Inappropriate Happiness

Senior Ambassador Taylor

2011-12-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

Taylor is my Senior Ambassador this year.

Her shirt is an "East Carolina Pirates" shirt as she is headed to East Carolina University next year. It is cool when the high school seniors show up with nails painted in their school colors (or in this case her future college colors).

Taylor's Mom Tracy also got in on the action for a few pictures...

Awwww....

Setting up for a shot with the ring light... I thought this was a fun shot.

And the ring light shot. We nailed it!

One last shot.

It was great working with you Taylor. Looking forward to doing a spring shoot with you as well. Hope you and your family have a great Christmas, and thanks for the chocolate covered pretzels for Christmas! They are wonderful!

Day of the Dead

2011-12-03T04:38:00.000-08:00

My friend Jessica recently turned me on to a wonderful artist named Sylvia Ji. I absolutely love Sylvia's paintings. Many of her paintings are themed for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Once I saw her portraits, I knew I needed to get a model, a makeup artist and create some cool images.

I contacted face painter Amanda Destro of Amanda's Elaborate Eyes and I had my artist. I then contacted another Amanda, a friend of mine, who I knew would be the perfect model. We then got to work!

In this picture, you will see Amanda painting Amanda. In model Amanda's lap you will see the Sylvia Ji image that we were using as a guide for the face make up.

We also thought that it might be cool to paint model Amanda's hands and feet with spider webs to match the makeup on her forehead.

After the makeup was complete, here is some of the art we created.

Model Amanda... before and after

Outtake - Here is model Amanda thrilled to be nearly done with the 2 1/2 hours worth of make-up being applied. The last of the makeup applied to her ankles was drying.

And one of me and model Amanda together. I can't wait to work with you again on a new project with makeup artist Amanda.

Last pics from Hawaii

2011-11-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

A few more pics to finish up the Hawaii series...

Our last morning at Disney's resort was rainy. But there can't be a rainbow if there isn't any rain!

Here is a camera phone shot of the booties we had to put on to tour the ‘Iolani Palace.

Drinks...

Breakfast at McDonalds. Spam, rice and eggs (not a joke... they like this in Hawaii). About 98% of it ended up in the garbage. Just had to try it.

More drinks...

My little friend Syrai...

On the way to the North Shore, we stopped at the Dole Pineapple Plantation.

A pineapple that has not been picked yet.

Pineapple soft serve with fresh pineapple chunks.

Drinks at the Turtle Bay pool

This was my view of what was above me

Watching a cloudy sunset from the Turtle Bay pool

A view of Sunset Beach on the North Shore

Golfing at Turtle Bay on the Arnold Palmer course

Posing for a shot on the 17th hole

Would have loved to have this as my golf cart

The view from our room at Turtle Bay

Lastly, something I really enjoyed... a Hawaiian favorite meal named the "Loco Moco." It is a bed of rice covered with a hamburger patty, eggs, mushrooms, onions and covered in gravy. The crappy camera phone shot does not do it justice.

My only improvement to it would be to add cheese on the burger and maybe add a little seasoning to the burger.

More of Oahu

2011-11-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

More pics from Oahu. After we ordered drinks and told the staff we were celebrating our 16th anniversary, they brought out a nice little dessert tray with chocolate brownies, pineapple cake and some weird purple cookies that Diane enjoyed.

I got to golf at Ko 'Olau golf course which was a soggy mess of a course in between a jungle. It was target golf that I would have probably enjoyed if it was not soggy and muddy.

Back at the pool at Disney's Aulani!

Visiting the 'Iolani Palace

And some cool building across the street. Diane says that they use this building on Hawaii 5-0.

We hiked up Diamond head crater. This is what the inside of the crater looks like. We parked down there somewhere.

This is the view of Waikiki from the top of the crater.

And a view of the Diamond Head Lighthouse from high in the sky.

This is the top where we hiked up to.
And this is a closer view of the top.
Kailua Bay Beach. Beautiful!

Sunset on Oahu

2011-10-31T17:08:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots I took last night on Oahu at sunset.

Sweet 16!

2011-10-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Diane and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. We started the day golfing at the Ko Olina Golf Resort. Here is a pretty shot of a par 3 with a waterfall in front of the green.

The course is across the street from our resort, so you can see Aulani from most of the holes.

Awww.... pretty bird!

Another hole with Aulani and the ocean in the background.

Diane and I stopped for a picture on #16.

We followed up the round with overpriced tropical drinks by the pool back at Aulani... 'cause that is how we roll.

One last anniversary self-portrait on the beach.

Oahu, Day 2

2011-10-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

Just a few pics from today's excitement.

The Diamond Head Lighthouse.

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki McDonald's not only has Portuguese Sausage on the menu, but also SPAM! I need to try this before we leave to come home.

A little cloudy this afternoon, but here was tonight's sunset from our balcony.

Aloha!

2011-10-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

Only a few pics to show in this post. After nearly 14 hours of travel time, we made it to Oahu!

We nearly got stuck with a connecting flight out of Denver. It took nearly a 1/2 hour to de-ice the plane. There were several inches of snow on the wings as we pushed back from the gate.

Checking out our balcony. We still had not changed yet from travelling. Had to do Bud Light... the resort has no Miller products.

Relaxing with the sun going down on a cloudy evening.

Aulani sunset.

KSU Sarah

2011-10-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

Kent State University freshman Sarah stopped by for a fun shoot a little while back. We had a great time shooting.

We switched to the ring light to shoot a few headshots...

Gotta do a shot with the red shoes!

And a few more with the Browns jersey.

Don't be messing with this girl!

Great working with you Sarah! Looking forward to seeing you again soon.

Baby Kamden is on the way

2011-10-20T15:19:00.000-07:00

Baby Kamden is on the way... here is your first look at him.

Kamden's parents Stephanie & Kevin stopped by recently for maternity pictures. I shot Stephanie's senior pictures a few years ago and it was wonderful to see her again.

Kevin thought it would be best if we would stop taking pictures to give Stephanie a break and to let her have a snack.

Back to the pics...

Can't wait to do pics of you family with Kamden soon!

Baby Sophia

2011-10-16T03:21:00.000-07:00

I had the delight to work with yet another Sophia! Baby Sophia was in my studio.

As you can tell she was also very happy to have her picture taken!

Let's get Mommy in a shot with you!

I love trying out babies in the red box. It is fun to see how long they can stay in without throwing a tantrum. Sophia did really well!

Pretty little girl in her pretty little dress...

And trying out the bathtub!

It was nice meeting you baby Sophia! Looking forward to doing your first Christmas pictures!

Trash the Dress: FAIL!

2011-08-26T03:40:00.000-07:00

Recently, my old friend Sofiya stopped by with the intention of trashing her dress in the waterfalls near my house. I shot Sofiya's senior pictures last year and she is now in college.

We started by doing a few pics in the studio.

