Watch the Birdie!

Happy Tuesday, All! At the very least, this post should be a little cheerier than yesterday's!

With each new Spring comes the influx of birds to the area which were not seen during the winter months. This is especially true of the Robins. They are everywhere! It's always a battle of wills to see which of us will tire first in the nest building game. This year she wore me down . . . . . actually, I gave up rather quickly when I sensed a "photo op" would be in my near future.

This evening the light was working in my favor so I decided I had better get my photo before my opportunity passed. I am amazed how quickly these four little guys ( and / or gals ) went from bald and blind little lumps to where they are now. It's got to be a bit crowded in their mud and straw castle nestled under the deck. Suffice it to say that "momma" was not overly enthused with me being up on the step ladder for this portrait of her babies even though I was eight feet away using a long lens. She was dancing all around the yard and all the while giving me a verbal lashing. Oh, well . . . she'll get over it!



Smile! Watch the birdie!

The Death of a Historical Treasure

Although I'm not a native Kentuckian, in the eight plus years that I've lived here, I've always been fascinated with the history surrounding this area. President Abraham Lincoln was born in rural Hodgenville, KY ( yes folks, he was born in Kentucky, not Illinois ). Abe's father, Thomas Lincoln, was a carpenter in this area for part of his life. Of the structures that he is credited to having helped build, The Lincoln Heritage House located in Elizabethtown ( as in the motion picture ) is one of the areas most notable. The four room cabin, erected next to an earlier single room structure, had been in existence since ca. 1805.



This was a grand log building, one with a rich sense of history, and truly cherished by the Elizabethtown community. The photo shown above was one of my very first landscape shots taken about four years ago. The cabin also served as the site that I used as a background for my first model shoot in the summer of 2007 shown below. Two great photographic memories for a newbie photographer!

Unfortunately, the splendor of this historical treasure came to an abrupt ending in the early morning hours of May 30, 2009 when it was destroyed by fire in a senseless act of arson. And although I'm not a native, I felt the same deep sadness as the other community members who gathered to view what had taken place. These latest shots will be ingrained in my memory for some time to come, but unfortunately not with the same fondness as the earlier ones.

The Lincoln Heritage House 1805 - 2009

My Very Own "Next Top Model"

Some photography subjects are tougher than others. Especially if you're relatively new to the game like I was a few years ago. Having acquired my first Canon DSLR, I set out to focus on landscape photography because it was a good place to learn the camera and hone my skills. Besides, subjects in landscapes rarely become impatient, annoyed, or bored while the photographer works at getting the shot just right!

It wasn't long before my interests turned to shooting people . . . umm . . . with a camera that is! My wife, Carmee's magazine photo session with Nashville celebrity photographer, Dean Dixon helped to seal the deal. What followed was the purchase of some studio lighting gear from the awesome folks at Alien Bees and I was on my way. Remember what I said earlier about landscape subjects? What I quickly found out was that Carmee had apparently used up most of her patience for photographers in that single "15 minutes of fame" shoot with Dean. This left me needing to corral another photographic "guinea pig" to fill the void. Enter, my daughter, Ashley.

Like many kids, all through her childhood years, Ashley had always been eager to be in front of the camera. Smiling and posing were as natural to her as breathing. I figured I had it made. Needless to say, I figured wrong! Somehow when kids hit the post high school years the opportunity to be in front of the camera changes from a smiling face to one that clearly says "You can't be serious"! It took quite a bit of coaxing before my U of L educated, Fine Art degree holding, baby girl would step back in front of the camera. As I said earlier, some photography subjects are tougher than others. But this one has always been worth the effort. She definitely hasn't lost her touch or her hold on her Daddy's heart strings.




Additional images can be found in my Model Mayhem portfolio at http://www.modelmayhem.com/pics.php?id=445641