dream world

There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other. 
--Douglas H. Everett

At the last minute I thought I'd jump in the car and try to catch the sunset on Beauty Spot outside of Erwin, TN. Driving up the mountain, the fog was thick and I figured I was wasting my time. But I had come this far, so might was well see it through. I'm glad I did. Soon after I arrived, the fog lifted and the sunset was really spectacular, with rain clouds in the distance.

I met two thru-hikers setting up camp for the night, one from Florida, the other from Maine. Their trail names were NoMo (as in No More) and MoMo.  Although NoMo said that in reality they should both be called NoMo. They were very sweet and said that when people ask why they are walking 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine, it was for nights like this.

Heading back to my car I ran into another couple, they proudly announced they were just engaged on the mountain. So I took Sasha and Heath's photo and enjoyed the opportunity to talk with them and share in their excitement. What a fun, beautiful and dreamy night on the mountain!

autumn smile

Children learn to smile from their parents.
--Shinichi Suzuki (1898-1998) violinist and teacher

My friends' daughter Brooklyn discovers autumn.

wedding day

I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance,
A church filled with family and friends.
I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for,
He said one that would make me his wife.
--Author Unknown.   

Congratulations to my friends Nathan and Laken on their wedding today!

Happy Mother's Day!

Who ran to help me when I fell,

And would some pretty story tell,

Or kiss the place to make it well?

My mother.

--Ann Taylor (1782-1866) English Author--

From a portrait session I did last fall -- little Ethan was lots of fun!
Here he is listening to his baby sister. :)

Brooklyn Grace

A daughter is a day brightener and a heart warmer.

-Author Unknown-

This is Brooklyn Grace with her mom and dad. We had a very fun photo shoot the other day in downtown Jonesborough for her 1st birthday photos. She was so sweet and cooperative and easy going - we had lots of fun exploring the downtown area together. To learn more about my portrait sessions and to schedule your own click here.

Many, many thanks to those who came out for the opening of my photography exhibit at the Nelson Fine Art Center in downtown Johnson City. Dick Nelson, the owner of the gallery, estimates we had over 500 attend. It was a wonderful night and I appreciate everyone who came out and said hello. The exhibit will remain up throughout the month of October, so if you missed the opening, you can still stop by and see the show. The gallery is located at 324 East Main Street, Johnson City, TN.

Father's Day

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass." "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys."
--Harmon Killebrew (b.1936) Major League Baseball player

Here are a couple of recent photos of my friend Ed and his baby boy, Edward Joseph or "EJ" as they call him. Big Ed graduated last weekend from Drill Sergeant School. Gotta love the matching camo in the photo above! :) More photos here and here.

hard times

Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body.
--Elizabeth Stone, author

This is my friend, Eddie, with his newborn son. I'm proud of Ed and the man he's become. I've known him since he was 14 -- and I can attest that growing up wasn't always easy for him. Lots of hard times. But through every difficulty, through times of loss, pain and confusion, he sought to learn and grow and encourage others. He eventually joined the army and served for just over four years - including 15 months in Ramadi, Iraq during some of the most violent months of the war. When he returned home he joined the reserve -- and he's now finishing his drill sergeant training. I'm thankful for Eddie and those like him, who serve and sacrifice for our freedom and security with the hope that hard times come again no more.

The song, Hard Times Come Again No More, was written by Stephen Collins Foster in 1854. In its day, the song was well known and a favorite of both sides during the American Civil War. Although many have covered this song over the years, my favorite version is Johnny Cash's emotional rendition recorded in 2003 -- listen here.

Awareness of God

If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle.
--Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) Dutch painter

a wedding prayer

Grant that their wills may be so knit together in your will, and their spirits in your Spirit, that they may grow in love and peace with you and one another all the days of their life. Amen.
--The Book of Common Prayer

My good friends Jeremiah and Emily exchanged their marriage vows yesterday in a beautiful and very touching ceremony. They're a wonderful Christian couple: faithful, compassionate, gracious and fun, with a heart for ministry and service. Congratulations and blessings to you both!

hope of the future

I had a great time taking family photos of Charlie and his family a couple weeks ago. He was in town visiting his Aunt Lee and his Grandparents, Bill and Charliece. You can tell immediately upon meeting him that he's a very creative and intelligent boy. Nine years old and yet he was so cooperative, easy going, enthusiastic and fun to work with. Hope you have lots of wonderful memories of your visit to Tennessee, Charlie!

A boy is Truth with dirt on its face,
Beauty with a cut on its finger,
Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair,
and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.
--Author Unknown

Jack

A baby is God's opinion that life should go on.
--Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) writer

From Volunteers to Buckeyes

The future of the world and the Church passes through the family.
--Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

My friends Josh and Kaitlyn, with Olivia and two-week old Jack, depart Tennessee tomorrow to begin a new chapter of their lives in Ohio. I think this quote fits them well. Spending time with this family gives me confidence in the future. They're such good people and such wonderful parents -- so kind and generous, gifted and faithful. Their friends will miss them here in Tennessee, but I know they'll be a blessing to the Buckeye State.

