An Engagement Story part 3

By that Thursday, I had decided that I wanted to propose on Friday morning (July 4th) and get the weekend started with a real Bang! So, on Thursday afternoon, I emailed Sandy and suggested that we have breakfast out on the boat dock behind her Aunt and Uncle’s house who live across the street from her. She replied and said that she thought it was a good idea.

Later Thursday night, while on the phone with Sandy, I suggested that we bring her iPod player with us to the dock on Friday morning. My secret idea was that I would play a set list of “our songs” and for the last one, I would have her stand up with me and once the song was over, I’d go down on one knee! The tune I picked for that is a song by Mark Schultz that talks about going the distance for her. (Click here to hear it.)

When I arrived at Sandy’s on Friday morning, I could feel myself shaking a little. This was the day that I was going to ask my future wife to marry me. It was a huge deal what I was about to do, but it felt right and I was ready.

As Sandy and I headed across the street and down to her Aunt and Uncle’s boat dock, she asked, “So, what about breakfast?” Since neither of us had mentioned anything about “what” we were going to eat for breakfast while at the dock, both of us had assumed that the other was taking care of it. I replied, “Well, I guess we’re not having breakfast, but can we still go down there and just sit and listen to some music for a little bit?” Sandy, being very gracious, agreed to my request.

Once we got down there, I said, “I’m going to take you through a musical journey of ‘Chad & Sandy’.” I then sat beside her on a bench swing while the tunes began to play. About half way through the set, I heard someone whistle behind us. I looked up to the house and saw a man who appeared to be Sandy’s Dad waving his arms at me. After I acknowledged him and waved back, he turned around and disappeared. Sandy, not having looked back to see who it was, asked me if I knew. I said, “I think it was your Dad?”

A few songs later, I looked back to see Sandy’s Dad and step Mom walking towards the dock. Her Dad, who has a passion for photography as well, had his camera around his neck. To keep things from being blown, I told Sandy that I was going to go talk to her Dad real quick and would be right back.

As I approached them out of hearing range from Sandy, Mr. Vasquez asked me, “Chad, how are you doing?” and proceeded to greet me with a hug. I said, “I’m doing wonderful, but I haven’t ‘done it’ yet.” I then explained my plan about standing up for the last song and then proposing at the end of it. He said that he was going to pretend to be photographing nature and would capture “the moment” when it happened. They then headed back up to the house as I returned to Sandy. “What did my Dad want?” she asked. “Oh, he’s just going to be photographing nature.” I cleverly replied.

When the last song was getting ready to begin, I stood up and asked Sandy to stand with me for this one. I held her close as we took in the lyrics together. When the last set of verses came, her head was resting against my chest and I could tell that she was crying. At this point, I was crying too.

Once the song ended and all was silent, I pulled back and proceeded to go down on one knee. As I knelt before her, Sandy’s crying turned to sobbing as she covered her mouth with her hand. I then dug in my right pocket for the ring box and pulled it out. I looked up at the woman I love and with tear filled eyes, said, “Will you marry me Sandy?” She said, “Yes”.

I got back up and embraced her. We then heard a collective cheer and clapping in the background. It was her Dad, step Mom, Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, and both her sisters all coming down the dock to congratulate us. Turns out that word had spread quickly through the house while we were out there and a lot of people just happened to be in the right place at the right time. They all had watched from a distance and got to share in our very special moment.

Sandy and I have been flying ever since.

An Engagement Story part 2

Once inside the “Lakeland Square Mall”, Sandy and I soon found ourselves standing beside a glass case of engagement rings. As we waited for a clerk to help us, we looked at each other with big smiles on our faces. Our relationship had brought us to this place and the reality of it was surrounding us there in that store.

After looking at a few “prospect rings”, we moved on to another jewelers. It was the place that I had purchased the amethyst pendant for Sandy a few months ago. A sales lady named Anna, helped us and began showing Sandy the rings that caught her eye. Before long, Sandy was trying on a ring that the store referred to as, “The Paris Ring”, because it resembled the Eiffel Tower. Sandy has been to Paris, so I was anxious to see what she thought about this one. At first, she didn’t think she liked it, but as she spent a little bit more time with it, she began to become very fond of the ring. By the time we left the store, she was declaring it one of her favorites that she had seen thus far that day.

As I realized how much she liked “The Paris Ring“, I knew more and more that that was the one that I wanted to get for her. We looked at one more store, but I said before going into it that we weren’t going to find anything that compared to the ring she liked, and I was right.

The next day after I left work for the evening, I went back to that jewelers. Before I knew it, I had purchased the ring that Sandy raved over the previous day. I now had in my possession the very ring that I would ask Sandy to marry me with! When I got in my car and closed the door, I shouted “WHOOO!” a couple times at the top of my lungs. Much like I did at the end of my first date with Sandy, once I was in the quiet confines of my car.

All I had to do now was figure out when to propose. Immediately, my thoughts went to the upcoming 4th of July weekend. We could celebrate all three days and Sandy could show off her “BLING” to everyone the whole time.

There was actually one more thing left to do first though; I had to let her Dad know what I was planning on doing. So, that same night, I emailed him:

Mr. Vasquez,
“…I would like to meet with you briefly sometime on Friday during the day...if your schedule allows. Sandy can't know that I want to meet with you though, so maybe we can make it look spontaneous as if it was your whole idea? Whatever will provide a way that I could get a few minutes to talk with just you. …Please don't let Sandy know that I emailed you or wanted to meet up. It has to do with surprising her later.”

The next night, I called her Dad, by his request, to set up “a time to meet”. Since I wasn’t completely clear in my email (because I was wanting to talk about it face to face), he asked what it was that I was wanting to do for Sandy? I said, “well actually…I was wanting to ask her to marry me!” “OH, I see!”, he replied. After we chatted for a few moments, I had received his blessing.

That was Tuesday night, it wasn’t until Thursday afternoon that I had begun to get a clear picture as to “how” I was going to do this.

