The Lone Dandelion

While visiting my parents in the mountains of Pennsylvania last year, I took a few nature walks with my camera. During one of those walks, high up on a ridge, I spotted this lone Dandelion beside the road. It was in the midst of very Big scenery and space. I already had an idea in the back of my mind of the type of shot I wanted to try.

I gave attention to a small living thing that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. It would have passed through it’s short life without ever being seen. But, I saw it, and now you do too.


Over 100 Posts!
This is post number 102, by the way! I just wanted to thank everyone who has visited my Blog over the last 100 posts! I enjoy reading your comments and checking out your sites as well! It’s a really fun community we have going here and I hope to continue to be a part of it. This is such a great creative outlet for me to share my images and my heart through my stories with you. Thank you for always coming back for more, you know you're always welcome here!

I want to continue to grow as a photographer, here’s to growing together through our Photo Blogs!

Pizza Hut

I know I just posted about Pizza, but I was inspired to show this image from my archives. A couple of years ago, I was at “Old Town” in Kissimmee with a friend. While there that Saturday night, we walked next door to Pizza Hut for dinner. Before we dug into our delicious meal, I snapped this image, which I've had hanging on my refrigerator door for quite some time now.

Anyone who spends a lot of time with me, finds out that I love Pizza Hut Pan Pizza! That’s the Pizza that I grew up on, or at least the Pizza that I loved most while growing up. I just love how “conversational” a booth at a Pizza Hut can be. The lighting, the aroma, everything just adds up to a nice time for me.

One time as I was browsing one of the many specialty gift shops at “Old Town”, I came upon some plastic red cups that had the Pepsi logo printed in white on the sides. The cups reminded me of the type that Pizza Hut used to have before they went more to glass. Of course, I bought some of the red cups for my apartment.

The “rising crust” frozen pizzas that I buy at the grocery store are ok, but they only aspire to be what a Pizza Hut Pan Pizza is.

“Pizza Hut, Making it Great!”

Good Stuff

What you are looking at is a delicious, self rising crust pizza. When it comes to “Grocery Store bought” pizza, you can’t beat Freschetta or Digiorno, but the one pictured above is an “Off-Brand” version, which was good enough on that night. For the record though, my favorite store bought pizza is "Frescheta", because they have a "sauce stuffed crust" pizza. Frescheta should give me some free pizza or something for the way I promote them!

I’ve eaten whole pies like this in the past, but now try to keep it at only three quarters in one setting or half if I‘m sharing with a friend.

The Simple Candle

I love the glow of a candle. I was trying to think of something to post and thought I’d capture some of the “ambiance” of my apartment. The blurred, multi-colored lamp you kind of see in the background, was a lamp that I first noticed at a store before I ever had my own place. I said that I would love to have something like that when I got my own apartment. So, once I had my own place, I went and got the lamp. It’s called “the Medusa” because of the many different lamps coming off of it.

Ok, I’m talking more about the blurred background image than I am the actual subject of this photograph. As I said, I love the glow of a candle. I think we humans have something deep within us from long ago when our only light source at night was that of fire. With all the electricity that surrounds us, we seem to still be drawn at times, to the simple candle.

Believe! Wish Big!

As I’m writing this, it is past midnight on Christmas Eve. It is actually Christmas morning, but “Christmas morning” doesn’t really begin until you wake up, I haven’t even went to bed yet!

I can remember the anticipation I had as a child leading up to Christmas morning. My family’s tradition growing up, was to open one small present on Christmas Eve, an “appetizer” if you will, to hold everyone over until the main course in the morning. Once morning came, my eyes would “Pop” open. I would see dim light coming in from the windows, making me to know that “Christmas Morning” could now begin! I remember one year, just sitting out in the quiet of the living room, waiting for everyone else to wake up and join me. I gazed at all the presents, not believing that the moment had finally come!

I think one of the things that made receiving presents at Christmas time so magical as a child, was the fact that you were receiving something you could not obtain yourself. As we become adults and get jobs, most of what we would like to have, we eventually buy ourselves. Once in a while though, we still receive something that maybe we couldn’t have gotten too easily on our own.

Receiving presents of any kind is still fun though. I think as adults, It’s more about the meaning behind presents. The fact that you have people who care about you and they took the time and money to buy you something, means a lot. That’s where some of the magic lies for us adults at Christmas time.

