Road Trip 2009: Part III

After leaving Bryce we traveled through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument on our way to Bluff, Utah. 

We stayed at the Desert Rose Inn in Bluff, Utah.  Appropriately there was a view of the bluffs from the Inn balcony.

Will and Ben enjoyed their stay.

The highlight of the trip for Will and Ben was visiting Four Corners.

Mesa Verde National Park was our last stop.  I have wanted to visit Mesa Verde for many years and the park did not disappoint.  

Will and Ben earned their Junior Ranger badges after demonstrating their knowledge of Mesa Verde to the Park Ranger.

I recommend staying at the lodge inside Mesa Verde since it takes over half an hour to travel from the park entrance to the visitor center.  In addition, the lodge motel rooms are comfortable with beautiful views. This was the view from our balcony.

Will spent part of his evening at Mesa Verde writing postcards.

road trip 2009: Part II

After departing Tucson, we drove north toward Flagstaff.  After countless trips to Flagstaff, I remain awed by the geographic transformation that occurs between Phoenix and Flagstaff as one proceeds from the desert floor around Phoenix to the pine tree covered mountains around Flagstaff.  The change in temperature is quite refreshing, too.  After lunch in Flagstaff we travelled north through the western part of the Navajo Reservation to Page, Arizona.  Upon arriving in Page, Arizona we visited Glen Canyon Dam and marveled at the vision and engineering that went into creating the dam and Lake Powell.

Of course you can’t visit Lake Powell and not get at least your feet wet. 

Many folks were enjoying the lake in their houseboats.

On our way from Lake Powell to Bryce National Park, we stopped at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary north of Kanab, Utah.  This is a wonderful organization; if you are an animal lover, please click on the above link to learn more.  (A timely aside, Best Friends took in 22 of Michael Vick’s pit bulls saving them from certain euthanasia.  They announced the first of these dogs had been formally adopted into a new home on July 17th, 2009.  Now that is very cool!)

After taking a tour of Best Friends and meeting several adorable animals, we continued on our journey to Bryce Canyon, though we all vowed we would return to Angel Canyon next summer to volunteer at Best Friends!  It is a remarkable place!

The Bryce Lodge was almost as scenic as the canyon and had the authentic feel I hoped for.  The hotel facilities were nice.  The boys enjoyed the view and clowning around!

Occasionaly, I get a brilliant idea.  Before we left on our trip, I packed two digital point and shoot cameras for the boys to use.  When we arrived at Bryce, I gave them to Will and Ben.  Ureka!  They spent the rest of our vacation taking photos.   They actually wanted to hike in order to take more photos!  

Below is Will’s favorite photo of the many he made:

Below is Ben’s favorite photograph of the many he made.

Below are a few of my favorite images:

Natures ability to persevere always impresses me.  Whether it be the weeds growing in a crack in my driveway or this tree seemingly growing out of  rock.

 

Bryce National Park surpassed my expectations and is a location I look forward to returning frequently.  There is a beauty and a sense of harmony that is difficult to describe.

road trip 2009: Part I

Earlier this summer we enjoyed the opportunity to take a road trip across the United States to visit my family in Tucson and to visit several national parks.  We had a fabulous time.  This post will highlight the fun we had in Tucson while subsequent posts will chronicle our travels through Glen Canyon & Lake Powell, Bryce, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Four Corners, and Mesa Verde.

Our stay in Tucson gave us the opportunity to spend time with my whole family.  Many evenings were spent playing games.

Will enjoyed matching wits with his Grammy at backgammon.

Will also enjoyed playing with his Uncle and Aunt’s cat.

We beat the heat by spending the afternoons swimming.

The cousins also enjoyed playing together.

One Saturday evening we visited the Sonoran Desert Museum, one of our favorite destinations in Tucson.  The museum stays open late on Saturdays in the summer.  Outside they have several statues of javelinas, which I always like to photograph the kids near.  While their cousins still enjoyed that, Will and Ben clearly feel too cool for that anymore.

I always enjoy the desert in the evening; and the evening of our visit to the museum was especially nice.

Our visit ended too soon as always.  But before we left I was able to capture a few additional images of my adorable nephew.