I really Love this one!

Sofiya's gorgeous eyes bathed in my ring light.

Then we headed outside and stopped at a few locations along the way before getting to the waterfalls.

First stop: The tub

Next stop: Corn field

Next stop: Train tracks

And here comes the epic fail. We get to the waterfall area and due to the several inches of rain the day before, the normally calm area was like a class 5 rapid. There would be no getting into these waters today.

So we walked around and made the best of the rest of the location away from the water.

The good news is that the dress is still intact and still can be trashed someday in the future. I really like working with Sofiya and I am guessing you will be seeing more of her again.

Oh, and if you noticed a few of these pictures had the same pose, we were borrowing ideas from Idina Menzel's pictures from her "I Stand" CD.

The Lovely Rachael

2011-07-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

The lovely Rachael has stopped by for senior pictures. Her mom is a friend of mine and an old co-worker from over 10 years ago. I have known the lovely Rachael since she was a little girl.

We started with a few studio shots:

Then we headed outside.

It had just rained, so the waterfalls were flowing really good but with brown murky water. PhotoShop to the rescue!

"Hello? In the middle of a photo shoot... what are you doin'? No way! Get out of here! Gotta call you back... my awesome photographer is getting angry!"

And one last shot on the tracks!

Nice seeing you again my friend!

Memphis Weekend

2011-07-23T07:37:00.001-07:00

Diane and I were recently in Memphis for a quick trip. We got to cross something off Diane's bucket list: a visit to Graceland. We didn't take the good camera gear though. All of the pics in this post are courtesy of a point-and-shoot camera and my Charge cell phone.

Here is a shot of the King's old Palace:

I believe the window above the front door was the bathroom where Elvis died. Visitors are not allowed on the second floor of Graceland.

Elvis's dining room:

There is a ton of monogrammed stuff in this house. "EP" is all over the place. Elvis wanted to let you know this was his stuff!

The backyard of Graceland. Kinda reminds me of a funeral home.

Speaking of funeral homes, here is the memorial garden where Elvis, his parents and his grandmother are laid to rest.

And a camera phone shot of Elvis's plane, the Lisa Marie:

After Graceland, we visited the Memphis Pink Palace museum. While there we checked out the gift shop and saw this Elvis shoe purse that looked interesting. I shot this with the camera phone also.

As an Elvis impersonator once said: "You cannot buy a Priscilla... but you can Lisa Marie".

Next we visited the historic Sun Records studio. In case you don't know what I am talking about, we have included this sign to get you up to speed:

Here is a shot of the studio and the control booth where Sam Phillips used to make the recordings:

And the back of the studio facing the street:

And me crooning "Love Me Tender"...

And a self-portrait outside the studio:

Next we went to see the Lorraine Motel - the historic location where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was asassinated.

A wreath hangs where MLK was shot and killed.

The motel is now the National Civil Rights Museum.

Our last stop was on Beale Street with a trip to Dyer's. They are known for their hamburgers that are deep fried in grease that dates back to 1912. The grease is strained each day and added to as needed. Our server was excellent and posed for a picture with me. She had some killer nails also!

And one last somber photo. I shot this at a Perkin's restaurant. The biker cops were having breakfast before the funeral of a fallen Memphis police officer.

Jenna's Back!

2011-06-18T05:00:00.001-07:00

The beautiful Jenna was back for a visit a few weeks ago... here are some images from that photo shoot!

How cool are these shoes?

Next, we tried out my new ring light. (notice the ring of light in her eyes?)

Why yes, she should smile more often!

With a pink backlight...

And a raspberry hair light...

Thanks Jenna for another great photoshoot!

Colorado Golf

2011-06-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

While in Colorado last week, I managed to get 3 rounds of golf in.

The first course was in Breckenridge, Colorado. I played two days in a row at the Breckenridge Golf Club which is the only municipally owned 27 hole Jack Nicklaus designed course. The course has 3 nines named Beaver, Bear and Elk. This is a shot of the clubhouse from the Beaver #5 green.

On the Sunday I played, it was only the third day the course was open. There was some snow mold in the fairways but the greens were in great condition.

This was me putting on the Beaver #1 green. Yes, that is snow in the distance. As you can see it was warm enough for shorts and no sweat shirt though.

Here is me at the highest elevation on the Beaver nine. At this elevation the ball flies further and straighter. This is great for driving the ball off the tee, but for your short game you have to make adjustments because you are going to overshoot the distances you normally shoot with your irons. The distance you normally hit a 6 iron might now be an 8 iron.

Crushing a drive!

Great scenery everywhere...

On the last day of our trip, I played the Arrowhead Golf Club in Littleton, Colorado.

This was the view from the parking lot. You see this and you know you are in for a good day!

On hole #3, we were enjoying the view of a fox walking around the tee box while we were waiting to tee off.

I didn't play here nearly as well as Breckenridge, but with scenery like this, who cares!

The Stanley Hotel & the Rocky Mountains

2011-06-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

We got a chance to visit the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado this week. The Stanley Hotel is most famous due to Stephen King spending a night there and getting the inspiration to write "The Shining." The Shining was not filmed here... it was filmed on a sound stage out of the country. Stephen King did not like Stanley Kubrick's original movie and re-acquired the rights to it several years later. His vision of the book came to life with a mini-series in 1997 that was filmed at the Stanley Hotel.

There are many "ghost" reportings at the hotel and many other stories to make the a spooky place to stay. Diane and I spent the night. We didn't experience any ghosts, but I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and my intestines felt haunted.

Here are a few pictures of the hotel!

When we checked in, I got the wonderful Kristine at the front desk to give me a spooky glare.

This was our room. A little on the tiny side.

Here is an outdoor shot so you can see where our room was.

The front of the Stanley Hotel.

The pool and the awesome view.

The lobby and the front desk.

The grand staircase.

The bar and lounge.

"Redrum" candy bars...

An awesome view out of one of the front windows at the Stanley.

Once we checked out of the Stanley Hotel, we headed up the hills in Estes Park to the Rocky Mountain National Park. Here are a few pics:

Here is a shot Diane shot through my window while I was driving.

And another shot of me while taking some pics.

As you drive through the park there are some massive snow walls that have been carved out to keep the roads open. Diane shot this through the windshield.

Here is Diane and Me in front of the massive snow walls.

And the massive equipment that keep the roads open. These could clean my driveway in the winter in about 7.5 seconds.

And a few more shots...

Baby Zoe

2011-05-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

When ever I see the name "Zoe" I am confused and wonder if it rhymes with "Joe" or "Joey". This little princess' name rhymes with "Joe".

She actually did a pretty good job in the red box!

But she got bored with it quickly.

And one last shot of Zoe's baby feet in Daddy's hands.

Thanks for bringing her back Jen and Chris!

AfterDark Cincinnati - Day 3

2011-05-12T00:33:00.000-07:00

Shooting with Sarah in the afternoon.