An Engagement Story part 1

For a while now, I had known that Sandy was the woman that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. With each passing week, our love grew only stronger and the commitment in my heart grew only deeper.

Originally, my idea was to propose to Sandy on Christmas day later this year. As we talked about the prospect of marrying each other and what the future would look like, I dropped hints that a proposal was still a little ways off, although my love and commitment to her was already very strong. I just thought that Christmas would be such a special time, especially since it’s my favorite holiday. That and the fact that it’s three days after our first year anniversary of meeting each other (December 22).

It was a great idea, but I soon began to realize that Sandy and I were already engaged in our hearts. I even told her that’s how I felt. All we needed to know, we already knew.
So, two weeks ago, I had decided that I was going to make our engagement official within the next two months. All I needed was to find the type of ring that she would want.

Two Sundays ago, Sandy and I went to the Mall after church to look at engagement rings. It was in the understanding that she would tell me what she liked, then I would surprise her “some day”.

That morning in church, my pastor spoke about the Christian life and how what we’ve experienced in our hearts by the work of Christ, we live out of. When I heard that, I related it to my relationship with Sandy as well.

As we walked through the parking lot up to the entrance of Macy’s, I told Sandy about how I related what my pastor said to our relationship.

“Out of what we’ve experienced in our hearts, we live out of. That’s why we’re getting ready to look at engagement rings right now, because we’ve experienced this in our hearts.”

Past Present Future

Today marks six months for Sandy and I. The image you see above is of a 14k white gold pendent that I got her for this our half year anniversary. The significance behind this necklace is that the amethyst stones you see on it are my birth stone (February)…but it doesn’t stop there. The two diamonds you see in between the amethyst stones are Sandy’s birthstone (April). So, this necklace represents her and I both together.

This is a “Past, Present, Future” pendent. Her and I have a shared past that has been amazing, a present that is exactly that and a future that is looking brighter as each day passes.

I presented this to her yesterday and she LOVED it, especially all the thought and meaning behind it. I was so excited to finally give this to her (I bought it two months ago) and her response to it was all that I’d hoped it be.

I’m so blessed to have her.

I love you Sandy.

Brownie

This past Saturday, Sandy and I ventured into historic downtown Kissimmee. As we walked by shops, I kept an eye out for interesting things to photograph. The late afternoon sun was beating down and was as bright as it was hot. Before too long, we came upon an antique store that I had driven past many times on my way to see my girl, but had never gotten the chance to explore. So, we took a break from the heat and went in to see what treasures awaited us.

Once inside, an older gentleman behind a counter, calmly greeted us and said that if we had any questions, just to let him know. We thanked him and began our journey through the narrow path created for shoppers to browse this storehouse of human history. We saw many things, mostly objects that we wouldn’t necessarily want, but were just nice to look at. As we made our way through the maze, I began to realize that this place was bigger than I imagined it would be from the outside and was filled to what seemed capacity.

The best find for me was a shelf that held a number of antique cameras. I knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted to photograph them with the digital camera that was conveniently around my neck. One of the old artifacts that caught my eye was this 1948 Brownie Target Six-20. If you use your imagination, it kind of has a face. Do you see it?

Love In A Bowl

I know I’ve been writing a lot about my girlfriend Sandy in my commentary here on my photo blog, but it’s because she deserves to be written about. I write about what I'm passionate about and what inspires me. So, here’s another love-fest for ya…

This past week, I got hit hard by a bad head cold. It started with a painful sore throat that began late on Monday night and only got worse on Tuesday. By Wednesday afternoon, the cold began to progress and before I knew it, it body-slammed me and I had to take off work on Thursday. I went into work on Friday morning only to finish up a project by dead-line, then went back home to continue to recuperate.

During this ordeal, Sandy did a great job checking in with me to see how I was doing. She would call on her breaks at work and express her concern for me. As the weekend approached, I knew the chances of being able to spend time with Sandy were looking dim since I was still getting over my cold. She lives in a neighboring town and I just didn’t think I would be up to traveling yet.

On Thursday night though, Sandy let me know that she was planning on making a special chicken noodle soup recipe that she had tasted once and wanted to bring it over to me on Saturday! She had talked about how delicious this recipe was on numerous occasions and I had been looking forward to trying it one day too.

So, on Saturday afternoon, Sandy showed up with a container of the soup she had slaved over the night before. The soup was as great as she had always said it would be and the rest of the day was as beautiful as I could had hoped it would be. She even went to the store with me and helped me pick out some more medicine…after asking the pharmacist for advice…which is something I wouldn’t had done on my own.

I’m feeling a lot better now and am ready to face the new week.

I just had to share this story with you and say what a wonderful woman I have.

Night at the Opera

This past Saturday evening, Sandy and I went to the Polk Theatre in downtown Lakeland for a live performance of Mozart’s comedic opera, “Cosi Fan Tutte” (translated, "Women are like that"). The opera was performed by Southeastern University’s “Southeastern Lyric Theatre” and featured Sandy’s cousin, Justin, as Don Alfonso, one of the lead parts. Neither of us had ever been to an opera or the historic Polk Theatre for that matter, so this gave us an opportunity to experience something new together.

Upon entering the beautifully restored, 1928 theatre, you could feel yourself go back in time a little. My thoughts went to some of the scenes from the films, “The Illusionist”, or “The Prestige”, where similar settings were portrayed.

The opera opened with a musical introduction by a live orchestra. We were sitting just a few rows from the front and the amazing sounds that were coming from the instruments of these well trained musicians impressed my ears. It was hard to believe that the sound I was hearing was being played live. The next two and a half hours would be accompanied by this pleasant sound.

Once the performers entered the stage for the beginning of the first act, I quickly discovered more of what the evening was going to be all about. One…much to my liking, the words were in English and two…the scene was being played out as a play, but with every word sung! See, going into this, I had no idea what to expect. So, these revelations were positive ones for both Sandy and I.

As the night progressed, I was amazed at how each performer would sing every single word of conversation. I was equally amazed at how they were able to remember every single word of conversation. It was certainly a concert and play combined, but almost could be looked at as a two and a half hour song. Much skill, talent, and training was exercised by each cast member.

