Christmas in Springboro....

This weekend was our annual Christmas in Springboro Festival....it's actually turned out to be one of the larger Christmas festivals in the area here. On Main St. (where the studio is..) they close off about 6 blocks and have the plethora of Holiday food, crafts and music going on. I think this year attendance may have been a little lighter - after all it was in the mid 20"s most of the time - especially Saturday when I managed to take an editing break and headed out to snap a few shots. On average the Friday night, Saturday and Sunday afternoon festival attracts over 20,000 people! Not too bad for our little downtown. In front of my place we have the Horse Drawn Carriage rides and the Kid's Train with the colorful "oil barrel" cars. Here's a few quick snaps!

Looking south down Main St.

There's quite a bit of good festival eating - and a bunch of craft vendors - in tents fortunately! Plus most of the unique little shops on Main St. open as well.

...and who would have thought...camels in Springboro...the petting zoo added them...

No...really...

2006 Top Ten...picking favorites.....

Now that 2006 is officially wrapped up, I thought I would just say thanks to everyone who helped to make it such a great year in many ways. There were a lot of fun moments captured this year, and I thought I would share a few of my favorites with you. Of course, trying to narrow it down to ten is impossible.....!...But I did keep it at that. A few of these you may have seen, a few I'm sure you have not. They are just a small snapshot of photos that really stood out to me.

Also...I wanted to say thanks to the best assistants I could ask for...Erica, Rosemary and Amiee too. The three of you are each incredibly talented at "being there", reading the moments, listening, watching and staying focused. A special best wishes goes to Rosemary as she moves on to Pittsburgh...as I said..."book me a Pittsburgh wedding and you're on!"

So, here are a few favorites from 2006 (in no particular order). Don't forget to say hi on the Chatbox if you want! Hope you enjoy!



From Julie & Pat's wedding in Columbus, these two guys were just relaxing for a moment when I caught up with them. I like to title this one..."On Deck".

From a modeling shoot earlier this year of Stephanie. The look of that flowy white dress and the glow of the hallway were perfect. We had some really nice shots out of that combination.

Julie & Pat's "Street Session" in Columbus, Ohio in the "Short North". Take the great lighting around the shops and add a little sexier feel to things. Yes, I will be doing A LOT more nighttime photography in 2007!

My youngest daughter on the beach in Santa Barbara, during my time out there in Sept/Oct. She was reenacting a scene from a Korean mini-series that we watched a lot of those couple weeks. I asked her what she was doing she said: "I'm dancing like she was doing in the movie" (on the beach). Lucky for me on one shot I caught her entirely off the ground...it was perfect, and might actually be my favorite shot of the year.

One more from this fall's trip to LA. My youngest again...this time at the Getty Center in the children's "hands-on" area. Each area recreated a certain artwork, and then had an activity the kids can do with it. This one was these large Plexiglass panels showing parts of a Bible from the 13th or 14th century. The kids could then take eraseable markers and write on some of the other lines. Of course the Plexiglass was a great light source.

Some of you will recognize Erica, one of my assistants. We were actually here at the studio doing the headshots you see of me on the web site and blog. Erica actually shoots herself, and is as talented behind the camera as obviously as she is in front of it too. We were talking about posing, so she took me through some of her favorites real quick. There were some excellent shots, but this might be my favorite. She just has that look and pose, pure class and beauty.

From Candace & Scott's wedding in Dayton came this car shot. I just loved how the slope of the roof framed the scene in an unconventional way.



Another favorite from Phebe & Gerry's wedding, this one a detail shot. I loved the bold mix of colors, the blue wrap and bracelet, as well as the high key lighting.

Those few quick moments directly after the ceremony can provide some great spontaneous shots, just before the couple gets swarmed by the bridal party or even guests. This is from April & Josh's wedding at Carillon Park in Dayton, just as they completed their part of the reccessional. I liked having April's sister and her escort right behind them in the frame, and the contrasting angles....and yeah, it just screamed for the cross-process style. If I had to only pick one wedding favorite for 2006, this might just be "THE shot"....

And to round it out......from my modeling shoot with Ann Nicole, came this hall shot. I loved that pose! I wanted something "fashiony", and we definitely got some good stuff that day.



There you have them! A few highlights at least! Right now I have a really good feeling about 2007 - I think there will be some really fun stuff this year. Stay tuned to the blog for updates - and say hi on the Chatbox if you have any comments or questions!

Playing around...self portrait

Last week I was playing around with an old camera of mine, a Mamiyaflex C2, "twin lens", circa 1958-1962 (medium format). These were some great cameras, the only twin lens system to have interchangeable lenses and bellows focusing. Some neat stuff....I thought it was a good time to take a quick self portrait....

Tasting in Burgundy: Laboure Roi

Creeeeek......I mentioned I would bring out a few pics from the past...so here we go - opening up the vault! A number of years back I was fortunate enough to be part of a wine related business trip to France. We spent 17 days traveling through most every major wine region. The result was nearly 1200 photos! It was a truly amazing trip filled with many visits to some of the best producers in France. Something I will certainly never forget. We did stay in Burgundy for three days and tasted some incredible wines. One of our visits was to the negociant Laboure Roi. Their cellars are beautiful - and huge too! Here's three photos from that evening.....


Tasting in their cellars by candlelight.....


After a wonderful time tasting and touring the cellars. We were back later that evening for a special dinner. This area was actually part of the entrance to their cellars - it was absolutely huge! When I took this photo I was standing at ground level at the top of some stairs. To the far right of the end of the table was another set of stairs that then led you further underground into the main cellar. That's how large it was! We had a wonderful time that evening!

I love touring France! Know anyone wanting to get married in France? Need a photographer? Serious discounts may apply!