Then with Brandee again.

Brandee again back in the studio...

Back on the street at 1:00 AM

We need a hot model to step in... Oh Brandee!

Let's get Christy in on the action!

And the last shot of mine from AfterDark Cincinnati - at 2:00 AM:

AfterDark Cincinnati - Day 2

2011-05-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

AfterDark Cincinnati started off with a shoot with Brittany in a parking garage.

Then, I headed out on the street with Christine.

Then, I did a high school senior shoot.

A little photoshop on the "No Smoking" sign.

Out in an alley with some off camera flash...

Back to the studio... here is a shot of Brittany's sister, Nicole.

The adorable Brandee... getting setup behind a ring light.

Shooting through the ring light...

Another model... another ring light...

One last shot on the streets - around 1:00 AM

After Dark Cincinnati - Day 1

2011-05-10T05:34:00.000-07:00

Down in Cincy for the latest AfterDark Photography Workshop.

Sunday night's welcoming reception included a World Record by photographer Jason Groupp who set the record for most flashes used to create a single image. Here was the group setting up (picture from my phone).

And here were the flashes. 300 of them if you don't want to count.

On to Monday... Lindsay Alder - New York Fashion Photographer (with her back to my camera) sets up a shot with model Christine.

Here is the shot I took of Christine.

After the evening workshop, we headed out to Fountain Square to shoot some models on the square.

We headed back to the hotel around 1:30 AM. Remember, the workshop's name is AfterDark! We took more pictures of the models around the hotel lobby.

And, at 2:00 AM, I called it a night.

Sweet Baby James

2011-04-03T17:14:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I shot pictures of the Varner family. They have been busy... watching the little ones grow and growing their family as well. This shot is from a few years ago.

I got to meet their newest addition to their family, baby James David, a few hours after he was born. Here he is with me at 4 hours old.

I also did manage to snap a few shots of him for his birth announcements when he was about 2 weeks old. Here is a shot from that photo shoot.

Fast forward 6 months to today...

Here is a picture for his Grandpa Joe - a retired Cleveland Firefighter.

Oh yeah, and he is a lot more cooperative compared to his older sister. Can't wait for the next shoot!

A Couple of Kats

2011-03-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

Kat #1 (on the left) has visited my studio many times. Kat #2 (on the right) is new to the studio. Kat #2 was recently in Cleveland to see Kat #1. Kat #1 brought Kat #2 for her own fashion shoot.
We got Kat #1 in a few as well. Enjoy!

Thanks Kats!

Atlantis, Paradise Island

2011-03-05T17:15:00.001-08:00

I was recently at Atlantis on Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas. I had a little free time to explore and take some pictures.

Here are a few beach views...

One of the pools...

And another pool...

Water slides... you can race someone down.

Another water slide. This one will pass you through a shark tank.

The royal towers.

The bridge suite. $25,000 a night. Click here to read more about it.

I headed to the dolphin cove.

Here is a girl being pushed by a dolphin.

This dolphin was "dancing" on its tail fin.

No idea who this father and son were, but they were having a great time.

My favorite shot of the trip.

How about a beer Mon?

And, some unlucky souvenirs. I came home with hundreds of sand flea bites on my feet and ankles. Other than that, the trip was really great.

Nanette & Angelina

2011-02-05T17:08:00.001-08:00

On a recent trip to Florida, I had a chance to network with two other photographers... Nanette and Angelina. We discussed a lot about photography and I shot some pictures as well.

Here is one of Nanette that I shot with Angelina in action shooting as well.

More of Nanette.

And a few of Angelina.

Nanette inside a parking garage...

Stare!

And back outdoors.

Two more on a park bench to wrap things up.

Thanks my friends! It was wonderful networking with you!

It's a New Year, Baby!

2011-01-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Let's start off the 2011 with a few pics of Jaime that I shot a few days ago.

Jaime is heading to the Navy this week to serve our country. Best of luck Jaime!

Published in Taste of Home

2010-12-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

I recently had a picture published in the latest "taste of home" magazine.

There was an article written by my friend Brittany Allyn about keeping traditions alive and they used one of my pictures.

To read the article, click here. (yes, they mispelled her name)

To visit Brittany's website (and see more of my photos of her) visit BrittanyAllyn.com

Jenna and Ava - Christmas Time!

2010-12-08T15:16:00.001-08:00

Jenna and Ava stopped by for Christmas pictures.

Ava in a box!

Two lovely models!

Precious!

Merry Christmas Jenna and Ava!

The Beautiful Jenna

2010-11-27T11:01:00.000-08:00

My new friend Jenna has stopped by twice now to do some studio photo shoots. Without further ado... on to the pics.

Christmas Has a Way

2010-11-18T16:33:00.000-08:00

One of my bestest friends ever, Brittany Allyn, has just released a Christmas CD. Christmas Has a Way is now available for sale. I am happy to once again contribute to her latest CD. I did the photography for the CD.

Visit Brittany's site at: www.BrittanyAllyn.com to find out more about her and to listen to sample tracks from the CD. It is a great CD.

Love ya Brittany! I am proud to be part of your latest project!

15th Anniversary in Sedona

2010-10-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Diane and I spent our 15th anniversary in Sedona, Arizona yesterday. This is our third time to Sedona. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

This is the pool view from the resort we are staying at.

A view of Sedona from the Sedona Airport Mesa.

I got to play golf at the Sedona Golf Resort. Diane snapped a few pics.

We found a "15" to get our picture taken with, so my golf partner snapped this picture of us together.

Sophia's First Photo Shoot

2010-09-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

Not to be confused with the previous Sofiya, baby Sophia was recently in the studio for her first shoot.

She cracked a little smile...

Check out the hands... she might be a rockstar one day!

Eyes open in Mommy's hands.

Baby and Mommy.

Senior Ambassador Sofiya - Part 2

2010-08-30T15:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the second part of Senior Ambassador Sofiya's photoshoot. These are the studio pictures. The outdoor pictures were in Part 1.

Sofiya is a dancer...

And is very flexible...

Ukrainian dance shirt...

And getting a little dressier...

Done with the black... bring on the white!

Thanks Sofiya! Best of luck this year!

Lindsey's Senior Shoot

2010-08-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

Senior Lindsey stopped by a few weeks ago for some senior pics. We started in the studio...

Then we headed to the park.

Due to recent rain, the falls were too strong to lay in, so Lindsey could not get soaked.

She spotted her name on a rock, so we took the opportunity for a picture near it.

And one on the tracks...

One last shot of Lindsey - this time with her Mom Lesley. Lesley and I went to high school together.

And a blast from the past... A picture from me and Lesley's senior year of high school. I am the dork that has Lesley in a bear hug.

Gettin' Wet with Chrissy

2010-07-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

The beautiful Chrissy that came to me as a high school senior is now a college freshman. She came by a few weeks ago to get some outdoor pictures. We headed to the park.

