Photo of the Day - NYE:



Had a fun and eventful night last night at the media party and then out on Bourbon Street. The media party was a really cool experience in a private upstairs room in Pat O'Brien's where we had great food an open bar and access to a balcony that overlooked Bourbon Street. We got so much attention from the people passing by below that they actually had to close the balcony for a while. Pretty funny.

Tonight we'll head downtown for an event this afternoon and then back to Bourbon Street to ring in the new year. Hopefully your 2009 was all that you wanted and more and even if it wasn't there is plenty to look forward to in 2010. Enjoy your New Year's Eve celebration and stay safe!

See you next year!

Photo of the Day - Where's the Party?



Oops. Got too caught up in everything yesterday and didn’t have time to post a photo or a blog for that matter. I drove to Orlando to pick up Gator Country photographer Tim Casey from the airport and then headed to Gainesville to spend the night before heading out this morning for New Orleans. We headed out around 9:30 and had a really easy and quick drive. We made it to the media hotel in time to pick up our credentials and our swag – which was a nice perk since I wasn’t aware until this morning that I was even entitled to such a thing. Picked up a cool Allstate Sugar Bowl polo and fitted new era hat. We also got a ticket to the media party tonight at Pat O’Brien’s and we should be heading there shortly. Should be some fun! We have some media engagements and interviews to check out tomorrow and then we may head out to Bourbon Street to ring in the New Year. Hopefully I will have some time tomorrow to at least upload an iPhone photo of the day so keep an eye out for that!

Thanks for checking in and hope to see you tomorrow!

Photo of the Day - Happy Birthday Nanaw!



Happy Birthday Nanaw! Today is my grandmother's 89th birthday and the very least I could do is devote a photo of the day to it! Of course that is not all I did but she is on my mind and therefore she is on my blog. The above photo is from my law school graduation ceremony and I was so happy and honored to have my grandmother make the trip up to Jacksonville from Lakeland for the event. What a day!

I honestly cannot say enough about her. She is an amazing person, mother, grandmother, and friend. She was the only girl of 6 brothers from a small Missouri town so it goes without question that she was a strong and amazing woman. I know that I would not be where I am or who I am today if it was not for her and I cannot even begin to express my thanks for that. I could go on and on about how amazing she truly is but you would not get it if you didn't know her so I will stop and just say thanks Nanaw & happy birthday! Here is to many more - I love you! :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by for today's (late) edition of the photo of the day and please stay tuned the rest of the week as I head to New Orleans tomorrow afternoon to shoot the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day for the University of Florida. What an opportunity! See you tomorrow!

Photo of the Day - MERRY CHRISTMAS!



Merry Christmas everybody! Hope your day today has been filled with happiness, family, friends, and maybe a few presents as well! My day has been amazing so far and I am so thankful for everyone and everything!

The above photo is the third and last shot that made the cut for this year's holiday card. Many have asked how on earth did we manage to get the dogs to stay there with lights wrapped around them. Honestly, it's pretty easy to keep them still once you have them tied up with lights! ;-) Anyway, it did take a bit of work but I am happy with the results.

Thank you so much for stopping by and most importantly Merry Christmas! Be sure to stop by Monday for some holiday card outtakes! See you Monday!

Photo of the Day - Nothing Was Stirring:



Had a great and eventful Christmas Eve day today and I'm already tired and ready for bed. Here is the second shot of three that made the holiday card this year of our 8 year old cat Milo. If you think it is difficult to get and keep our two dogs in place for a card photo imagine trying it with a cat!

Better head to bed so Santa can come! Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check in for the Christmas version of the photo of the day!

Photo of the Day - Festival of Treats:



Today was a short work day and the rest was filled with some last minute shopping. I'm happy to say hat I am really close to being done and that is a relief. If you received our holiday card this year the above photo will look familiar, but if not, this will be the first of a set of three shots of our "kids" that made the holiday card that we shared with some friends and family. I have always been a huge William Wegmanfan even before I was seriously into photography. A few years ago when my wife and I decided to do holiday cards for the first time I decided to force our Rat Terrier and cat to be the subject of a few frames. Over the years the tradition has been created and has evolved by adding one more dog and tons of props (not to mention the number of treats we go through). I certainly haven't created Wegman like masterpieces but I think I can pass as a "poor man's Wegman." :-) It's always a challenge to think of the background, props, and getting (and keeping) the dogs in position but in the end (and after a few drinks) it always ends up being a lot of fun. This year we decided to broaden our horizons a bit and the above shot is the first of 3 shots that made the cut for the calendar. Hope you like it!

