Jessica Kenney at Loveland castle

Last week was a special week because I got to see the spectacular Loveland Castle, then I got to take Soulful Country Pop singer Jessica Kenney and 3/4ths of her band The Enchanters to the Castle for an exclusive photo shoot after the castle had closed to regular visitors!!

Jessica's personal mission is to spread positivity and kindness to the world! I have to agree that the world could use a whole lot more of that!

We had a humid, but really neat time climbing around in the castle and exploring the rooms most guests don't have access to (like Sir Harry's bedroom for the crystal ball image)!

You can hear Jessica's latest record HERE!

www.jessicakenney.com

Thanks Jessica!!! You made it easy!

Allison Cobb Family Portrait!!

In an unimaginable stroke of luck, Georgia portrait sensation, Allison Cobb's family holiday to Michigan could afford a slight detour to Cincinnati OH for a beautiful portrait session!

Allison and I met through Mr David Ziser's tutelage. And let me point out Allison isn't "just a photographer." Allison is clearly a scholar of not only the camera but of light (and she's tremendous at Photoshop)!!

Studio... Outdoors... her images are stunning! She's the kind of photographer that can make mothers cry.

You should check out her work HERE!

photoshopbyallison.com/

It's really amazing! I can't believe she would make a special stop for portrait with me!

In fact I had to quit looking at her website because it was making me nervous wondering she was going to think of my portraits!

Thank you so much Allison, Jim, and AJ! I had a great time!! I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip!!

As for the rest of us, if you are in the Savannah Georgia area or traveling through you MUST STOP FOR PORTRAITS AT Photo Shop by Allison! You'll regret it if you don't!

Check her out here on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/photoshopbyallison

Or on her Website here!

Photo Shop by Allison

More Art and the end of the date.

Here's some more in the not people category.

Sometimes simple is nice.

In other news I'm not going to put the date on the posts anymore. I thought it would help me find things, but most of the time I just type the date of the weekend. :)Pointless.

The Krohn Conservatory 2011 Butterfly Show Volunteer Party

This year's Volunteer Party Portraits are located HERE! [LINK]

(instructions on saving are on the second image)

For Breakfast with the Butterflies gallery click HERE! [LINK]

For the 2010 Butterfly Show Volunteer Party Photos Click HERE! [LINK]

061711 the Krohn Conservatory 2011 Butterfly Show Volunteer Party

The thank you portraits are available by clicking the link on the post above this one or at the bottom.

I'm not going to start talking about how lucky I am again, but I did get to document the Krohn Conservatory 2011 Butterfly Show Volunteer Party! Big giant superhuge thanks to Director, Andrea Schepman, and Event Coordinator, Patti Boehnlein!!!

The setup this year is truly spectacular!

And not only did they have butterflies leisurely wafting through the air...

But Barbara from "Wings Over the Rainbow" brought three of her beautiful winged friends.

You can contact Wings over the Rainbow @ wovertherainbow@aol.com or 937.396.0950

Here's two (the other bird was hitching rides!)

But don't forget the butterflies!!

The butterfly show is only one of many terrific events the Conservatory offers each year. I highly recommend that everyone go once a season.

OJ Santiago and I were there all evening taking beautiful portrait with the birds and the butterflies as a thank you for all the hard work these people put in to make this year's butterfly show break all previous records!!

(This is my friend Lindsey, who helped us with her bunnies and puppy during the Spring Greening Weekend.)

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!

YOUR THANK YOU PORTRAITS ARE HERE

061411 Zack Attack!

I caught up with one of my favorite little guys and his wonderful parents last Tuesday at Theodore Berry International Friendship Park in Cincinnati. I can tell you now that when parents say "He's all hopped up on sugar." you can expect to be patient, calculated, and expect to run.

(A brief pause)

Here I think Zack was preparing for a showdown of will!

Luckily we were both on the same team. This kid is CUTE!

(High key running action!)

So then we ran around for the next 50 min.

Zack literally in mid-stride. :)

(Zack Attack)

It was an awesome time RAWR!

And mommy and daddy had fun too!

061711 Macgyver It

I'm pretty proud of myself for this one. :) When I arrived at Krohn Conservatory for the Butterfly Show Volunteer Party I set up my light stand and quantum Qflash in the event room where we had planned. When I talked to even coordinator, Patti, we decided that it would be a good idea to have a station for portraits in the main jungle room while people arrived. But what to do?!? I only brought 1 stand and OJ Santiago wasn't scheduled to assist for another 30 min!

Well first off, I should have brought another stand. But more importantly, I DID remember to bring duct tape!! That's right, but didn't just rudely duct tape my 580EXII to a palm tree or a passing butterfly, NO! We are professionals!

I duct taped it to the easel for my advertisement, and concealed the whole thing with the poster!

Having only brought 1 Zumbrella, what did I use for a diffuser? A handkerchief! It provides just enough diffusion to create well lit portraits like below.

This is what the whole set up looked like! No one could see the ugly flash and hanky setup. They just saw beautiful portraits when they were finished!

Check out the post above for the event room portraits!

061211 Anniversary day!!!

And now the most important thing, today is my 4 year anniversary with my best friend, Terri.

I love you sweetness! Forever!

(but now i gotta go cause i'm missin it)