Man, I love color!

Then, we checked out the water falls.

As much as I loved her dress, I thought it might look cool wet. Jump on in Chrissy!

And one last shot in the tub... she was wet anyway!

And one last picture... I was editing this picture and it looked like there was a skull in the trees. Spooky, huh? Chrissy promised me after seeing this picture not to murder anyone.

Alaskan Cruise - Last Day - 200th Blog Post!

2010-07-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

With Alaska far behind us, the sun finally came out on our last day of the cruise.

We decided to walk around the outdoor areas of the ship to take a couple of pictures.

This is as far as the passengers can get in the front of the ship, so it kind of screws up the "I'm king of the world" shots.

And a view of the stern kicking up some wake.

Last port - pulling into Victoria, British Columbia. Check out the snowy mountains in the distance.

Victoria Lighthouse.

Two other cruise ships followed us into port.

Here are some of the official greeters of the ships in Victoria.

These chicks were nuts. It was freezing out.

A view of the Victoria port from our balcony. Nothing was within walking distance.

We took an excursion to tour Cragdarroch Castle.

We also managed to see the parliment building as the sun was going down.

And the famous ivy coverered Empress Hotel.

Alaskan Cruise - Part 4

2010-06-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Our last stop in Alaska was the city of Ketchikan.

For a refreshing change of pace, we did not need umbrellas, though it was still pretty cloudy.

The town has a ton of character.

The locals even have a fancy-schmancy movie theater.

Check out my picture of this owl!

And a baby owl...

And a bald eagle. The birds were rescued and can not be released again into the wild. The eagle was shot and can not fly long distances any longer.

Unfortunately, the city does not escape grafitti.

A wooden eagle sculpture with our ship in the background.

Fish Pirates Saloon. We ate lunch at this place.
I had the Alaskan Cod. It only made sense.

They had an awesome bluegrass trio playing. The are called the "Forget-me-knots".

Me with my new friend Karen. She told me all about the island. A very friendly and fascinating woman that I could have listened to for hours.

That was it for Alaska. Now our ship heads to Victoria, British Columbia.

Alaskan Cruise - Part 3

2010-06-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

We are now in Glacier Bay. Check out the big honkin' ice chunks that have broken off of the glacier.

As we headed towards this ice chunk, I saw something on it that was moving, so I grabbed my zoom lens.

It was a young bald eagle. Score!

It didn't stay long once the ship got closer.

More birds on ice.

And then, our first glacier in Glacier Bay!

We had a lot of birds flying around our ship, so I took a lot of pictures to try and get a shot of a bird with a glacier in the background.

Check out the middle of this picture and see the splash? As the ship stopped so we could get good looks at the glacier, you could hear the glacier crack (which sounded like lightning cracking) and pieces of the glacier would fall into the water.

The obligitory self-portrait.

About 9:30 PM, the sun finally broke through the clouds. This was the first sunlight we had seen since Cleveland on Sunday morning.

Alaskan Cruise - Part 2

2010-06-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

As we arrived in Skagway, Alaska yesterday, this was the view from our ship in port. Another typical rainy Alaskan Day.

We rode the White Pass & Yukon Route train into the mountains. This railway was built in the 1800's for the gold rush. The route is steep and not for the squeamish.

20 Miles up, we reach the Canadian Border.

I didn't have the opportunity to get many shots going up, but coming down I took a lot from outside of our rail car. This is an old abandoned bridge that just dissappears into the fog.

The rest of the train in front of us.

I took a lot of these shots to get a good feel for the train tracks being built on the side of a cliff.

A view of part of the river as we went over a bridge.

An old abandoned locomotive rusting away off the tracks.

Passing the railyard, this was one of the original steam locomotives used when the railroad first was used.

An old caboose with our cruise ship in the background.

After the three hour train excursion, we stopped for beers and food at the Skagway Brewing Company.

Nothing says small town like Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap. I drank one of their microbrews called "Spruce Tip Ale". It wasn't bad considering they did not have Miller Lite.

A view of the little town with the cruise ship in the distance.

One of the buildings with a lot of character.

Me in front of our cruise ship striking my dramatic vacation pose.

Getting ready to climb aboard and head on to Glacier Bay. Obligitory self-portrait in front of the ship.

Alaskan Cruise - Part 1

2010-06-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

Day 1 - Pulling away from the port of Seattle. We would cruise for nearly 48 hours before reaching Juneau, Alaska.
Our first on-board purchase. $30 worth of beer (and yes, that was a "special") and a $4.50 liter of water.

Trying to forget how much this beer cost - and savoring every drop.

There were lots of dolphins jumping around our ship while sailing. Here is a good blurry example.

One of the ship's tv channels showed maps of our progress. Here we are a few hours outside of the USA while off the coast of British Columbia.

We had a special pilot in charge of getting us from Seattle to the USA boundary. At that point, they come by and pick him up. From what I understand, we switch pilots several times.

And there he goes.

I spotted a few whales... but enough about the ship's buffet lines. This blurry shot is of the only whale I have seen in the water. I think it was just a baby.

Pulling into port at Juneau, this was the Norwegian Star that we needed to pass so they could pull out. We pulled into the same spot.

We got into the Mt. Roberts Tram to get a bird's eye view of the port area from 1,800 feet above sea level.

Here is a shot of the Juneau Port from Mt. Roberts.

This was our ship - the Norwegian Pearl.

While in Juneau, we stopped into the Red Dog Saloon. This dude who was singing and playing the piano was quite a performer. My favorite part was that he told us "whenever someone new walks through the door, I will say 'Look Who's Here' and you all yell 'Hey!'". It was quite funny.

Next we took a bus ride to see the Mendenhall Glacier. Here are some of the broken glacier chunks floating near it.

And a view of the glacier.

More chunks.

Obligitory self-portrait in front of the glacier.

There was a piece of the glacier that you could look at closely. I licked the glacier. Why? Because you haven't licked a glacier and I have!

Later that night as we left the port of Juneau, we had the Coast Guard follow as an escort through the channel.

Check out the guard on the front of the boat. With an automatic mounted rifle and night vision, he (or she) looks like something out of "Delta Force".

Senior Ambassador Sofiya (Part 1)

2010-06-20T15:57:00.000-07:00

High School Senior Sofiya is my first senior ambassador for the class of 2011. Here are some pics for her outdoor session. Her studio session will come in a few more weeks.

Introducing Baby Lena

2010-06-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

Lena made her first visit to my studio this week. She was 14 days old when we shot these pictures.

Congratulations to Mommy Josie and Daddy Greg, big brother Vince and big sister Adriana.

Palm Springs

2010-05-04T02:40:00.000-07:00

Last week Diane and I were in California for a few days. One of the days we headed to Palm Springs. We took the Palm Springs Aerial Tram up 8,500 feet on Mt. Jacinto.

