Weeee Doggies!

This is Annabella, a real charmer. We met her and her human, Mike, today at the Waterfront Park in Charleston, SC. If you want to see her in action, just surf on over to her slideshow

HARVEST TIME AT SHELTON VINYARDS (and meet Mike and Leigh, too)

I spent another glorious fall day last Sunday at the Shelton Vinyards with Leigh Bame and Mike Burton, who will be tying the knot next month at the Hotel Roanoke. (Here's your slideshow.) I'm looking forward to your special day!

Congratulations and best wishes, Mike and Leigh!

C.MCP at the OBX (STYLE)

If you have the great pleasure of making it down to Corolla, be sure to check out this fine little shop in the village, Outer Banks Style, where you can buy all kinds of unique art and decor, including these framed prints by yours truly!

Thanks, Nina! and Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

THE GREAT OBX GETAWAY

I'm a blessed woman! I got to spend 3 beautiful days in Corolla with my sis: relaxing, shooting, biking, a little jogging, and even a cold swim. I don't have much to show for it until I get to the darkroom, because this time, I toted around my old OM-4 loaded with a roll of infrared film. What bliss!! I've not been able to shoot with that camera for a long time because I couldn't see through the viewfinder anymore . . . until now. So what's new?? Contacts!! it's a compromise, though. I can see the camera now, but the distance vision really suffers when I'm wearing them.
Here's a few from the trip:

An OBX tradition: sunset on the sound!

There's a new herd roaming around Corolla

Here are a few of the kites we saw at the stunt kite competition.
































I have had my eye on this charming little church just outside of Roper, NC for many years, and finally took the time to stop and shoot. The setting just begs for IR. hope the "real" pictures turn out!

Some Fall Eye-Candy

MORE FUN IN FLOYD

This was a fun-filled weekend, indeed! On Sunday we met our dear friends, Ken and Kay at the Villa Appalaccia for their Olive Festival and to celebrate Mimi's (Ken's mom's) ninety-second birthday. The fall colors are growing noticably more beautiful each day.

mmmmm!!! olive oil! 9 varieties! We also got to sample 5 balsamic vinigars, including vinigars with figs, and spice or pear added, and one vinigar that had aged for 25 years. Intensely, sublime!

mmmmm!!!! olives! 10 varieties!

the birthday party

MEET MY FRIEND, PATTY, AND HER NEW HUSBAND!

Congratulations, Patty and Stephen!

It's a good story . . .
I met Patty a year ago on the "Walk to Emmaus". I was drawn to her immediately when I first saw her there, and then we both were providently assigned to the Table of Martha, so we had lots of opportunity to bond. At the end of the weekend, all the Marthas saved our little flower stems and vowed we would be her bridesmaids when she married. Fast forward to this summer. I got an email from Patty asking me about shooting her wedding for her this fall. Big surprise!! I didn't even know that there was a guy on her radar. So when I wrote back to her to say yes, she responded, "hold that thought." hmmm . . . . well, when we got together to make plans for her wedding photography, she introduced me to . . . her husband, Stephen!!! Turns out, she had an unexpected day off from work on a Monday, and when he found out, he asked her what she was doing, and would she like to get married today? So they went to the courthouse in Floyd, got the marriage license, there being no Justice of the Peace in Floyd County, they found the court-appointed marrying official at the Harvest Moon, and got hitched right up there in the garden at the Harvest Moon. At that time, they were still planning on having a wedding celebration at her farm on October 14, but in the meantime, they had to fix up 2 houses to rent, clear the land and build a barn, then move all Stephen's things to the farm. By the time all that was accomplished, they decided not to have a party after all. SO, Dave and I got to spend an exquisite fall day with them in Floyd this past Saturday. We had lunch at the farm, a vigorous hike in the Bottom Creek Gorge Preserve(where I managed to get a few shots of the newlyweds on their "wedding day," and capped the day off dancing the night away at the Floyd Contra Dance which is where they met. What a blessed day!

