New Website!

I'd been frustrated with my old website for some time, and for various reasons. It was one of those things I knew I'd have to deal with eventually, but for months I lived with it because I just didn't feel like sitting down and doing all of the work involved in creating a new site.

I finally had enough when I knew I needed to either update the old one and live with it longer, or take the plunge and find something that could grow with me. I picked the latter.

So go check it out and let me know what you think! I need to add a couple of links in the main site, and I'll get to that soon. Notice that there's a link right to my blog on the splash page...I love that you don't have to do a bunch of clicking to get there!

To celebrate my new site and my upcoming 35th birthday, I will be offering a few specials during October:

• $35 mini sessions. (25 minutes) Limit 2 people
• $35 11x14 enlargements
• $35 off any size gallery wrap
• $350 for a CD of full resolution images with print release (past Brides and Grooms only)

These specials are valid for the month of October only, so act fast!

The Best Weekend Ever!

Thelma and I are fortunate to have married the 2 most wonderful men in New York. Seriously. Friday morning The Husband told me that Saturday Thelma and I were going to spend the night in our favorite hotel, away from child and housekeeping duties. Woo hoo!



I promptly call her up and ask her how long she's known about it, and we wonder how we are going to get through the next 31.75 hours until we can check in.

Saturday afternoon the boy's had their first rugby game against Syracuse. We started our weekend of bliss by stopping at my favorite coffee joint.

Even though my 70-200 isn't enough "reach" for sports, I love to bring it anyway. If there's no good action I can always shoot candids.

I just love this photo of my future Daughter-In-Law.

And who cares whether or not I get any good rugby shots when I have this one? I'm going to be in so much trouble when she sees this.

I love the look of concentration on Thelma's husband's face.

This image shows how my normally mild-mannered husband turns into somebody I don't recognize during a game.

Meanwhile, the kids have their own rugby game going on. You can see The Youngest didn't inherit his Father's thirst for blood, thank God.

Thelma and I couldn't help but laugh when we noticed her youngest with this wrapper stuck to the bottom of her foot.

A couple of the evening's festivities. I'd forgotten how much fun bed jumping was! The low ceiling gave it an element of danger. We decided we simply have to do some bed jumping every time we stay.

After burning all of those calories we ordered some desert!

Sunday morning we laid around and watched America's Next Top Model re-runs until checkout. We'd made appointments for hot stone massage's at some random place I picked out of the phone book. Needless to say, it was quite an experience. A word of advice for you all: never pick your Massage Therapist out of the phone book.

Macro Monday!

Congratulations to Jenn, who correctly guessed that last week's Macro Monday shot was the middle of a flower.

I don't think it will take too long to get a correct guess for this week's shot. Good luck!

His First Day Of Kindergarten!

Before I tell you about The Youngest's first day I have to confess that I feel bad for giving him the spotlight. I don't want The Oldest to feel left out. I'm paranoid about whether he will need therapy when he's older because his Mother didn't post anything about his first day of Junior High.

But what was I to do?? You know how almost-teenagers are always getting embarrassed about stuff their parents do. It's not like he would've let us drop him off to Junior High and take pictures of him entering the building, finding his locker, and unzipping his 5 Star binder for the first time.

I also thought about bringing Junior along when I went to pick him up for his first day of cross country practice, but then I pictured the kids laughing and elbowing him and saying things like "Dude, is that your Mom taking pictures?" So I left Junior at home and brought my ipod instead. ipods are in.

So this post is all about The Youngest.

I just know the girls will be all over him when they look into those eyes. Good thing he's already betrothed...

His classroom is all the way at the end of the hall.

Telling his teacher all about his Thomas the Tank Engine lunch box...

Time for us to go...

FAQ:

Q: So, did you cry when you dropped him off?

A: Are you kidding me??? Have you not been reading my blog?? I actually got out of the house and saw other adults. I even talked to some of them!

Q: What did you do with your free time?

A: Well, yesterday my Little Buddy (he needs a nickname) and I went out and about. Our first stop was, of course, Dunkin' Donuts. I needed my caffiene. Then we went to the bank, gassed up the truck and went to the mall. Here he is in his car seat. You can tell by his facial expression how much fun it is to shop with me.

Q: What are you going to do with the rest of your free time?

A: I don't know. Shirley (my Little Buddy's Mom and my friend) is due to have a baby soon, and right now the plan is for me to watch them both 3 days a week. Until then it will be just me and him 3 days, and the other 2 I will have to myself. That will give me some uninterrupted time at the computer to edit pictures, design albums, research products, read up on photography-related topics, etc. So basically I'll be working on the Photography end of things those days, whether I'm out shooting or sitting at my desk in my laundry room/office. I also plan to drink a lot of coffee.

Oh My!

So, today's the first day of school, which means it's The Oldest's first day of Junior High, and The Youngest's first day of Kindergarten! It's such an important day for both of them. I'm feelin' a little old.

Here's a couple of pictures to tide you over for now. The Husband and I, along with my Little Buddy, are going to drop The Youngest off at school in a few minutes. Then my Little Buddy and I are goin' to the mall!

Macro Monday!

I have some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that Thelma correctly guessed last week's image as a milk crate, got herself entered into the drawing for the itunes gift card, and won! Woohoo!

The bad news is that because of a lack of contestants playing I keep giving the prizes to the same 2 people. Because of that I have decided to stop awarding the gift cards for the time being. I know, I know, I'm bummed about it, too. Hopefully we'll get some of those lurker's to start participating and then I can start it up again.

Good luck with this week's image!

James & Kayla Tie The Knot!

Today I had the pleasure of photographing James and Kayla's wedding ceremony and formals at the Cortland Methodist Church. Kayla was a stunning Bride and you could see how much she adores her new husband. Best wishes to both of you!