Sweetness

I've taken lots of family portraits this year, so I need to start sharing them with you more often. Back in April, I very much enjoyed taking portraits of Kenneth and Kelly's beautiful family. The kids were absolutely adorable and the setting amazing! As you can see, the kids were a lot of fun, so sweet -- and so smiley -- and oh, so silly. This one was taken right before they all giggled and rolled on the ground. We all had a blast.

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.
--Hodding Carter (1907-1972) Author

Share the road

Impart as much as you can of your spiritual being to those who are on the road with you, and accept as something precious what comes back to you from them.
--Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) 1952 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, German medical Missionary, Theologian, Musician and Philosopher.

Brian walking down Clark's Creek Road near Sill Branch Falls and Pine Ridge Falls.

Jon

This is Jon Hartman, a senior at Milligan College from Montpelier, Ohio, majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Legal Studies. With his interest in city government, he hopes one day to become a city manager. I told him that if that doesn't work out, he could always go into modeling. Click here to visit my gallery to see more portraits of Jon taken at the Beauty Spot on Unaka Mountain. And click here for pricing information and to schedule your own portrait session!

Merry Christmas!

I remember thinking as I sorted through all of my grandfather's old slides that for someone who loved photography, he wasn't often photographed. That's especially true of his slides, which chronicle the life of our family from the 60s through the 80s. Vacations, birthdays, graduations, school events, reunions. Family, distant cousins, neighbors, strangers, wildlife, historical markers, homes and cars. It's not that we don't have photos of him, it's just that compared to the rest of us, he only makes occasional appearances. Some of the ones we do have are from when he'd hand the camera to grandma and she'd do her best to hold the camera level and still while managing to push the button. She did well just to get him in the frame! But he was happiest behind the camera. I'm following in his footsteps, I guess. I'm never too eager to step into the frame. I've been at this blog for almost two years now, and this is the first photo I've posted of myself. So here's Duke and I. Thanks for regularly visiting my little blog, for sharing it with your friends, and for all the kind comments and encouraging emails. If you see us out hiking, I hope you'll stop and say hello. :)

Best wishes to you for a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Turning Night into Day

Here are a couple of photos taken last weekend at the Carter Mansion in Elizabethton, TN. These candlelit shots would have been very difficult to capture were it not for some amazing developments in digital photography. The challenge of low light photography is that in order to capture a sharp image that is correctly exposed, you need subjects that are perfectly still while the shutter to remains open long enough to capture the necessary light. The higher the ISO (film speed), the more light sensitive the film is (or in the case of digital cameras, the sensor) and the faster the light will be recorded. So why not just use the highest ISO, you ask? Well, the problem has always been that severe 'noise' results with high ISOs -- noise refers to the grain that appears in photos where the pixels are pushed beyond what they can record in the time being demanded. On my old Nikon D80, noise began appearing with ISOs as low as 400. I could get acceptable images at ISO 800, but at 1600, forget it. Enter the D90. The above photo was taken at ISO 3,200, while the photo to the right was taken at ISO 6,400. Click thumbnails to see 100% crops. I took these without using a flash or tripod, just steadying the camera against the chair rail along the wall. While the images contain noise and some of the detail has been softened, these results are still amazing given the high ISOs, the relatively fast shutter speeds, and the fact that the room was completely dark except for the candles you see in the windows. By the way, if you want to reach levels of ISO 25,600 buy the new Nikon D3 for $5,000 (and then let me borrow it for awhile!) :)

Photo details...
Top: Nikon D90 with Tamron 28-75 at 32mm, f/2.8, 1/6s, ISO 3200
Bottom: Nikon D90 with Tamron 28-75 at 31mm, f/2.8, 1/6s, ISO 6400

Lacey and Warren

Ahh young love! I recently had the privilege of taking engagement portraits for Lacey and Warren. What a fun-loving, down to earth, absolutely adorable couple! We had so much fun together -- taking a wide variety of shots -- some posed, some romantic, and some just plain silly. But always they were smiling! They were such a pleasure to work with and get to know, so filled with love and joy...and life!

We are most alive when we're in love.
--John Updike (b. 1932) American author

Family Values

The family has always been the cornerstone of American society. Our families nurture, preserve, and pass on to each succeeding generation the values we share and cherish, values that are the foundation of our freedoms.
--Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) 40th US President

After yesterday's post of Sierra running through the meadow, I thought I'd share my favorite portrait I took that day of the whole family. And no, this isn't your traditional family portrait! But then again, this is a unique family -- very fun and very close-knit. This image really captures each family member's unique personality, as well as their togetherness and joyful spirit.

sweet life

It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.
--Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) author of "Little House on the Prairie"

It was a perfect sunny day to capture Sierra running through the tall grass. At one point as she was skipping along, she fell and rolled in the grass. She was fine, and immediately got right back up and continued her frolic. Her family and I were all smiles as we recalled the opening scenes of Little House on the Prairie. Ahh the sweet, simple things of life...