RMS Photography Blog

I know I was MIA for a while, and because of that I missed a few postings of photos and photo sessions. So in an attempt to keep the every day posting going (I know, I know, I haven’t exactly done EVERY day, but its better than it was, right?!), I am going to go back into the archives and get caught up on a few.

So here is just one of two familiar kids. We did a quick session a while back for two purposes. One was to try out my new hand-painted backdrop (that I spent a fair amount of money on), and the other was to take a few pics with the kids and mom. Mom had an idea to take shirtless photos of the kids, and wanted to do a couple of her and them together. I won’t be showing any of those (for fear of my life!) but this one turned out particularly well and has gotten quite a few of comments. It was my wallpaper for a while and I got it printed on beautiful pearl paper as a 16×20 and displayed in the dining room, too.

 So, did anyone stay up late enough to see the Olympics on Sunday night? If you didn’t, you missed one of the most exciting swimming events, I have ever seen. Which, come to think of it, I haven’t really seen that many swimming events, but it was darn exciting, none the less!

This was the 4×100m relay, and one of the 8 gold medals that Michael Phelps is attempting to win at the Olympics. This was also supposed to be the toughest one for him to win, and one that many of the announcers said he probably wouldn’t win. Apparently, the French were the team to beat, and many thought there was no way we could beat them. And to top it all off, one of the French swimmers said they were going to "smash" the American team.

So, add that all up, and then click on the link below to watch the relay. I was literally out of my chair at the last 10 seconds of this race! And if you aren’t watching this while they are on the TV, you really are missing out!!

American Men 4×100m Relay - Beijing Olympics 2008

Hey gang, I thought I would post a few actual portaits on the photography blog. So here are just a few from a session I did last week.

These three are brother and sisters that live in the neighborhood. The two girls ride the bus with Cooper, and their mom and Nicole are co-workers. So when their mom decided that she needed to refill a few frames at home with specific sizes, she called and asked if I could do a session with the three of them. Of course I agreed, and here are a few of the results!

Personally, I think they turned out great, but how could they not with such great models!

So, the Olympics are here again. I’ve never been a huge fan of the Olympics, primarily because many of the sports aren’t sports that we follow here in the US. However, for some reason we watched alot of the Olympic Games the last time around in Athens. It’s hard not to get sucked in to some of the emotional story lines that come up during the Olympics. So this year we are looking forward to them again, and are actually sitting here right now watching the opening ceremonies. I mean how bad is that, that we are sitting watching countries we have never heard of march in a circle and wave their flag! Such dedication!

I must say, that a little bit of the interest in this years Olympics are due to them taking place in China. When we were there in 2006 the "Bird’s Nest" had already been built, and we drove right by it on the way to the hotel on our first day in Beijing. There was also alot of signage around Beijing about the Olympics, including several countdown signs around Tiananmen Square keeping everyone up to date on exactly how many days it was until the games began, as well as the very large sign next to the Great Wall of China that I snapped a pic of. (See above!) But, China will always hold a special place in our hearts, and no matter how many people complain about the smog, the human rights violations or the tainted toys, I know that we will always think fondly about our trip there, and watching the Olympics brings back those great memories!

So, what am I going to be watching? I am looking forward to seeing Michael Phelps try for the record gold medals in swimming, am sure I will be stuck watching alot of gymnastics, and I will probably be sucked into the hype around the "Redeem Team" and watch at least one game.

I would love to hear what everyone else is looking forward to watching. Leave me a comment and let me know!

I blogged a couple of days ago about our trip to North Carolina. Well, as I mentioned before we did an impromptu photo session on the beach one night, and these are a few of the out takes from our kids part of the session!

Again, they were taken on the beach on Topsail Island, which is about 25 miles north of Wilmington, NC. We started the session a little late, so by the time got to my kids, the sun was going down fast! Not only that, but they had spent 30 minutes playing around in the sand and the surf, so when we tried to get them to settle down for pictures, it was a challenge! But, we still got some cute ones, mom was happy with them, and what the heck - it was vacation so how could you not have fun doing it! 

Cooper had to have a henna tattoo, and this is as close to flexing his muscles I could get from him!

This is Robert!

We did senior portraits with Robert last month, and we had a great time! We started at the studio where we did some cool shots with his trumpet, as well as some other casual/formal shots. Then we headed for the beach, where we continued with awsome, casual shots both on the beach as well as in the water. Robert was great sport about getting in the water, fighting off the mosquitos, and even the poor decision to take the new trail back to the car instead of walking the beach back!

Thanks for a great time, and I hope that you had as much fun as I did!

The other day a couple of co-workers were discussing jewelry that they both had. When I asked what they were talking about, I was told they were comparing their Pandora bracelet and necklace. As they compared the different pieces that each had, and talked about when they got them, and how long it took to collect them, I was intrigued! Apparently, it was an entire line of women’s jewelry where you buy a bracelet/necklace, and then go about purchasing different charms to go on them. I was told that there were quite a few to pick from, and that it was all fairly reasonably priced.

So I took this information home with me that night, and showed my wife to see if this was something she would be interested in. Turns out, she thought it was as cool as the other girls thought it was. And I thought it was cool because it’s like the gift that keeps on giving.. (Or something like that). See, every year I try really hard to find a cool birthday/Christmas gift for Nicole, and after 13 years it has gotten really hard! So the idea of a built in gift that I can get every year is really cool! And what’s even cooler is that she likes it, too!

So we took a trip to the local jewelry store over this last weekend, and she is now the proud owner of an oxidized silver bracelet with three charms. And I have great ideas for the next several birthdays and Christmas’..

So, if you are a girl, check out their sight and look around, it’s pretty cool. You can look at all the different charms, and you can even build your own necklace/bracelet - just drag and drop the charm onto the necklace. And it really is a great gift idea for your husband/boyfriend/significant other!

We went on vacation last month to Topsail Island, which is on the coast of North Carolina. It’s about 30 minutes north of Wilmington, NC, and about 1 1/2 hours north of Myrtle Beach. This trip has become a family tradition, as we go every other year, and this is our 4th time down there. It’s a great time! Lot’s of beach & ocean time, lot’s of golf, and lot’s of seafood! I’m not as big of a fan of the seafood as I am of the other items, but I am coming around! One night we had crab legs, and tuna steaks on the grill, and they were both pretty good. Of course if you soak anything in enough butter (ie. crablegs) it’ll taste good, right? And they say tuna steaks are as close to beef steaks as you can get without killing a cow, and those were actually pretty good, too.

So, one night we took all the kids down to the pier, and did a quick photo shoot. I mean you can;t go all the way to the Atlantic ocean and not do some beach portraits, right? So here are a few of the cousins.. Stay tuned for some of our kids later this week!

I have been Missing in Action for the last month or more! I know, I know I suck at this blog thing! I have a problem sitting down and just banging one of these out! I have like 5 different blog topics in my head right now, I just need to sit down and do them!

So in an effort to get this blog thing back on track, I am going to present a promise/challenge. I am going to attempt to post a post at least once a day, and the first person to e-mail me if I go an entire 24 hours without posting a post will win a free session! So make sure that you are checking back often in order to keep me on my toes!

So, one of the things that has kept us busy this summer has been little league! Cooper was in his second year of little league, and his first year of "pitch" style little league. Last year he played t-ball, and it was entertaining, but this year it is machine pitch, and it was a little more intense! Cooper actually had to pay attention, field the ball, and run the bases - and there were many tense moments as both mom and dad had to bite our tongues from the stands! Here are a few out takes from one of the games