Bridge to a New Year

I have taken some time to reflect on this past year and realized a few things. While things recently have been quite trying 2011 held a lot of peaks and valleys for my family and myself, personally and professionally. While recently life has been complicated I also remember that there were so many other huge positives. I would rather delve on those instances than the recent events. I guess the feeling of turmoil was fanned by the marked changes in our lives. We bought a home this year, our daughter started school, I started not one but two blogs and have dedicated myself to maintaining those blogs. These are some of the highlights, obviously there can be a myriad of additional items placed on this list some good and some not so good. Overall, the year was tumultuous to say the least, very high peaks and very deep valleys. I am not complaining, because as the saying goes, “every day is a gift.” There are many analogies to life, the one I relate to is that life is like an amusement park. Some people like the Ferris wheel (because it just goes around), others like to go on the rollercoaster (which has many lifts and falls), which do you prefer? Personally, I prefer the rollercoaster; however that ride can be scary at times.

I cannot tell you what the upcoming year might have in store, maybe 2011 will serve as a catalyst for many other endeavors and accomplishments? All I can hope for is that we all make it through with as much life, well-being, and love as we have had this year. Let’s all be thankful for the air in our lungs, the food on our tables, and for how amazing it is to be alive right now!

To my entire viewership and all of those whom you may touch Happy Holidays and a Joyous Prosperous New Year!

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My Favorite Time of Year

Christmas and New Year’s are my favorite holidays! I have been insanely busy in the past few weeks and have not felt “into it” at all. However, we are now finally settling into our new space and life has become manageable again. It is now time to sit back and enjoy this time of year for the beauty that it really is. I know most people think of this season as gifts and shopping etc. I prefer to think of it as the time when family and close friends come together to share some time. It seems extra special when you can gather during “The Holidays” for some reason. In our family it means getting dressed up (which I love), eating special food, some spirits, and late nights. As a kid the late nights were a real treat, today it’s more about the entire experience, especially since my daughter came along. Giving her some of the more traditional experiences has become a primary goal for my wife and I. Hopefully she remembers it when she grows into obnoxious adolescence. Personally, I love contributing to the foods and have begun to incorporate my take on the traditional dishes (psst.. some of these can be seen at fridayswoon.wordpress.com).

The image you have here is one that I feel embodies the feelings I have for the season. Everyday I am discovering more beautiful areas in our new neighborhood and this is another view I came across recently. Unfortunately, this is not the entrance to our home, but it is a great example of simple effective tasteful decoration. All too often people get wrapped up in the opulent and over doing the entire event. My opinion sometimes less is more folks, the Holidays don’t need to throw up on your home for people to know that you take the Holidays seriously. So to the tasteful person who decorated this building my hat is off to you and Happy Holidays!

New Look

It’s the Holidays and I felt it was time to re-think my perspective on a lot of things. I have felt very uptight recently and now feel there is a weight off of my shoulders. This has affected my way of viewing my images as well. To this I have added a new variable LENSBABY!!! For those of you not familiar with Lensbaby, it basically isolates the subject of your image and distorts other portions of the image. Depending on your settings you can distort more or less of the image. This is the ultimate in new perspectives and I hope to do this wonderful invention justice. Out of the box I captured this image.

I hope you enjoy this and I am looking forward to applying this lens in many other aspects of my photography.

A sample of a portrait as well: