The Class of 2009

Elkins Senior Moriah-Brought some really great outfits, I had a hard time picking a favorite image. Doesn't she look like Eliott on Scrubs?

Elkins Senior Courtney- I've photographed Courtney since she was in pre-school. Man, I am not that old!!!! What a great smile!

BUHS Senior Tanner-I've taken his photo since he was in Little League. Super nice guy, I don't think he was real excited about the whole picture taking thing but by the end he found out it didn't hurt a bit and it was more fun than he thought. We did some fishing shots and football and he's coming back soon with his truck.

Harman HS Senior-Travis-He really brought the stuff! Snowboard, Baseball, Golf! This guy does it all! We got some great snowboard shots....indoors in the middle of August.

Every Wedding is Different....

Every wedding is different and this one sure was! A few weeks ago we shot the wedding of Elizabeth White who I've photographed for I don't remember how long and her new hubby Jason Ferguson. This wedding was not your average wedding. The colors were pink and orange which reminded me of sherbert ice cream. It doesn't sound great but it sure did look super! The bride and groom arrived at the reception in a little British car called a Moke followed by the rest of the bridal party in golf carts. The cake top was an acrylic statue made from a shot we setup at their engagement photo shoot. The brides parents made very realistic manequins of the couple using the costumes we used in the engagement session and made the faces from shots also from the session. The guests were invited to take photographs with the manequins and they certainly took advantage of that opportunity. The manequins even made it out to the dance floor by the end of the evening. The highlight of the wedding for me was the couples first dance. It was a show that the bride and groom had secretly choreographed together and it was a huge hit.

Talk about a Grand Entrance!

Talk about a Grand Entrance! This past weekend Greg and I shot the wedding of former WVU Mountaineer Mascot Derek Fincham and his bride Hannah Swecker. As the newleyweds were announced Derek fired his musket and the couple ran into the reception in true Mountaineer fashion. The crowd went wild!

The wedding was held on the gorgeous family farm outside Beverly, West Virginia. You couldn't have asked for a nicer day. The highlight of the day was the presentation by the brides father of a beautifully restored John Deere tractor as a wedding present.

This is the second Mountaineer wedding we have done. Greg and I shot the wedding of Scott Moore and Jennifer Hedrick a couple years ago. You can always guarantee a good time at a Mountaineer wedding!

What I've been shooting lately.....

The last month has gone by quickly! We've mostly been shooting big jobs lately baseball teams and individuals, prom, dance groups and last minute seniors but we have had a few other interesting studio shoots too.

Rachel Franks is the newest cast member of the American Mountain Theater. The Theater is a Branson-esque music theater that is taking our area by storm. Elkins is quickly becoming a major tourist area for West Virginia and the show is putting Elkins on the map.

Geno Austin is a very intersting and talented character. I shot him for the cover of his upcoming CD.

Alaynah is such a cutie and you might have guessed from the photo that she is six years old.

I also had a great bridal session with Ashley Clingerman who is getting married next month but I can't show the images until after the wedding. We don't want Marc to see her ahead of time.

Toughman!

What a blood bath! Photographed Professional Boxer Kenny "Mr. Opportunity" George last night and what a fight! It was a real close match but Kenny pulled it off. Both guys looked like they had been hit by a truck at the end. Both fighters and even the referee were covered with blood and the ring looked like someone had been butchering hogs.

I've got to give local EMT Robbie Howell a big thanks! He saw I was having a hard time finding a good vantage point to shoot and gave me his spot ringside. What a nice thing to do and I really appreciate it!

Lets learn a lesson from this and watch for opportunities during the day to do something nice for someone. That really made my day and made me think I need to watch for opportunities like that every day.

Wedding Weekend

Wow, It looks like I missed the blogging month of March!
March is usually not a hugely busy month but this one was. Maybe it was because Easter was early. We had some extra basketball leagues this year and the seniors have been coming out with the spring weather. Its been mostly guys lately that have been busy with sports all year.

