 53-1/2 years. Having faith has grounded me, given me hope as I see things happening in the world around me, and provided me with a community wherever I have moved. I am a firm believer in Jesus Christ. I have faith in a Heavenly Father, who loves and knows me. I’m grateful for scriptures I can turn to for comfort and guidance during difficult times in my life.

Whatever your religious (or non-religious) life may be, I hope that you find love, happiness, and joy in the Christmas season this year. I love celebrating the birth of my Savior with the entire world.

7-Day B&W Challenge: Days Six and Seven

I missed yesterday, so today you get days 6 and 7 together.

Here are the rules:

• Post a B & W photo for 7 days.
• 7 black and white photos of your life.
• No people.
• No explanation.
• Challenge someone new each day.

I would like to invite anyone who is interested in participating to do so.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Props

Lost in a good book

Baby D

When doing a shoot for a child or high school senior, I tell my clients to bring things they are interested in. For small children, I suggest parents bring favorite toys. Having something familiar can help them relax and brings out really fun things in their personalities. Too many props can get in the way, but a few well-selected ones really help to make the portrait shoot more memorable and more fun for your clients.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE ONE OR TWO OR MORE PHOTOS FEATURING PEOPLE WITH PROPS.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

Welcome home, Sister A

This amazing young lady recently returned from serving an LDS mission to Guatemala. She is as beautiful inside as she is outside. I’m very happy to call her family and so thrilled that she wanted some updated pictures.

Seniors and Missionary shoot with Master B

This great young man is graduating from high school and getting ready to leave for an LDS mission to California this summer. He’s very busy, so it was great to be able to give him a bit of a break from studying for AP tests and finals to do a fun, relaxing photo shoot. He was such a natural in front of the camera.