Artistic License

Happy Saturday! What a day it has been, I hope you enjoyed the sunshine and mild fall weather. Just wanted to share a few "artistic" images from Tobias and Tenisha's couple session. What was really cool about shooting them was their openness to experiment. In fact, the "Enchanted Garden" shot below was Tobias' idea as he was really getting into "seeing" the images form - just like a photographer. Hmmm, could one of his hidden gifts be calling him? Have a great weekend!

The Enchanted Garden


It doesn't matter where...


Street Life

The Power of Vision

A fellow flickr.com photographer shared this wonderful "vision" tool with me called "museumr." It is one of the utilities found on the dumpr website. It is similar to fd's Flickr Toys in that it lets you create different images using your flickr.com photos. In this case, I've placed one of my images in a museum display. I use to do this via photoshop but now I can create this with just a few clicks of my mouse. If you're a photographer, painter or visual artist I urge you to create one of these and carry it around with you wherever you go. And, throughout the day take a moment to view it and daydream about your work on display. This will help you "see" your work displayed in a real museum gallery. And, once you can see it, you can believe it. And if you can believe it, you can achieve it. That's the power of vision. I'll see you at the museum!

What a cute couple!

Just wanted to share a few more images from my photo session with Tobias and Tenisha. They are such a cute couple and were so much fun to shoot with. I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to share this wonderful day with them. Enjoy and I'll see you over the weekend!

Hot of the press...literally!

Isn't it great when great people meet each other? It's even better when one of them is your close friend. Well, one of my close friends and a new friend of mine are a couple and I'm soo excited for them both. This past weekend we shot a photo session and had so much fun that we didn't finish! Can you believe it? I have loads of images to edit but wanted to share a few that are literally "right off the press" as I picked up the CDs tonight. Stay tuned, the slideshow will be finished this weekend and it is going to be sweet.

Encouragement Series: Live Life!

During the recent ordeal with my close relative and her battle with cancer I had time to think and reflect on life. Especially after being in and out of hospitals and seeing so many people sick, ill, and unable to enjoy a full life. It is unfortunate that it took a bad situation to "wake me up" but I've been living a lie. I haven't been living my life like I want to live it for some time. In fact, I've spent most of the last 5 years living someone else's life and not my own. Once I returned home I made some serious life choices. And with any change there are many people who don't like it and are trying to discourage me. But, it doesn't matter any more. I refuse to live my life unfulfilled and without joy. And, if the people around me don't like it, to bad! I made a vow to God Himself that if He would help me turn my life around that I would live the rest of my life like there's no tomorrow.

Now, do you want to know why I am comfortable sharing this with you? Because many of you are the same way. You too have been living a life that is not your own. So, make the decision to live your life to the fullest! No, I'm not saying to quit your job tomorrow, but start making plans today to make whatever changes are necessary for you (not your neighbor, not your parents, not your friends, not your boss, not your mentor) to truly enjoy your life. Don't wait until it's time to meet Jesus to start living life - live your life NOW! I promise you that if you make this simple decision, then pray and ask God to help you, you will begin to truly understand and live a life that is more abundant. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. It's time we all start living a life on earth that is worthy of the life He gave. That's it! Go and live your life NOW!

(A note about this image)
This image was captured in the "wee" hours of the morning during an emergency visit to the hospital. My relative was taken for x-rays/tests and there was something about this empty emergency room that spoke to me. The only way I can explain it is that it was like this room, that had seen so much pain and death, was telling me to go and live my life NOW! I pray that this image speaks to you in the same way that it spoke to me that morning.

For the photogs: This image was captured using my Olympus Stylus point and shoot camera, hand-held at 1/30th shutter speed using Fuji 400 ISO film.)

The real ER!

Recently I traveled back home to NYC to be with a very close relative who has been diagnosed with liver cancer. Not the best reason to return home but nonetheless it was good to be back. It rained everyday except the first day we were there so the weather didn't help matters. Originally, we thought it was stomach cancer as the doctors had to remove 1/3 of her stomach to remove a tumor. But, we later learned that the stomach tumor was caused by the liver cancer.

During our visit we had to rush to the emergency room early one morning as my relative went into diabetic shock. It wasn't fun and was pretty scary. During one of the long hours while we were waiting for test results I captured this moment. As you can tell by the reason for my visit and this image it is nothing like the television drama. When we arrived they were working on a "crazy" guy who kept trying to "escape" before his bleeding wounds were treated (he looked like he had been hit by a car). And, everyone also rushed to one of the rooms down the hall from us as we could hear that the heart monitor had stopped and that person had "redlined." Not a fun time. But, the people were very nice (especially for New Yorkers) and despite the wee hours of the morning and all that was going on they came across as having a genuine concern for my relative. God bless the men and women who have given their lives to save the lives of others!

Meet my new friend...

Happy Saturday! I hope you are having an empowerd and joyous weekend! Just wanted to share a few pics of my new best friend - Teddy! He is my neighbors new cat and he is the most adorable and fun cat I've ever been around. Now, I love animals, especially dogs, but I have to admit that I've never enjoyed being around a cat before as much as I enjoy watching Teddy play in the backyard. He is obiedient, loves to play, chases anything that moves, and makes me laugh everytime I see him. Look out world, a star is born!

I am Lion here me roar!


Dude, the light is better on this side

The cost of technological advance

Well, after learning that many people were unable to post comments because they didn't have a blogger account I have upgraded the comment utility of my blog. Now, anyone can leave feedback without needing to register, have an account, or subscribe to any service. Unfortunately, the vendor didn't share with me that I would lose all of my existing comments. :-( I apologize if your comment has been deleted and would ask that you leave a new comment as this new utility makes it so easy to share your thoughts. Be blessed and keep shooting!