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Welcome to the One Bright Spot Photography blog!

My name is Jacob Vorpahl and I run One Bright Spot Photography, based out of Jacksonville, FL.  I’ve been dabbling in photography since 2007, after I returned from a tour in Iraq with the United States Marine Corps.  After many years of public service, I’ve decided to make photography my primary vocation in life.  I hope you’ll return to the blog often to follow me on this journey.

Currently, I’m engaged in 365 photo project, which is basically a photo for a day for a year.  Anything titled “365 2012…” is part of that project.

Jun 02, 2010 | Categories:Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

365/??? – What happened?

List of good ideas and bad ideas, including a 365 photo project

 So, you may have noticed the blog being a little dead as of, oh I don’t know… the last two months?  Well, there are two very important reasons for that.

The first, business has picked up and I’m actually busy.  That’s a good thing.  I’ve had an opportunity to meet some new clients and participate in some events that has brought me in contact with a lot of people that I never would have the chance to meet.  It’s nice being able to see some progress in something you’re pouring your a lot of energy, but even more so when it’s a business and it has a direct impact on your finances and/or survival.  I’ve been having to push myself in marketing, business strategy, customer relations and work flows… the list goes on and on.  But it’s been good.

The bad is the second reason.  A 365 photo project is just too demanding when you’ve got a baby and a wife.  You see, it’s not just taking the picture each day.  It’s downloading it, editing it, tagging it, describing it, uploading, creating the blog post, posting the photo from one site to another, writing the blog post, tagging the blog post, taking care of the SEO for the post (count your blessing if you don’t know what that is), proofreading and finally posting it to various sites here and there.  That doesn’t even cover the mental creative process is takes to create a photo each day.  I was getting it done, but eventually, I missed having the time to post a photo for a few days, then I was looking at hours to get caught up, so it got pushed aside in favor of business demands.  Eventually I was staring at something like 15 days worth of photos that needed to be taken care of, and I had to ask myself, “Why am I putting myself through this?”  It wasn’t worth the time I needed to divert away from business needs and family time, so I shut it down.

Well, not completely.  It’s going to change.  It’s not going to a photo-a-day project, it’s going to be a year long project.  At the end or beginning of each week, I’m going to post some of my favorite photos or photo from the last week and share things that way.  It’ll cut down my 365 related posts from 7 to 1, and it’ll also make the blog a little less jam packed with updates.

I appreciate everyone who reads, and I’m looking forward to creating more photos for your enjoyment.

Apr 18, 2012 | Categories:My 365, My life | Leave A Comment »

Luke Akerstrom Scores a Touchdown, thanks to Jacksonville Jaguars Brad Meester

Luke and his brother celebrate his touchdown

Luke Akerstrom and his brother, Abram (right), celebrate one of his many touchdowns during the game.

This past Saturday, February 11th, was Luke Akerstrom day, as proclaimed by Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown.  If you were present at Trinity Baptist Church around 4pm, you were treated to a really touching moment involving a special little boy named Luke and a soft-hearted Jacksonville Jaguar named Brad Meester.

Late in 2010, Luke suffered a brain seizure, and it had a great affect on his ability to do many things, including simply walk.  During his time in the hospital, he found a new friend in current Jacksonville Jaguars center Brad Meester.  Brad and his wife would make weekly visits to see Luke and during that time Brad and Luke became friends, so much in fact, that Brad invited Luke out to the Jaguars training camp as a special guest.  Luke told his mom that he was going to walk to Brad when he visited training camp, and his mom spoke with his doctors about the situation and they told her to prepare for a let down.  Only there was no let down.  Luke’s mom set him down on the ground, Brad Meester took a knee a 5 or 6 feet away, and Luke took his first steps into the arms of the big Jaguars’ center.  It was a feel good moment, but it was only shared live by Luke’s family and the Jaguars.

On Saturday, however, anyone who wanted to come got to be a part of Luke’s goal: to score a touchdown.  Over 1,000 people showed up to Trinity Baptist Church to watch Luke’s feat and they weren’t disappointed.  Luke and his brother scored bunches of touchdowns as the Mayor, Brad Meester, and other Jaguar’s player stood by and offered support.

Jacksonville Jaguars Brad Meester and Luke Akerstrom

Luke Akerstrom and Jaguars' center Brad Meester discuss the game

Being a photographer, I couldn’t resist documenting the event through photos, of course, so I’ve set up a gallery of a handful of photos here in this gallery. Be sure to check them out and if you see Brad Meester, or any of the other Jaguars around town, give them a heart-felt thanks for making such a huge difference in this kid’s life.