Looking back, it was definitely a unique experience to take in and share with Sandy. As we were about to leave the parking lot at the end of the night, I reminded her of how we were just talking about wanting to be more creative with our dates…I said, “We definitely were this weekend”. She agreed.


I captured this image almost a year ago...I finally found a reason to use it in a post.

Love Letter In The Sand

When my Dad and Mom were down here in Florida to visit me a month ago, I went out on some nature shoots at Lake Parker with Dad as you have seen in previous posts. The first morning that I joined him at the lake, I found myself walking near the boat ramp and treading near the edge of the sandy bank.

It wasn’t a far venture for my mind to quickly figure up something special to do for my girl. When I saw the “sandy” area beside the boat ramp, I immediately got the idea to write a “Love Letter In The Sand” to my lady, “Sandy“. Once completed, I photographed my message. After I returned home that morning, I downloaded the image and emailed it to Sandy at her job. Needless to say, it was a nice surprise for her.

This message of Love may be written in the sand, but I know that the foundation of our relationship is built on a solid rock, which is Christ Jesus. I see my relationship with Sandy as a house that is being built by God…with His materials. This is something that I have prayed and I believe God is doing it.

With You

There’s a song on the current Pop charts that talks about how I feel when I’m with Sandy. One line in it says, “You’re like ‘Jordans’ on Saturday”. I had to chuckle when I first heard that lyric, because I “get” what he’s saying since I’m a big sneaker fan myself.

I originally took this image almost two years ago of my own pair of "Jordans" and posted it along with a writing about my interest in sneakers. Two weeks ago, I added the blurb to the photo and emailed it to my girl.

I just felt like posting this image again and talking about my love for Sandy. She’s much more than “Jordans on Saturday” though.

“Baby, you’re the best part of my day.”

Color Pot

I’m on an “archive” kick this week! I just keep finding older images of mine that have new life to them for me. So, I’m sharing another one with you.

Today at work, I happened to glance over at an image of myself that someone placed on a “Sonny’s BBQ” print-out poster that reads, “Worlds Biggest BBQ Lover”. I think the template originated from Sonny’s website and one of my loving co-workers placed an image of my face on it. This advertisement exists on my friend, David’s white board at the edge of his cubicle and has been there for at least two months…maybe more.

Anyway, I said all that to say this, the image of myself is from the trip I took to Boca Raton almost exactly two years ago for business…and a little bit of fun too. As I looked at my smiling face looking back at me, I thought about some of the prayers I was giving to God during that trip…and how He has been answering those prayers and proclamations lately!

Looking at the bright colors of this flower pot that I photographed outside of the Boca Raton Resort and thinking of what God was working in me back then and is doing right now, makes me feel really good.

Jet Stream

I captured this image of a Chevy Belair’s hood ornament, two and a half years ago at Old Town’s “Saturday Night Cruise” in Kissimmee, Florida.

I gave this image (and the one in my previous post) as a gift to my friend, Bryan, as a house warming present a couple years ago when he was still a Bachelor. The framed prints are now featured in Bryan’s “Man Cave”, an area of his house that his wife, Autumn, has agreed to let him display these more “masculine” images.

This is actually the second time I’ve posted this image, but the first time that it’s gotten it’s own post. It was featured with a few more of my “Auto Art” images the first time.

Fly Me To The Moon

Another image from my Old Town archives. I had posted a different view of this car a while ago, in a post entitled, “Come Fly With Me”. That particular image is one of my most favorite ones that I’ve captured of a classic automobile and this one is not far behind it.

This is a classic Ford Victoria. I love the shade of teal that graces the body of this car and the way that the hood ornament jet plane, in all it’s chrome glory, looks as though it’s getting ready to fly strait out of the earth's atmosphere.

One of the times that I was photographing the front of this car, an older woman walked up to me and said proudly, that she had a car like this when she was younger.

So many memories seem to be tied in with the automobiles that share our lives.

Green Machine

Here’s an image from my archives, taken three years ago this month. One of the many images I’ve captured at the classic car show at “Old Town” in Kissimmee, Florida.

I had thought about posting this image about a year ago, but never did. I decided to tonight.

A Chance Encounter

As the evening photo shoot at Lake Parker began to near to a close, my Dad was photographing an egret on the banks of the lake. About 60 yards away from where he was shooting, was a concrete dock that I had ventured out on to take in the peaceful view of the massive body of water. The air was cool and crisp and there were only a few small waterfowl in sight. There weren’t many humans in sight either, except for Dad and I.

As I stood there, looking out on all the glorious nature in front of me, I began to pray under my breath to God. I was thinking of all that He has been doing in my life and all that He has given me. I began to tell Him of how He was the “Master Creator and Artist”. “The Master Writer of True Stories”, for He has been writing my story and I asked Him to continue to do that. Little did I know that God was about to write something very surprising into the script of this particular evening for Dad and I.

It wasn’t long until my Dad finished photographing the egret and we started the journey back across the park to our vehicle. Not far into our walk, we began to hear a man shouting something. At first, I didn’t think that he could be shouting at us, but then I noticed his hand motions to get our attention. We soon realized that he was saying, “Hey, there’s an eagle over here!” He kept on repeating this and waving his hands like a mad man at us while hiding behind a tree. As we approached (with caution), the man kept on saying, “Do you see it? It’s right over there!” I was beginning to really wonder if this guy, who was around my age, was crazy. We soon noticed a bird on the ground though, behind some trees in front of the lake, about 20 feet from where the man was standing behind his tree. His “eagle”, was actually an “osprey”, as my Dad quickly realized and pointed out.

