The studio will be closed through the 23rd of August. We are heading to England to visit my husband’s family as well as a few photography assignments. We will be staying in a lovely English farmhouse in Essex about a 40 minute train ride to London. While in England we plan on several trips to London, a Paris day trip, and to celebrate my daughter Rowan’s 13th birthday on Friday the 13th – we will be in Liverpool – the birthplace of her absolute favorite band of all time – The Beatles!!! I’ll be posting pictures every chance I get here on my blog and on my Facebook Page. If you are inquiring about scheduling a session with me – please contact me after the 23rd of August or send me an email and I’ll do my best to answer as quickly as possible. Once I’m back – I’ve got lots planned for the Fall including a Back to School session on the 5th of Sepember and I’ll be posting my available dates for Family Holiday Sessions.

For now – stay cool in this Florida Sun and I look forward to coming back refreshed and ready to go for the busy Fall Holiday Season!!

OFF ON VACATION – STUDIO CLOSED UNTIL AUGUST 23RD – ENGLAND BOUND!!!

Did you know that there is a free aquarium and zoo in Gainesville? Well kinda! Trying to keep the kids occupied and cool in the middle of one of the hottest places in Florida can take some imagination and patience. I wanted to get the kids off the couch and out of the house for an hour or so this week and since I had to run some errands – the dreaded S.W. 34th Street Post Office one of them – I bribed them with a trip to a new place that you can make you’re own cupcakes and a few new iphone games to keep them happy in what was sure to be a long line at the post office. We never managed to find the cupcake place but while looking for it we stumbled upon some hidden gems – Aquatropics and The Reptile Store located on S.W. 34th Street in the Sweet Bay Shopping Center. As we entered the Reptile House we were greeted by a giant tortoise that roams the store freely – he thinks he’s a dog. That was so cool. We then went around and discovered all the various reptiles including turtles, snakes, lizards, and spiders. After a while of that we headed next door to Aquatropics and visited the many saltwater fish tanks filled with tropical fish. We even saw several sharks! We ended our adventure at the Asian shop that is also located in the same shopping center and Rowan introduced us to Japanese Soda and Spicy seed weed that is individually wrapped – and very addictive!
Here’s the video I shot and edited with my iphone of our afternoon!

Yup! For a third year in a row I’m a photo walk leader for the Gainesville area of the Scott Kelby Annual Worldwide Photo Walk. This year it will be on July 24th in downtown Micanopy, Florida between 10-12.

Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk is the world’s largest global social photography event in the history of photography itself. It takes place on the same day around the world where photographers of all walks of life and skill levels gather together, usually in downtown areas to socialize, learn new tips from each other, and explore their corner of the world through photography.

There is no fee to participate but pre-registration is required. Just go to the Worldwide Photo Walk site, find a walk near you, and join in on the fun or you can join my walk in Micanopy directly by going to this link.

Anyone can participate too. All you need is a camera. It doesn’t even matter what kind of camera either. People have showed up with disposables in the past, had a blast, and left with a new appreciation for photography.

Here is a link to our Flickr Group from last year’s Photo Walk in downtown Gainesville. Aaron Bailey co-led with me – unfortunately he will not be able to join us again this year. Here is our Group Photo from last year in front of the steps of the Hippodrome.

I’m finally catching up and backing up my second harddrive today. I came across some of these pictures of my daughter Rowan in the field a few weeks ago. Some of these pictures she looks really young and then some of them I can actually see her as a 21 year old.  One thing always remains the same with Rowan – her smile!

We are really excited about the World Cup. We have a split household with English and American Fans! We wish we could be there in person – but if we could play with England – here’s what we would look like.