Feb 13, 2012 | Categories:Family, People, Photography, Photos | Leave A Comment »

Senior photos with Victoria

If I’ve ever photographed someone who just fits in naturally in front of the camera, it’s Victoria.  She’s a senior this year and I had the great opportunity to photograph her senior portraits.  And she couldn’t have made it any easier.  If I didn’t know her any better, I’d swear she had modeling experience.  I’ll stop ranting, however, and let the photos speak for themselves.

senior photos

senior photo girl holding door handle

Click here to continue reading...

Feb 13, 2012 | Categories:People, Photography, Photos, Senior photos | Leave A Comment »

365 2012/37 – Edgy

I’ve got a bunch of different lighting techniques that I want to try out, and one that I’ve been REALLY wanting to try is an edgy, side lighting technique. It only works well on men, though, and mainly on ones that don’t have a lot of body fat. My subject here is Travis. I was a youth leader while he was a student coming through the youth group at our church. We have a pretty good relationship, and I figured he’d be patient enough to let me move lights around and try different things to get everything right. It also helped that he has barely any body fat, which creates a very defined face, exactly the scenario where this kind of technique shines. We didn’t have any space outside to do it, so a tight headshot indoors is what I opted for.

Feb 07, 2012 | Categories:Flash, My 365 | Leave A Comment »

365 2012/36 – Outgrowing His Clothes

Jaxson is getting bigger. If you’ve been following my 365 photos, that’s been evident. Like all babies, he’s outgrowing his clothes, sometimes at a rapid pace. During Christmas, we were able to visit some friends in North Carolina who bought him a very cute Nautica outfit that was, dare I say, adorable.

Well, he’s had it a month and he’s almost grown out of it. Sarah wanted to make sure we got a photo of him in it because she thinks it too cute not to document it. So, today’s photo is a celebration of Jaxson’s cuteness, and his weight gain. Bet those two things don’t get celebrated often.

Feb 07, 2012 | Categories:Baby, My 365, My life | Leave A Comment »

365 2012/35 – The Elephant In The Room

Sarah, again, provided my photo for today. She went to another shower for a different friend than the one from yesterday and brought back a very special cupcake. It was too unique not to photograph. The little elephant cupcake even had a bow in its head. Attention to detail people, attention to detail.

Feb 07, 2012 | Categories:My 365 | Leave A Comment »

365 2012/34 – Advice Jars

Ok, that’s a horribly lame title for this photo. “Advice Jars”? I couldn’t come up with anything else though. My wife, Sarah, was putting together some table decorations for our friend Janette’s wedding shower. A friend of Sarah’s gave her an idea to place good quality wooden kitchen utensils in the mason jars, then wraps them in ribbon and put advice on the front from people close to the bride. It worked out well.

I just downloaded some custom shapes in Photoshop, typed in the advice, and Sarah cut them out and glued them together. Re-reading the last sentence, though, condensed a good many hours of work into a mere 21 words. Not the case.

Feb 07, 2012 | Categories:My 365, My life | 1 Comment »

365 2012/33 – Sleep comfortably

I knew when I decided to do this 365 photo project again, Jaxson would be frequently used. That presented two important bonuses: I get to take a bunch of photos of my son in the first year of his life, and I get an easy out when I either don’t have any creative ideas or time to fulfill them.

Today was such a day, for both reasons. It was an easy out, but I just love my son so much. I didn’t realize just how deeply I would love Jaxson before he was born, but when he came into this world, it hit me hard. It makes me appreciate and hurt that God sent his Son to die for us. I could never do that. I’m not strong enough.

But, sometimes Jaxson will just sprawl out, and it’s so cute.

Feb 07, 2012 | Categories:My 365, My life | Leave A Comment »

365 2012/32 – Forget Voting Ages

Jaxson decided he wanted to cast his balot in the Florida Republican Primary. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he couldn’t because he was too young. Instead, I gave him a crayon, basically holding it for him, and put a napkin in front of him. He ate his hand and dropped the crayon, and I figured that was enough. So I gave him an “I Voted” sticker and he immediately lit up. Then he went back to eating his hand.

Feb 07, 2012 | Categories:My 365, My life | Leave A Comment »