Last light of 2008

As the sun goes down on the last day of 2008, I would like to wish you all a very happy and safe new year.

Ohhh.... christmas tree.... oh christmas tree.....

I present to you, our christmas tree this year. Ofcourse no presents yet since Santa hasn't shown up yet.

New neighbors

My son spent the weekend with his mom and returned home earlier tonight. He brought us some new neighbors.

Congratulations Tara

Tonight I got to watch my girlfriend do something I havent. Tara graduated college tonight.

I am so proud of her. I don't know how many times I told her that today but in my eyes, it wasn't nearly enough. There were plenty of times she thought she wouldn't make it. Long nights of doing homework or studying for that 1 big test that was coming up. She is one tough girl who will always accomplish whatever it is she sets out to do in life. I'm very thankful I get to share all those moments with her.

Once again Tara, I am so very proud of you. Congratulations grad! I love you sweetie <3


Here she is walking in empty handed but filled with pride.

Gettin' that piece of paper!

Now along with her pride she has that diploma to show for all the hard work.

Making sure we all see it!


I want you to always remember this Tara. You can and will accomplish all your goals in life. Nothing is ever out of your reach. Make all your dreams come true. By doing so you will make those around you even more proud of you than they already are.

Playing around

Tonight Austin wanted to see some pictures of himself on the computer. I did him one better and tethered my camera to the laptop and shot this picture of him. He got to see it right away on the screen and busted out into laughter.

Happy holidays!

As Christmas and the new year draw closer we are reminded once again of friendship, kindness, love and fellowship.

Just a quick photograph tonight while testing out a new camera.

Im sure I will have more holiday related posts as the last few days of the year draw to an end. Untill then, happy holidays too all!

31,000'

A shot from my airplane window on the flight back home. The white spot above the wing is actually the moon.

Miss Illinois

As the year draws to end, so comes the end of this years pageant scene. I had the pleasure of joining Josef Willis (www.josefwillis.com)and Earl Carter (www.earlcarter.com)this past weekend in the windy city of Chicago to photograph the 2009 Miss Illinois and Teen Illinois pageants.


It was a very cold weekend and fortunately, we spent most of the 4 days there inside.

Here are a few Id like to share to give you all a small glimpse into the pageant world.

Practice, practice, practice!




And then the show begins!


Opening performance


Swimsuit portion


Evening gown portion


2 Random contestants




Group shot

I have to give her credit

My girlfriend Tara, who is by no means a morning person, decided to wake up before the sun with all of us photo guys and head out with us. I have to give her credit for trying eventhough she sleept on the car ride up there and the whole time we were shooting the sunrise :) Once the sun was up though, so was she!

A few more fall shots

Fall in Virginia

Well fall is once again upon us and what better way to enjoy it than to take pictures :)

A few friends along, with my girlfriend Tara, and I decided to head out early in the morning to catch a fall sunrise and then continue on and capture some fall colors.

Here are a few of the shots I captured today.

A few more for Stacey and Jeremy

Well the happy couple is home from their honeymoon so I thought I would post a few pictures from the wedding. I had such a great time working with the whole family through out the whole process. I cant wait to work with them again.

Well without much further delay I present to you, Stacey and Jeremy.














Congratulations once again to the happy couple.

Randomness at its best

I had a day all too myself and had no idea what to do with it since it has been forever since I had a free day. Well I got together with 2 other local photographers from a local forum and we headed out looking for things to shoot.

We ended up down at the Virginia Beach Tourist trap and then a old rundown shop by a local river. Here are a few shots Id like to share with you all. Its a step away from my normal wedding or portrait photography but it was still alot of fun.

Congratulations Stacey and Jeremy

I had the joy of shooting their wedding this past weekend and in doing so I would like to share a few from a session we had before the big day. We had a blast. Jeremy is just like me and hates to be in front of a camera, so I had my work cut out trying to get him to smile but we made do ;) They are a young fun loving couple who seem just perfect for each other. See for yourself...













Once again, congratulations to the two of you. I wish you both many years of happiness.