Two beautiful people very much in love, a gorgeous day, a grandfather performing the ceremony on a balcony overlooking the Chateau Morrisette Winery; what more could make the perfect wedding day?

The dress was gorgeous, the bride a picture of beauty and poise. The groom, as verified by his brother the Best Man, is one of those people everyone loves, and it was easy to see why. The family was gracious and absolutely wonderful to work with.

The bride and the Maid of Honor started out at Zee’s Salon…….at 8am! So much for a late snooze.

It was a bit of a ride to the winery from there, and things got just a tad behind but with a day like this…..is there REALLY anything to be concerned about?

The bride was cool as a cucumber…LOVE IT!!

and it shows……Beautiful………

Then things got under way….. and it was a GREAT day.

The Ring Bearer did an outstanding job, sometimes a little coaching goes a long way.

details…details…

then they released the butterflies…..cloud timing was awesome!

then into the reception….. lot’s of love…..

but we sneaked out for a little photo session…this one seemed right for a little vintage fun…..

then back to enjoy a great reception dinner with some delicious Chateau Morrisette wine…

and of course, the first dance

and some fun with the kids….

……this one has made me laugh all week…

Finally, Andrea and Nadeem were off to enjoy a little time by themselves before rejoining friends for an evening in Roanoke…..

Andrea and Nadeem, I hope you were able to hook up for a fun white water day on your travels. If not, the New River isn’t going to dry up anytime soon…..or will it? (We need some rain….just not on Saturdays!)

Thanks so much for letting me be a part of your day. Here’s to a great couple and a great family. Best wishes for a happily ever after!

Kemper

Nothing seems to shout summer louder than a sunflower. Hooray for those hot summer days….I LOVE it!

My eye has always been attracted to them wherever I go, and at my house they’re game for front of the house planting as well as out back where most people like to put them.

Nowadays, they make them in awesome varieties. Some giant, some tall, some only 18″ high. All different colors. I must say, the old fashioned giant sunflower is still my favorite.

It won’t be long before the Cardinals come chomping on them as the seeds start to ripen. But, I can wait as the end of summer won’t be far along after that.

What is summer without a trip to camp!? When I was just a pup it was the highlight of my summer to go off to camp. That meant a week of semi-independent freedom and plenty of new friends and some old ones, too. Of course water was always a big part of any camp experience whether it was the pool at church camp or the lake at 4-H camp.

Fortunately for me, I still get to go to camp every summer. It’s just not exactly filled with activities like making beaded Indian headbands or the Womanless Beauty Contest (second runner up in the 4th grade). But it still has plenty of water and lots of old friends, and every year a few new ones make it up there, too.

So for the past few weeks I have been at Camp, which for the uninitiated southerner is the Yankee term for a shack, cottage, or house at the lake. You see, they would never say anything like “We’re going to the lake house for the weekend” but rather “We’re going up to Camp”. Means the same thing, but I suppose it takes some of the pretentiousness out of the former. Ours happens to be right on the lake, but a camp doesn’t have to be and lots are built behind the main lake front camps, and those are called “backlotters”. It all makes for a laid back and relaxing atmosphere that seems uniquely Adirondack life.

Camp is located in South Broadalbin, New York and it is right at the southern tip of the Adirondacks. It is on The Great Sacandaga Lake which just happens to be one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen. Camp is located at the widest part of the lake so it is around 5 miles from shore to shore at that point. The Adirondack mountain range makes for a scenic back drop to our beach, and there is also a small island appropriately named Sand Island about a half mile off shore which lends itself to the recreational charm and beauty of Camp as well. Here’s a shot from the beach…

Camp was built in 1932 and is nothing short of perfectly charming and homey. It is vintage and authentic, inside and out. The large wrap around porch filled with rocking chairs, games, card tables, and an icy cold 1930’s GE fridge are almost all you need. Add to that a huge lawn, private beach and gorgeous view….you just can’t go wrong. Anyone interested in exploring beautiful New York state couldn’t go wrong with a stay at Camp, and it is available for rental all but the two weeks we have in July. Check it out here if interested.

