Ryan Wells Photography

Jacob & Brittany | The Question

Posted August 6th, 2011 by Ryan with 1 Comment

When I was in elementary school I was never a fan of assigned seating or seating charts. It made no since to me why I had to sit in the seat I was told to sit in. Why couldn’t I sit in a different seat everyday and spice it up a bit? Fast forward to college, I liked that there were no assigned seats. What is weird is I usually sat in the same seat every class just because I got in a routine. I guess you could say it was a “God Thing” that Erin and I ended up sitting near Jacob Kelch in class. Little did we know that years later Jacob would move to Oklahoma and we would be planting a church together.

As life goes, Jacob met a girl and fell in love. Since then we all have become great friends. I had the pleasure of being in on the proposal and hid behind a wall snapping pictures while he popped the question. Here are a few shots from that day:

Cross | Community

Posted July 4th, 2011 by Ryan with No Comments

I’ve heard it said that we are born to die. From the moment we leave the comfy, nurturing confines of the maternal womb we are approaching an inescapable death. The average person lives just over 27,000 days. Often times these days, although they fly by cumulatively, are long, grueling and marked by anguish and despair. The only relief we find is when we surround ourselves with other people who are also climbing the slippery slope in an attempt to defy death. Ultimately we will all lose our tread and go tumbling down and plummet to the jagged and eternal stones that lie beneath. What a hopeless existence. Is there something more than temporary mollification or the occasional glimpse of light in this darkened tunnel? What if we could turn our back on this darkness and forsake it completely? Can we go back and be born..again, this time be born to live and not die? This all sounds great but we would still be forever haunted by our past and how things used to be. I’m not sure we could even enjoy our new found life if we still carried around the memories of our failures and sin. I am certain we could not keep our old life and grasp ahold of a new one at the same time. In other words, the existence that was marked by death, has to die.

In order for us to trade in our sin-stained existence for new and incorruptible life, we must understand what brought death and what brings life. You see, it is sin that sentenced us to death in the first place. Sin does not need a lengthy explanation. It is sufficient to say sin is falling short of the mark of perfection that is required to be like God, in whom lies the very definition of perfection. God not only sets the mark, He is the mark. Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Since the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), it is this sin that introduces death into our lives. To put it simply, sin equals death. God equals life. God is willing to trade. He set up a “trading post” for all of us. It was on this post that the author of life gave His son to die. Such a place of death has now become a place of life for all those who will believe. It is the cross where the the great exchange takes place. Jesus Christ was selfless in that He freely gave His life so that we may have a life that isn’t headed toward everlasting destruction but everlasting life and abundance.

John Stott says “The very purpose of his self-giving on the cross was not just to save isolated individuals, and so perpetuate their loneliness, but to create a new community whose members would belong to him, love one another and eagerly serve the world.” You see, when we’re all dying we all can relate to one another. Misery loves company. It’s a community of dead men. What the cross did was create a new community. This is a body or a family of people who can celebrate the fact that their old lives are gone having identified with Christ on the cross in His death. They also came into a new life when they identified with His resurrection.

Jesus Christ died in our place. Jesus Christ died for our sins. He was motivated by love and was obedient to the will of the Father. Being the Son of God He came back to life after being dead for three days. This was His victory over death.

The things that used to hold us back are now dead. They have been nailed to the cross:

If You Build It | I Will Shoot It

Posted May 19th, 2011 by Ryan with 1 Comment

For the past couple of months I have been an Account Manager for BellWest America LLC. We publish several of the NW Oklahoma City suburban phone directories with a focus on the higher income areas. These are prime target markets for service based businesses like plumbers, electricians, heating & air, roofers and general contractors. Of course there are many other businesses that would benefit from listings in our directories as well.

My most recent clients were a duo of very talented visionaries in the residential construction world. I had the opportunity to help them with their advertising in a couple of our phone directories. They specialize in remodeling the inside and outside of a home. One of the unique things this team does is Theme Rooms. Below you will find photos of their latest theme room project. It is a wine room outfitted with custom wood work and lighting. They have also designed sports themed rooms and jungle themed rooms for kids. I look forward to working with J&H Home Improvements and Construction Concepts again in the future to photograph upcoming projects.