As we came up on the scene, we readied our camera’s and began shooting this rare sight. The osprey was just sitting on the ground on top of some nesting material. After a couple shots, I moved in about five more feet. Then, I decided to get a different angle and went around the trees to the opposite side of the osprey. At first, I was 15 feet away…then 12...then I laid down on the ground about 7 feet away to get an even better angle of this raptor. My Dad was still firing with his camera on the opposite side of the bird, about 20 feet away. Soon, I carefully got back up from the ground and began to make my way in front of the bird, placing me about 6 feet away from him. Before I could get a shot off though, I saw his massive wings begin to spread open. Upon seeing this…I ran, for fear that I was about to be attacked by an osprey at Lake Parker. As I passed by my Dad, I heard him say, “it’s ok, he’s flying the other way”. With this action, the male osprey was saying, “enough is enough” and took to the skies, leaving his nesting material behind.

My Dad then said, “at least we now know he wasn’t injured”. We thanked the man who had gotten our attention after seeing us with our cameras. He knew that he was probably going to look crazy, but he took that chance anyway. We were glad he did. As we headed back to the car, we knew that we had shared a very special moment that night. Why the osprey sat there so long while we photographed him is beyond us, but it wasn’t long until I remembered what I had said to God moments before that event; He is “The Master Writer of True Stories”.

He wrote a good one for us that night.


…you can see my Dad’s side of this story by visiting his photo blog, “Country Captures“.

Reflecting Ibis

As my Dad and I continued our photographic journey along the banks of Lake Parker, we came upon this white ibis. When I saw it’s head turn to the right, I knew I had a chance to make an interesting photograph. “Click”. I was pleased with what I had captured…another one of my favorite images from that evening.

Watchers of the Lake

Readers of my Dad’s photo blog will know that him and my Mom were down to Florida recently to visit me. I had taken three days off work to spend with them and we all had a wonderful time.

Dad ventured to Lake Parker a couple of times to photograph birds and I accompanied him on two of those outings. It was on our last visit to the lake that I captured my personal favorite images from those adventures. Above is one of them.

It wasn’t long after Dad and I left the parking lot and started over a foot bridge that we came upon this scene. We quickly and quietly set up our positions and began to fire away at these three friends.

They are wood storks, and to me, they look like something out of pre-history. What drew me to this shot was the formation that they were standing in and the reflections that they were casting on the water beneath.

I loved what I was seeing…I hope you enjoy it now too.

My Girl

I captured this image of my girlfriend, Sandy, this past Saturday at Hollis Garden, here in Lakeland. We were on our way to my church’s Valentine’s Couples Banquet, and stopped off at the gardens to grab a few shots beforehand. This was the first shoot that I’d done with Sandy.

I didn’t have enough time to really get warmed up behind the camera and she didn’t have enough time to get completely relaxed in front of the camera…but, we both agreed that there would be many more shoots to come.

Sandy came into my life in December and from that came Spring.

She is a beautiful, lovely woman who loves God with all her heart. I thank Him everyday for bringing her into my life. She is a rare gem, a treasure that is hard to find.

Valentine Rose

As I went to the store to buy this single rose on Wednesday night, I had already envisioned photographing it. So, once I got home, I set up my shoot and began firing away.

I will be presenting this flower to my lovely girlfriend on Thursday evening for Valentine's Day. She’s an amazing woman and I’m thankful to have her in my life.

For The Win

As I pondered over the approaching new year, my imagination took my thoughts to the game of pool. In “8-ball“, the game is won when all your targeted balls have been pocketed and you successfully pocket the 8-ball last.

I like to think that I’m on the verge of some great things in my life this year. 2008 will not be like 2006 or 2007, but will be a year of “new beginnings” for me. I’ve placed these hopes and dreams into God’s hands and with His help, I believe it will indeed be a great new year for me…and I hope for you too.

As I’ve said before, this photo blog of mine has been built to be my portfolio. I’m not sure how often I will be posting, but I will post new images and commentary from time to time. Please feel free to dig deep and explore this site to view my photographs and stories.

Until next time…

-Chad

Lakeland Power

As I came home from a friend’s wedding on Saturday night, I passed by a part of Lake Parker that I don’t normally pass at night. From this particular vantage point, the power plant that sits on the other side can be plainly seen from the road without obstruction. The one thing that stuck out to me that night as I drove by, was the stream of colors reflected on the surface of the lake from the power plant. I kept on glancing over to take in this unexpected beauty. I couldn’t believe how cool it looked. This otherwise unassuming structure created something beautiful to behold.

The problem though, was that I did not have my camera that night. The most I could do was just envision myself stopping to capture the light show.

That was until Tuesday night. Through some circumstances, I found myself on that side of town again, this time doing a photo shoot favor for one of my friends. I was going to be photographing some people indoors, so I had brought my tri-pod along. As I went to the shoot, the thought of the beautiful, power plant light show that I had viewed a few nights before had totally slipped my mind.

On my way home, I once again was drawn to the spectacle of lights on Lake Parker. This time though, I conveniently had my camera and tri-pod with me. As I began to pass the spot, I quickly decided to stop and capture this scene. There were no cars behind me, so I abruptly came to a stop on the side of the road. I was just past a boat dock area where I could safely park and photograph. So, once some cars passed by, I put my black Mustang in reverse and drove safely backwards to the parking lot which was just about 50 feet back.

Before too long, I had captured the image you see above. A shot or two later, the currents changed a little and the long stream of color was cut in half.

I had captured this just in time.

$10

As I was listening to some tunes at the music store in Downtown Disney a few months ago, I looked up and saw these red signs hanging in a row. I had to photograph them.

It took a few tries to get them in this orientation though, as I had to wait for them to slowly rotate into the position I desired.

I made this image selective color to add to the effect.

The Mysterious Shadow on the Barn

I captured this tree’s mysterious shadow while photographing with my cousin, Amy, a few weeks ago in Pennsylvania. She spotted the barn first as a photographic subject, then I spotted the shadow of the tree on the barn. She has a few images similar to this that she may post as well.

...Amy's friend, Sandy, has also posted some images of the barn that she has taken as well. Go give her post a look!

Vandal Bats

I captured this image last year at Lake Mirror in Downtown Lakeland. These bats were stenciled on the back of a stone bench beside the urban lake. I really dislike vandalism, but at least these stenciled bats provided me with an image to share with you in this last week of October. They were later removed from the stonework, probably by the city.