Well, getting back to our stay this year, it seems everyone had a great time. The weather was a little crazy (seems to be a New York thing this year….snowstorm in the middle of April should have been a warning) as I don’t think it got up past 65 on July 4th, but there were some awesome summer sun-filled days as well.

Didn’t get out to other locales around Camp for exploring as much as I would have liked but there was plenty going on around Camp for entertainment. Around the Fourth, lot’s of friends and family started showing up to spend the holiday with us and we had a spectacular fireworks show that thrilled the kids and scared the dogs as usual.

So now I’m back and actually enjoying all that is going on in Roanoke, too. Great friends and a great city make for a great Life. Lot’s of nice clients and potential clients are making for a busy end of summer, but I suppose I will get in a short trip or two before fall rolls around.

Life is good…..but does it ever fly by. So make the best of it and don’t wait for retirement to enjoy it all and get out! Here are just a few shots from my trip. My family, my friends, the places and things that make my Life great.

Hope you’re enjoying your summer!

Thursday was a beautiful summer day and what a better way to spend it than in downtown Roanoke to participate in the celebration of our new Art Museum of Western Virginia by signing and then watching the last piece of structural steel be hoisted and fitted on the west roof.

I am a HUGE advocate of this generous gift and am certain that even the critics will be convinced that this is a great thing for Roanoke once the building is completed. It will be stunning as we can already tell by this artists rendering..

So here are a few shots of the signing and hoisting event and then I’ll close this blog with a few shots of the fountain in front of the #1 Fire Station. It was indeed a gorgeous day!!

Then, I wandered on over to the fountain in front of Fire Station #1 and took a few shots….

What do you think this one below looks like…….I’m thinking panther…

Tripped up to Assateague last Saturday for what was to be a week of camping at the beautiful Assateague Island National Seashore. Arrived to find the camping area full of happy families with children riding their bicycles up and down the road. Everyone’s happy as a clam in a salt marsh….which they have by the way.

Well….within 24 hours there was a massive invasion of salt marsh mosquitoes that chased away almost every camper in the bayside area. A few of us toughed it out over the next several days, but it was pretty challenging.

The incredible thing about this particular mosquito is its unrelenting activity throughout the day. Most mosquitoes are pretty active in the early morning and particularly late evenings for about an hour or so. At least that has been my experience. Well, not the salt marsh mosquito. This little bugger stays up all day long. And I’m not talking about the occasional unit landing on your leg with a behind the calf surprise attack. I’m talking 30-40 beasts swarming you as soon as you exit a tent or screen house. Deep Woods Off helped a lot, but quickly became ineffective.

It was no question why most of the campers left as most had no screen house. But as a frequenter of buggy coastal National Parks, where there is no insect control spraying, I’m pretty up on the necessity of the screen house and it is a staple of the car camping venture now. Am I ever glad I had one on this trip.

All in all the trip was great, even though a bit shorter than expected. The horses were everywhere but the beach so I didn’t shoot them this trip. Did take a well led canoe tour of the bay (also surprisingly skeeterless) and that was pretty cool. The guide was an Assateague veteran and I had a lot of fun on that…

So all in all, got a lot of sun and a little more car trippin’ up the coast of Delaware and MD to Bethany and Rehobeth which are pretty cool little costal towns. I really liked Bethany which has a small village appeal and that northern east coast charm.

Cheers

Tripped up to DC last weekend to see Dale and Caroline who are back in the States from Jakarta. They’re here for about two months  where they can catch up with their peeps and show off their cute as a button, brand spankin’ new baby Allison.

It was great to see them as the last time was at their wedding there more than two years ago. We hung out with them Saturday and Sunday in between their visits to  other family and friends.  We strolled around Sunday with them, went to the Sunday market in Dupont Circle and then took the Metro down to Pennsylvania Ave and the Mall.

