The Things That Make Me Happy

I got this in the mail today. Now this makes me happy, I smiled when I saw the envelope covered in stickers and I knew the contents would be great! It is from my cute and very talented niece. Less than three weeks until I get to see them (and my newest nephew! Yea!).

Maryland ... the country in the fall

London-Revisited

London-this is an image I had a vision for when I was at the top of St. Paul's Cathedral. This is from the top, just about 180 degree view. The bottom image is cropped from the top image (from the bottom right corner), so you can see the detail that exists. It is pretty amazing, you can see all the red double-decker buses.

If you are curious, I pieced together 7 different photographs. (The end result was a lot of layers and a large file.) I cropped in a bit for the blog as it is hard to view such a long panoramic.

SC - a while ago

Finally getting around to a few of the images I have been wanting to get to. This is from the South Carolina Swamps.

Cantonsville, MD

I love these two images.

Published

I have been published again. It is a great feeling. The two large images are not mine, but the two medium sized images on the bottom right are mine.

Around the Block

On Sundays I like to take walks around the neighborhood. I have been meaning to take my camera with me the last couple of weeks to photograph the azaleas which are so full of color all up and down the streets. And ... I didn't get around to it, until yesterday. Unfortunately, the leaves are overtaking the colorful blossoms and the display of color isn't as vibrant. I did see a couple of other things on my walk that intrigued me, bamboo. It is so interesting to see how it grows. I also noticed that my favorite flower, the iris, is currently blooming. A beautiful sight.

California, Maryland

A few pictures from California, MD. The area I was in reminded me a little of Star Valley Ranch. Everyone has beautiful homes tucked away in the woods. Their own secluded wooded forest around their house (of course they aren't aspen trees, but it has the same feel as SV Ranch). It is a beautiful time of year.

Ian & Jessica

Amazing wedding. This was in California, Maryland (the southern eastern tip of the state). Ian was from England, and I love his accent. I love outdoor weddings as well. It was especially humid given that the forecast for Friday & Saturday called for rain and it never came ... it was just stuck in the air. (I was, however, grateful it held off for the wedding.) On my drive home it came as a torrential down pour reducing visibility to about 20%, amazingly enough it let up just as I was coming up on a crucial intersection in the middle of nowhere to get me home. Good weekend, good wedding, good times.

Obviously New

These are images taken with my new Holga, the camera I recently purchased. I tell you what, it will definitely take some getting used to. Here are a couple of my first shots on it, certainly nothing great, but it is fun to use.

Cinco de Mayo (AFM)

I was in Annapolis on Saturday and I decided to take 50 through DC on my way back, I haven't done that for quite some time. As it was I ended up driving by the new Air Force Memorial. I have not been, so I stopped. It was about 10 degrees cooler than Annapolis was, because it had rained in DC, it was a little cold, but the sky was amazing. The bottom image is the view from this memorial looking at Arlington Cemetery & the Washington Monument.

Becky & Adam

A couple of favorites from my Annapolis Wedding. They were both attending the Naval Academy there and were married in the chapel on the base. There reception was right on the water with sailboats going by.

Seeing Yellow

Warm tungsten light. More pictures from my Florida wedding, well except the last image. The ice sculpture I sneakily photographed from another bride's wedding that was happening the same time, same hotel. It was very cool, you could drink through various straws the liquid that was in the top. This weekend is Annapolis, the sailing capitol of the world and one of my favorite places. It is a naval academy wedding with swords and uniforms. Looking forward to it.

Never Ending Wall of Yellow

For those who don't know, I have an adiditonal job during the week -- not related to photography. And this is where I got of the elevator last week to a wall of yellow crates ... I had to shimmy to get by them and into my suite. Now they are lining the walls of our office. Yellow ~ everywhere. (I was getting tired of seeing the sea of yellow so for the sake of my eye sight I made the picture black & white.) Our office is moving, again. This is the third move in two years for me. This is the second time with "the crates." Since our company has grown so large that we are relocating to be in one building, instead of the four buildings we are currently in. Office moves always bring out office politics, and it sure is fun to hear the conversations. Many people who currently have an office will be in a cube, and all of the offices are much smaller than the space we currently occupy. Which means ... the excess must go. And that, my friends, is the one thing I love about the move. I have recycled so much paper it would astonish you. I long for the paperless society, and our office is far from it. It feels so good to purge, and I fully endorse and encourage all of my team members to toss, recycle and purge.