This weekend was wedding weekend, Christie and I both had separate weddings. It was the girls against the guys. Christie and Casey (our newest employee and graphics designer) shot the wedding of Katrina Mullenex and Lee Groves in Elkins while my son Greg and I shot the wedding of Jasper Carpenter and Michelle Tippett in Buckhannon. I haven't seen Christies images yet but Greg and I got some great shots. Christie loves weddings and does the bulk of our wedding photography but this year everyone seems to be getting married on the same weekends so we are shooting in separate teams several times this year.

Here is a shot of Michelle and her sister/Maid of Honor. I won't tell anyone that her sister actually lost/misplaced the grooms ring. It was later found and presented to the groom in the receiving line. This is the kind of thing that makes a wedding special for the couple and they will be able to laugh about it together for year to come.

Whats been going on?

Been pretty busy and got behind on my blog entries. I've been shooting WVU Basketball games and some local basketball and wrestling leagues and we made a last minute decision to go to PMA in Las Vegas to look at all the new goodies. (PMA is the biggest photography trade show in North America....all the new cameras and lab equipment are announced at this show.)
We were looking at the new lab equipment and picture framing stuff to expand our framing department.

While exploring Vegas I ran across the gallery of one of my favorite nature photographers, Peter Lik and they were doing a charity event with another artist that featured some fantastic boxing art work and 'Gentleman" Gerry Cooney and Ernie "The Black Destroyer" Shavers were making an appearance. In case you don't know they are heavyweight boxing icons from the past. I lucked out and had my picture taken with them. They are both really friendly guys and very big dudes and look like they could still kick some butt.

We took a little side trip out to Death Valley and got a few decents shots but I made a huge mistake by leaving early and not waiting long enough for the sunset and missed some spectacular evening light that would have made some great images. Oh well, next time I'll bring some snacks so I won't be tempted to leave early.

Whats next? I'm speaking at the Professional Photographers of West Virginia spring convention being held at Lakeview in Morgantown next week so I've been working on my program and I'm the print chairman this year and have alot of responsibility for the operation of the print competition. If you are a professional photographer you really should try to attend. We have several great speakers (not me) that will be in attendance. Check it out at www.ppwv.com.

Mountaineers WIN FIESTA BOWL!!!!

Wow, what a week! We started out arriving in Phoenix last Saturday. Not many Mountaineer fans to be found until about Tuesday before the game. Usually the Mountaineer bowl experience includes the chant of LET's GO .....Mountaineers everywhere you go but not this time. It was unusually quiet and Oklahoma fans were everywhere.

Media day was alot of fun, the team was very relaxed and the stadium was state of the art. They are putting everything in place for the Super Bowl coming up in a few weeks.

Kicker Pat McAfee interviews Coach Stewart and Pat White at Media Day.

Then came game day.......the pre game tailgates were nice but we seemed to be way out numbered by the Sooner fans.

Brady Campbell fires up the crowd of Mountaineer fans before the game.

The seats filled up with a respectable number of blue and gold fans , the team took the field

and when time ran out the Mountaineers were victorius by 20 points in what I'm sure will

be called one of the top football games in Mountaineer history and certainly the most exciting BCS Bowl game this season.

One of several sacks on Sooner Quarterback Sam Bradford.

Darius Reynaud scores with no Sooners in site.

Coach Stu gets a ride after the game.

Coach Stewart celebrate the victory with his son and a few thousand of his new Mountaineer fan best friends.

Pat White and Reed Williams show of some new hardware.

Keilen Dykes and Noel Devine are all smiles at the post game press conference.

Coach Stewart makes his point after the game.

We are now in Tampa and will be attending Imaging USA this week.
The class line up looks good with plenty of Photoshop classes. I'm
looking forward the most to hearing Sports Illustrated photographer
Peter Read Miller's program on Tuesday.

