Beaches in Ohio

Cleveland may not be the first place you think of as a beach destination, but it can be. This photo was taken when I went to a beach in Lorain, Ohio to take photos of the kids for a Mother's Day present for my wife. Picturesque light houses, small waves, and a nice blue lake are all you need besides two great kids to walk around and be themselves. We had the beach to ourselves and we had such a great time. 45 minutes and 180 photos later, we had some great ones to print and frame for Mother's Day.

Sunset

Sitting waiting and chasing sunsets is fun, but this photo was a photo of opportunity. As the sun set, it looked as if the Sun was setting fire to the sky. The reds and pinks were brilliant. I couldn't help but grab the camera and snap a quick one.

Besides, I had nothing else to do while sitting in a parking lot for two hours waiting for my daughter to be done with her school play practice.

Dreams

I have a respect for firemen that goes way beyond the obligatory, thanks for your service mindset. I think some people just say stuff like that because that is what they are supposed to say. I wrote about what got me fascinated at what our fire departments do on a past blog.  You can still read them over at my old blog. I wrote it in 3 parts.

Part I
Part II
Part III 

This particular series of blogs still is my most read work to date. When I snapped this photo of an Avon Lake Firefighter at a live fire exercise, it took me back to Thanksgiving 1994. I had a dream about this fire the other night. There are still unanswered questions I have about the fire; some of the firefighters on scene that night have retired or moved on and the official report destroyed. I have a feeling the pursuit of finding the answers might haunt be for the rest of my life.

The Capitol

Despite what you think about the people working inside the Capitol; this is a breathtaking building. One of my favorite things about Washington D.C. is the rich history. This photo was from our family vacation to Washington D.C. last year.

Photos are memories, and on this vacation we made many.

Maui

A year ago, almost to the day I was in Maui, HI. I had never been any further west than Hastings, NE and here I was leap frogging the entire country and heading out to this exotic location with my beautiful wife. Before our trip the wife and I were discussing a camera purchase. I did extensive camera research, and the intention was to buy a camera for everyone to use in the house, but make sure we could take quality photos. Two days before our flight, I purchased our Nikon D3100, a good mix of manual setting and guided settings for my daughter. It came with the standard 18-55mm lens and I also got a sweet deal on the 55mm-200mm lens.

I had taken 3 photos before our flight, so when we got to Hawai'i I was really just unpacking it and learning how to use it. User manual? No, I didn't have that. I learn by doing.

On our second day while the wife was in the spa getting her massage, I took the camera and sunscreen to the beach to learn how to use our new camera. What better way to learn, than in the most picturesque place in the country?

I sat in the surf with the long lens on and I snapped this photo.  I had fallen in love with taking pictures all over again.  Growing up I remember my mom and dad both having fairly nice cameras and I often would grab the camera at functions and take pictures. I remember I loved do it then and somehow over the years I had forgotten how much fun it was.

This was the picture that brought it all back, and I haven't stopped since. This was the picture that turned "our" camera into my camera.