And in about 10 minutes, the temperature changes from the 90's on the canyon floor to the 50's at 8,500 feet.

Here is a view of Palm Springs from the top of Mt. Jacinto.

The day we were there, when you were in the sun it was actually to warm to wear a sweatshirt. Here is the obligitory self-portrait.

I hate snow, but it ain't too bad when you can walk in it wearing shorts and flip flops.

A view of one of the wind turbine farms from on top of the mountain.

And back on the ground. Diane got a shot of me posing with our "pimp daddy" Lincoln Continental rent-a-car. Don't be haters, peeps!

Last pics from Miami

2010-04-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots from the last batch of pics I took in Miami.

These baby shots are from sessions taught by the wonderful Lori Nordstrom and Julie Klaasmeyer.

Here is a shot with me and the fabulous Julie Klaasmeyer.

And one with the wonderful Lori Nordstrom - check out her beautiful eyes. And in the background striking a pose is Dave Junion.

And one last shot with my favorite instructor... Kay Eskridge. This woman is the bomb diggity. I want to be like her when I grow up.

Model Shoot on South Beach (Part 2)

2010-04-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some more images I shot last week on South Beach in Miami.

Here are a few shots of a beautiful mother and daughter.

And a few beautiful models...

And one of my favorite models, A.J.

Model Shoot on South Beach (Part 1)

2010-03-31T17:11:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, the "After Dark Miami" workshop relocated to South Beach. There were hundreds of photographers on the beach shooting many different beautiful models.

The following picture is a shot of my favorite model during a lighter moment. I would have been content if she was the only model I could have shot on the beach.

Her name is Lexia and the thing that is very special about her was that she was actually on South Beach as a photographer that was asked to model.

Oh, I haven't mentioned it yet... Lexia is very, very pregnant.

Lexia has also been documenting her pregnancy on her photography blog. Please check it out - you will love the shots of her and seeing the progress.

Lexia - I sincerely thank you so much for allowing me to capture these images of you. It was a real pleasure. There were a lot of beautiful models on the beach yesterday and as far as I was concerned you blew them all away. Best of luck to you and your husband!

Miami Photography Workshop

2010-03-30T05:55:00.001-07:00

Greetings from Miami!

I am taking a few vacation days to attend the After Dark Education photography workshop. This workshop allows photographers to work with 35 "mentor" photographers to help improve any or all areas of your photography business from shooting the images to marketing.

Yesterday there were several hours where the mentors had sessions where we had models to shoot. To call these sessions "organized chaos" would not always be stretching the truth. Imagine a group of 20-30 photographers all trying to get a picture of a model at one time.

Here were a few on working with flash outdoors. We dodged raindrops at this point of the day.

We did a "Trash the Dress" session which was cool. Here are some of those images:

Here are a few models from random shoots:

And a few shots "after dark" for a "Celebrate Sexy" session:

Niagara Falls in February

2010-02-28T16:42:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we drove up to Niagara Falls for the weekend. We had an awesome corner suite on the 21st floor of the Sheraton of the Falls. This was the view from the bathroom. It is cool to take a shower and use the toilet and be able to see the falls.

Balcony views...

The courtyard below...

A view of our room from the American side.

American Falls

Obligitory self-portrait

The walkways are slippery...

The "Maid of the Mist" ships in dry dock for the winter.

The Canadian Horseshoe falls taken from Goat Island on the USA side. All the trees are covered in ice from the mist of the falls.

Bridal Falls and American Falls with the Rainbow bridge in the distance.

Watching the squirrels eat peanuts.

The Fabulous Freddie

2010-02-09T17:32:00.000-08:00

The Fabulous Freddie stopped by recently for a photo shoot. She likes superheros and tattoos... check out the pictures and you will understand!

I guess Darth Vader is not a superhero, but still very cool!

And some great tattoo shots!

Great working with you Freddie! Looking forward to our next shoot!

Senior Chrissy

2010-01-23T07:13:00.000-08:00

Chrissy came over recently for some high school senior pictures - I think they turned out great.

Chrissy is a very talented Ukranian singer and dancer. Here she is in one of her Ukranian outfits.

Thanks for coming by Chrissy - and best of luck at Miami University next fall!

Fall with the Brunners

2010-01-14T18:31:00.000-08:00

Here are a few shots left over from this past fall.

In November, I did another shoot with the wonderfully photogeneic Brunner Family.

We had some harsh sunlight to work around, but beautiful on a November day.

T.J. - He is quite a handsome young man.

And little Natalie...

And Tom and Lonna - you can see where the kids get their looks from!

Another wonderful shoot with some great friends!

Osborne Family Lights at the Disney Hollywood Studios

2009-12-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

Last week during a trip to Disney World, we stopped by the Disney Hollywood Studios to see the "Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights."

If you are not aware of the Osborne Family and their Christmas lights, click here to read the history of the lights.

The lights are hung on the Streets of America set at the studios. During a foggy morning, the street looks like this.

At night, the light switch is turned on...

And the street lights up!

Cinderella Castle

2009-12-16T19:03:00.000-08:00

Just one shot of the Cinderella Castle from the Magic Kingdom at Disney World after it was lit up for the night. More vacation shots to come...

Tiffany and Milony

2009-12-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

My old friend Tiffany stopped by recently for pictures with her little girl Milony. They are two very pretty girls.

It was wonderful seeing you again Tiffany! Looking forward to shooting more stuff with you outdoors during the summer. Have a great Christmas!

Mike and Jill

2009-11-27T16:11:00.000-08:00

Mike and Jill stop by for a Christmas photo every year. Mike is extremely photogenic - this year I shot about 40 pictures and Mike looks the same in about 39 of them.

Merry Christmas Jill and Mike!

A Few Tears

2009-11-21T16:57:00.000-08:00

More often than not, little kids are not thrilled with sitting still for a picture. I shot 60 pictures the other night for a photoshoot and they all pretty much turned out like this.

The little guy was awesome though!

Just one shot - our 14th

2009-11-02T17:41:00.000-08:00

Diane and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary in Florida. Here was a self-portrait shot at the Disney Hollywood Studios on our anniversary date.

More from Boston

2009-10-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our Boston weekend earlier this month.

Our last day we spent walking the Boston "Freedom Trail". The pics to follow were shot as we walked along the trail. This is the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

The Massachusetts Statehouse.

We visited some of the graveyards along the trail. I love the skull and crossbones that are on many of the centuries old stones.

The gravestone for "Mother Goose" - Mary Goose. (I didn't know she was a real person)

The grave of Paul Revere.

The grave of John Hancock.

Quincy Market at the Faneuil Hall Marketplace.

The former home of Paul Revere.

The North End of the city - Boston's Little Italy

I loved the character of this side of town.

The Old North Church

The Old State House.

The last thing we did on the trail was stop into the Omni Parker House Hotel.

This is the place where "Boston Creme Pie" was invented, so we had to try it. (Diane tried out some other chocolatey desert as well).

