Tobie Reprised

Several months ago, I posted a portrait of NJ, my son, and our tiny little pup, Tobie. We decided to reprise the portrait again earlier today. Going from memory, we tried to recreate the same pose. Keep in mind, if you look at the original, that Tobie is a dog -- and doesn't always cooperate like NJ does. LOL!

Actually, both are well-behaved and so much fun to be around.

Winter Grasshopper

Did you know that even in December, you can find wildlife abounding in rural areas? While visiting my father's farm for our family Christmas party, I took a photo walk around the property. Among the dried up grass, weeds and branches were several beautiful grasshoppers. Here is one macro shot of this colorful "Winter" insect.

Carolina LifeCare Chopper at Night

Working at a hospital makes for unique oppor- tunities at certain times. One night, just before I was leaving my office, I heard the Carolina LifeCare chopper come in. Of course, it was already dark, but I waited for the paramedic and nurse to load the patient-- and ready for takeoff. Although I had to shoot without getting being sure of the settings. Ugh! So, what you see if what I got -- unedited.

Youthfest - Nate Sallie and Newsong

Some many photos taken lately -- and so little time to update this blog. Argh! Well, here's one from my favorite area festival -- a Christian music festival. It's called Youthfest -- and it happens in Tabor City, NC every year, during the Yam Festival. This year, we were very blessed to have Nate Sallie and Newsong. Personally, I have been blessed to work with Youthfest for the past four years. AJ, our oldest daughter, helped out this year -- and received the only real perk some of get for working with the festival. Shhh... it's a well known "secret" that some of us serve dinner (prepared by the famous Todd House) to the performers.
This year, AJ got to sit beside, chat with and enjoy dinner with none other than Nate Sallie. Now, everytime one of his songs comes on KLOVE, she smiles and says, "I ate dinner with him." LOL! Speaking of Nate Sallie, here he is singing with Newsong.

2008 Loris Bog-off Car Show

Another shot from the 2008 Loris Bog-off Car Show. Today's shot: a 1940's Ford V8 Deluxe. Yes it was raining a bit, too.

Hopefully these shots will inspire you to look at automobiles in a new way - and photograph them from a different point of view.

Loris Bog-off Festival

Last year, I featured the Tabor City Yam Festival. This year, I am featuring the Loris Bog-off Festival. For nearly 30 years, Loris, SC has hosted the Bog-off -- a rural Fall festival where the "bog-off" parts mean "chicken bog" for everyone. We have lived in the area for more than a decade, but have never attended the Loris Bog-off, until now. My favorite part was the car show. So, today and tomorrow will feature shots from the 2008 Loris Bog-off Car Show. Today's shot: a 1950's Chevrolet classic. Yes it was raining a bit, too.

Hopefully these shots will inspire you to look at automobiles in a new way - and photograph them from a different point of view.

Huge Catepillar!

This past weekend, my son and I went fishing at a nearby pond. He was bored that we were not catching anything, so he started playing around the edge of the pond. All of sudden, he called me over to see a "huge catepillar". My first thought was, "Yeah right -- huge? Not." The catepillar was huge -- at least 3 inches long and .75 inch in circumference. Frankly, it was the largest catepillar I've ever seen. And, so colorful!

Here are two photos for you to review... and be reminded that you can find something interesting to photograph almost anywhere you go!

Click on each to see a nice large version.