It seems 2007 has snuck up on me before I was even ready, well, actually I think I am ready for a new year. Each year I try to think of something to help encourage me about that year. I’m liking 2007, because “7 is God’s perfect number”.

One of my favorite rolls of wrapping paper that I bought this year has the words “Believe” and “Wish Big” printed on it. These messages encourage me to keep after my dreams.

So, I encourage you as I encourage myself for this coming year of 2007, “Believe” and “Wish Big”! Don’t give up on your dreams in life.

Attack of the Clones

During the last weekend of November, I went to the store "Old Navy" with one of my friends. While there, I spotted this great, three roll set of Christmas gift wrap. Each roll featured a different pattern of robots, I immediately thought of my younger cousins when I saw it. So, I bought the set. While wrapping a few presents on Thursday night, I decided to use the robots for some other people as well. I call this pattern “Attack of the Clones”. I like how the grouping of the robots make up the shape of a snow flake.

I may not be able to post anything in the next couple of days, so, I just want to wish everyone who visits my Blog a Very Merry Christmas! I appreciate your visits, comments and input, thank you so much! Your always welcome here.

I hope everyone has a great time with family and friends and remembers the reason for this season, Jesus Christ coming into our world.

I also hope you all find that special something under the tree on Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas!

December Sounds

As the vast array of Christmas music comes out of hibernation each year, the melodies and lyrics to these songs flood back memories from years past.

This is a post that I have been looking forward to doing for some time. So, here it is. I have compiled a list of my favorite Christmas songs. Because of that “vast array”, I have grouped them into specific categories. I’m sure I’m leaving some out, but these are the highlights.

Chad’s favorite Christmas Songs of all Time

Modern:

Christmastime - Written by Michael W. Smith for his album of the same name. I remember seeing him perform this on “Regis and Kathy Lee“. The song was amazing and I think I ended up going out and buying it that same day.

When Love Came Down - Performed by Point of Grace. Just a beautiful modern Christmas song. I remember hearing them perform this live one year. These ladies are “good”.

Emanuel - By Michael W. Smith. Originally performed by Amy Grant, I love Michael’s rendition of his own song on his “Christmastime” album.

Season of Love - Performed by Jaci Velasquez.

Don’t Save it All for Christmas Day - Avalon‘s version is best. “How many people are crying, People are dying...How many people are asking for love?”

Modern Secular:

This Christmas - “Hang low the mistletoe, I’m gonna get to know you better…this Christmas”

This Gift - Performed by 98 degrees. Just a great Christmas love song.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays - NSYNC

Classic:

The Christmas Song (1944) - It’s hard to image a time when this song did not exist. A few years ago, I remember thinking of it as the season was about to begin. I surprised myself as almost all the lyrics came back to me.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (1944) - Has a very similar sound and evokes almost the same type of feelings as “The Christmas Song”.

Do You Hear What I Hear (1962) - “The child, the child, Sleeping in the night, He will bring us goodness and light”

Sleigh Ride (1948) - “Giddy-yap giddy-yap giddy-yap it's grand, Just holding your hand”

Let it Snow (1945) - “The fire is slowly dying and my dear, we're still goodbying!”

Classic Carols:

Good King Wenceslas (Music 1582, Lyrics 1853) - An animated video put to this song brought it to life for me as a boy. That very video can be viewed by clicking on the title. I love the story this song tells. It’s kind of a rare carol that isn’t heard as much, but it‘s one of my favorites.

We Three Kings (1857) - I’ve always loved the telling of these three men of earthly power, coming to honor the son of God when he first entered into the world. The chorus to the song has beautiful lyrics and melody.

O Holy Night (1847) - I remember a friend telling me a few years ago of her reason for liking this song. It was the lyric “Fall on your knees”, talking about bowing before God. “Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever!”

The First Noel (Possibly 13th Century, first published in 1823) - Noel simply means “day of birth” or “Christmas”.

Angels We Have Heard On High (1862) - The “Gloria” part is just fun to sing.

Now for the Christmas Songs that Annoy Me:
Rockin Around the Christmas Tree - Rockin’s good and I like Christmas tree’s too, but this song oozes with Cheese.

Feliz Navidad - The original recording just annoys me. I think it’s the vocal delivery. I do however enjoy Jaci Velasquez’s version because I love her.

O Christmas Tree - I like Christmas tree’s, but this song does nothing for me.

So this is Christmas - By John Lennon. It’s just depressing.

Bublé

This is an image I took during a visit to Down Town Disney, at a giant media store there. Because of the unique atmosphere of specialty shops, restaurants and a very big AMC theater, DTD is one of my favorite places to go with friends and has been a date destination on a few occasions. If you’re a girl who has been significantly in my life or at least somewhat significantly, chances are, you’ve been to Down Town Disney with me.

I saw this CD of Michael Bublé and thought it would be cool to incorporate it into a photograph. I don’t have any Bublé stuff yet, but I do think he sings romantic tunes. I like the simple yet truthful lyrics in many of those big band style songs that he covers. Songs like “Fly Me to the Moon”. “Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars, let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars…In other words…hold my hand…In other words…darling kiss me!”

Good stuff.

Mirrors and Jewels

Here’s another image from my shoot with Punam and Dal. I was photographing Punam around this butterfly statue that was decorated with fake jewels and mirrors. As Punam checked her make-up, I captured a few images of her reflection, ending with one that pays a slight tribute to her Indian heritage.

Stefanie

Today I had lunch with my old friend, Stefanie. Stef is the one who got me in contact with Punam and Dal for their photo sessions. While letting her know recently how the shoot with them went, I mentioned that we needed to get together and catch up on how each of us have been. So, we met for lunch down town at Crispers which was followed by a quick photo shoot. Stef had been evading my camera for any real shoot for quite some time, but today was the day she surrendered to the lens.

As we looked for good backdrops and locations down town, I started noticing cool “worn” looking paint jobs on doors and such. I mentioned to Stefanie how it’s amazing what you see when you really look. The weathered materials we found lining the walls down an ally way, provided interesting backdrops for portraiture.

For the image above, we used a side door to some shop that was painted a deep blue. I told Stef this would be a great “profile pic” if she had a Blog. She agreed, but said she was too busy to have one.

Urban Cowgirl

As the wind began blowing my subjects hair early in the shoot, I asked the family if they had brought any hats. One of the girls spoke up about a cowboy hat they had in their van, it would do. So, each of the two girls took turns wearing it, keeping the disheveled hair issue down to a minimum.

This image was taken towards the end of the shoot as the 11:00am sun began to shine brightly. I used fill flash to lighten up where the hat shaded her eyes. We had overcast skies for half of the shoot that morning, which I liked because of not having to deal with harsh shadows. I always prefer shooting in early morning or early evening for this reason.

Lake Mirror Classic part 3

Last Friday was the opening night of this year's Classic. I didn’t get over there until around 7:00pm when most of my shooting light was almost gone for the day. I thought I would at least check out what cars were already on display, but I didn’t expect to capture much.

It wasn’t long until I came upon this yellow Ford GT. In between people surrounding it for photos and such, and as the light was bidding farewell, I grabbed this image. I set my camera on “shutter priority” mode and adjusted it to the lowest setting I knew that I could still handhold it on for a steady image. The built in “Vibration Reduction” of my Nikon allowed me to handhold the camera with a ¼ of a second shutter speed and still capture a relatively sharp image.

My viewing monitor flips out and pivots up or down which allows me to capture the creative angles many of you have been wondering about.

Lake Mirror Classic

This weekend was the Lake Mirror Classic here in Lakeland. Me and my friend Ebenezer attended on Saturday, to drool over all the amazing autos that would be on display in the closed off streets and around the lake.

We first met up for breakfast at Denny’s around 9:00am to seize the day with a good meal. We then ventured down town to the show of dream machines. Since a lot of streets were closed and so many people were in attendance for this, it was a challenge to find a place to park. No matter what, we knew we’d be doing a lot of walking. After driving around for a few minutes with Ebenezer following behind me, we finally found an empty parking lot a few blocks from the event.

It was now time to begin our quest to behold the beauties of transportation. Soon we we’re gazing upon a Saleen S7 and talking to a few owners of Dodge Vipers. They bragged of how the car would handle at 170. We later gawked at a yellow Ford GT racing car and admired a new Bentley Continental GT. It was very hot outside that day, so we were soon looking for some ice cold aqua! We found some and downed them in no time! Later, we looked at some Ferrari’s. Eb referred to the rear engine on one that you could view through glass as a “sleeping beast”.

By this time, the sun was directly over head. Not only did it feel like it was melting me, but even worse, it did not lend to good photographs. One of the redeeming qualities though, is that with this much sun, you can set the aperture to it’s smallest setting and obtain long depths of field (lots of things in focus). In cases like this, getting a sharp image, is not going to be one of your problems. Some of the challenges I did have though, was getting too much glare or catching people’s reflections in the paint finishes. That’s one of the reasons I like shooting “personality” shots of vehicles at shows, because of how difficult it is to get a complete view of the car without showing other people in the shot.

As we were getting ready to leave the lake area, I spotted this vintage Porsche racing car. It’s almost paint less body with the number 32 on the hood stuck out to me. For some reason, it’s one of my favorite images I captured that day. My younger cousin Bradley saw this image and said it looked like a type of shark.

The Magician

That’s what I’ve always called this shot. Ebenezer looks like a magician who’s reaching out to turn you into a rabbit. I could see the poster headline now. “Come be Dazzled and Amazed at Sites You Have Never Beheld!”

Eb has become one of my good friends over the past year and a half. He’s a fellow Bachelor, so often times we’ll grab a bite to eat together, sometimes taco bell, sometimes Pizza, sometimes who knows what else. Yes, we are definitely Bachelors as you can tell by our wonderful cuisine. We also usually take in a cool DVD. Of course this is all when he’s not spending time with his girl, Alexis.


...On a side note, check out a fun interview I did for "Luce" of the "HomeSchoolNerd" Blog.

Petrie

I took this photo of my friend Patricia about three years ago. A lot has changed for her since then. She is now a wife to my friend Jonathan and a Mom to a very cute little baby boy named Josiah.

Patricia’s nick name from college was “Petrie” (pronounced peetrie). Named after the little pterodactyl from “The Land Before Time” animated movie series. Patricia played basketball for Southeastern University and because of her petite size, she acquired the nick name.

For this photo, I was standing on a bench and had Patricia sit in the grass behind it.

Man of Mystery

From age 15 to 19, my best friend was Todd. We shared a lot of the growing pains of becoming men. We mainly shared laughter, which I often thought of as the foundation of our friendship, that and God. Me and Todd were always laughing at inside jokes or creating new ones.

I’m glad I had a friend like that to help get me through those, sometimes tough and awkward, teen years. Since then, life has taken us in different directions. I was blessed though to be the Best Man in his wedding in November of 2004. I got the call and flew up to Pennsylvania to be a part of his historical day. He now has two children, a boy and a girl.

One thing about it, Since our teens, Todd has become difficult to get in touch with. That’s why the title of this post is not only appropriate for the image, but also for him.

I captured this image in the middle of 1998. We were at my parents house. Back then, they had not built a deck yet, it was just one big drop off the back of their house. I seen Todd sitting down there with that hat on and saw “an image”. This is one of the early glimpses of my “eye” for photography.

A photo that I took a few years later reminds me of this image. It’s one of my friend Patricia that I took during a game of chess. Because of the positioning of her head, you can not see her face. I link the two images because they are both of people who have been good friends to me in my life. The image does not completely reveal their identity, but I know who they are.

I could tell you so many stories involving Todd. I’m glad he’s been a part of my history.

Three Nails

This image was captured during a hike I took with my close friends, David and Michele, in the Ocala National Forest here in Florida. This hike was a return visit to the Florida forest for me and Dave, but a first time experience for Michele.

The first time me and David took this six hour hike was during a very humid time of year. I remember Dave telling me to bring lots of water to drink and some snacks to eat. So, I brought a few fruit bars and a couple bottles of water. When we began our adventure early in the morning, the day was fresh and exciting as we trudged through the sandy terrain. Once in a while we would come upon a Banana Spider’s web draped across the walking path. Sometimes you wouldn’t know it was there until it was right in front of you. Weirdly, that was pretty much the only wildlife we saw in this particular forest.

