God 's Heroes

On Sunday, as is the norm, I went to church. Now that's not shocking, what was, was the awesome experiences I've had that are just witness to the heroes God puts in this world if we pay a little attention.

As is abnormal, this Sunday I had a shoot at 9 to photograph "Max" Zintsmaster, who was awarded the first Scout and Zoe Exceptional Canine award. Now Max, upon looking at him would just make you wonder how a dog who is 115 in dog years is exceptional. But, much like senior citizen's centers aren't places of great excitement or action, they are a storehouse of amazing stories and Max's story is similarly exceptional.

Max is a 15 y.o. German Shepherd and most importantly, why he's the prize winner of this award is because he was a "live" dog searcher at Ground Zero right after the World Trade Center was destroyed. I believe he could do cadaver work as well, but amazingly with the right commands could look for living people too. I'm not exactly sure how many lives he saved but he and his owner/trainer Annette are true heroes. Honestly, she's as much the story as Max, she volunteered to help, which is truly the definition of a hero. Someone that goes out of their way and gives up themselves as a total sacrifice despite their normal path of life. This story will be broadcast Thursday July 8 on News8 with Dick Wolfsie so I'd highly recommend watching it as the story is tear jerking, lovely and really really beautiful. Props to Cindy Dunston Quirk of Scout and Zoe's for finding this exceptional story!

The other Hero I came across Sunday was at church and I don't know if the award should go to the leaders of the youth at our church or to the youth themselves.

In other words, sacrifice and going above and beyond ones self abounds as a result of the Youth at our church who returned this week from Camp Amigo. So, that said, John and Karen Newell as the leaders of the youth really deserve a lot of praise and kudos as they've given of themselves for years serving as the leaders and I think as part of their thank you, was the result of the youth's experiences at camp. The reason I think the youth are heroes was just the way they gave back at church this Sunday and shared their hearts and were "greater than themselves" but were like Heroes of God as well. I wouldn't call them Angels, I'm sure their parents would laugh heartily at that, but it was so cool and refreshing to see how their lives changed over this past week. I can't wait to see what happens as a result.

So there you have it, a hero from a decade ago and heroes in the making all experienced and photographed by me in one day! How amazing and blessed am I!?

To see more about Max check out www.scoutandzoes.com I'm sure there will be a link to the full story and when it will air on TV this Thurs.

To see the pics bigger just click on them and enjoy!

A & E's Engagement Session Slideshow

So I've had Aaron and Elizabeth's Engagement session done for a bit now, but I haven't put together a slideshow until today. Aaron's a musician and I'm crossing my fingers that when you see their wedding slide show, His music will be the soundtrack.

Can't wait til Sept!

moving and early morning storms

So those in the know, know I've moved. The very first POTD pic on my Facebook is a view from my old place. I don't think much of the view, hence the move... next door! Yep, it was hardly a move, I could have just knocked out a hole in the wall and walked right over to move everything in.
Very special thanks to my bud Robby Hahn for helping move me. You rock bro!

Anyway, I've decided to re-design the spaces I used before and one particular area is the nook right off the kitchen/livingroom. As you can see, it's an East facing window, which I love because I love morning light. (Part of the reason for moving over here). But with the nook facing East and me wanting to use it as an office space, it's pretty hard to see my bank of monitors when Mama Nature is wailing "blinded by the light" to me. So I spent way too much time looking for blinds/curtains something to block the light and still look kind of decent and the result is Voila! I know, it's nothing to write home about, so mom, you know now. Don't be shocked!

So that's the unpretty part of my otherwise normally diehlicious posts I put up. Now, for the backyard photos. It's 12:45 AM and I hear thunder rolling like I've not heard since my honeymoon in Vegas 8 years ago. I step out, it's dry, wind is breezy, but above me is a light show like I've only seen and experienced once before. Ironically, my old apartment, the noisy, parking lot facing, west coast side one, had the best show in the world, of course, I couldn't see it, but what I could see and what I captured are here for you to enjoy. I did some fun Lightroom adjustments, realize, it's almost 1am, very little had been touched to the general exposure, some white balancing is about it. I did a couple virtual copies with different Lightroom presets. My point is that, it was bright as day and that night, we got over 5 inches of rain in just a couple hours in certain places over town. A small dam burst on the West side of town and more rain is in the forecast!
Enjoy the photos and if anyone knows a good Ark maker, lemme know! Oh, and feel free to click on them to make 'em bigger if you want.

IMA gardens with Taletha

I had a great time spending the afternoon at the IMA gardens shooting and exploring with a new friend, Taletha.

Despite the moderate humidity and harsh light(aka, full sun) which if you didn't know is NOT great to shoot in, I was really, really happy with the results.

Good times had by all! Can't wait to shoot in the new Arts Garden that's part of the IMA. Indy rock's y'all!

Townhall with KeyBank's CEO Henry Meyer

I love KeyBank! Granted they're my largest corporate client currently (applications to supplant them are being taken...), but I've had the pleasure to serve Key over the past two years and whether it be VIP Branch openings, or private banking events, whenever I'm around Key people, I feel like I'm not dealing with bankers. I'm sure each of these people are phenomenal at banking, but that's not my point. From the top down with president Gary Hentschel to the tellers at every branch I visit, I feel like I'm part of the family and that's pretty cool considering Key is one of the largest regional banks in the midwest. I'm sure I'm not saying that right, but that should just validate to you, that my post isn't "planted".

Enjoy the show and if you'd like to see all the pics, go to http://pictage.com/855867

Cheers!

Noble of Indiana 2010 Golf Classic Slideshow

2010 Noble of Indiana Golf Scramble

I had the pleasure of serving Noble of Indiana as their event photographer yesterday at the Sagamore Club for their 5th annual Golf Tournament.

As you all know, I'm a big lover of the game of golf and similarly love to shoot it. It's a game of beauty, spaces, skill, tacet moments and passion. Friendships are built on the course and stories made as well as told.

I think as you will see in my pics and my slideshow which I'll hopefully have up by days end all those things will be obvious. For those interested in buying any of my pics, 10 % of my proceeds go back to Noble so don't be bashful. http://pictage.com/844261

Liz Fraim, Jennifer Faulkner Ferrell (Jen do people call you JFF? :) ) and Rita Davis as well as all the others involved in every aspect including a very large army of volunteers put together an incredible event.

I unfortunately missed the dinner and awards. Coach O'Brien spoke among others and I'm sure I missed a good conversation with a classy guy and that's exactly the feeling I got from the entire span of this event.

Often times you go to golf scrambles and you get a lot of otherwise good guys that just go wrong and behave badly. I never got that feeling once yesterday. Every person at this event were folks I could say I'd be happy to get to know and wouldn't be ashamed to call a friend.

Investigate Noble of Indiana if you don't know much about them go to www.nobleofindiana.org Invest or volunteer in what they do. They really are a Noble cause doing great work in this city.

More diehlicious portraits... Thanks Amy!

This morning I had the opportunity to do a series of headshots for Century 21 Agent Amy Corey. Amy's a top producing real estate agent and is in the process of redesigning and refocusing her website under the design and wisdom of Angie Compmorato of A & G digital consulting.
Check Amy's website out now at http://www.amylwalker.com and then go back in a couple weeks and see how much different it will become.