Lauren's Senior Shoot

2009-10-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to shoot some senior portraits of Lauren last week.

Lauren is on the tennis team at Hawken. She brought her tennis racket and uniform and we had a little fun with it.

And an awesome black dress shot...

And an awesome red dress shot...

And an awesome jeans shot...

Thanks for coming by Lauren! Have a great senior year!

Season Over

2009-10-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

A week ago Diane and I got back from a 3 day weekend in Boston. Among other things, we got a chance to go to Fenway Park to see a ball game. It just happened to be the last game of the season and also vs. the Cleveland Indians.

After my first visit to Fenway, there was a lot I liked about the park, and a lot I did not like.

I loved the character and the tradition of the park.

I loved the looks of the old wooden seats... but I much prefer the seats in modern stadiums. God has a special place in Heaven for the person who invented the seats with the built in drink holders.

I thought this looked really cool!

Watching the Sox take batting practice.

Outgoing pitching coach Carl Willis of the Indians shows the ball to a youngster in the stands before tossing the ball to them for a souvenir.

Our view from the stands... the sun finally came out!

This was as good as it got for Cleveland.

Watching "Big Papi" at bat.

Eric Wedge as his last game as skipper for the Tribe walks off the field after making a pitching change. The 2007 Manager of the Year has a ton of class!

Fenway was really cool, but I much prefer the modern parks.

Brittney's Senior Shoot

2009-09-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

Trying to get back into the swing of blogging... (it has been a long month).

Brittney stopped by for her senior photo shoot this past weekend. We started outdoors in the park.

Brittany is quite the soccer player. In fact, we intended to do this shoot two months ago but she broke her collarbone in a game. She recovered nicely.

Thanks for coming by Brittany. Enjoy the rest of your senior year!

Family Shots in Olmsted Falls

2009-09-05T05:23:00.000-07:00

I met up with the Valore family on an extremely hot and muggy evening a few weeks ago and shot some family pictures. Mom wanted some new pictures of the kids together.

Luckily enough, shooting at the falls gives you a place to cool down a little... the water was still chilly.

Mom didn't think they could be serious enough to pull off a family shot. Not really sure what she meant by that.

I saw this shub and thought it would be great to make a chia pet. So, after 30 seconds worth of photoshop...

One last one with Mom in it. Note: Mom is the cousin of my best friend from high school and college. I had a huge crush on her in high school - even wrote in my English journal about her. I still have the journal to prove it.

I had a great time with you guys! Nice to see you again!

The Kat in Cleveland

2009-08-09T14:24:00.001-07:00

My old pal, the beautiful Katherine stopped over last week for a photo shoot. We decided to head down to the Rock Hall lake front area of Cleveland for a few shots. We first stopped by the "FREE" stamp. For those of you not familiar with Cleveland, this is a huge sculpture that looks like a giant rubber stamp.

A stop by the waterfront train line...

Then over to the harbour and Voinovich Park located North of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This shot reminds me of those "more bars" cell phone commercials.

We saw this platform used for docking, and Kat tried her "olympic diving" pose.

One more on the grass before leaving.

I had a great time with Kat. The whole time we kept quoting from the Cleveland Tourism video. If you haven't seen it and need a laugh, check it out by clicking here.

Just one shot...

2009-08-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

of the moon tonight.

Mt. Rainier

2009-07-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

We spent our last day in Seattle driving down to see the magnificent Mt. Rainier. Here are just a few of the shots I took today.

The top of the mountain was in clouds as rain was rolling in.

My favorite shot of the day... Narada Falls.

Red-eye flight to Cleveland, here we come!

Seattle by Air

2009-07-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

Well, not really by air, but this post has an air theme.

We started Tuesday by heading to the Boeing plant for a tour. On the tour you are not allowed to take cameras, purses, cell phones, etc. So take our word for it, the tour was cool.

After the tour we shot some pictures from areas where pictures were permitted. This is the newest plane that is in production by Boeing - the Dreamliner.

The Dreamliner body is made of composite materials - not chunks of aluminum riveted together. The plane will be lighter than an aluminum aircraft and much more fuel efficient.

Boeing has 4 planes that they use to fly in the major components for the Dreamliner for assembly. They call these planes the DreamLifter.

This is the assembly building that we got to go into to tour. By volume, it is the largest building in the world. According to our tour guide, Disneyland (in California) could fit inside this building.

The second part of our day we spent at the Space Needle.

Here is a view from the observation deck of the Space Needle.

Another view - this is where we took pictures from when we were on the water.

After returning back to Earth, we walked over to watch the kids (and adults) play in the Seattle International Fountain.

One last shot of the fountain and the Space Needle.

Seattle by Water

2009-07-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

On Monday, we received an awesome tour of Seattle on a ski boat. I noticed there are a lot of areas of Seattle by the water that look a lot like San Francisco on a smaller scale.

Here is a shot of Husky Stadium.

And the Space Needle...

We had a few "ducks" crossing in front of us. These are the "duck tour" buses that give passengers a land and water tour.

A view of the city. Note it was about noon when I shot this picture and in the 90's and very hazy. Not the best conditions for landscape photography.

A sea plane taking off. You can do a 20 minute sea plane ride for $87.

Heading away from the city. You can see how far the space needle is from the rest of the skyscrapers.

Another duck. This one hung out on the swim platform while we drifted and relaxed for a while.

Our gracious hosts - Lisa and Bret. Thanks again! We had a great time with you.

Sunday in Seattle

2009-07-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

Lot's of pictures, so let's get right to it! Sunday morning, Diane and I went down to Pike's Market.

After the market, we walked down to the ballpark again. Shot a few pictures along the way.

Stopped for lunch at the Pyramid Alehouse

Then back to Safeco.

Here is Grady Sizemore stepping on the plate after hitting his 20th leadoff homerun of his career (A Cleveland Indians Record)

We bought seats high up and in the shade. Here is a peek inside of Qwest Field where the Seahawks Play.

Here are a few of the dudes from the grounds crew bustin' a move.

Here is something Diane can't get at home. ShishkaBerry's.

The Indians running the bases after a Jhonny Peralta Grand Slam.

And the final score... Indians sweep the series!

Safeco Field: Mariners vs. Indians

2009-07-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

Plane tickets from Cleveland to Seattle... $425.00 (buy one get one free).

Box seats near first base at Safeco Field... $175 (for two).

Cold draft beer... $8.00 each (times 3)

Seeing the hurting Indians beat up on another team on the road... Priceless!

Safeco is a really nice ballpark. Not much leg room in the seats. We almost had more room on the airplane. The game was all Indians. The Indians were leading 10-0 heading into the bottom of the 9th. Seattle scored 3 to avoid the shut out.