This is one of the coolest new building facades I have seen in DC and there is building everywhere there now. The pic doesn’t do it justice but I tried. A little too overcast to show off the brilliant colors of limestone, but the carving is pretty clear…

Capital Pride was having their parade and festival on Penn Ave this weekend so we all walked around through that (some bitchin antique cars on display there)….

and then over to the National Mueum of the American Indian which had been on the must see list for some time.  This museum is spectacular in design inside and out. Just a real joy to hang out there and look at all the detail. Crowds are nowhere near where they were when it first opened. I think back then you had to stand in line for about 2 hours just to get in. Here are a few shots inside and out…

It was an awesome weekend. Stayed at The Brickskeller Inn. While not exactly fancy, it’s in a great DC location, reasonable,  and has the famous Brickskeller bar on the first floor. The Brickskeller has the world’s largest beer list with over 4000 beers. Just about any beer you could possibly want. Great atmosphere in a premier DC neighborhood.

Saturday was kind of an unexpected treat with the Capital Pride Parade starting right outside our hotel. No question there was a lot of pride in that parade and the crowd was huge. It looked like everyone in DC came out for it, and just about anyone with local name recognition was in it. I’ll close this with a few shots of the parade….it was hard to contain myself with all that COLOR !!

Awesome new restaurant opened in Grandin Village recently and I would be certain this one is here to stay. The Issacs Restaurant (there is a menu on their web site) specializes in Eastern Mediterranean foods with salads, appetizers, sandwiches, and entrees a VERY reasonable prices. I think the three of us got a good sampling of the menu offerings and everything was delicious.

Apparently they are going to be open for breakfast as well, trying to fill a need in the Grandin area for quick full blown breakfast fare at reasonable prices.

I feel so fortunate to live withing easy walking distance of both Downtown Roanoke and Grandin Village. Really, Grandin has everything you really need with the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op and the Mick or Mack, The Grandin Theater, a book store, Pop’s Ice Cream and Soda Bar (with it’s fine weekend entertainment!), a furniture store, consignment shop, pharmacy, and coffee shop. Not to mention all of the great restaurants.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of working with the awesome Carl Menge of Pixel Perfect Photography for the wedding of Morgan and Josh at the beautiful Inn at Trivium in Forest, VA.Morgan and Josh were fantastic to work with and you can tell what a great couple they are by all of the friends and family that not only showed for the wedding but had a blast.

The weather was beautiful and enough can’t be said about how Donna and the staff at The Inn made everything go off without a hitch. This place is PERFECT for a wedding with beautiful guest rooms, a great ballroom that is has it all, and grounds that make for a beautiful backdrop and outdoor event space. And the staff was friendly and helpful. What more could you ask for.

Here are just a few shots of the day so you can check out this fantastic couple on a “perfect wedding day”.

She started showing up on the porch one day and pretty soon she was sleeping in one of the cushioned porch chairs every night. No collar, no tags (you really do have to tag your cat in Roanoke!) and she looked a little thin.

 So we adopted her.

But we really didn’t know what to do. Was she spayed? Did she have shots? Called Angels of Assisi and set up a budget “the works” package as we really didn’t want to invest in the cat until we knew she didn’t belong to anyone. So we got the first appointment which was more than a month away. No problem.

Then the rabies scare. My son comes home with reports that there was a rabit cat in the neighborhood that bit a dog and they had to put it down. Yikes! The cat didn’t LOOK like it had rabies. What to do!

By this time we decided that there wasn’t anyone looking out for the cat so we were going to name it and let it in the house. Olive the Cat….mostly because of her color but partially because of a really funny story a friend tells about high school gym class. Anyway, the cat is named but we feel certain an emergency trip to the vet is in order to get a rabies shot prior to the Angels of Assisi spa treatment.

So I picked a vet, took her for shots, found out she was already spayed and back home she comes almost $ 100 later. Really only planned on the $ 17 rabies shot but when I found out she didn’t need spaying…what the heck give her the works.

