renee and elliott

I would like to take a moment to appreciate my beloved publicly. Yesterday was his birthday. He has been so patient and kind to me… even during the tough times, when most people would’ve thrown in the towel. He told me that he stopped caring about his own birthday after 21. But since Twilli (our [...]

Pet photos get a bad rap, and rightfully so. They are often taken at eye level looking down with harsh on-camera flash. They are out of focus, motion-blurred, and composed poorly. Dogs are slightly more cooperative than cats. Many animals don’t like flash.

Fortunately, I have the equipment, knowledge, and patience to achieve better results.

Public transit gets a bad rap in South Florida. Many people I talk to dismiss it as inconvenient and inadequate. This perception is understandable. The infrastructure was not built with public transit in mind. There are so many good reasons to use public transit. I use it as often as possible.

In 2006 and 2007, glass blowing artist Dale Chihuly showed his work at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens in Miami Florida. The 2006 exhibit was the first time Fairchild had done anything like this. It was such a success, they did it again this year. The gardens are usually open during the day, but for a [...]

My Nikon D70s has served me well since January of 2006. The D70s has been to the Florida Keys, Tennessee (twice), and Italy. It was my camera of choice to document Ariana’s birth and early life. The instant feedback of the LCD screen allowed me to learn more about photography in the past 18 months than I learned in the past 18 years.

Today’s Photo of the Week may look like it was shot at some exotic tropical locale. It was actually shot right in front of my house. I looked out the window and noticed a quality of light like I hadn’t seen before. The entire sky was this deep shade of orange. Being proficient in Photoshop [...]

Every year, St. David’s Catholic Church in Davie, Florida hosts the American Bushido Open. Karatekas can compete in sparring, empty hand forms, weapons forms, and musical forms. Unlike the competitions that USA Goju Federation sponsors, the American Bushido Open is on a much larger scale and open to competitors from all styles. This was Austin’s 2nd year at the ABO.

Despite nursing a sprained ankle, Austin decided to compete. I know the sensei will highlight his accomplishments at Monday night’s class. This young man is a true warrior. Last year, he threw up and still won second place in the sparring competition. This year, he came to compete, injury and all.

I have been a faithful listener of Live365 Internet radio. (They offer a FREE basic membership, with ads. But if you want to get a VIP membership with them, send me email and I’ll send you a 30% off referral.) They have an excellent variety of stations–everything from Downtempo Electronica to Barber Shop Quartet! I [...]

Miami is where we call home. We live well outside the proper city limits of Miami, but it’s still within the Miami Metropolitan Area. Click on the picture to the left to view it at a larger size. I plan on posting a new photo every week. Digital photography has made it so easy to [...]