Here are a few more pictures:

Obligitory self-portrait:

Katie the ball girl:

Me with Katie the ball girl:

Me relaxing (for my photographer buddy Sara Alston):

Final Score:

Lil' Lily

2009-07-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

Lil' Lily and her Mom dropped by last week to get some pictures done of Lily for her 1st birthday that is coming up this weekend. Doesn't she look adorable with her hat?

Mom tried putting her in the tub, and this is how Lily felt about that!

This was my favorite part - Mommy getting Lily to blow "raspberries!"

Mommy Carole with Lily...

Thanks Carole for coming by! It was great working with you and your little girl!

Pam is Cooking!

2009-07-15T19:10:00.000-07:00

Back in June, I flew into Nashville to do a photo shoot for a very special lady. Pam Linton is becoming a dear friend to me and I have known her "on line" for a year or so updating her site for her and her husband, performers "Sherwin and Pam Linton". I am helping Pam out with their website: http://www.sherwinlinton.com/

I met Pam through her sister, Brittany Allyn, who is one of my closest friends and I have been her webmaster for her website for many years.

Pam just completed a cookbook which I was honored to shoot the pictures for. This is how the back and front cover of the cookbook turned out.

As well as shooting the pictures for the cookbook, I also shot a few promo shots for Pam.

I also got a shot in with Pam and her niece Lydia. Lydia is featured on the cover in the shot above. Lydia is a very nice young lady and a joy to be around.

Pam - Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of your project. I am honored that you included me. You're cooking!

Garage Update - Thank You Daddy!

2009-07-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

My Pop stopped by for a couple of days in June to work on a project for me. I wanted some heavy duty shelves built in my garage. I wanted them high enough to go around my lawn mower and my toolbox, and I also wanted to utilize the wasted space above the garage door track. This is what my dad was able to come up with in a matter of hours.

And here is how the shelving looks in action. My Dad did a great job on this project as he always does. Thank you Daddy!

Note - I shot the pictures from the corner of the garage - that is why the perspective is way off on these shots.

Allison's Baby Bo!

2009-07-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

Allison stopped by a few weeks ago for some maternity portraits.

Here is big brother Dash getting in on the action.

We went outside to get a few shots.

One shot with the fish-eye lens.

The whole fam-damily. Daddy Scott, Mommy Allison and big brother Dash.

Baby Bo Alexander was born on July 1st. Congratulations Allison and Scott and may God bless baby Bo!

Tracy Nicole Back Again!

2009-07-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I blogged, but I am back!

The beautiful and lovely Tracy Nicole returned this past Father's Day for another photo shoot.

Tracy was sporting some new ink since the last time we shot together.

And since it was Father's Day, Tracy's Dad and Mom came along. Notice the "Mom & Pops" tattoo on her shoulder.

Wonderful seeing you again Tracy!

Ashlee's Tattoo Shoot

2009-06-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

Tattooed Ashlee stopped by last week for a fun photo shoot. We got some neat images of Ashlee showing off her tats, and a few other fun shots.

Kelly's Baby Bump

2009-06-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

Kelly stopped by on Sunday to get some portraits of her and her baby bump. This baby is her second and is expected to show up on Independence Day.

And here is her first baby, Lizzie.

Lizzie was quite the bundle of energy, but we got a few good shots with her.

An overhead shot with the fisheye lens.

After shooting outside, we came inside to do a few shots in the studio.

Isn't Kelly beautiful?

Remember the bundle of energy? Here she comes to give the baby bump a kiss.

Thanks for stopping by Kelly and Lizzie! Looking forward to doing another shoot with the new baby!

Cell Phone Phriday - Me & Paula Deen

2009-05-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

While in Tunica, Mississippi, I was in front of Paula Deen's restaurant and saw her standing there and decided to pull out the camera phone and snap a self-portrait.

Yes, she is a cardboard cutout, but she looks pretty real on the cell phone screen.

Just a few from the Biltmore

2009-05-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Diane and I and my Mom and Dad visited the Biltmore Megahouse in Asheville, NC.

The day we visited, we included the "rooftop" tour in our visit. Here is a nice shot of the Biltmore front yard that I shot from the roof.

You might have noticed the camera crew in the shot above by the fountain. Everytime we turned around we saw them filming.

Charles Osgood from CBS was filming a special. It aired already and we forgot to set the DVR.

And here are a few of the decorations that I liked...

Check out the attitude on this little cherub dude.

And a couple of touristy shots.... here is my Mom & Pop striking a pose.

And my Dad figured out my camera to shoot one of Diane and I. Thank you Daddy!

Cell Phone Phriday - "Golf Carts have a Parking Brake"

2009-05-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

Some say that even a bad day golfing is better than a good day at work... that is unless you get out of your cart at the top of a hill and don't bother to set the parking brake.

I was golfing with my neighbor Ken (in our cart on the bridge) last week. As we were crossing this bridge we looked down to see the following sight.

Oh well... at least they got their clubs off the back.

Cell Phone Phriday - "Clean up on aisle 10"

2009-05-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

Props go to my buddy Jodie who came up with the title. I was at the Coligny Plaza Piggly Wiggly in Hilton Head this week and was walking down aisle 10 and saw the sign.

I might have a warped sense of humor, but I thought the "butt wipes" sign was hilarious.

Just one from Hilton Head

2009-05-11T20:17:00.001-07:00

I am in Hilton Head on vacation and have just one shot to share right now...

This is a shot of the Hilton Head Harbour Town Lighthouse taken from the 18th hole of the PGA Harbour Town Golf Links course.

Emily's Senior Pictures

2009-05-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

Emily stopped by recently to get some senior pictures done. Let's get right to it!

We started in the park...

We even got to try out my new antique chair...

And we finished outdoors with a shot on the tracks.

On into the studio... Emily tried out my new chaise.

And one more on the floor.

It was great working with you Emily. Best of luck with graduation!

St. Louis Cathedral - Jackson Square, New Orleans

2009-05-03T18:28:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of my recent trip to New Orleans was a trip on Sunday Morning to Jackson Square to attend mass at the St. Louis Cathedral. This Cathedral is the oldest active Catholic Cathedral in the country.

Jackson Square was beautiful. We had a cloudy morning with the sun trying to peek through.

Jackson square was originally named "Place d'Armes." The Place d'Armes was the prime site for the public execution of disobedient slaves during the 18th and early 19th centuries. After the 1811 German Coast Uprising, three slaves were hung here. Their dismembered bodies were then used to decorate the city's gates. After the Battle of New Orleans, in 1814, the Place d' Armes was renamed Jackson Square, after general Andrew Jackson. Here is a close up I shot of the statue of Andrew Jackson.

St. Louis Cathedral through the trees.

After mass, I took a few pictures inside the Cathedral.

This Cathedral is absolutely breath taking.

Cell Phone Phriday

2009-04-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

Been really busy lately with work, photo shoots and travel. Here is the latest cell phone phriday image of Jambalaya from the "Gumbo Shop" in New Orleans.