I left the cigarette in the image because I thought it added to the photo in some way.

A Time Machine

This past Saturday, I attended the annual Lake Mirror Classic here in Lakeland, Florida. I didn’t capture much that I really liked that day, but I did come away with this image of a De Lorean’s logo on it’s brushed stainless steel hood. I loved the clean lines and simple look. After taking that photo, I knew that if I didn’t capture anything else that day, I at least had one image that I was pleased with.

The De Lorean DMC-12 was a car that was only produced for three years from 1981 to 1983 by the short lived De Lorean Motor Company. It’s forever typecasted as a “Time Machine” though, for the famous role it played in the “Back to the Future” movie trilogy.

As I was thinking about what commentary I would write for this post, my thoughts were geared towards the subject of time travel. At first it seems like a cool idea, if it were ever possible. But, as I thought about it just a little more, I realized that time travel would devalue time itself. The sacredness and rarity of our moments would lessen. How special would a particular moment be if it could be relived easily. As I thought more about time travel, the more I realized that the moments you may find yourself wanting to relive are special...because they can’t be relived. You may be able to recreate a moment in time, but it will never be exactly the same as the moment that preceded it.

I guess in a way, our photographs act as a sort of "Time Machine", don't they? They safely transport us back to other times and places without disturbing history.

What are your thoughts on “Time Travel”?

Leaf Filter

As I photographed with my Dad and cousin, Amy, this past Saturday up in Pennsylvania, creativity was flowing all around. At one point, I observed Amy holding a leaf up to her camera lens. With the bright, early evening sun shining through the leaf and her camera set on macro, I knew she would be capturing something beautiful and unique. I quickly termed her technique as using a “Leaf Filter”. She laughed and agreed.

Of course, I had to do some shots of my own using this technique as well. So, I did, and the above image is one of the results. As I reviewed this image on screen at my parent's house that night, my Dad commented about how cool the patterns were in the leaf. Patterns that were usually too small to really notice or appreciate.

Go on over to my cousin Amy’s photo blog to check out more of her shots from that day as well. When I watched her taking the image of her boyfriend, Justin, through a hole in a leaf, I was impressed. When I saw the final product on her camera’s review screen, I knew it was one of the shots of the day. Go check it out!

Eight Fast Facts

My photo blogging friend, Barb, has "tagged" me to do a list of eight interesting facts about myself. So, I obliged.

Eight Fast Facts about Me:

1. I was born in Germany. My biological father was stationed over there in the US Air Force. We returned to the states before I could remember.

2. I drive a black 2000 Ford Mustang V6 that I've had since October 2003.

3. "Save the Best for Last" by Vanessa Williams, was my first favorite "Love Song" when I was 13 years old. It was just one of the most beautiful things I had ever heard and still is one of my most favorite romantic songs.

4. A girl named "Jennifer" was my first ever crush in sixth grade.

5. I like to keep things tidy in my apartment.

6. McDonald's french fries are my favorite fry in the fast food kingdom.

7. I'm more attracted to "Brunettes" than "Blondes". But, who knows, my future wife may be "Blonde"?

8. I've probably eaten at "Sonny's BBQ" around 200 times in the past five years.

Reflections of Magic part 3

Ok, one more mystery filled image of the Castle and one more part to my “Night of Joy” commentary.

Funny Story
As my cousin, Brittany and I arrived back at my car at the closing of Night of Joy 2007, we were extremely tired from standing and walking all day. As I climbed into my black 2000 Mustang, I overheard a woman’s voice say something like, “I don’t believe it”! Not long after I close the door, I hear a wrap on my window. I look out and to my surprise, I see my friend, Alexis, standing beside my car. So, I open the door to exchange “hellos”. Lex says that she has seen me multiple times that day and was beginning to feel like a stalker. She explains that she got behind me on the highway during the trip into the park that day and also spotted me at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride as well! I assured her that I never even saw her. I then proceeded to introduce her to my younger cousin, Brittany and vise versa. We then said our goodbyes and headed home.

Once I got back to Lakeland, my cell phone finally told me that I had a text message and voicemail (I sometimes cannot get good reception at theme parks). I had not had my phone on that night, so I wouldn’t had known that anyone had called me while in the park. Upon listening to the messages, I found that Lex had tried calling while in the park, but of course, I was not able to return her call anyway. This only added to Lex’s suspicion that I was trying to ignore her for some reason.

The next day, Alexis calls me. I then find out more detail of just how good of an accidental “spy” or “Ninja” that she was the day before. She proceeds to tell me that not only was she behind me on I-4, but that she had actually pulled up along side and honked her horn at me, but I did not even notice!

She then tells me that while in line for the Pirate ride, she actually came up behind me and touched my poncho, but I did not even feel a thing. After all, she was touching a bulky plastic covering. I told her that she should have grabbed my shoulder or something. I would have felt that. I think it had become a game to her at that point though.

She continues to let me know that she even rode the same ride boat during “Pirates” as Britt and I. We were in the front seat, Lex was in the back. Keep in mind that this boat is only about twelve feet long. I told her that she should have yelled out during the ride to get my attention. Once the ride was over, she said that her companions were taking their time getting off the ride and that she did not get a chance to catch up to me.

Then there was the phone call from her that I did not receive in the park, thus couldn’t return. All this led to her feeling a little paranoid that I was ignoring her for some odd reason. It just seemed too amazing that I had not noticed her in all those chance encounters that day. Encounters that I had no idea were even taking place. I assured her of this as we had a good laugh. What I did know, was that we now had a funny story to tell.

I hope you enjoyed my images and commentary from Night of Joy 2007.

Reflections of Magic part 2

The rain eventually subsided and after a few more rides, it was time to go see Mark Schultz perform in Fantasyland at 9:30pm. This would be my eighth time in the past six years that I’ve seen him play live. I guess you could say I’m a fan? When we got to the stage with 30 minutes to spare, there were already a multitude waiting to hear Mark. With five albums filled with Christian radio smash hit after hit, this was an example of how his music has touched many hearts and lives.

