Looking through all the pictures from 2011 is a crazy thing for me. It reminds me of how awesome God is, how blessed I am in life, and how relationships are everything. In just one short year, my photography has changed a bit, I write differently, and so much has happened in my life. It’s great and it’s scary, but I love it so much.

With so much in life changing, God’s grace is always the same.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Here is 2011 in review. Make sure you let the whole page load before clicking on links or pictures so that they will display correctly.

What better way to start off this with a bunch of sheep? :)

Good times were had working as a Bison photographer. :) It was a blast working with fun people, stretching myself photographically, and shooting some sweet gigs:

Band Perry and First Thaw Festival.

Shot one of my favorite bands, The Avett Brothers.

Did some fun newspaper assignments.

The Burksys.

Shot some Spring Sing. :-)

Shot some high school football. Kinda fun, actually.

Pennsylvania Christian Camp is always a fun week to document with all the youth and the kids at heart. Lots of fun times and memories made there. (of course I had to throw in a picture of my lovely parentals. :))

Had some adventures in the snow. :)

Went to a couple functions.

Some crazy function-goers.

Did some club portraits. haha…oh Amy.

• Box queens
• Last queening
• XEA queens
• Ju Goj pic
• TNT queens

Last formal with PTP as an undergrad. Love this group. It’s been a blast being a part of such a God loving, sweet group of girls.

Sweet suite photo shoot. They’re funny. :-) and cool.

Some BOX function-age. Brotha Beans.

fab.

New PTPers.

The ZP gents. hah…fun times.

Some cool guys and gals at a DRG funct. Hah.

Made my first tye-dye. Learned some life-lessons from Katie.

Did some photos for J-hwa. Miss this guy.

Probably the most sarcastic family you’ll ever meet. Not a bad thing.

The Honduras group pre-travel. I love this group so so much. They’ve all been such a huge blessing in my life.

Kids. :)

Love love love them. Our group in Honduras.

Living world religions trip. Good times and quite the eye-opener.

The skies in Searcy.

Did portraits for the So and family. :-)

2nd shot a few weddings with Karlo. He’s the man. :)

Self portraits. ;)

If wedding clients were children, I would be the be the proudest father ever. ;) I’ve been SO blessed to work with amazing people. I’m so thankful to work with couples that are genuine and kind that I can proudly call my friends.

I also attended a wedding. :)

Did some super-stealthy proposal pictures.

Engagement pictures for some awesome people that are madly in love.

#blessings

Visited my crazy Chicago friends.

Went to the beach. Went two-stepping.

haha.. documented some shenanigans.

Took some graduation pictures and portraits.

I (even) graduated college. [cone hat]

I’ve made the effort to go on more adventures. It’s hard to make the time to get out and explore God’s creation, but once you do, it’s always worth it. God is good.

Sleigh ride. Snow in Searcy is always super exciting. Oh the memories.

And more recently… played in less snow. :)

Started the cro-posse. This is a great sport. I also broke into the professional writer scene. A first and probably a last.

• Played some frisbee golf.
• Bike riding is also great fun.
• Discovered an abandoned college.

May or may not have went trick-or-treating.

Watched and coached Zach into break dancing success. He’s a pro now and I’d like to say that I’m a part of that. :)

Flat rock.

Went on a photo adventure or two.

Measured my BMI. Needless to say, I aced the BMI test.

The best of friends. :)

Moved in this crazy house with these crazy guys. :-)

Worked with this group of amazing and genuine people to make Help Portrait: Searcy happen. Bless.

Started my 365 project–a picture/day for a year. Great challenge. I’m excited for making some more cool portraits with some more of my favorite people this year. :-)

Lastly, I had some grand ol’ times with my family. Love them!

This past year truly has been a blessing. 2012 will be even better. :)

I am a part of all that I have met. Thanks for following my journey.

~ Jon

Help Portrait started with an idea brought to light by a Nashville photographer, Jeremy Cowart. Help Portrait is the simple idea of taking a portrait of someone, printing it, and giving it to them. The purpose of this project is to build self-worth in people and to show them that they are worth spending time on and worth making a great portrait for.

The Searcy chapter of Help Portrait was sparked by a tweet to a few photographers that I’ve come to know in town. Since then, so many people have stepped up to make this project happen. It truly has been a blessing. First putting out an idea, receiving so much support by people willing to give their time and talents.

I love this group and have nothing but good to say. It’s truly been a blessing and an honor working with such incredible people.

This first year’s Help Portrait: Searcy wasn’t exactly a smashing success by terms of number of people coming in the door, but it was most definitely a success. The families that did come through were blessed in ways we don’t know. Here’s a behind the scenes perspective:

Here’s the main photographer group. Love them.