More Steelers Vs Jaguars

Here are a few more images from the Steelers Vs Jaguars game.

Willie Parker makes a move down the field. Too bad Willie

broke his leg in the next game and is out for the season.

Tough day for Big Ben as he prepares to be sacked.

Santonio Holmes grabs one in double coverage.

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We are headed off to shoot the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday and then on to Tampa for Imaging USA the next week. I really enjoy Phoenix and Tampa, so it should be a great time.

Jags over Steelers

Jaguars quarterback David Garrard hands off the ball off to Fred Taylor for another Jacksonville first down.
Despite rough weather and tough field conditions the Jaguars broke the Steelers home game winning streak.

WVU Vs Pitt

We won't talk about the game, I think we all want to forget that as soon as possible.

But it wasn't a total loss. Ty Pennington from Extreme Home Makeover was at the game filming a segment for the family in Fairmont that are getting a makeover this week. And General Chuck Yeager was honored by the band at half-time.


WVU President Garrison and Ty film the part where WVU provides the
kids in a family a free education.


Below Ty takes time out to pose with the WVU Cheerleading squad.




Below General Chuck Yeager poses with Governor Joe Manchin and WVU Mountaineer Mascot Brady Campbell.

WVU Vs Winthrop

Joe Alexander works his way into the hoop!

Big East Champs!

Coach Rod accepts congratulations from the fans after a huge victory over UConn.
On to the backyard brawl and just maybe the BCS Championship!

WVU Blowout!

WVU Mens Basketball has begun and they completely blew out Prairie View in regular season game two. The team has really grown physically. The best part of the game was when Joe Alexander went into the stands to go after the ball. He actually hurdled the two rows of folding chairs that sit courtside including the people sitting in them and landed in the bleachers behind.

Nobody was hurt and I don't think he even moved the chairs!

Here he is going in for two under the hoop.

Pittsburgh Steelers Vs Cleveland Browns

Had a chance on Sunday to photograph the Steelers / Browns game and did I ever pick a good game to shoot. Above Big Ben rumbles down the field for his record breaking touchdown!

Willie Parker carries the ball and a couple of Browns too!

Stuck in Phoenix

Coming home from Cabo....Due to long lines in security and customs we missed our connecting flight back to Pittsburgh and are ....stuck overnight in Phoenix. I can think of alot worse places to be stuck.

I thought I would take a minute and post a couple photographs taken with the new Canon D9 point and shoot camera. I got it just in time for this trip and haven't even had time to go over the manual but I managed to get a few nice shots. This is Canon's top of the line point and shoot
and best of all it includes the RAW mode that has been missing from the PowerShot line for the last few years.

Another beautiful Mexican sunset.

The lobby of the Hotel California in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

I'm on vacation this week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I am doing some work while I'm here, working on business plans for next year and taking lots of photographs. I guess a photographer can't really get away from his work if you want to call it that. This place is beautiful! I'll have to admit I am sitting around the pool and enjoying this while I'm here too because I know what the weather will be like in West Virginia in the near future.

Right now one of the biggest fishing tournaments in the world is happening here in Cabo and I happened to be at the check in point when this 300 lb Black Marlin was brought in. At that time it was in second place but first place was over 500 lbs.

The sunsets here are unbelievable too. Here is one I shot last night.

Darryl Worley and Emerson Drive Concert

Country music stars Darryl Worley and Emerson Drive performed live in concert......very talented entertainers.

More Festival Events

Governor Manchin anticipates the crowning of Catie Wilkes Queen Silvia the 71st.

Woodchopping compeition is always a ton of fun.

The Toronto Police Winged Wheels Precision Motorcycle Team......Not only are they great riders but a group of real nice guys!

Sunday Festival Events

Great Weather!! Really makes or breaks festival week....
Today was the 10K Run /Walk, the Childrens Parade and tonight was a Beatles
look and sound alike band.

The kids sure had fun at the fun run!