The right place at the right time

Today I was not in the best mood. It has been so hot here for so long that I have not been able to wander with my camera the way I love to do. I decided to go ahead and take a walk by the lake and almost didn't take my camera as I was walking the same ground I do every day but felt the need to take some shots of something even if I didn't end up keeping them. I sat on the side of a little footbridge watching the egrets and ducks by the edge of the lake in the shade. As I walked there I noticed a small butterfly near a flowering hedge and as I often had felt frustrated that I could never seem to capture a good image of one because they never sit still long enough.
All of a sudden I looked up and noticed a large butterfuly flitting about I wanted to aim my camera at it but figured it would be gone by the time I focused. Then I saw it suddenly stop, suspended in midair. It had become caught up in a spider web. Well not really a whole web, just a strand of one. I was able to take several shots of this beautiful creature before setting it free. As I watched it fly high up into the trees I felt so amazed at the timing of it all. And reminded that we never know when we will have the opportunity to make a real difference.

Another trip to the zoo

A few Sundays a year Lowry Park zoo here in Tampa has a $5 day. Today was one of those days and though it has been a rainy weekend the morning was clear enough for me to go. I was excited to learn there is now a Koala bear there now and wanted to get some pictures of it. Well they do indeed have one but it is hidden behind glass for some reason unlike most of the rest of the animals making it impossible to get any kind of decent shots :( Instead I had to settle for some fun monkey shots.

I have photographed these guys several times but they were almost always hiding someplace where it was difficult to get a good shot. Today however the momma was laying on a support that was close enough for me to get the above close up with my 70-300mm lens. The baby meanwhile played on the net below and I was able to get several really fun shots.

This next little guy is a freaky little dude. I do not remember what he is called but he always looks paranoid. Today he posed for me on top of a wooden pole with a nice background. You really begin to wonder what these animals think of all the crazy people staring at them all day.
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Then there are the mere cats, so much fun to watch. This one appeared to be posing for me. They do not give them a very big area here, the only other place I have seen them is at Disney's Animal Kingdom and of course they have some sweet digs there.


Finally there is this pic of a Chimp who was also posing nicely for me. Lowry Park is a really nice zoo. When the weather cools down a bit I will have to venture to the one that is a part of Busch Gardens, one of the few big attractions around here I have yet to visit.

Wedding: Tom and Amy

On September 5th, 2009 I was lucky enough to be chosen as the photographer of my dear friend Tom and his Bride Amy's Wedding. I have known Tom for 16 years, we met when we worked together at a Sam Goody music store in Annapolis, Maryland. The weather was perfect and it was a beautiful wedding.

I have been working on the photos all week, a lot of work, but fun work and I have learned a great deal which will help me with wedding in the future. These collages were created with an awesome piece of software called Lumapix Fotofusion Extreme. You can design albums, collages like this, and single sheet with a wide variety of background 'papers' and frames/matts.

To view more images from the wedding please view slideshow below.