Signs of Spring

Down the street from me is the beautiful Hickory Ridge Horse Farm. They have lovely manicured grounds and beautiful cherry blossom trees that bloom each spring. Every year I want to get some shots of them, and every year I seem to miss my opportunity. They only bloom for a few days and we have a lot of rain, which limits shooting times and hastens the falling of the blossoms. This year I finally got a chance and have posted 2 of the shots below. I love the curve of the road in the first shot. Every year, a few of the trees are afflicted with something that kills them, and the Farm is very good about replacing trees, but they're usually smaller than the originals and sometimes look like a different type of tree and sometimes don't bloom at the same time either.

Highland Horizon

One of the things I love about Spring is the beautiful scenery - new blossoms, green growth and clear beautiful skies. In Maryland, as summer draws closer, our skies turn white and haze is often our companion. This is a great time to capture the fresh beginnings of Spring. A project I've been working on is capturing some of the sights around my hometown, Highland, MD. Below are a couple of shots of one of the local churches. In subsequent posts I will share more images from my somewhat rural hometown. Next up will be the Hickory Ridge Horse farm - they have beautiful land and grounds.

Frozen in Time

I've been continuing to shoot weekly basketball. I'm lucky that the lighting in this particular gym is decent. This is one of my favorite shots recently. Tim is just frozen in the air with interesting body lines. Timing, proper camera settings, proper positioning and patience yield these kinds of shots on occasion.

The Eyes Have It

In my recent shoot with Savannah, I found her to be a bit challenging. She was not particularly interested in looking at the camera! I think she's used to her mom shooting her with a flash and I didn't use one, so apparently I was not nearly as captivating. Persistence pays off though and in these shots, not only do I get her looking straight at the camera, but she's got her eyes wide open!

Hawks Nation

I have recently had the opportunity to start shooting some rec league basketball. The games are at a facility called Leadership Through Athletics, which is a great non-profit that strives to develop today's youth into tomorrow's leaders. Their mission is to provide programs and opportunities that encourage leadership and values development, enhance youth educational experiences, and promote health and fitness. There can't ever be too many of these kinds of facilities!

Shooting basketball is new territory for me, but I have great mentors who have given me some advice and feedback on successful capture, and I appreciate that. These are three images that I particularly like from my first shoot. There is a lot of action in basketball and I hope you'll keep coming back to see more of the fun.

A Simple Prop

This is the first in a series from my recent shoot of the 6 month old Savannah.

She, of course, is a total delight. She has just started sitting upright by herself and I was lucky to get able to quickly get some shots of her sitting on the stairs. Mom's hands had to be very nearby in case she went over, but all went smoothly and there were no incidents. I love the classic feel to the poses and the strong color elements. It doesn't hurt either, that she's as cute as a button!

These were shot using natural light from a nearby doorway. You can see by the last shot that she's done for today. With children, you have to shoot pretty quickly as their attention span isn't long.

Spring is Here!

I know from family in the Western States, that it continues to snow out there, but here in Maryland, Spring has sprung!

I went around my yard today between the rain storms and captured a few of the first signs of spring. I love capturing detail shots like these and I love the vibrant colors after a dreary winter is over.