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?