As we stood, waiting in our moderately good spot amongst the crowd, it just so happened that his song, “You are a Child of Mine”, was played by the radio station that was broadcasting through out the park that night. As the crowd began to sing along, I leaned over and said to Brittany, “I hope this isn’t the first song on his set list to play.” Brittany agreed that that probably wouldn’t be good since we’ve all just heard it.

Before too long, it was time for the concert to begin. After being introduced, Mark came out with an acoustic guitar (an instrument second only to his piano in this song writer’s repertoire) while being backed up by his band. I listened carefully to try and distinguish what song he was about to play since I know all of them. I said to Brittany, “I think he’s going to do it”, referring to “Child of Mine”, the song we had just heard on the radio. Sure enough, that’s the song he opened with. Actually, it was very cool that he did. The fact that we all just heard it had no bearing on its impact.

This being Brittany’s first Schultz concert, I could tell that she was quickly getting into it. Near the end, Mark performed one of my favorite songs of his, “I Am the Way”. His first ever single that talks about how Christ is “the Way”. My favorite lyric in the song is, “When you’re down / look around / and you’ll see / I Am with You“. After that song, Mark began to mess around on the keys momentarily, playing an unrecognizable tune as if he was deciding what song to do next. He appears to nod his head as if agreeing with himself and then leads into my most favorite tune of his, “He Will Carry Me”. At one point, Mark stops singing during the chorus and lets the audience sing a few lines. As with most all of his songs that night, the lyrics were already on the lips of the crowd including me.

Upon finishing his set, Mark climbs down off the stage and into the crowd. As he proceeded to shake hands, give high fives and hugs, the massive crowd began to push towards him. He had made mention during the show that he wished he was down there amongst all of us and now he was doing just that. Pretty soon I noticed two Disney security guards make their way to him and begin to escort him through the sea of humanity. Mark had good intentions, but he had gotten himself in a little too deep. The guards led him out and away from the Mob.

Much like most of the crowd who were pushing in to talk with Mark or grab a picture, I would have liked to had shared with him a little of how his music has touched my life. I know that it would had been difficult to get his full attention there in that mob anyway.

My cousin, Brittany, and I then went over to the stage in front of Cinderella Castle to see “newsboys”. A concert that was sure to be exciting, fun and inspirational. This would be my fifth time seeing them live. Unfortunately, we ended up having a bad spot in the crowd where neither of us could really see that well through the other people standing in front of us. This was mainly because of the slight incline that we were standing on. Add that to being squashed in between people as if in a can of sardines after standing on your feet for most of the day. I did get to hear them play my most favorite song of theirs, “Something Beautiful”, but I was only distracted by not being able to see or move that well. So, as you can image, this was my least favorite newsboys show.

I have a little bit more story left to tell you of that night, but that will have to wait until my next post.

One of the things I like about the image I captured above, is the glowing window. It’s kind of mysterious, don’t you think?

Reflections of Magic part 1

The second evening of “Night of Joy” (Saturday September 8, 2007) was a fun experience as well. However, I did not take my camera that night, but rather took my younger cousin, Brittany, who is 15. We headed to the park around 3:00pm which would put us in the park around 4:00pm. This was the time that Disney was allowing Night of Joy attendees to enter the park. The rest of the park guests inside who did not have Night of Joy tickets would have to leave by 6:00pm. The concerts would be beginning at 7:30pm that evening. There were only two artists that I really wanted to see that night, Mark Schultz at 9:30pm and newsboys at 11:30pm. The reason for going in so early was to allow Britt and I time to enjoy some of the rides before the concerts.

During the drive on I-4, we went through a patch of hard rain which subsided when we got closer to Disney. Once on the premises, we found a place to park, and began looking for a tram to come and take us to the monorail station. It wasn’t long though, until we began to feel rain drops falling on our heads. I told Brittany that I had a Poncho (from a Night of Joy a few years ago) in my trunk and an umbrella. The poncho is transparent with a Mickey Mouse printed on the back. At first, I suggested that Britt take the poncho and that I’d carry the umbrella. But, after Britt kindly refused to wear the Poncho because she said they bothered her when she wore them, I gave her the black umbrella just as the rain began to pour down hard upon us.

There still wasn’t a tram in site, but thankfully, we weren’t that far from the monorail station, so we just walked. As others walked past us, getting so soaked it looked as if they had taken a shower with their clothes on, we were staying relatively dry. Only my freshly shaved head was getting another washing, because the hood on the old poncho was no longer in working order. I tried putting it up over my head, but it didn’t seem to work quite right. Brittany observed and informed me that it was ripped. Damage probably done from years in the hot trunk. All Brittany had to make sure of was that she held the umbrella in such a way as to not get her “Sponge Bob” square back-pack wet that she was toting behind her.

After we arrived at the Magic Kingdom via monorail, we stepped out into a massive crowd of Night of Joy attendees that were trying to wait out the rain under the station’s pavilion. As for Britt and I, we were going to brave the storm with our protective rain gear. The only thing I wasn’t ready for, was the mini lake that was forming at the bottom of the ramp as we exited the station. Apparently, the drainage system isn’t that well engineered at that particular part of the grounds, which came as a surprise being on Disney property…everything there is supposed to be “Magical”! At first I hesitated, then I just went for it, taking high steps…as if that was going to help. But, it didn’t help at all. The water was at least ankle high and my feet were getting soaked. Brittany was wearing sandals, so it didn’t really bother her that much. She was just trying not to slip, because her sandals lacked good traction on the wet pavement.

After Britt and I went through the ticket area, we took refuge under the train station. While there, I took off my sneakers and rung out my socks. We then waited the monsoon out on the second floor of the train station. This vantage point over-looks “Main Street USA” which leads up to Cinderella Castle. A view I’ve experienced before when I was even younger than Brittany.

