Wow, last post was 15 days ago. I've fallen a long way from the once a day posting I had going for a little while. No excuse, just have to try harder and find some time. One thing that has been keeping me busy is Riley. Words can't describe how much fun we are having watching him grow and change every day. Some days I feel guilty because it seems like there's no way to take enough photos of him to keep up with him. I know I'm doing my best and probably have way more than I should but I really want to find some time to get him in a studio setting for some portraits so stay tuned!

Now that it has warmed up (and boy it sure has) we have all been able to take advantage of and enjoy the pool. This past weekend Riley got in on the action and joined us in the pool for the first time. He really enjoyed it and looked cool the whole time:









Well that's all for now. Thanks for checking in and I'm going to do my best to post more often. Hopefully some new Riley portraits and some guest bloggers coming your way in the next week. See you then!

Hey everyone! Glad to be back and to see you back here! I know it may be the middle of the week but I can still talk about last weekend right? I had a great one filled with some golf, a lot of pool time, a close friend in town for the weekend, watching my Gator baseball team make it to the College World Series, and then more pool time. Really just what I needed.

This week has already had a busy start but I'm enjoying it and absolutely can't wait until Thursday - the first round of the 110th US Open at Pebble Beach! I am a huge golf fan (if you haven't noticed), I'm an even bigger golf major championship fan, and finally I think my favorite golf major championship is the US Open. The Masters is likely a close second but I won't put it in first until I am able to walk Augusta National and see it for myself.

The US Open also has some emotional connection to me as that is the only major championship that I have attended. My dad and I were able to get tickets to the 2005 US Open at Pinehurst #2 and it was a blast. Even cooler, my grandfather took my dad to the US Open (my dad's first major championship) in St. Louis in 1965 - FORTY years earlier. Too cool. While we were in North Carolina for the US Open I had some serious talks with my dad about my future career and life plans and the night before the final round we talked for literally hours (something pretty unique as my dad and I are usually fairly quiet) about what I should do before I finally decided that I would focus my efforts on going to law school and becoming an attorney. Even though at that point in my life I didn't, he knew I could do it, and just told me to do my best. Parents are always right.

Back to the post at hand! I wanted to get back to some of my golf pics since this week is pretty important in the golf year. An important part of my golf year is shooting The Players Championship up in Ponte Vedra Beach at TPC Sawgrass. This year was my third year and it is really one of the highlights of my year that I look forward to as soon as I see the 2nd week in May nearing. It's taken me a while to get to all of these photos because of time constraints plus I don't want to overload you all with a ton of golf posts in a row. The third round of the Players championship was definitely one of my best all time as far as getting images that were used and as always I had a blast doing it. Kind of fitting it was my 3rd year shooting the Players and the 3rd round was my best. Sometimes my life seems to revolve round the number 3.

When I met my editor (and ride) on Sunday morning I noticed there was a newspaper on his dash and a familiar (and very large) photo of mine on the front of the Sports page. Below that picture was a set of four more, another of which was mine. Wow, 2 on the front of Sports - this was a dream come true already and I hadn't opened the paper yet. Inside there were 3 more of my shots. What an amazing feeling! I knew I had a pretty good day but to see the photos in print and know that others (and even editors back at the office) appreciated them was such a cool feeling. I really can't tell you how jazzed up I was and ready to get back out there and do it all over again in the final round. A fellow photographer working with me that day started calling the Sunday edition the Tim Darby edition Sports section because of how many pictures of mine were used on Sunday. I do have to say it was a bit weird and exciting all at the same time seeing that section laying around the media center with a huge picture I took on the front page. Some seasoned photo journalists may see this as no big deal but it was certainly a special day for me.

Here are a few of my favorite (and best) photos from the third round:



































and here's the one that ran as a large print on the front page of Sports leading into the final round of the Players:



more on this shot in a post coming soon.

If you're a true golf fan, or just want to look at some more photos from the Players Championship Third Round gallery.

Thanks for stopping by and reading a little self gloss but it truly was a great day in my "career" as a photographer. I plan on writing a few posts later on explaining how I ended up with certain shots from this day and the story behind them so stay tuned. Thanks for checking in and if you're a golf fan enjoy the US Open - I know I will!

Just wanted to make a quick post. No real content but here's a recent photo of Riley for you to enjoy. This shot was taken by Britt with her new camera that she got for her birthday. So far it looks pretty good but the flash looks to be a little hot. I'll look into it.