First Communion - Past Images

2009-04-16T18:31:00.001-07:00

I have a few First Communion shoots coming up and I thought I would post a few of my older First Communion portraits.

Cell Phone Phriday

2009-04-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

At Disney's Hollywood Studios, I took this picture with my phone showing the really cool looking brooms from Fantasia in the landscaping. I would love to have one of these in my yard!

A Few More Vacation Shots

2009-04-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pics taken during our vacation last week. Here is the start of the 7 Mile Bridge. It was a very overcast day - I shot this picture from the old bridge which can now be walked on by pedestrians. Trivia: the drive from the mainland of Florida to Key West is 15% bridges.

South Beach

The Tides Hotel on South Beach

The History Center in Orlando. We stopped here our last day to spend a little time checking out the featured exhibit.

The featured exhibit was "Jim Henson's Fantastic World". Very cool.

Cell Phone Phriday

2009-04-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

This week's Cell Phone image is from a little bit of relaxing.

Sitting at Disney's Old Key West Resort, watching the golfers play from the patio, sporting a new pair of Teva Flip Flops I bought in the Keys, with an oversized Miller Lite. This is vacation.

Travel Day

2009-03-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

Today we left Key West. In the morning before we left, we had to stop by Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe. This place is great. Kermit has a ton of Key Lime flavored/scented products in his store and it is a great place to stop and check out.

After buying stuff, Kermit threatened to pie Diane in the head.

Then, he threatened to pie me in the head, while I threatened to punch him in his head. We both walked away unscathed.

After driving from Key West, we headed to Miami Beach and took the obligitory self-portrait in the water on South Beach.

The beach was a lot busier than it was when I was here a month ago (look at the older blog posts for pictures).

We are now at Disney's Vero Beach, Florida Resort and are headed to Disney World in the morning.

Lovin' Key West

2009-03-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

Diane and I are in Key West, Florida. This is one of our favorite places to come to. We have been here previously by airplane and by cruise ship - this time we drove from Ft. Lauderdale.

Here is a shot of Sunset Key taken from our hotel.

We headed down Duval street - here is a shot of the famous "Sloppy Joes".

We headed to our favorite place in Key West - Fogarty's Flying Monkeys Saloon.

This place is known for their frozen drinks. My favorite - the "Howler" - made with grain alcohol, vodka and lemonade.

The obligitory self-portrait at the Flying Monkeys Saloon.

Here is a street musician bustin' out some tunes on his flute with his cool dog. I took a picture with his permission after making a donation. (Keep practicing Donovan)

Here were a couple of hotties cruisin' around on a rental golf cart looking really cool.

Here is one of the places we shopped at... one of our lucky friends is getting a souvenir.

Diane and I headed down to the southernmost location of the continental United States. She took my picture here. (side note - we have also been to the southermost spot of the entire United States - on the Big Island of Hawaii).

As the sun was going down, we headed to Mallory Square to watch the sunset. There was a great fire-eater entertaining the crowd.

And our last shot was in front of the Key West - Crazy Shirts. Reminding us all, "Beer is Good".

As I am building this blog post, I have the news on talking about the rain that came down in Florida today. Luckily for us tourists, we escaped the much needed Florida rain.

Cell Phone Phriday

2009-03-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Recently, my company promoted me to Vice President, Information Technology. I am very proud of this accomplishment and am very happy to be working for such a great company. This past Sunday, I was in the Cleveland Plain Dealer in the appointments section. Below is a picture from my cell phone.

Shelley's Brood

2009-03-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

Shelley is an old friend from high school. I recently reconnected with her after 23 years have passed. She stopped by with her children for some portraits.

Here is Shelley with her daughters Amanda on the left, and Alyssa on the right. Shelley does not have two heads... that is her son Austin on her back.

OK, here is the rest of Austin with the girls.

Here is Alyssa in her basketball uniform.

Ready for action!

And here is Amanda, just looking cool.

Austin wanted a picture with the basketball also.

This one was fun. We told Austin to make an angry face.

One last fun shot of the kids "framed"

Thanks for stopping by Shelley. It was great to see you again!

Cell Phone Phriday!

2009-03-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I was in Memphis, TN and got to go to lunch at Dyer's on Beale Street.

Dyer's is known for their deep fried hamburgers. They deep fry the burgers in grease that has been around for decades (they strain it each night and re-use it).

The food was really good. I will check it out again the next trip!

This burger even made it on Playboy's America's 10 Best Burgers list.

Stephanie's Senior Album

2009-03-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

I shot senior portraits of Stephanie back in October. I have assembled some of her images to make a senior photo album. Attached are the pages as they turned out.

Spending Time at South Beach

2009-02-28T13:01:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday I was in Miami on business. In the afternoon, we had a little free time so we took a short drive down to South Beach.

The beach looked amazing.

Of course, you can't visit the beach without dippin' your toes in the ocean. Lisa and Jodie didn't go in too far - the water was kind of chilly.

It was a cloudy day, but the sun was doing its best to peek through the clouds.

I handed the camera to Lisa to get a shot of Jodie and I together.

After checking out the beach, we walked over to Ocean Drive.

This art deco area of Miami truly is amazing.

A shot of the palm trees from the sidewalk.

We stopped for a beverage at Mango's Tropical Cafe. Here the men and women of the club get up and dance on the bar.

And, if you are lucky, you can get a picture with them as well.

We had a nice time. We saw about as much as you can see in two hours.

Quick Nashville Shoot

2009-02-22T16:33:00.001-08:00

In January I had a little time to spend in Nashville, TN with my friend Brittany Allyn. As usual, we usually try and make the best of our time together and get a few pictures in to use on her website.

Here are a few we took.

The first shot here is at the back entrance to the legendary Ryman Auditorium.

After that, we headed to the Shelby Street pedestrian bridge that spans the Cumberland River.

Christine

2009-02-16T17:20:00.000-08:00

Christine stopped by last week for a tattoo portrait shoot. Here are a few of the shots I took.

That's right... talk to the hand!

Extreme tattoo close up

I'm told foot tattoos hurt quite a bit.

Thanks for coming by Christine! I had a nice time working with you!

I'm a Disney VIP

2009-02-10T14:14:00.001-08:00

The Tub

2009-02-05T17:16:00.000-08:00

This is how the tub looks during the heat of the summer.

And this is how the tub looks on February 5th.

I like the tub in the summer a little bit more than in the winter.

Vacation Over!

2009-01-29T17:24:00.000-08:00

What a difference a 2 1/2 hour airplane ride can make!

I spent the last week in Florida. The first few days were vacation, followed by two days of business. This morning I woke up and walked on the beach in the Gulf of Mexico.

Fast forward a few hours to this evening.

Luckily enough, I escaped Cleveland's second brutal winter storm of the season. We were lucky to have some friends plow our driveway while I was gone, but I needed to do some clean up tonight when I got home. Vacation Over!