The regroup

An island to myself

Home from vacation. I had a great time with family enjoying the beach, food and laughter. I got to go to Seaside ( www.seasidefl.com ) to times but both sort of hurried. I was hoping to venture over and spend some time shooting the beach houses. Always next year.

I had to leave on Thursday rather than Saturday in order to get my mom back to Vicksburg for my aunts funeral. We left Destin about 7:30 and got to Vicksburg at 1. I got it right on the dot to when I thought we would make it. I didn't really think it would affect me leaving a couple days early but it did. I was so depressed packing to leave. I hate packing to come home from pretty much any trip but this one really hit. My folks used the word "Sorry" so many times. It was something that had to be done and even though my sister offered to drive all the way to Mobile, pick them up, they would have had to leave the day before, spend the night, take the folks to Vicks, spend another night then home. It was just too much.

While on vacation I did have some time to think. On morning I drove over to the island and had the place to myself until a waters edge runner came through. Just me and the birds.

I turned 50 in May and decided to take a break from a lot of things including the bike. It has been good but I gained weight and laughed about it. Now, starting today I started my journey back to a smaller tummy. I gained 18 lbs in 2 months because I did nothing but eat and sit. This morning I woke and headed out on the bike. It was a nice ride in the cooler morning temps (68 degrees).

I also thought a lot about other things in my life this past week. I thought about how lucky I was to have a family like I do. There is also a good steady job that I wake up knowing I have every morning. I have a close set of friends that I know I can call on should the need arise. And other than having some hearing loss, I'm one of those folks that takes no medication of any kind and even passing on Advil and stuff like that.

Life is good.... real good...

07 12 09

This is a shot at 9pm. The light you see is street light not daylight.

I've thought and thought about my final photo class and this is the one I'll use. It combines all the different subjects learned in class. I have the DOF (Depth of field), the exposure is solid, it's framed well, the light is good, composition is good. There is ALWAYS room for improvement but I think I'm going with this.

Check back Tuesday and I'll update with the results.

Under the bridge on Saturday night

A full moon above an old stained bridge.
Ahh the perfect spot to watch fireworks.

The moon was full and the fireworks were about to start. As creepy as it looks, it was a perfect spot for photographing the fireworks. I knew I was in a good spot when we arrived to find two photographers already set up and another really good one showed up soon after.

I just couldn't pass up the haunted full moon shot.

Late at night after the fireworks are done...

Fireworks over Little Rock

Late at night after the fireworks are done I finally have time to pause and write. Spent the day driving. Woke up, drove to Benton, got my folks, drove to Maumelle to family gathering, drove back to Benton to take folks home, drove home, drove to downtown to fireworks, drove home. But it's been a nice day. Happy 4th of July y'all!

Early in the morning

Flag at the ball field... America

It's early in the morning the day before 4th of July.
A ray of morning sunlight starting to slip through the trees spotlighting sections of the lawn here and there.
A man out for a morning run.
A dog barking in the distance.
The smell of coffee.
Sigh... I'm relaxed.

Night shooting

They turned on the new ACH sign.. ya see it?

After I finished shooting over at the hospital I played at the State Capitol. I lucked out and caught the Angel One (ACH helicopter) flying over the Capitol. I called this work of art "Angels ove the Capitol" HA!

Aww hail... Photos from Tuesday 06 30 09 hail storm

I know, crappy quality but just wanted to show you the hail...