A Winning Photo!

I'm finally back! I know it's been almost two long months now since my last post...shame on me. But geesh, what a busy few months it's been! First, I was sick most of September (no, not with the H1N1 virus, but instead a nasty kidney infection). Then suddenly, it was October, which I'm pretty sure ranks as one of the busiest months for me so far this year.

I entered my first (but certainly not my last) photography contest at one of the local Oktoberfest celebrations, and WON 3rd place in the Sports & Action category! The winning photo is one of my very first photos taken with my Rebel almost a year ago. Personally, it's one of my favorite photos....and not just because my cute boyfriend is the model.

As you can tell from the photo, I'm very proud of my accomplishment.

In addition to the following photo, I also entered photos from the Code Blue post, Ulrika, My Love post, Sisterly Love in Beantown (the photoshopped portrait), and My First Post, into other various categories at the festival.

Stay tuned because I have lots of great photos coming this week---and it's my very first series posting! I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!

Drivers, start your engines!

I want to mention that I'm not much of a race fan, but it's something that my hunny, Donald, dearly loves (and dreams of being a professional driver), and therefore, I tolerate attending a race every once in a while with him. These photos are from the Champion Racing Association Series (CRA) Budweiser 150--Presented by The Kyle Busch Foundation, at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. Thankfully, Mr. Canon Rebel, a set of earplugs, a NASCAR driver (Kyle Busch), and a teenage lady racer, made it much more enjoyable for me to watch with him.

I wanted to cheer on Johanna Long, because not only was she the only female driver in a field of males, but I'm not exactly a Kyle Busch fan, especially after his antics from a recent victory he had here in Music City. Johanna Long is the driver of the #10 car, shown below, leading Kyle Busch around the track like he's a sad little puppy. If I remember correctly, she is only 16 years old. I must say, I was pretty impressed with her racing skills, although, I have no idea what makes a good race car driver...crossing the finish line first I guess?

Kyle Busch didn't finish the race that day. Apparently something needed to be fixed on his car during the last few laps. It was fun using my telephoto lens as my binoculars that day though so I could get a closer look at what his pit crew was doing to try and "fix" the car.

Code Blue!

I don't really understand football, but the aggressive, hard-hitting side of my personality has really taken a liking to the game recently. I'm trying to learn the ways of the game, but I still don't understand many of the rules or strategies. One thing is for certain though--I'm a Tennessee Titan fan! When I hear "Touchdoowwwwnnnn Titans!", one would think that I was one of the Titan's cheerleaders!

In honor of the upcoming 2009 football season, and the Tennessee Titan's 50th Anniversary, I'd like to give a little background information as to what the Titans were able to accomplish last season, and how it relates to the beautiful photos below. (Skip to photos now if you're not interested in football, or my reasoning for taking these shots, and you just want to look at "pretty pictures").

Last season, the Titans made it to the NFL playoffs (second round to be exact) and were reaching for a chance at playing in--and hopefully winning--the Superbowl. While on their journey to the playoffs, the Titans, and Nashville, were spotlighted as the home team in a Monday Night Football game against the Indianapolis Colts. It was Tennessee's first home Monday Night Football game in almost 5 years, so it was kind of a big deal here in Music City.

Titan pride was everywhere and Code Blue was in full force! Flags were flying on car windows, people were covered in blue body-paint, and the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge in downtown Nashville temporarily turned the lights blue for some incredible and rare, photo ops.

I'm very pleased with the way the photos turned out--it definitely made the 30 degree weather, and brisk wind, totally worth it! Unfortunately, the Titans didn't reach the Superbowl last season, but hopefully we can get there this season!! GO TITANS!

UPDATED: Sisterly love in Bean Town

Over the July 4th holiday (Happy belated birthday America!) I met up with 2 of my 4 siblings in Boston. Michele, the sister on the left, used to live in Bean Town (if anyone is looking for a realtor in the Washington D.C. area, check out her site WestEndDC.com) and in her many years of living there, can you believe I never once visited?! Shame on me! Really though, I was in high school and college, and unfortunately vacations didn't exactly exist for me back then. Thankfully, I was finally able to enjoy another fun vacation with two of the best sisters (and yes, we all have the same parents) a girl could ask for. Susan, or "the one that looks like me" as I have been known to refer to her as when describing which one of my 3 sisters she is, flew in from Denver to meet up with us! Sue had a new hair color (which I love by the way!) and according to my sisters, my hair looks darker than it usually does, although I haven't done anything to it. However, after seeing us in the photo above, I suddenly look like a red-head! Which really is ok with me...I like the color, but it's just interesting how suddenly it's changed? Anyway, that photo shows us at dinner before we started chowing down on some delicious food.

I originally had a few pictures posted here, that showed my sisters and I indulging in dessert, however, I changed my mind about leaving them on my post, and decided to keep them in my personal photo file for blackmail later in life, or for when someone gets married, and I can pull out the photos of my sisters first love---chocolate eclairs....mmmmm hmmmm.

But I decided that I could leave at least one photo of our pig-out-fest here....I figured that I'm probably the only one that would be embarrassed by this photo...and surprisingly, I'm really not. But then, I'm the kind of girl that eats buffalo wings at a restaurant and wipes my face AFTER I'm completely done eating. I have manners, really I do...but sometimes, good food gets in the way of me and those lady-like manners.

Look at me shoving the eclair in my mouth...disgusting. And no, I don't believe I actually stopped to breathe.

During our trip, we did and saw more things than I can mention here in this post...but here are a few highlights from the trip....

We saw the Red Sox play the Seattle Mariners....unfortunately, there wasn't much to celebrate in Boston after the game. But don't they look good standing there in their uniforms?

And I couldn't tell you who is actually at bat in this photo...but I'm lovin' this shot, and it has nothing to do with the guy in the #3 shirt, or the ref for that matter.

Before we saw the fireworks over the Boston Harbor, it was a good time to have a fun photoshoot with some great models. Plus, I needed practice with my flash....I've had it for about two months now, and yet, still haven't actually read the manual that came with it. Whoopsie!


Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the fireworks. The bridge was sooooo crowded with people, and honestly, I just wanted to be able to "enjoy" them this time around. I'll get 'em the next time I'm in Boston for the 4th though.....which I'm sure will happen again in the future.

I was just walking down the street when I grabbed this shot of the John Hancock Tower. Simple? Yes. But sometimes those make for some of the best photos.

And then there's our little ride on the Swan Boat, where Sue took this self-portrait, and then I had some fun with it in Photoshop (which is another thing that I'm trying to get more experience with). So here's the before photo.....

....and then the after photo.

Sometimes, my viewfinder is the screen on my Blackberry. If only my Rebel was as small as my Blackberry, and if I could fit it in my pocket, I totally would. And sometimes, I see things that are totally photo-worthy, and all I have is my camera phone. Which was the case in the next few photos. It was my last day in Boston, and Michele and I were out for an early morning walk before catching our flights back to D.C. and Nashville. Not too shabby for a camera phone eh?