Lake Powell

I have a new favorite Lake and a renewed dream to rent one of those houseboats and spend a week here!

Oh, the Places We've Been!!!!

What AWESOME, AMAZING, BREATHTAKING things we have seen in Arizona!! Here is the Grand Canyon for starters. I've made 3 slideshows to keep them from being so long and boring, so pick and choose what you'd like to see. We spent 2 days in Grand Canyon, 2 days in Page (Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon), and now we are in Sedona (Red Rock country) for the last 4 days.
Sorry it's taken so long to get some pictures up here; It's a long wait for computer time and sketchy internet access.
OH, and Amy and Johnny have joined us here in Sedona and we are having the time of our lives!!!

The Mystery Trip Revealed!!

I told you it was going to be grand!

More pics to come later. Tonight we are in Page AZ and we are doing a boat tour on Lake Powell tomorrow. You knew there would have to be water on our trip if I had my hand in the details!

Jingle Bells!

We indulged in some Christmas merry-making at Foster Falls on the New River Trail last Saturday.

















For the price of a few canned goods, you get to embark on a wagon or hayride around the festively lit park, drink hot cocoa, warm your buns by the fire, and whisper your wishes in Santa's ear.Click the play button below to see some of the sights, or watch the slidshow BIG here.

T'is the Season!

"It's been a busy week in my hometown . . ." getting ready for the holidays. Here's some Christmas scenes I caught this week.



This is Hyrum and Bethany in front of their home with their totally cute, rocking luminaries they made out of milk jugs! Hyrum is a med student at the new medical school at VA Tech in Blacksburg. We met them at a drug rep sponsored dinner at the Chateau Morrisette last week. I stopped by their house when I was in town doing some shots for Northstar Church , a vibrant, thriving church planted and pastored by our dear friend, Bob Jackson.

This is Bob and Sandra's 2 year old granddaughter, Violet, discovering the joys of the season.



We all know that flu season tends to come walking hand-in-hand with the holidays. The unwelcome visitor called on some of my ringers this week and led to a quarantine at one the nursing homes we were scheduled to play, so our holiday performances had to be postponed. But we partied on anyway! We built our cracker house town, ate pizza, watched the Raleigh Ringer's Christmas video, which inspired them to go practice right then even though they didn't have their music!

Here is a slideshow of the festivities:(click on the play button to start show)

Click here if you would like to see the show larger.

Thanksgiving in Corolla

Whew!! Can you believe it?!?! 2 trips to Corolla this fall!
Agape and I left early on Thanksgiving day for the drive to the beach (after making the Oh So Wise decision to not drive down Wednesday night in the roaring Nor'easter!) We got to visit briefly with our dear friends, Monika, Corey, Jakob, and Dannie, and arrived in time for a wonderful dinner with my sister, Janet's, family.
No dips in the ocean for me on this trip! The sea was boiling and churning storm debris. If I'd had a truck, I could have brought home all the lumber I would need to deck my entire backyard! So many people lost their steps and sand fences to this storm.
Here's some pics from the trip:

First, here's the sunset on Friday night at (appropriately) the Sunset Grille in Duck:

Saturday night at my favorite sunset spot, the nature trail at Corolla Light:

We got to explore a different part of the beach (because our usual routes to the beach were flooded) which led to our discovery of the shipwreck of the Metropolis, a steamer sunk in 1878.

Feasting at the Blue Point (I dream of their Oyster Stew!!)

Beautiful Winter Beach

A chip off the old (princess of tides) block:

Nina's window art at the Outer Banks Style store:

A Slideshow for Leigh and Mike

I've finished Leigh and Mike's wedding! Here's the slideshow: (Be patient while the show loads!) Click on the play button to start the slideshow, or if you would rather see it bigger, click here.).

Leigh and Mike

Love was in the air last Saturday for Leigh and Mike's intimate wedding at the luxurious Hotel Roanoke . It was such a pleasure to share this momentous day with you, your friends, and family. Everybody was so warm and eager to include me and help me do a good job. I'm looking forward to hearing all about Charleston! I hope you have scouted out some great new eateries for me there!
Here's some sights from the wedding:






How 'bout the Hokies??? 27 - 6 for your wedding day!!

Misty and Ronnie

What a celebration of love and praise to God!



As long as I've known Misty, she has been praying for her man. How precious it was to share with her the fulfillment of that answered prayer last Saturday!
Christ's presence was so awesome during the ceremony, it was even reflected on our faces:



Was there ever a happier bride???



Again, congratulations, Misty and Ronnie. Here's a slideshow from the reception for you:*click here*

Just Looking Around

I'm a twin-shooter now!! My new 5D arrived yesterday (UPS ground from Charlotte Camera in only 1 day!!). So here are some shots that I made with it while just sitting here in the kitchen:




Today was Ronnie and Misty's wedding day!!! I wasn't the hired shooter, but they were kind enough to give me a couple of shots anyway right before they left for their honeymoon trip to Charleston. OOPS!! Did I just let that secret out?



and here is a shot of many of the Joy Ranch staffers (past and present) who were in attendance at the wedding:

OSP South Report

I had the fantastic opportunity this week to spend a couple of days in Chattanooga with about 100 inspiring professional photographers.

Where's Waldo? (Charlotte)

David Jay (an AWESOME, uber wedding photographer from Santa Barbara, and the creator of this great, loving community called Open Source Photo) summed it up best:

"I think of OSP as much more than a forum - more than a community - even more than the wonderful family of friends it has become. OSP is a REVOLUTION. It's a complete (and quite radical) shift in how people used to go about their art, their business and even their life... and it's incredible to see how quickly everyone has adopted this new mindset and have experienced the joy and success that comes from living with an attitude of ambundance and sharing all that you have!

Robert Kiyosaki in his book Rich Dad Poor Dad said, "When it comes to love, happiness, sales, and contacts first give what you want and it will come back in droves."

So in more DJ type language - OSP just ROCKS! There's really no other way to put it and to see 100 people come out for two days of hanging out, learning, shooting, and simply playing together is just awesome! ...and of course in true "Open Source" fashion this whole shindig was free! Wow! That's REALLY incredible!

...and a special thank you to everyone who put so much time and energy into making this happen. To be honest I can't even name all the people who put in time and energy to make this such a wonderful couple of days but I know that Garrett and Joy Nudd, Amber and Nathan Holritz, and the team from Lacour did a fantastic job giving and sharing, and once again, they did it all for free because they truly believe in the value of sharing ideas and building a community based on giving."

I'm Having WAY too Much Fun, Tonight!

First, I created this cool infrared action (since I can't seem to find the time to get over to the darkroom!)



And then I went a little crazy with some of the shots that I took on the new Ravenal bridge in Charleston . . .







Here are some more pics from our trip to Charleston last weekend. Thanks, June and John for for the invitation and your gracious hospitality!