Everybody Wins! DC Gala 2009

Everybody Wins! DC, my favorite non-profit, held their 14th annual gala in March at the Washington Hilton.  Everybody Wins! DC attracts a dedicated legion of volunteers and supporters, many of whom spend their lunch hours reading to students in DC Public Schools.  Highlights of the evening included a silent auction and dinner, a live auction led by Bob Levey, a welcome by Executive Director of Everybody Wins! DC, Mary Salander, remarks by General Colin Powell, USA (ret.), a speech by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and award presentations by United States Senator Tom Harkin and United States Congressman Jim Moran.  What follow are a few of my favorite photographs of the evening.

Students from Brent Elementary Student Choir provided fabulous entertainment during a portion of the evening.

I want to thank Operations Manager Vinny Hughes for inviting me back to photograph the event and Leigh Chowdhary, Program Manager, for her assistance.  I look forward to the 2010 gala and encourage everyone to consider how they can support EveryBody Wins! DC’s efforts to build literacy within our schools.  Please visit Everybody Wins! DC’s webpage for more about the gala and their programs.

Ben’s Portrait

Ben celebrated his 6th birthday in March, and I did not get around to making his six-year old portrait until this week!  He and I can share the blame.  On several occasions, I wanted to photograph him, but he either was unwilling, had just eaten something messy, needed a haircut or …well you get the idea.  In short, it was two months late, but there will finally be an updated photo on the wall of “my baby.”

Bar Mitzvah Washington Hebrew Congregation

While Valentine’s Day is popularly associated with romantic love, I spent February 14th photographing Connor, his wonderful family and his good friends, who turned out to observe and celebrate his Bar Mitzvah.  The bond of love within Connor’s family is so evident that I could feel it.  I hope these images capture the mutual pride and love that I witnessed all day between Connor and his family.

 

Connor with his grandparents:

Connor and his grandmother:

In the evening Connor, his friends, and family celebrated and danced at the Copley Formal Lounge on the campus of Georgetown University.

Connor and his grandfather delivered the blessing:

I thank Connor and his family for allowing me the privilege of sharing this special day with them.

Happy New Year 2009

Best wishes for a joyous and healthy New Year!

Elkridge Furnace Inn

On August 24th I photographed the wedding of L & S as Allison Britton’s second photographer.  This lovely wedding occurred at the scenic Elkridge Furnace Inn in Elkridge, Maryland.  It is always an honor to assist Allison.  What follow are my favorite of the photographs I made for Allison.

I wish L & S all the best for a life full of peace and happiness.

Katie & Chris

On Saturday, August 08th, I had the pleasure of assisting Allison Britton in photographing Katie and Chris’ beautiful ceremony in Virginia.  

During the ceremony, they displayed a slideshow with photographs of Chris and Katie as children.

Katie’s expression says it all:  

After the ceremony, Allison made some stunning as well as fun formal portraits of Katie and Chris.  The next three were taken more or less over Allison’s shoulder:

Katie is dancing with her father, while Chris dances with his mother.

After the first dance, the father-daughter, and mother-son dances, everyone took to the dance floor:

Working for Allison was a treat as always, and Katie and Chris were practically glowing all day!  There were so many great vibes at this wedding I went home feeling good about the world.   I wish Katie and Chris all the happiness!

Dog Pub

In July the good folks at Dog Pub asked me to make some photographs of their two pubs in Baltimore and Columbia, MD as well as their brewery in Westminster, MD.  They are going to be enhancing their promotional materials and wanted some new photographs.   You can find the original Dog Pub location in Baltimore’s Federal Hill area.  The pub has tremendous charm.  Here a few of my favorites from the day:

  

My favorite location in the Federal Hill Dog Pub is the third floor.  What a great place to hang out with friends.

The Columbia location features the same great menu and beer with the added option of eating outside with your canine friends.  It is Dog Pub after all!

The Dog Pub staff are friendly as are the patrons.

In addition to the menu of delicious pizzas and salads, the highlight of Dog Pub for me is the beer.  They brew several varieties at their brewery in Westminster.

 

The next time you are in Columbia or the Federal Hill area of Baltimore, you should stop in to meet the great folks at Dog Pub and enjoy some delicious food, drink and conversation.  I recommend you try the Hoppy Dog beer along with an appetizer of fresh Mozzarella.