All was fine until later that week I’m out in the back yard chatting with Dana James, Roanoke’s premier stained glass artist (be sure to check her out on the Roanoke City Market) who happens to be my neighbor. Well, to make a long story short, Dana calls the cat by name……but not Olive….another name! As I inquired further, lo and behold Olive belongs to the “kitty corner” (pun intended :)) back door neighbor who we really don’t know very well.

CRAP! $ 100 down the drain not to mention that we really had taken a liking to Olive, and she to us….obviously.

Turns out that Olive is the cat child of a person who works at night and may not be home a lot. So THAT is why she adopted us. Plus the fact that we have a totally awesome front porch that anyone could enjoy….with or without refreshing adult beverages. But I digress. It turns out that Olive will really adopt anyone in the immediate area who takes her in. Apparently she has made her rounds.

So we pretty much kicked Olive out of the house. Shoo cat….go back home where you belong as your REAL owner surely misses you….sometime!

Well, Olive really refuses to abandon us so after a few weeks she has gradually squirmed her way back into having house priveleges. Which is ok by me…cause she really makes the place look homey. And she is an awesome cat. Beautiful colors and markings, friendly, and she goes outside! Bonus.

So this blog is dedicated to Olive the Cat. The cat whose home is wherever she lays her Cat Hat down. I think you really are OUR cat.

I will never forget the last two days as long as I live.

Yesterday was one of those surreal experiences most people never even experience, thankfully. It started out when I got to the gym and the news was tuned in on the locker room TVs. It started out with reports of one fatality and several injuries in a Virginia Tech shooting. But by the time I had finished swimming laps, there were over 30 people dead and numerous injuries in what turned out to be the deadliest shooting ever in the history of the United States. A shocking event that had stunned the country.

Yesterday I pretty much stayed glued to the TV and decided to go to Blacksburg today to see the campus and try to reconcile some of this so that it felt at least somewhat real.

I got to Blacksburg at about 8:30 am and came in on the Prices Fork exit, passing by the new Alumni Center which had turned into a sea of news satellite uplink dishes.

I proceeded downtown which was eerily deserted, then parked near Mike’s Grille and began to walk toward campus. When I got to Squires, there was the first indication of what had happened…a black poster with white lettering on the doors…..

On to the War Memorial which overlooked a near deserted Drill Field, a place which would normally be full of people crossing to classes at this time of the morning.

As the day progressed, I wandered about a campus that was deserted by students and filled with assorted media reps from all over the world. They were all looking for their story and apparently there was not much success to be had as the students who were milling about were reluctant to talk.

I spent a lot of time photographing those places that are so familiar to me. But today, they were just different. There was a feeling of sadness that dripped from the air, a stark contrast in mood to the backdrop of a beautiful sunny spring day complete with the usual Blacksburg wind whipped up by the tail of an almost passed Nor’easter. That storm had actually made the task of saving the lives of the most severely injured that much more difficult as it precluded the use of Lifeguard 10 to transport them to Roanoke.

I was photographing the lobby of Burrus Hall, trying to capture the two half staff flags framed by the front doors, when a figure quickly appeared in the viewfinder and rushed through the door. It wasn’t until I had taken the shot and looked up that I realized it was President Steger on his way to his office to begin what was likely the most difficult day of his career. I realized that I had captured Dr. Steger in one of the sequence shots. I always take sequences of flag shots because it is difficult to capture the best moment of their unfurl.

Later, as I was shooting the breezeway that tunnels through Burrus Hall from the exterior sidewalks, Dr. Steger left the building on his way to a meeting in Williams Hall and I got this shot. I just can’t help but think how alone he looks here. He’s did a great job yesterday answering reporters questions at the news conference, making it apparent that he is an accomplished leader.

The rest of these shots speak for themselves for the most part. As I finished up near the VT memorial set up for last night’s candlelight vigil, I signed the memorial and took this picture of it..

Afterwards, I got three requests to be interviewed by reporters who had apparently taken footage of me signing the memorial. Answering their questions really brought home what all this had meant to me. It has been a sad, sad two days and I’m pretty sure I will think about this everyday for a while.

This campus will never be the same.

Norris Hall is in the far background….Burrus Hall is to the far left…