Stephen, Patty, and Nicki at Bottom Creek

Nicki, Patty's island dog from Haiti, was a great model.

Thanks for introducing us to the spirited fun of contra dancing!

The Galax Little Leaves

Meet the Galax Little Leaves!

Ben, Asa, Makenzie, Grace, and Houston

The future of Bluegrass and Old-Time music is bright here in Galax, VA, the self-proclaimed, World's Capitol of Old-Time Mountain Music. I've had a great time getting to know and shoot these outstanding, talented kids this summer. Check out their slideshow here: http://cmcphersonphotography.com/slideshows/gll . They came and played for my big river party and won the hearts and admiration of everybody there. (Here's the slideshow of the river party, too: http://cmcphersonphotography.com/slideshows/riverparty .) Surf on over to their website and pick up their CD. www.galaxlittleleaves.com








Houston










Grace

















Asa















Makenzie













Ben

Asa and Houston rocking out the church bus

the girls in the band

You can see all the shots from their portrait session by the New River at
www.pictage.com/235942

A Beautifal Fall on the Way

Just wanted to share a pretty shot. This is Chestnut Creek at the Dannelly Fitness Park today. I do live in a really purty place . . . at least until it's mud and ice season!

I'm a Chico's Girl Now

A while back, I read on my Pictage forum about what great gaucho pants for working and shooting that this store, Chicos, sells. I'd never heard of the store before, so I decided to seek one out and found it at VA. Beach when I was visiting Janet. I totally busted out of my normal modus operandi for shopping (usually a trip to Goodwill and The Snob Consignment Shop in Winston once every couple of years or so) and spent 2 hours and an untold sum of money at this great store, thanks to having the "fashion and accessory queen" sister with me. Left to my own devices, I would have walked in, asked for gauchos, and left with a fab pair of gauchos. So, today I roped my sweet hubcap into manning the camera for me and doing a fashion shoot. Phew!! It is twice as much work to set up all the shots and be the model, too, but we did a pretty good job of it. Here's the slideshow, Amy:

A Week With My Sister

Last week, my little sis, Janet came to see me: the first time in 17 YEARS!! (It's not like we live on different continents; we live in the same state, for goodness sakes! Janet is a champion survivor. 2 years ago, she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, and this was following 3 years of other health-related afflictions. She's been fighting the good fight and seems to be in better shape now than in the last 6 years. We spent a day at the Chateau Morrissette and even climbed Buffalo Mountain, a truly unique ecological treasure. The next day was spent biking the New River Trail.

We drove back to Virginia Beach on Friday, then went to see the world's tallest sand castle on Saturday, "a soaring wonderland featuring King Neptune, a mermaid, dolphins,turtles, a sprawling octopus all amid a castle and coral reef." (The Virginian Pilot). It was built in honor of the Beach's 33rd annual Neptune Festival, and from the beach level to the castle's spire, it measured 37.9 feet. I finished off this spectacular fall day kayaking from Janet's canal, down Long Creek into Broad Bay and back.





Sunday was another perfect day. We biked from her house through Seashore State Park to the oceanfront (yeah- I know they call it First Landing now . . .whatever!). Best of all, the ocean was still warm enough to swim. I dove in, and when I surfaced and looked back, Janet was motioning frantically at the water. I turned to look, and, OH MY GOODNESS!!! There was a pod of dolphins frolicking not more than 20 yards from me!! What a high!

God is so good to give us this special time together to make treasured memories. Janet begins a new round of agressive chemo on Monday (her most recent scans showed some "nodules" in her lung.) so she may not be feeling so frisky for a while. Thanks for letting me share, and please keep her in your prayers!

TA-DAAA!!!!! Welcome to my new blog!

I DID IT!!
So, welcome to my new blog, everybody. Here is the place to check out what I've been shooting lately, and get a behind the camera view of what else is going on in my life.