This guy is the boss.  :)

We had quite a bit of downtime, so since we already had everything set up… you know. :)

~ Jon

The 365 project has been popularized for a few years now. The 365 project is taking a picture every day for 365 days. I’ve followed a few other people’s progression through a full year of taking pictures daily, and it’s really a good challenge to do for personal photography growth. This project is rather daunting. Doing anything regularly for so long and sticking with something is quite tough. New Years resolutions, diet plans, goals, they’re all difficult but doable.

After deciding not to do this project for a few years, I’ve decided to try it out. I’m not going to be too religious about it, but I am giving myself a few rules:

• I plan to finish this by New Years, 2012, which gives me
• 20 vacation days (1.6 days off per month)
• One picture a week has to involve planning. This is open for interpretation, but increases the challenge to make something awesome and not just get by.

What to expect:

• Lots of Canon 5D 50mm pictures. (favorite camera/lens combo)
• A few camera phone pictures. (“the best camera is the one you have with you” – chase jarvis)
• Mostly people pictures. (people pictures are the reason I do photography. :))
• Behind the scenes type pictures.
• Etc. :-)

I will probably recap my 365 project on the blog monthly or bi-monthly, but I won’t be posting here daily. I don’t want my blog to be overrun with this project. :)

You can keep up with this project on twitter @jonyoder or through liking my Jon Yoder Photographer facebook page.

Here is day 1: December 10th, 2011.

Help Portrait behind the scenes. More on this tomorrow. Mark Gregory is the holiday-hat-adorned photographer, with the talented and awesome Cheryl and Maggie behind. Here’s the runner up photo.

 ~ Jon

Tonight we talked about what a life fully dedicated to Christ would look like. Would we be living on a small budget and giving the rest of our money away?

These questions are tough, but shouldn’t be avoided. I can’t be complacent in my spiritual life or be okay with a routine. I need to continually pray for wisdom and see what God is calling me to do with what He has entrusted to me.

Most everything good in life comes from pushing yourself. Failure hurts, but it’s part of the journey.

See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:24

Preaching to myself, hoping you’re encouraged too. :)

~ Jon

Thanksgiving. This term means so much to me. Thanksgiving day is a special occasion in my family. It’s the one time of the year most of my dad’s side of the family (40+) get together and have some of the best food around. It’s an experience that can’t really be explained through words. It’s a blessing.

The food is good, but quickly forgotten. What isn’t forgotten are the experiences and the conversations. In my family are mentors, forever friends, and role models. They’re a blessing from the Lord.

Here’s a taste. :-)

mmmmmm!

One of the reasons I love Thanksgiving so much is because this is a taste of what the Kingdom of Heaven looks like. Happy Thanksgiving! Every day is a blessing.

~ Jon

It’s been a quiet, rainy week up here in this little corner of Pennsylvania. Getting away is one thing that I always have good things to say about; getting away while being with loving friends and family is even more amazing.

This week has been such a refreshing time to relax, recoup, and refocus. So good.

The Thanksgiving holiday can take on different meanings. You have the opportunity to focus on the fading things or the things that have significance. This time is marked by the theme of being thankful and also the theme of obsessing over material things.

I say pursue what lasts. Focus on the significant, the relationships, the stories, the fellowship.

You are blessed.

~ Jon

I just put up a poll on my facebook page asking what you want to see on this blog. Some of the options are easier to do than others, but I would really like to hear your input on this: what works, what you like, what you don’t like, etc.

My very first blog post was on January 8th, 2005 on the beloved Xanga. Since then a lot has changed–with life, photography, location, friends, plans, and experiences. Life is a crazy, fast, and changing place, it’s to be expected. Writing or even creating work in general is an odd thing. You think of questions like: is anyone listening? What are people thinking? Why am I doing this?
I have considered that blogging for this long does create a pretty cool timeline of my life…but I want it to be something more than that.

If I could make someone’s day better, if I could inspire someone to create, if I could show you how beautiful the world around you is…even when you don’t see it, that’s when I’ve accomplished my goal.

~ Jon

Little known fact: I never went trick-or-treating before college.

Yeah. It’s true. I’d like to think that I still grew up a half-sane person, but I guess that’s not my call.

For halloween day, a couple of us bought some candy to give out to the kids that would be coming by. Sitting around watching TV got lame very fast, so we decided to do some of our own halloween activities.

I call this the Islamic turban grinch. 

Some great girls. =)

Some crazy guys. Andy was supposedly dressed up as Shaggy, but I didn’t buy it.

A variation.

And then there’s this. Don’t ask.

Peace and love,

~ Jon

Croquet may be my new favorite sport. Creating your own course is pretty sweet and playing it with good friends in great weather makes for an amazing afternoon. Highly recommended. :)

All in a day’s work.

~ Jon

Photo assortment:

From today’s walk with my brother.

I love bonfires, friends, good conversation, and singing. Shots from Farm Fest.

Jordan got a (new) car. He’s a pretty big deal. ;)

~ Jon