There is some exciting news I have to report - stay tuned for our next guest blogger - coming soon! The interview and questions have been mailed and if all goes well I will run the guest blog early next week. This person is awesome and has been involved in some really interesting events over the past month or so and I can't wait for them to share. Stay tuned!

Get Back...



I believe that everything, whether good or bad, happens for a reason. Whether I like it or not I believe it to be one of the few truths in life. Another truth while we're on the truth train is: In photography and life, timing is everything. Both truths became all too apparent to me this afternoon when I learned of some very sad news.

About a week ago my wife mentioned that a friend of ours, who has actually been featured in an earlier blog, wanted me to come to her house and take some photos of one of her first dogs who is now 16 years old (that's 112 for those scoring on the people years scale). She wanted these photos sooner than later because every day is precious for us all, especially the older we get, and unfortunately Jojo's health was in decline (she actually only has 1 kidney).

As with most of her other pups, my featured chow mix subject of the day had a Beatles themed name - Jojo from the Beatles hit "Get Back." She is definitely special since she was one of Bette's first dogs but there were 2 pups available, so Jojo's sister Lucy (Lucy in the sky with diamonds) was also lucky to find a loving home that day.

On Sunday I had the chance to spend a few minutes at Bette's house as she and her friends celebrated her dog Ringo's birthday before heading out with Jojo & Lucy for a quick photo shoot. Light and time was fading fast but we were all determined to make it happen. Even with the light challenges, I had a blast taking a few shots, but more importantly, getting to know the "old broads" as Bette so lovingly nicknamed them. To be honest, they couldn't have been any better behaved considering they had a stranger blasting them in the face with a flash. Both acted just like our much younger pups even though they were both 16. After the shoot we went inside for a bit and I got to spend a little more time getting to know Jojo - she even pawed my arm when I stopped petting her to tell me "hey, don't quit now!" What a sweet pup!

The night ended too soon and we all went our separate ways. Unfortunately Jojo's health declined again the sad news came this afternoon that she had to be put down this morning. I have been through this horrible experience and for those of us who have loved and lost special pets in our lives we can all relate.

When I got the news I had yet to look at any of the photos that I had taken the night before, but the shots and the experiences getting to know Jojo meant even more to me than I ever thought possible in one split second. I immediately hoped and prayed I had done my job and managed to get at least a few shots to show what a great time we had and to show what a great dog she is. I knew it was going to be a difficult task sorting and editing the photos thinking about the pets I have loved and lost as well as our pets now. It was not easy but I knew that listening to my large collections of Beatles songs on iTunes would help and it did. Wouldn't you know it, the first song to come on: "Get Back."

Like I said, timing is everything.







As her song says:

Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back Jojo, go home

I know Jojo is at home and at peace. I am honored to have spent a short time getting to know her. She will be missed.

Hey everyone! Man, this really has been a short week. It's already Wednesday night! That's a good thing I guess, as long as you have done something with the first half of the week. Tonight I'm going to post a few more shots from the 2nd round of the Players Championship that I took a few weeks ago while helping the Florida Times-Union. I have been a little slow at getting some of these published 1. because I haven't had a ton of time to edit and 2. I don't want to have 4 consecutive days of golf posts. I love golf, and taking photos of golf, especially at the highest level played, but you may not.

My second day shooting the Players went a lot better for me. I'm not exactly sure what the deal was my first day shooting but I just wasn't feeling it yet and was just trying to get acclimated with the tournament after a year off. I also didn't get an inside the ropes credential and that is my fault since I didn't ask for one. Big lesson here - if you don't ask, you never know. Turns out I was on the list the whole time but I neglected to ask so I wasn't as close to the action. With that said, I did manage to work my way inside the ropes a few times and was close enough to get some shots but it just didn't feel right and it showed as I didn't have many photos I was blown away with (or my editors for that matter). Anyway, for day two I was ready, inside the ropes and much more in the mood to properly cover the action and it showed in my work.

The more I read this as I type the more I don't like the feeling I'm getting from my explanation about the first day of shooting. I did my best and worked as hard as I could and definitely got some usable shots but I knew I could do better and I got my attitude in order for day two. Enough of that. On to the photos:















If you'd like to see the rest of the set be sure to click here

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back in for at least one more post before the week is over! See you soon!