By late morning, we found a hilly area off the beaten path that we decided to explore. I remember waiting quietly up on a hill with David as horse back riders passed by unaware of our presence. For a moment we imagined what it must have been like to be Native Americans getting ready to ambush passing by settlers. Of course there was no “ambushing” going on this day.

On the other side of this hill was a steep drop off and then another series of hilly terrain. Me and Dave took turns sliding down and jumping across to the adjacent embankment. Even though I’d been drinking lots of water and eating a few of the fruit bars that I had brought along, I had been sweating all morning and was beginning to lack proper amounts of sugar and salt in my body. Unbeknownst to me, dehydration was coming upon me. Pretty soon I began to feel noshes. The rest of the hike became a major challenge to me. David let me have some Gatorade, which I should have brought instead of water. He also gave me an energy bar, which I should have brought instead of those fruit bars. I finally made it out of there, and the challenge only added to the adventure and memories of that day.

The next time we went, it wasn’t any where near as hot. This hike was more pleasant and Michele came along with us.

The image above is of a cross that David wears all the time. I like this image because it shows an object that normally doesn’t get to be viewed in such detail. I also like how David just happened to be wearing red that day which can represent the blood that Christ shed on the cross for you and me.

Check out David’s illustration Blog, “Cartoon Ninja”!

The Deer Hunter

During a visit with my parents in Pennsylvania during 2005, me and my step Dad whom I call Dad, went for a walk one evening. He was taking a plastic chair to place in a tree stand that he uses for deer hunting. I had taken my camera hoping to capture something cool. As we walked through the woods up on a ridge, we stumbled upon a deer skull that was a remnant from one of the deer my Dad had harvested the year before. As the sun was beginning to set, I seized the opportunity to capture this unique image.

I never really had a person to call “Dad” growing up, because of my parents marriage dissipating before I was one year old. I never lacked anything though, because my Grandparents helped my Mom raise me. I had a very good childhood as a result. My Mom finally found my Dad when I was 15 years old and they have been married for 12 years now. As I’ve aged into adulthood, I’ve seen how my Dad has taken good care of my Mom and this makes me glad. They both have been through divorce and I’m very happy they have each other.

Recently I was listening to some people complain about marriage. As I listened to these jaded individuals, I had to think of how there are plusses and minuses to everything in life. There are many things in life that are wonderful, but also have their own challenges just the same. There are challenges to being single and as I’ve observed in others lives, there are challenges to being married.

Another thought that came to my mind as I listened to these individual’s discontentment, was that no matter what circumstances we live in, we need Christ to truly bring life to it. It is through Him that anything is truly good. We could have anything in this world, but if we don’t have Christ, we won’t have true life or joy. This is why I can be happy in my singleness and it’s also why I will have an amazing marriage some day! It’s through my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Check out my Dad’s Blog, he’s the one and only "Salty".

Ms. Nash

Classic car hood ornaments intrigue me. They were such works of art that celebrated the automobile and the driving experience. While at the 2005 Lake Mirror Classic, I stumbled upon this lovely lady on the hood of a 1955 Nash. I don’t think I had ever seen a Nash before or at least one of this year. I actually didn’t even get the name of the car that day. I wanted to find out what make it was for this post, so I googled classic car hood ornaments. One of the sites that came up had one of these ladies within their front page graphics, “Bingo”.

I thought it was cool how this young maiden of chrome is posed in a very relaxed way as though lounging in a pool or just effortlessly gliding through the air. I also like how her pony tail is blowing in the wind. I’m sure she could tell a lot of stories... that is if chrome hood ornaments could talk!

I know I’ve been posting a lot of car photography lately, but that’s where my inspiration seems to be right now. I have to go with where my inspiration is.

Corvette Cockpit

At Old Town’s Saturday Night Cruise, you can look, but you can’t touch the beautiful automobiles that are on display there. I remember leaning over the side of a late 50’s model corvette, trying to capture the very cool gauge panel of this racing machine. As I was contorting, as to not “touch” the car, I felt the door to the convertible begin to open below me. I immediately thought that the owner wanted into his prize possession, and said to him, “Oh, I’m sorry”. He replied to me, “Why don’t you just get in, you look like your going to break your back trying to get that shot!”

So, feeling very privileged, I gladly stepped into the cockpit of this vintage racing machine and captured the image you see above.