Gimme a Slice of Moonlight Ford

Posted May 11th, 2011 by Ryan with No Comments

Close to three years ago I was the Director of Childrens Ministry at a great non-denominational church in Oklahoma City. Just like any other ministry I prayed for God to send people who had a heart for children to help me on Sunday mornings. Through some friends I was introduced to Allen Weatherford. Not only did he love kids, he was also one of the most talented musicians I had ever met. Al had this way of coming up with quirky yet brilliant tunes that would bring out the kid in all of us. When I asked him if he would help me out, he said yes and dove right in. Over the next year or so we worked together coming up with crazy ideas for videos, songs, curriculum etc for kids church. As life goes, we ended up going different directions and pursuing our own thing. Just recently I have reconnected with Al.

Al (aka Allen Ford), is the frontman in a great new band called Moonlight Ford based out of Oklahoma City. With a smooth jazz like sound, Moonlight Ford will give you the feeling of being plopped down right in the middle of the Roaring Twenties. With original tracks such as “Upright Piano” and covers from the amazing Aretha Franklin, Moonlight Ford is sure to entertain.

Check out a couple photos below when they were the feature band at the Wedge Pizzeria in OKC. (http://www.thewedgeokc.com/)

Find Moonlight Ford on Facebook here

Rite of Passage Captured

Posted March 23rd, 2011 by Ryan with No Comments

I can still remember wearing that black and white ball cap when I was a young boy. After a long day of playing ball, there would be these white sweat stains that would form where my forehead was on the hat. For some reason I used to love to chew on the leather strings on my baseball glove……And of course, sunflower seeds! Memories like these filled my mind as my family loaded up and drove to Hafer Park this afternoon. Today was my son Carson’s very first T-Ball game. I have to admit, I held back the tears several times during his game. He made me so proud! I won’t go on and on about the game . I’ll just say all the kids really did a great job and the coach, Josh Cossey, is a great coach.

Here are a few of the images that were captured from the game.

Day “Light” | Saving Time

Posted March 14th, 2011 by Ryan with No Comments

6 am came early today. It actually came an hour early. The clocks were set an hour ahead for Daylight Savings Time. I heard that today is the day where more traffic accidents occur than even New Years Eve! People just aren’t all there when they lose an hour of sleep. That sure was the case for me. After a great day at Faith Church (fcokc.com), Erin and I met up with our leadership team at the FC Offices as we usually do. We spent all day at the office. In fact we did not get home until after 9pm. Where did the day go?

My days as of late have been spent over the hot grill at Georgia’s Country Kitchen in Carnegie, Ok. I have been helping my grandmother out at her restaurant for the past few months. It is an hour and a half drive from my house to Carnegie. That has kept me away from home during most of the week and on weekends. Because of a new job I have taken in OKC, I will only be working in Carnegie until April 1st. I am not going to know what to do with all the time I will save from working locally………..With all this in mind, I asked my wife on the way home tonight if the vacuum of time this will create will be immediately filled with more of what we did today. In some ways I hope so! Had a great time doing ministry and making images with friends.

Here are a few images we made behind the office today.

Broken Flash | Flashy Client

Posted March 7th, 2011 by Ryan with 1 Comment

The sun was not cooperating and the wind was blowing from what seemed every direction. We made the trek from the Texadelphia parking lot to what used to be called the Ford Center, no doubt being renamed the Midsandevonesepekeridge Center. My excitement was building as I began to unpack my gear. Camera, check. 50mm, check. Light stand, check. Canon 430ex II strobe, check. While unfolding the soft box for the flash a gust of wind came between the two buildings where we were standing. My hands were full and my heart sank when I heard the crash. I looked down to see the flash’s built in plastic diffuser sticking out like a dead animal’s tongue after meeting a semi on I 40…..Nice way to start the day.

My client was a local rap artist who is blowing up the Christian hip hop scene. No other than Apaulsoul. (www.apaulsoul.com). Apaul is one of those individuals that drips with creativity. This made my job easy since he already had an idea of what he wanted to do. Another thing about Apaulsoul is he is one flashy guy. I am not talking about the outfits, the sunglasses or the personality. I am talking about his character. He “flashes” the light of Jesus Christ. This rapper was the exact opposite from your typical hip hop mogul. He was very respectful, humble and really just a solid Christian man.

Here are a few of the images we made downtown.