Once the rain had subsided a little, we went and found a bite to eat at a place called, “Casey’s Corner”. There was no room to sit inside, so we stood outside under an over hang while we partook of our fries and such. Upon finishing our snack, we decided to face the rain some more and headed over to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride. Thankfully, there wasn’t even a line at this particular time of the day! As we walked through the corrodores on our way to the loading station, memories came flooding back to me from my childhood. The ambiance is that of Pirate adventure. You feel as though you've been transported back to another time and place before you ever get on the actual ride. This has always been one of my favorite attractions at the Magic Kindom. They recently added some new elements to this ride, such as the character of “Captain Jack Sparrow” (whom my cousin, Brittany, is a big fan of). I must say, they did a great job on his “Animatronic“. He seemed a little more “Life-Like” compared to the older Pirate characters in this classic Disney attraction. After all, the movie was loosely based on this very ride.


To keep this commentary from being too long, I’m making this a multiple part story. So, please stay tuned.

I captured this image of Cinderella Castle during the first night of “Night of Joy” 2007.

Jaci Velasquez at Night of Joy 2007

After Brian Littrell’s concert was over at 11:15pm in Tomorrowland, I took the five minute walk over to Fantasyland where a very pregnant Jaci Velasquez would be performing her second set of the night at 11:35pm. When I arrived at the stage I was greeted by a very pleasant surprise, there wasn’t that many people there yet! I quickly placed myself right up front and anticipated the great images that I would be able to capture. I think the fact that this was Jaci’s “second set” allowed me such a great spot. Most of the die hard fans had already seen her within the hour before. The crowd would soon build for this set though.

Jaci’s band that night was “Salvador”, the band that her husband, Nic Gonzales, is lead singer of. Of course, Nic was on hand to play guitar and later sing a duet with his beautiful, pregnant wife (she’s almost 8 months!). That’s him jamming out with Jaci in the image above.

Jaci did a few songs from her latest album as well as a few “Jaci Standards” including her hit “On My Knees”, which she recorded 13 years ago when she was only 15. The song talks about getting on your knees before God in prayer and the freedom that God has given us to do that. In good times and in bad. She shared that when she first recorded that at 15, it was just a good song, but over the years, she has really lived the lyrics to that song and has experienced God’s power through it.

This was my fourth time seeing Jaci play live. In past times, I’ve heard her share different things about what God has brought her through in her life and the seasons that she was experiencing. To me, she really seemed to be the most happy in this season of her life.

You can read a little bit more that I’ve written about my celebrity crush, Jaci V, in my archives, by clicking here.

Brian Littrell at Night of Joy 2007 part 2

As I neared the entrance to Tomorrowland’s “Galaxy Palace Theater” for Brian Littrell’s 10:30pm concert, I began scanning the venue for the best spot possible. This particular concert location was one of the few of the night that featured actual seating. At first I began to get worried when I realized that most of the front seats were already taken. But, I then noticed a small crowd gathering at the front of the stage, people who were planning to stand through the concert. Standing seemed like a very small price to pay to obtain the kind of images that I was hoping for. So, I joined the crowd up front and found myself right were I needed to be.

Brian began his set with “My Answer is You” and then donned a guitar to play one of my favorites, “Angels and Heroes”. I had just been listening to that in the car on the way in that evening, now I was hearing it Live! Brian continued with his praise anthem “We Lift You Up”. I heard an “Awe” from some girl when Brian sang the lyric about God blessing him with his wife, “Let me share with you just how I know He’s blessed my life / He opened up His precious hands and gave me a wife / And then He touched her deep down in her soul and gave me a son / For it is He that knows no greater love for He is the One / And at night when I pray to the Lord that I know / I thank Him for His precious blood He gave to save my soul / And that is why // We lift you up!…”

The stage seemed to be a second home for Brian as he glided around it as if to be in his own living room. At one point, someone threw a Donald Duck doll on stage which led Brian into a story about his son, Baylee, talking to a Donald doll the other day and telling him that he was his favorite. The next thing we know, his son comes out on stage! (see video here) Brian knelt down to let his boy talk into the microphone. I think the intention was to get Baylee to sing, but all he wanted to do was talk about the funny voices that his Daddy could do. Brian had just nailed a perfect “Donald” voice before Baylee had come on stage. Once Baylee said a few cute things, he ran back off with the stuffed Donald. I’m still trying to figure out if the Donald was planted ahead of time or what, but either way it was a cute moment between father and son. As Baylee was exiting, Brian said to the crowd, “Good thing this is ‘Night of Joy’, cause ‘Lord help us!’” referring to his growing son.

Brian then said that he knew he had some "fabulous memories" with everyone there (referring to his Backstreet Boys success) and proceeded into a two song “Backstreet medley” of “I Want it That Way” and “As Long as You Love Me”. He performed it in a fun loving way that had the crowd singing along as he held the microphone out towards the audience.

The 45 minute set flew by. This was his first of two that he would perform that night, the other beginning at 11:45pm. Since I had captured the images that I wanted, I decided to venture over to Fantasyland to catch Jaci Velasquez’s second set…and I sure am glad I did. You’ll see why in my next post.

Brian Littrell at Night of Joy 2007

A few years ago, the Backstreet Boys were being interviewed and Brian Littrell was asked what he’d be doing if he wasn’t in the group. He said that he’d probably be a youth pastor. I took notice to that statement.

So, it wasn’t a surprise when it was announced that Brian was coming out with a solo “Christian” album of his own a little over a year ago. I knew that I would probably enjoy his music, so I purchased his album, “Welcome Home”, as soon as it came out last year.

I wasn’t disappointed. I was pleased to find lyrics that reflected the truths of Christ and a personal relationship that Brian has with Him. What a platform he has to share his faith! He’s a part of one of the most popular Pop groups in the world!

He's talked about how he’s taken a lot of flak from others who don’t understand why he’s doing what he’s doing. His song, “My Answer is You”, answers that question. He has said that he’s always wanted to be a Christian artist. That was always the plan.