Thanks so much for stopping by and hope to see you tomorrow for the Christmas Eve edition of the photo of the day!

Photo of the Day - Lighting it up:



Sorry this one was a bit late but we headed up to Gainesville for the basketball game which was a bit disappointing but it is still always fun to get to Gainesville for dinner and a game. Hopefully the team can use this holiday break to regroup and find their focus again.

The shot today is a different take on the same delicious tree. This time I incorporated some of the lights from our real Christmas tree into the background to light it up and add a bit more color with no flash.

Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to stop by tomorrow for the Christmas Eve Eve edition of the photo of the day where I will post the first of three shots used for our 2010 Holiday Card. Also, if you really feel like keeping up with me or my photography you should follow me on Twitter: my personal twitter page and of course my photography twitter page. Check it out! See you tomorrow!

Photo of the Day - Gingerbread Tree!?!?!



Another work week has snuck up on us again but there is hope for this one since it is likely you won't have to work all week thanks to the Christmas holiday! Most of my shots this week will be themed around the Christmas holiday so prepare yourself. This shot is of a gingerbread tree that my wife and I made along with a gingerbread house last year. Making anything out of gingerbread before these two things and it was really a lot of fun. Eating them wasn't all that bad either :-) I chose this shot today because earlier this evening I was cruising through friend's photostreams on Flickr and came across this shot by a great friend, fellow attorney and photographer Bill Miller. As I've said here before, perspective is everything and in Bill's shot confirms it for me. He has taken a relatively ordinary and often photographed holiday decoration and put a whole new spin on it. I love it. My shot has the same idea in mind but I was able to get a really unique perspective on our "tree" since it was only about a foot tall. :-) If you get a chance be sure to check out the rest of Bill's stream he's really got some great stuff.

Once you're done ooing and ahhing about how great Bill's work is be sure to stop by my photostream or my webpage to see what is new. Thank you for stopping by today and be sure to check back in tomorrow. Hope you've gotten all of your holiday shopping done but let's not forget what this season is really about. See you tomorrow!

Photo of the Day - Decorated:



Another work week has flown by and Christmas is literally around the corner! The house and tree are finally decorated and ready to celebrate. This is one of my favorite Christmas photos that I took last year and actually have it hanging on the wall in our entry way along with a few other Fall/Christmas favorites. Hope you are all ready for the holidays regardless of what you will be celebrating I wish you happiness and a great time with family and friends.

Thank you so much for stopping by today for the photo of the day. Enjoy your weekend and I hope to see you back here on Monday for the next installment of the photo of the day!

Photo of the Day - Landing:



After yesterday's post from my last downtown Jacksonville shoot I started to look through the set again and found some other shots that I really enjoyed so I figured I would post another one for today's photo of the day. This shot is definitely NOT a selective color shot and pretty much covers the spectrum. Again I was going for something a little different on a commonly photographed part of the downtown Jacksonville "skyline" so I went with a little different composition. I also left the shutter open a little bit longer than I normally do so that it would be almost over exposed in a few areas to make the highlights really bright. Again, not conventional but sometimes conventional just doesn't do the trick. Another great thing with the long exposure and the bright lights is how smooth and colorful it made the river. I'm also digging this shot because of the giant Christmas tree in the middle of The Landing since Christmas is literally right around the corner. The colors in the tree and the reflection are pretty cool. Anyway, just my take :-)

On a side note if you ever want to see some of the other photos used in the photo of the day project I have created a Flickr Set with all of the photos I've used so check it out! Thanks for checking out Thursday's edition of the photo of the day and please stop by again tomorrow for Friday's photo of the day.

Photo of the Day - Black & Blue



Can't believe I missed the post yesterday! I had something really cool and interesting planned to shoot but it turned out to be much more of a challenge than I had hoped and I wasn't pleased with any of the results. By the time I made the decision I wouldn't be using a new shot for the post it was time for bed. I considered posting earlier today and then again tonight but just didn't have enough time. Anyway, since my night shot didn't work out for yesterday's post I figured I would post one of my favorite night shots that actually did come out how I wanted it to. :-)

I took this shot of the main street bridge in downtown Jacksonville almost a year ago and after a little work pulling out all of the colors other than blue I ended up with this. I'm usually not a fan of obviously photoshopped images but if it is done right and not over used selective color can really be interesting. I tend to use this more on subjects or landmarks that have been photographed a lot and need a new interpretation to make the photo stand out and be interesting to the viewer. I think it works for this shot and hope you do too! :-)

More to come tomorrow and I will make sure to find time for Thursday's edition of the photo of the day! See you tomorrow!

