I love the third week of the month when i get to run to my mailbox and see all of the shiny new covers.  It’s like Christmas – twelve times a year!  However, when you subscribe to as many magazines as I do the guilt factor sets in.  It breaks my heart to think about how many trees I’ve killed to get my fix.  Also, I can’t read them all in a month (yes, I told you there were a LOT of subscriptions!), so they start to stack up ….

And then my saving grace – the iPad!  Just one of the reasons I was so excited about it was the iBooks and Zinio apps.  The images look great – in fact, I think they look better than their print counterparts.  So along comes my iPad and my office is getting a little cleaner every day!

Earlier this month all got together to celebrate my little cousin’s 2nd birthday and it was fun just to see everyone again.  I miss our summertime cookouts so much!

To view the slideshow just click on the picture below:

**If any of my fellow photogs already have one, let me know what you think!

Trust me, I love technology, but this week I have really stopped to think about what kind of impact it is making on our society.  While one part of me embraces our forward thinking and evolution, another part wrestles with the notion that we are setting ourselves up to be run by machine.  Where does that leave us?  How many jobs will be lost to technology in the future?  I think it is time to look past the actions of our Presidents, past and present, and start analyzing our own actions and responsibility on the evolution of our future.

So, if you have made it past my soapbox spill, here is a truly great look at the last days of the Rocky Mountain News.

Final Edition

The exhibit, Portraits of Raleigh: Images of a City and Her People, was originally scheduled to have a normal run but has now been expanded to 6 months, with one group of 20 photos being displayed for 3 months, and a different group of 20 on display for the second 3 months.  The first exhibition will open on March 6th, and the second will open on June 5th.

The artists scheduled to appear (in alphabetical order):

• Jameka Autry
• Diana Bloomfield
• Carson Boone
• Steve Burnett
• Charlie Cawley
• Matt Fern
• Judy Fowler
• Christina Hunsicker
• Ryan Irelan
• Natasha Johnson
• Kitty Miller
• Bryan Regan
• Shawn Rocco
• Sterling Stevens
• Doug Van de Zande
• Jim White
• Jimmy Williams
• Marshall Wyatt

Although a few have asked to see the shot, I really think I’m goiong to wait… and make you all come to the exhibit!  I’ll have more details to share in a few weeks as we get closer to the exhibit date!

For more information, visit the official post.

• update wedding website
• finally actually put pictures on portrait website (!!!)
• read magazines (no kidding – I had three 2″ stacks of magazines…some from 2007….ughh)
• clear out Tivo before he rebels (yes – tivo is considered a “person” in this house)
• organize office (ok – this only got partially done, but it’s a start)

One of the things that I did this past Fall was to enroll in the Documentary Studies program at Duke University.  I had been interested in the program for quite some time and I finally decided to make some time and do it.  Honestly it was a blessing in disguise and could not have come at a better time.  This year was busy….and I think that is putting it mildly.  I stared off the year with some free time, but somewhere around April or May I lost track of who I was.  By October I was really actually close to being miserably overwhelmed.  I forgot what even made me happy with photography and my documentary studies class helped turn that around.

I was further inspired by the documentary I saw on Sally Mann – What Remains.  She says simply “The things that are close to you are the things you can photograph the best, and unless you photograph what you love you’re not going to make good art”.  So true!  So inspiring!  And so a new goal surfaced; I have started a new site showcasing my fine art and documentary work which will be live on Friday.  Hopefully it will lead to new projects in the future.  And so, from now on I will be talking more about my every day life and sharing more random photos with you all….hopefully you won’t mind too much!

I’ve never believed much in resolutions because they seem too much like rules you are itching to break.  I do however always set goals and so far things are off to a good start!  One of my biggest ones is actually dusting off my Hasselblad and F100 cameras and start shooting film again.  I miss it!  Over the break I played around with a bunch of toy cameras (mostly my Holga and Pinhole) and I can’t believe that I ever stopped shooting film.  My nostalgia even has me thinking that I might even take some time and start developing my own film again

I’m also vowing to blog EVERY session I do (last year was kinda not good on that front – sorry!).

Hope your 2009 is absolutely fabulous!