This weekend, Sandy and I drove to Franklin, Tennessee for the wedding of some friends. We left Kissimmee, Florida on Thursday night and arrived in Franklin on Friday morning for the wedding that night. It was a 12 hour journey, but worth it.

On Saturday morning, Sandy and I stopped in downtown Franklin for breakfast. While there, I spotted this old church with a beautiful tree in all it’s Fall glory beside it. I shot a few frames of the scene and came up with this image. I have another one that shows all three windows in a landscape format, but I felt less was more for this one.

"Mackenzie"

This is our “furry child,” Mackenzie the cat. She was born on May 30th, 2009 at Sandy's Aunt and Uncle's home. She was a member of a litter of three from a stray that was temporarily taken in while she gave birth and nursed her kittens. Mackenzie quickly became our favorite and came home with us as soon as she was weaned off of her mom.

Sandy and I are very glad that we’ve brought this little short haired tabby cat into our lives. You’ll definitely be seeing more of her on this blog in the future.

Look Up

While at the Boca Raton Resort and Club on a business trip back in 2006, these windows and ornate ceiling caught my eye. I remember people looking up as they passed by to see what I was photographing.

Reflecting the Sun

I would had probably missed this shot at Celebration, Florida, if it had not been for my wife. We were walking to dinner and I had seen a potential shot that probably wasn’t going to work anyway, when I heard Sandy point out this clock that was down another street. When I saw the clock illuminated by the setting sun, I quickly walked in that direction and captured this image.

Life Boat

I took this photograph while on board a casino cruise in West Palm Beach back in 2006. The bright orange in the boats; the steep, wood stairs; all inspired me to capture this image.

I never played any slots that night, but I did get approached by a staff member as I was photographing them. He informed me that I was not allowed to photograph the slot machines.

Hey, I wasn’t trying to figure out how to heist the place or how to build a better machine, I was just trying to create some good images. Oh well.

…I still had gotten two images of the machines before I was approached though ;)

No, you’re not visiting “Country Captures”, my Dad’s photo blog. You’re looking at an image that I took at Lakeland, Florida's Lake Parker in 2006. Although, my Dad was with me photographing the wildlife there as well during that time.

On another note, I want to say “Thank You” to all of you who take time to faithfully view this photo blog every time I post something new. It’s much appreciated.

Shades of Green

I took this image three years ago at Hollis Garden in Lakeland, Florida. I just like the color and pattern.

2009 Tool Dealer Expo

June 26 & 27 was the 2009 Tool Dealer Expo held at Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida. The Tool Dealer Expo is a trade show held for resellers in the automotive tools industry. I work in the print media department of the company who hosts this show every year for it’s customers. One of my main jobs for that weekend is to photograph this huge event.

So much time and energy is spent preparing for an expo like this. Before we know it, the show comes and goes almost without a trace, but leaves a lasting mark on the industry each year. It’s a very proud moment for the company I work for and everyone that’s a part of it.

It is because of this that I take extra pride in using my creativity behind the lens to capture our show. It’s an event that deserves to be documented well.

To check out the gallery of images that I captured this year, please click here.

Jag Chrome

I took this photo back in 2006 during a shoot that I was doing for my company at a car dealership. I noticed this Jaguar on the lot and just had to create an image of this iconic emblem. Their sculpture has such fluidity to it.

...In other news, my wife Sandy, has just started a blog of her own. One of her passions in life is motivating and inspiring people. Please be sure to click Here and check her out! She has a lot of great things to share with you.

Celebration, Florida

I took this image Saturday night in Celebration, Florida. Celebration is a living community in Osceola county that was developed by The Walt Disney Company in the mid 90’s. This small town is complete with a hospital, school, churches and of course restaurants and shops.

With it’s beautiful homes and well manicured lawns, Celebration was created to be like a perfect town that only exists in fantasy and film. If you ask me, they succeeded.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Monday was my wife Sandy’s birthday. This year, Disney is running a promotion where you can get admission to one of their parks for FREE on your birthday. So, since we were both taking her birthday off work, we decided to take advantage of the offer and enjoy our first trip to the Magic Kingdom as a married couple. When we obtained our tickets, they gave Sandy a birthday pin with her name on it. Each cast member of the park that saw Sandy’s pin, wished her a “Happy Birthday.”

As we waited in line for one of my favorite rides at the Magic Kingdom, “Big Thunder Mountain Railroad”, I captured this image. This was the first “roller coaster type” ride that I rode as a kid.

A New Beginning

Today, I turn 30. It’s a very content 30 though. It’s a whole new beginning on different levels. I compare it to when I moved to Lakeland, Florida from Pennsylvania in the summer of 1998. I was 19, had just graduated high school, moved to a new state and was getting ready to begin my 20’s. It was the start of a whole new era of my life. My 20’s were great and some of the best years of my life thus far with my 29th year being the best of those.

Now, I’m 30. I just got married to an amazing woman, moved to a new town (Kissimmee, Florida) and am now a part of a new church. I now have different priorities and goals in my life. All these things are blessings and with new blessings, come new responsibilities.

One of Sandy and my biggest goals this year, is to purchase our first home. It’s an exciting time and I’m glad to be where I am right now in life. I’m content.

I captured the image of this painting while on my honeymoon in Tampa. It was hanging in the entrance to a Nordstrom at the Mall. The first time I saw it, all I had on me was my camera phone, so I captured an image for it’s wallpaper. The next time we visited the Mall that week, I had my real camera, that’s when I captured what you see above.

My passion for photography really grew in my 20’s, I want to take it even further in my 30’s.

Where it all Began

My wedding was everything that I always wanted it to be. The people that I wanted to attend were there. The guys that I always wanted to be my groomsmen were. And, most importantly, I married the kind of woman that I had been waiting for.

Our wedding ceremony was held outdoors at the Royal St. Cloud Golf Links in St. Cloud, Florida. It’s a brand new place that Sandy and I fell in love with as soon as we saw it.

As I readied to walk down the isle for our 4:00pm ceremony, I noticed how beautiful the evening sky was. You may remember a previous post of mine where I talked about times when I would pray to God while walking under an evening sky. Many times, I’d talk to Him about the woman that He was going to guide me to eventually. Thanking Him for what I knew He was going to do. Now, I was getting ready to walk under a similar sky, preparing to receive that very woman I prayed for all those times in the past. It was a serendipitous moment that I never could have predicted.

As I found my spot on the platform, my best man, David Pentecost, looked up at me and said with true enthusiasm in his eyes and with a grin on his face, “This is nice, man!”

Of course, when the time came for Sandy to make her entrance, she looked amazing. As I stepped down from the stage to receive her from her Dad, I shook his hand and gave him a hug… and almost began to cry at that point… but I held it together.

Before we knew it, we were being pronounced Husband and Wife!

The reception that followed was held indoors at a venue that is right beside where the ceremony took place.

I really believe that the love that Sandy and I share, showed through and everyone could sense it. I had so many people come up to me during the reception and tell me how much they were enjoying our wedding. Some even said that it was one of the nicest ones that they had ever been to!

We spent our first night at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in downtown Orlando and then ventured down to Clearwater, Florida for the remainder of the week. It was a carefree time and everything a honeymoon should be.

The following Saturday night, as we were slowly making our re-entry into our new normal lives together, we stopped by Downtown Disney before returning home. After we watched “Yes Man” at the AMC theatre, I got my camera and tripod out of the car. I had to capture the image that you see above. It’s Sandy and I standing outside of the “Pop Gallery” at Downtown Disney. This is where we first met face to face on December 22, 2007 after finding each other on Match.com.

Once I met Sandy, I never looked back. I had no reason to.