Photo of the Day - Graduation



Another Monday, another Monday photo of the day. I definitely look forward to this part of my day because it means that it is almost over. Last night before bed my wife and I were talking and she asked if I could believe that it had already been a year since I graduated from law school. I honestly hadn't thought about it that much but when she brought it up it really was surprising. A year ago yesterday I was speaking at a graduation ceremony in the above photo which I blogged about here. What a great day that was and it truly feels like it was just yesterday. Here I am a year later practicing! What a journey it has been - time flies!

Thanks for stopping by for today's photo of the day and I hope to see you back here tomorrow!

Photo of the Day - Blur:



Well the photo above pretty much sums up this week - it was a blur! It was busy but we got a lot done and I look forward to building on that productive momentum next week. Went to the LHS football game tonight which was actually the state semi-final for their class but unfortunately Plant was just too much to handle. Still a great season and I had a lot of fun watching a few of the games this season!

The above photo really sums up our Rat Terrier Otis. He's a ball of energy and rarely slows down unless it's time for him to go to bed. I took this shot in the back yard while he was out running around with his "Uncle" Spunky and his sister Kohana. It's definitely not the most technically perfect shot in the world but sometimes those are the ones that speak the most about the subject. The motion and color really make it for me and every time I see it all I can say is "That's our Otis!"

Hopefully the work week went by fast for everyone else and now lets slow things down so we can all enjoy the weekend. I am looking forward to staying home and relaxing and not having any plans for the first weekend in quite some time. It's going to feel weird to not be shooting a football game and/or editing photos. I have had a great season so far but I will enjoy relaxing a bit for a change.

Thank you so much for stopping by all week - I've had some pretty good page hit numbers and definitely hope it keeps up. Enjoy your weekend and I look forward to seeing you back here Monday!

Photo of the Day - That's My Boy:



Today was the big day! After our first Dr. appointment which was just a routine check up we had our 4D sonogram. I have been pumped up about it all week! I guess baby Darby didn't really get the memo to be awake and ready to go so he turned out to be a pretty difficult one. He was definitely not very active and actually had his hands (and feet) up over and in front of his face. He was definitely comfortable but not the easiest to photograph. Brittany and I joked that we should schedule this for around midnight since he is definitely WAY more active right before we head to bed. The sonogram technician did an amazing job and was so patient and actually took a little extra time to make sure we got some pics of him. That really meant a lot to both of us and made the experience special. Here are a few others from the sonogram:



(foot)




Some more shots from the 4D sonogram can be viewed here.

Thanks so much for stopping by and hopefully you can see what is going on in some of those shots and you can actually decipher what is going on in there. Seeing him was great but it only makes me even more impatient to be able to finally meet him in person! Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a 2D Friday photo of the day. :-)

Photo of the Day - What a Face!



Another full day of work and as it turns out this is going to be a pretty busy week! Busy is good though in this market! Tomorrow is going to be a busy day because Britt and I (well actually just her and baby boy Darby) have two appointments at the Dr. The first is just a regular check up but the second is going to be one to remember - our 4D sonogram. The above photo is a pic of our last "baby" Kohana's cute face (rest of Ko's set here) and I absolutely cannot wait to see my son's face for the first time in great detail tomorrow. The next best thing will be in March when we finally get to meet in person for the first time!

Thanks for stopping by today. Plenty of photos of him in store for tomorrow so be sure to stop by!

Photo of the Day - Thumbs Up:



Looks like I'm sticking with the theme of staying in front of the camera so far this week for the photo of the day. Honestly I'm still trying to get caught up from this past weekend. Since I spent all day Sunday on the road all of my available time on Sunday to edit was consumed. Tonight, I FINALLY finished editing and uploading all of my shots from this Saturday's SEC Championship game. I'm not completely lazy - I did have some editing and uploading difficulties and mix that with two full days of work it's pretty easy to see how I have managed to get behind. It's tough to stay motivated to sift through and edit thousands of photos from a loss of this magnitude since it is pretty likely that a lot of them will never see the light of day but I understand that and can get through that difficulty by knowing I did my job the best I could.

The above photo which was taken earlier this season by fellow photographer and mentor Tim Casey, is worth a thousand words and truly expresses how I feel about having the opportunity to shoot this football season. I cannot say enough what an amazing opportunity it has been, how much I have learned from the experience and other photographers, and how much I hope to be able to have the chance to do it all over again next year! Thanks to everyone who has made this possible! Even after a loss I can't get the smile off of my face as to what an amazing ride this season has been! :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope to be back on track (and not in the picture) tomorrow so be sure to check in and see what is new! Until tomorrow...

Photo of the Day - Still a great weekend:



Big oops for skipping the photo of the day post on Friday. We had a great trip from Valdosta to Atlanta and once we made it to downtown Atlanta for me to pick up my credentials for the big game. I had a (although not the best) iPhone pic of the Georgia Dome to use as the POTD but once we got to the hotel we took a quick rest and then headed over to a friends beautiful house on the Chattahoochee River for a pre-tailgate party. The weekend was really great despite the Gators losing. Of course it was disappointing to lose such an important game but it takes a lot to even get to that point in the season, let alone get there undefeated. So even though I don't feel our guys gave it their all, I am and always will be a proud Gator!

I even had a blast during the game since I was down on the field shooting. I can't even begin to describe how amazing that was and what a great opportunity it was for me. This was DEFINITELY the biggest and most important football game I have had the opportunity to shoot and I made the most of it. Hopefully it won't be my last!

The above shot of my wife and I was taken on Saturday before the game by my friend and fellow photographer Brad Folkers. The shot is better than I can do since he actually knows how to use his small flash. I really need to read up and practice but can't seem to find the time. Hopefully I will soon! More importantly in this picture - look at how great my 7 months pregnant wife looks! I'm the luckiest future daddy in the world!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope to have another post with some of my own shots :-) tomorrow. See you then!

Photo of the Day - On the Road Again:



Well, it's about that time to get on the road again and head to Atlanta for the SEC Championship football game!

This photo was taken in Kerrick, Texas (thanks to my GPS photo tagger) during our 2008 cross country road trip. We won't be making it that far on this journey but hopefully I end up with some great photos of the game!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a new photo of the day straight from Atlanta and possibly even from outside of the Georgia Dome! Thanks for stopping by and GO GATORS!!!

Photo of the Day - Halo Moon:



Another Wednesday/hump day is behind us and I can't believe that we will already be leaving tomorrow evening to head up to Atlanta for the SEC Championship!

Sometimes it just pays to look up! Late on Monday night when I was taking the trash out to the end of our driveway. Most nights I do this to see what the night sky has in store and I'm rarely disappointed but on Monday night, it forced me to get out the camera even in the cool weather. At the time I had no idea what was going on but just knew it looked really interesting and that I wanted to get a shot of it before the clouds covered it up. I managed to get a few decent shots before the clouds took it away and headed back inside. After doing some quick google research I found out that this "Lunar Halo" is "caused by by refracted moonlight from ice crystals in cirrus clouds in the earth’s upper atmosphere the shape of the crystals causes the moonlight to be refracted into a ring around the moon and apparently sometimes signal the arrival of unsettled weather. Special thanks to Derek Beasley and the Local 15 Weather Authority's Facebook fan page for enlightening me! The rest of the photo set can be viewed here.

It was a 3 for 1 - saw a really cool event in the sky, got to take some pics of it, and then learned all about it! Can't beat that!

Thanks for checking out my photo of the day today! Be sure to come by again tomorrow for Thursday's edition which will have to be posted early since we're leaving for Atlanta tomorrow evening! See you tomorrow!

Photo of the Day - Mamba:



Well I almost made it on time for a "true" Tuesday photo of the day but just didn't make it home in time. I had the photo all picked and ready to go and was going to make the post this afternoon during lunch but it just didn't happen. I picked the shot partly because of where we were headed tonight - Gainesville for the UF Men's basketball game against the FAMU Rattlers. I don't have a shot of an actual rattler and honestly don't have many shots of snakes at all but this one fit pretty well so I ran with it.

This photo was taken very early in my DSLR photography "career" on one of my first trips to the Jacksonville Zoo. They have a great reptile and snake area which has actually grown even more since we have moved. It was a relatively simple shot of the Green Mamba but the clarity, even through the dirty glass, and yellowish light, really stands out to me and makes it one of my favorites. Every new photog gets lucky every once and a while! Shoot, I still manage to surprise myself every once and a while! :-) Hopefully the Gators and I can make some magic this Saturday in Atlanta!

Thanks for stopping by and I promise to be a bit more timely with the photo of the day for Wednesday!