Tammy and James have been a very close client and not to mention close friends since the day that Tammy asked if I could retake her wedding portraits and fix the originals that were taken by another photographer. She has graced me with her beauty and kindness as a person and James is one of those guys that anyone can have a great time with as there is a funny, humorous side to him that I liked from the beginning. Both of them are great together and when Tammy told me she was pregnant I was very excited for the both of them. Tammy had big plans as far as photography with maternity shoots and even photography at the birth which I have done in the past before. But life and God always seems to have a plan of his own and Tammy gave birth to Landon James and Zoey Taylor at only 20 weeks. The twins only lived for a few hours and unfortunately James is in the Navy and could not get back in time to see them as he was in Louisiana at the time. Tammy and James, both Amy and I would like to give our deepest sympathy too you and James as well as your family and this poem below means something to Amy and I for the loss that both of us have had in the past with love one’s that have past away and hope you find comfort in it.
I am not there
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the snow on the mountain’s rim,
I am the laughter in children’s eyes,
I am the sand at the water’s edge,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle Autumn rain,
When you awaken in the morning’s hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the star that shines at night,
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.
You our in our thoughts and prayers and if there is anything Amy and I can do for you and James please don’t hesitate to ask.. 1474″>
Yes, I’m still around and I shoot wedding photography for those curious e-mails that I have gotten. I have been in charge of one of the largest jobs for the company I work for at the University of Michigan and it has tied me down along with many other things for the last three months, but the last leg of this job ends this week and I can start getting back to the long list of photography things that have been sitting on the table. It’s funny a lot of my inquiries this year have been word of mouth and I would like to thank my friends, past clients, for them punching my Wedding/Photography business. This also lets me know I need to do more with the site and blog and incorporate it better in the search engines which is something I have wanted to do for a long time now, and a major cause for lack of potential future clients not coming from the web. I would also like to thank ( you know who you are ) the many wedding photographers from Ohio and Michigan for sharing tips, techniques, and how I can improve my marketing skills, editing and end product, especially on this last trip, your information and kindness too share this with me is so valuable to me and my wedding business. I also will be working with more lighting and might make the big move to full frame this year and this will allow me to be edgy and more creative with my wedding photography.
On December 1 ,2009, the moon was not its usual self. The moon came with an extra bonus and one that was very beautiful call a Moon Halo. Now I have seen these halos before but on this night it was very defined and even had color on the outer portion of the halo. A moon halo is a ring of light surrounding the moon. The halo is caused by light from the moon passing through ice crystals in high thin clouds. Usually, the light is reflected rather than scattered, which causes the ring to appear white. Sometimes, the light shining through the ice crystals is scattered and the rings are then colored. Often there is a bright white area immediately surrounding the moon that is edged with a colored ring. At other times, there is another larger ring outside of the first one and this one had a very faint one if you look closely.
As most of you know I have a true love for weather and I am not talking about sunny skies ( unless it is a wedding ). As a little kid waiting for a thunderstorm or a large snow storm to come in was better then watching The Wizard Of Oz when I was young. As I grew up I took my photography and videography skills and geared them towards weather. I have seen my fair share of what Mother Nature can do and I am able to see more then the usual person because I chase it and I go where it happens and this might include places like the Midwest in tornado alley or just about anywhere I can make it too. Nor’easter’s can reck havoc worst then some hurricanes and the November 12, 2009 Nor’easter was a perfect example of that. This storm was a history maker for a couple of reasons. The storm was a heavy rain and wind producer but what really help make this storm one to remember was the slow exit of the system in general. The storm took a full two days to stop effecting the Hampton Roads area so it was able to take advantage of high tide on a number of occasions. I went out as I always do when weather is happening in the area to see what and how the area was holding up. Most of the flooding and other things were being covered by local media but I always look for what I like to call the hot spots which is something that is not being filmed by the media because they did not know about it or they were not at the right place at the right time. The three hot spots were the large docking ship breaking free near Sandbridge and the Lynnhaven Fishing Pier collapsing and the one I was at which was at Alexander’s on the Bay. The side of the restaurant that faces the bay was totally gone and as I was filming parts of the restaurant were being brought in by the surge but I was unaware that it was happening. The video below shows how powerful the winds and waves were at this location as currents from the ocean and the bay were meeting each other at this location. The video was shown on Good Morning America as well as ABC and The Weather Channel.
There are not to many people I look up to and when I say that I mean height wise. For those who have met me I am pretty tall, stacking up about 6′6″. I stayed with my sister over the weekend in Ohio and her boyfriend Mark is close to 7′. So Saturday Mark asked me if I wanted to go to a wedding and I was like of course I want to go to a wedding but I did not fully understand what his purpose was at the wedding and assumed it was a friend and he was attending. I took my gear along as I always take it to weddings( ha ha ). When we went in we were directed to a room and Mark took a heavy load of something in a large case in with him. I did not ask about what it was and helped to get everything in that he needed to get to the location. As I came back to the room some time later I found about six guys undressing and gearing up in different Star Wars outfits. This turned out to be a surprise to me but a far better surprise to the wedding party and families that were attending the wedding rehearsal and had no clue that it was about to be crashed for fun. Mark belongs to an organization that does this sort of thing and all money and donations go to help children in different areas that have cancer and other illnesses which is very cool. So here I am helping Mark get in his Darth Vader outfit which I might add is very heavy with all the gear he wears. It was a hoot when they started to announce the wedding party with the song “The Imperial March” and six guys come out fully decked out in Star Wars outfits with laser guns and light sabers. Here is a shot of Mark with his outfit on.. Thanks Mark for taking me and it’s a very cool thing you guys do. I don’t think I will ever see something like that again..
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