His platform will continue to be built as the Backstreet Boys are scheduled to release a brand new album October 30th and go on tour.

Here are a few images of Brian Littrell’s Night of Joy Debut this past Friday night. He performed two sets at "Galaxy Palace Theater" in Tomorrowland. I’ll be sharing a few more photos from this concert in my next post.

You can find out more about Brian’s testimony by clicking Here and Here.

Click Here to sample some of his music. His song "Over My Head" is one of my favorites.

Night of Joy 2007

This past Friday and Saturday evening I attended the 25th annual “Night of Joy”. Night of Joy is a two night Christian music festival held each September at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. The park is only open to concert attendees during this event and is usually sold out as it was this year. Most of the popular Magic Kingdom rides are open for you to enjoy in between concerts, much to the delight of all the church youth groups there as well as all the young at heart.

There are usually three to four different concert locations throughout the park with Cinderella Castle being the stage for the “Headliners”. The smaller venues this year were "Galaxy Palace Theater" and “Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café”, both located in Tomorrowland. Fantasyland was also used for a stage location which was a change from using Frontierland in recent years.

The park hours for the event this year were 6:00pm to 1:00am on Friday night and 4:00pm to 1:00am on Saturday with concerts getting started at 7:30pm each night. There are usually two to three different artists playing at one time, so you have your choice of who you want to see. As you walk around the park, you’ll also hear modern Christian music being played through the parks sound system. It’s usually songs from all the artists who are featured at that year’s event. For me, it’s the greatest night to be at the Magic Kingdom.

This was my third Night of Joy and fifth of this type of event in the past five years. Universal Studios also holds the same type event the very same weekend called “Rock the Universe”. I usually make my choice by who’s playing at which park.

I had a great (and tiring) weekend to say the least. I took my camera on Friday night and captured some good images of some of my favorite music artists which I will be sharing with you this week. Saturday night I did not take my camera but will still give you some commentary on that great evening as well.

I captured the above image at the end of Friday night as “Third Day” was performing at Cinderella Castle. If you look closely, you’ll see a little glimpse of the sea of humanity that was in attendance.

Pop Gallery

I took this photo almost exactly a year ago. “Pop Gallery” is a store in Downtown Disney that features unique paintings, sculptures and the like as well as some artsy trinkets. The store is jammed packed with color and peculiar things to grab your attention as you navigate your way through the narrow isles as to not break anything. Most items inside feature a hefty price tag.

As you can probably tell, I did a little selective color here to add some intrigue to an image that didn‘t really have much to it. The two bulbs illuminated were the only ones on at the time I captured this image.

I was out with some really cool people on Saturday night and we spent a good amount of time in this store. As we all took our time exploring the establishment, I was surprised at the things I never even noticed before. There really is a lot to take in.

Shadow Play part 2

Another image from my archives. This is the first image to be posted twice on this Blog…but with a little twist…a little twist of lime.

I’ve talked about how shadows catch my “photographer’s eye” before, you can read more about that by clicking here, if you missed it. I got this image back out recently and did a selective color treatment to it. This photo was originally captured over a year ago at the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton Florida.

What things catch your “photographer’s eye”?

Need to Phone a Friend?

As you may recall my earlier posts about “my little friend”, the cell phone, here’s an image from almost a year ago of another one of my little friends. His name is Kaa, and he was my house guest for a little over a year. I “snake sat” him while my friend, Jonathan, was away in Afghanistan. Jonathan’s wife, Patricia, didn’t mind me taking Kaa off her hands for that time period either.

This photo was taken during a shoot a few days before I had given him back to his owners. At one point, I decided to incorporate my cell phone into the scene. It didn’t take much coaching to get Kaa to wrap his body around the object. I think it may had been a comfort to him on that flat surface. Having the phone there also gives a sense of scale, though I think it’s still slightly deceiving, because he was actually about three feet long at that time. He won‘t grow to be many more feet because of the type of breed he is.

I’m surprised at how comfortable I was with him and he with me. I think it’s because of how calm and docile a Ball Python can be most of the time. Now, when it was feeding time, that’s a different story, but I‘ll spare you the details. You can see other images from this shoot and learn more about my experiences with Kaa by clicking here…if you dare?

To me this kind of a strong image, maybe even a little “surreal”. It’s probably even more strange and surreal to some of you. What messages or ideas come to your mind when you look at this?

Blogs of Note

Here’s an image that I took during one of my photo excursions in downtown Lakeland over a year ago. It wasn’t long after I captured this image that I began sharing my work on this Photo Blog. Looking at this image now, I can’t help but think about the style of my Photo Blogging friend, Anna. She recently made the comment that we “shoot alike” and I totally agreed with her.

On another note, my Dad, “Salty” (Formerly known as "Salty Dawg" in Blog land), as moved his Photo Blog to a new address, countrycaptures.blogspot.com. He made the change to keep consistent with his new Blog title and theme. He’s doing a lot of great stuff over there, so be sure to check him out.

Another Blog of note, is one of my cousins up north, Amy. She also captures a lot of great country and nature themed images. Her "Frosty Mountains" image will cool you off on this hot summer day. So go check out her photos and let her know what you think!

Antique Dish

This is another object from my Gram’s house that I photographed over a year ago. This candy dish of sorts originally belonged to my Great Grandmother at one time. It’s amazing how it can still capture the eye and imagination.

Blue and Green

This is a vase that I bought for my apartment a few years ago. I have it sitting in the middle of my dining/kitchen table. It catches the evening sun as it shines through the window. The vase features two of my favorite colors, which is what drew me to it.

One of my favorite parts of this photo is the piece that is distorted by the other piece of glass at the bottom right of the image.

Gram's Shade

Here’s an image I took two years ago at my Grandparents house. It’s of a lamp shade in their guest bedroom. I’ve always loved the stained glass in it as well as the frosted white glass you see there.

I had this image on my computer as a part of a framing project I’m doing for one of my friends. This image may be used in collaboration with some other images. In trying to think of what to post, I spotted this fond image and decided to share it with you all.