the light box

walking on sunshine...

I have landed safe and sound, survived immigration, and made it to the resort. Here are a few "first impression" images from today...

this one was with the point and shoot from the air on final approach

the water is really this blue and the sand feels like baby powder

more soon! 

tif

out of the country...

just a quick note...I am out of the country until Wednesday Jan 28th. I will not have mobile phone service and only sporadic internet access. All emails/inquiries will be handled as soon as I return. 

Thanks!  

tiffany

christmas in new york...

There is nothing quite like Christmas in New York!  The Tree. The Christmas Spectacular at Radio City. The Christmas Windows along 5th Avenue. An entire floor of shoes at Saks..(ok, maybe that is there year round)

I have always wanted to see New York during the holidays.  So when the opportunity presented itself this year I jumped at the chance to go cross a few things off my "things I have always wanted to do list."  The Christmas Spectacular at Radio City didn't disappoint. A few words  from the Radio City web site:

Radio City Music Hall is the largest indoor theater in the world. Its marquee is a full city-block long. Its auditorium measures 160 feet from back to stage and the ceiling reaches a height of 84 feet. The walls and ceiling are formed by a series of sweeping arches that define a splendid and immense curving space. Choral staircases rise up the sides toward the back wall. Actors can enter there to bring live action right into the house. There are no columns to obstruct views. Three shallow mezzanines provide comfortable seating without looming over the rear Orchestra section below. The result is that every seat in Radio City Music Hall is a good seat.

A special thanks to Jerry Rose  from Beckley Dance Studio for calling ahead and arranging for the Young Dancers in our group to meet a few Rockettes after the show.  Most definitely a highlight of the weekend.  

Check back. I may post a few more images from the weekend as I finish downloading the images.  Until then...Merry Christmas!  Happy Hanukkah!   

christmas came early...

christmas came early for me this year...Max and Adam brought home straight A's! (Drew is in Kindergarten and only gets report cards every nine weeks) 

For Adam, its all about the cash baby.  Dangle the green stuff and he will work. I know many of you may not agree with paying children for academic achievement.  For me, school is their job, and in life, you get paid for a job well done.  This year its $4 per A for Adam, and he spends the cash before the sun goes down on payday.  

Many of you know Max, or at least "Max Stories."...He didn't talk until he was four.  He struggles to stay on task for even a few minutes at a time.  To say he is impulsive is kinda like saying GM needs a few dollars.  In short, it has taken a village of people working together to arrive at this point.  This six weeks he made Straight A's without modifications.  Meaning, work was not adapted to his level, and he didn't have shortened assignments.  In reality, Max did the regular classroom work with additional spelling, reading, and math from Mrs. Fink.  He is a living example of what can happen when everyone comes together to create an education plan to meet a child's individual needs.  I can't say thank You enough to all the people that helped Max along the way.  We couldn't have made it this far without each and everyone of you.  Thank You!

point and shoot cameras...

At least 3 times per week I am asked "what type of point and shoot camera do you recommend?" Usually, by a hubby wanting to purchase a camera for his wife or child... Honestly, there are many great choices available on the market.  It really depends on what you need the camera to do.  Sports?  Concerts?  Landscapes?  Fast moving Toddlers?  Super small?  

For our family, the point and shoot is mainly used for school plays, everyday snapshots, and Andy's adventures on ebay.  It is our backup camera, but it needs to take great images of the kids and their adventures.  We I have tested several point and shoot cameras only to return them because of the shutter delay.  The major difference between digital SLRs and a point and shoot is the shutter lag. (the amount of time it takes for the camera to release the shutter after you depress the button)

About  2 years ago, I found a point and shoot that meets our needs.  The Canon Power Shot SD630 Digital Elph.  Its fast, great color and contrast. Performs well in low light, and has some manual settings allowing me a little more flexibility.  You can probably still find that exact model but there are several newer versions this year.  Here is the Canon Powershot SD790IS  

I also get asked "what do you do with the cameras you don't use anymore?"  Some, I keep and add to my ever growing collection.  Others, I offer for sell. Stay tuned, because as soon as my new Canon 5D Mark II arrives I will be selling my Canon 20D.

happy thanksgiving!

It's BACK!  I hope to start regular posting to the journal again. This has been a whirlwind of a year, and I have been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!  Photographing the most beautiful and charming families, and the smartest kids on the planet.  

I have so much to be thankful for this year! Lets start the postings with my littlest indian. He started Kindergarten this year and is reading everything, everywhere.  On a side note, this morning he and his brothers were having a snowball fight while waiting on the bus and knocked the lenses out of his glasses. What a lovely thing to discover when I arrived for the Thanksgiving Dinner at School.  (Just a few from the point and shoot.)  

a grand affair...

Holly and Adam are married! I have been so excited to share a few images with everyone from this event. First Class all the way, Holly has a great sense of style that showed through in every part of the weekend. She and Adam didn't skimp on a single detail....I love all of the copper detail work.

a beautiful day...

Ashley and Jason are married!! This Saturday, Jennifer & I drove up to Nicholas County for Ashley & Jason's wedding. Ashley and Jason are such a sweet couple. They were surrounded by friends and family that traveled in from around all over the country. Everyone was just so excited to celebrate with them and share in their happiness.

chasing the light...

I am a morning person.  I routinely offer early sessions to clients.  How early?  8:00 am early.  (Rarely, do I find anyone that loves mornings as much as I do.)  Ashley loves mornings as much (maybe more) than I do.  Jason, well, he was a good sport and tolerated both of us.   We had an incredible bridal and engagement session.

The kicker for me...this was an on-location session.  I left my house at 6:15am...top down, coffee in hand, pure bliss...I had the joy of chasing the light and watching the sun come up.  Here what all you night owls missed this morning. 

you can't go back

it seems like yesterday he was crawling on the beach...I have been thinking about this entry for a few weeks now, and the exact words never seemed to come together.  While surfing around on a few of my favorite blogs, I found this entry by the fish that sums it up pretty well.  Here is an excerpt...

There are some moments that might seem as though they never happened in the first place. A minute, an hour, a day – a span of time – where you wish you could have stepped out of yourself to view it from the outset. It was just that beautiful.

If you pay close enough attention, sometimes you actually realize, just know, in the middle of one of those beautiful moments that you’re part of a solitary occurrence, mitigated by time, place and coincidence. By fate. A first breath, a first kiss, a first time you realize the world actually can be beautiful and perfect, if only for that one moment.  And you also know it’s not going to happen just that way ever again. 

So your heart takes a snapshot, if you give pause to let it.  And then you will always remember exactly the way the sunlight fell, or a specific shade of blue, or the hum of the refrigerator or the smell of clean cotton. Or the details of someone else’s skin.....What is most intriguing about these snapshots is how easily they can provide a measure of comfort as well as one of regret -- of lost opportunities, broken connections and irretrievable time.

Thanks fish (for the full text click on the link above)...Until next time.