Last Day of the First Year

The bittersweet last day of Kindergarten is today. My little girl is growing up way to fast. From Elmo and Dora, Tabley Shang and Journey Wolf, Webkinz and Club Penguin, to Pokemon and Nintendo DS, things change fast. In one way it seems like it was yesterday she was cutting her first teeth, and now she's losing them.

Jay Bruce didn't get called up....He called the Reds down.

Super Savior extraordinaire Jay Bruce finally made the trip to Cincinnati after a former top prospect and 3 million dollar 0 for 8 machine Corey Patterson has failed to produce. Bruce has had nothing left to prove for a while in the minors claiming the minor league player of the year last year. He is not just the Reds top prospect, but all of baseball's. Bruce's debut was a good one as he went 3-3 with 2 walks. I am very glad I went to see Bruce play in AAA before he was called up. I went on Jay Bruce action figure day. Their is a reason it wasn't a bobblehead. Jay Bruce head doesn't bobble, the rest of the world shakes violently (why do you think he hits so good).


This Reds team now has its major pieces of the future in place (minus Homer) and are ready to show us what they can do. The west coast trip started horribly in L.A. but started to turn around in the San Diego series. If he Reds hadn't blown 3 saves in the 18 inning marathon game they would be on a 4 game win streak and looking good again. I expect the Bruce and the Reds to take care of the lowly Pirates, and then Volkie gets to shut down the Braves on Friday. Volquez is so good that he gives up game winning homeruns and his 1.3x something ERA still goes down! The Reds will look to return the favor on two teams that swept them earlier in the season.

Hitler is a Reds fan.

Wow, I had no idea it had been nearly a month since I last posted. I've thought about posting plenty....just never did. Mostly Reds stuff. So I will rant a little about my Redlegs.

Just as I was about to give up on them after they finally show signs of life. Taking 6 in a row from the Marlins and Indians, both first place teams at the time forced me not to shave for a week and enticed me to buy some JTM burgers. The Marlins series included the Paul Janish game winning hit in his MLB debut after the team blew a 6 run lead in the 9th inning. The Indians series really got me excited. Huge crowds, great pitching matchups, bobbleheads, and walkoff homers = fun times. Arroyo and Dunn have finally started performing giving the club a huge boost. Volquez continues to captivate me. If only Griffey would start producing. His homerless streak is reaching a career high for him, and he still refuses not take a free base by laying down a bunt. I hate to say it, but its time for him to go. We need some fresh hot hitting Jay Bruce out there. As for the title of the blog, I have went through a million titles in my head before I seen this great clip on Redszone. Enjoy.

Lovers and Fighters

This is why I love photography. There are no boundries, no rules. Hmm...kinda sounds like love and cage fighting to me. You may capture a moment, pure emotions, stories, art. It all comes down to what you are shooting and how you want to portray it. I was fortunate enough to cover the American Fight Leagues MMA pre-event party in Atlanta, and the next day meet with my first wedding photography clients to shoot some engagement photos. Interestingly enough, the day of the fighting event at Philips Arena falls a day before the wedding.

The Fighters:


The AFL Atlanta event was plenty of fun. All of the fighters seemed like very cool guys. Maybe its just an Atlanta thing, since everyone I have ever met in Atlanta has been extremely nice and outgoing. The photos of the event looked a lot better than I thought they would since there was next to no light in the building. My SB-600 Flash got a real workout. My f/1.8 50mm lens also a life saver. It was a little long in reach tough, but I needed every ounce of light I could squeeze out of that little fantastic lens. There where plenty of times when people where posing and it was so dark my camera hunted and hunted to find a focus point. I can really see where the professional 17-55mm Nikon 2.8 lens would have been very handy for a event like this.

The Lovers:




Joe and Jina. I would like to thank them for the opportunity to capture such a important event in their lives. I also want to thank them for being a very photogenic couple. Lol. Never hurts to have good looking young people in your portfolio. The little engagement session was a fun experience. Watching Joe and Jina interact with each other was a blast. These guys smile nonstop because of each other. The shot took place at the site of the wedding and at Mill Springs in Monticello, KY. Mill Springs opens up a wide set of photography challenges. Harsh and spotty shadows from all the overhanging trees ruining what would be great pictures in most areas. When you do find a good shady spot your background is usually extremely bright. I am quickly learning how useful it is to use flash outside in such situations.

Windows , Big Lenses, and Presidents.

The day before the Kentucky Democrat primary election, former President Bill Clinton made his way through Richmond. When I heard he would be speaking in front of the court house I knew where I wanted to get some shots from. A 3rd floor window across the street in an apartment that belongs to a friend of mine. From the apartment we had a great view of the scene. However, after telling everyone I wanted to take pictures from there, everyone came to the conclusion it was a bad idea and I would be sniped by secret service agents. Sure enough I did notice I was being checked out quite often by some military personnel with binoculars from a roof top. Amazingly, I forgot to bring my wide angle lens, and missed out on some shots that may have been cool from my vantage point. I really wanted a vertical shot that included the entire court house, the American flag, the crowd, and Clinton. After a while I decided to head down into the crowd and grab a few shots from there. I instantly noticed I couldn't see anything from down there. After looking around for a good spot I ask some guys in charge of the sound system if I could jump on the back of their truck for a few shots. The guy threw me his hand, and up I went to a much better view (much like the media that was there). As soon as I get up there a guy holding a sign "Democracy not Dynasty" hops in my way. The sound guys were amused. Then Hillary supporters raced to get in front of the anti-dynasty guy with their Hillary signs. It was amusing watching them jockey for position.