May 21, 2014

A 2014 senior portrait session with Ms. "A"

Lately my running & exercise has been pretty much non existent but I can definitely say that my camera has been getting quite a workout. From my recent Florida trip to doing a portrait session this past weekend for an upcoming 2014 graduate.

We decided to make the drive down to Historic Fredericksburg, VA to do our shoot. I remember coming here last year with my daughter and absolutely loved it! What I love the most is that it is not packed with people and it provides plenty of good spots for photo opportunities.


It would have been a shorter drive by simply going to Old Town Alexandria. Old Town Alexandria is beautiful & the water scenes are nice but the last time I went there, I found it to be such a hassle finding a decent parking space, plus it was crowded. I don't mind crowds but when your carrying a bunch of camera equipment it can be a pain.

Here are a few from our session.






While walking around I ran into the manager of my local Starbucks. Years of stopping at his store every morning to get my fix (aka dark roast) and chit chatting, you learn quite a bit about someone. I already knew that he lived in the area and so I asked if he could recommend any other good photo locations. He recommended that I check out Chatham Manor. I am so glad I took up his suggestion, definitely worth the visit.

my lovely daughter


Chatham Manor is a Georgian style mansion that sits on a hill that faces Old Town Fredericksburg overlooking the Rappahannock River. It is free to walk the grounds & has some beautiful views. We got there well after 4pm & did not have a lot of time to really check the place out but I will definitely go back when I have more time.

Until next time.....D

May 18, 2014

Our two furry hosts while visiting Florida


I was going through the rest of the pictures from our trip and totally forgot about my brother & his girlfriends little doggies.

 


Meet Gizzy & Breer (aka Margaret). Long but funny story about her bad haircut on why she is also known as Margaret.










May 16, 2014

Cape Canaveral ~ Cocoa Beach (Day 4 our last day)

Our flight back departed at 7:50pm so we spent part of our day going to the beach. We drove to Cocoa Beach & Cape Canaveral.



It took us about an hour of driving from Orlando. We decided to go get something to eat before heading to the beach, so we stopped at Subway.


We happened to have parked next to a huge monster truck & I had to get a picture to show the comparison.
I really enjoyed the beach, it sort of reminded me of the Outer Banks where you pretty much have the beach to yourself. I much prefer the quiet low key beaches verses the touristy overcrowded beaches like Ocean City or Virginia Beach.






When we left I couldn't help but notice the bug war attack that was launched on my brothers windshield from our drive to the beach. Crazy how many bugs there were!


We stopped to get some ice cream & they had this sign outside of the shop. 


When we arrived back at my brothers house his girlfriend had a surprise birthday cake and presents for J. That was so sweet & he was so happy!



After eating cake and packing up our suitcases it was time to head to the airport to say our goodbyes & head home on our flight.


The flight home was good and J kept occupied with the tablet. We arrived at night and I had to take a picture of the dramatic looking clouds from the airport parking garage. 


Overall it was a great trip and J loved his surprise birthday present. A big thank you to my brother D & his girlfriend M for hosting us and letting us stay at their home. We love you guys !


Gatorland (Day 3 of 4)


I thought my legs & feet would be wore out from all the walking we did at Disney the day before but it was not the case at all. I guess I can thank running for strengthening my leg muscles.

We slept in a bit and got to Gatorland just after 1pm.

Gatorland opened in 1949 & has been privately owned by the same family for 64 years. It was founded by Owen Godfrey who opened the park with the name "Snake Village". In 1954 it changed to Gatorland. The park is 110 acres with a petting zoo, an alligator breeding marsh, a bird sanctuary, swamp walk area & a 1000+ foot zip line with 7 platforms. They also have a gator wrestling show, gator jump show & a reptile/snake show.


Coming here after visitng Disney the day prior, I wasn't expecting much & almost wished we had visited this park first. I was afraid that J would not like it as much but he really had a good time. We saw all kinds of animals from raccoons to albino alligators. 






 The reptile show Up Close Encounters was quite entertaining. These 2 guys were really funny & good at keeping the kids attention. After the show, they let you hold an Albino Burmese Python. They charge $5 to hold the snake, this fee/donation goes toward the care of the animals.

Diamond Back Rattlesnake

J holding a Albino Burmese Python


We walked through the breeding marsh and bird sanctuary. I really loved it, so many picture opportunities. 






not sure what was up with his legs & part of his wing



obviously they have claimed this tree
Alligator taxi 

Wood Stork was or is on the endangered species list


We watched the Gator Wrestling Show. I thought it was kind of cheesy & a bit silly but the all the kids seemed to love it. J was first in line to sit on the gator.



My favorite part of the park was visiting the Very Merry Aviary. It is an enclosed room filled with 100+ Parakeets & Lorikeets. You can purchase a seed stick for $1. They were so cute & will come sit on your shoulder, arm or anything just to get a chance to eat the seeds. While holding the stick, bits of it would fall and land on my feet. I looked down to see a handful of them hopping around on top of my feet and pecking at my toes. It took everything I had to keep from kicking my feet because it tickled so bad.










We were on our way to the last show of the day, the Gator Jumperoo Show, when they were transporting the big parrots.




The Gator Jumperoo Show was where we got to see the gators jump out of the water to eat the hand held chicken pieces.


Overall it was a fun park to visit.