Civil Union: Julie and Katie – A reception party

This is some selected snapshots i took of a friends civil union reception held at the elks lodge in Du Quoin on October 6 2012. I was the “official” photographer of the event expected to capture the special moment of their life. By no means am no professional but I did my best, so I hope I captured it.

Considering the low light environment and what gear I have (my one and only Canon Rebel XS capable of only up to ISO 1600, an 18-200 f3.5-5.6, a 430EX II speedlight, and a gary fong modifier), boy what a challenge it was.

below is the ambient light…

but the couple were very excited and special…

and were dancing their way into the event…

stories and wishes are shared…

while the food is enjoyed…

then of course the cake…

…is shared

then the first dance as a couple…

then the dancing begins…

of course the kiss during the event is frozen…

and then everyone is happy and having fun …

to close, is i think the best of the wishes for the couple…

Thanks for visiting….

Maternity: Mary Ann

Congratulations to Mary Ann and Earl…

pictures were taken at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds during their visit for our daughters birthday. Since they were in town, we decided to take some shots, and these were some of the pics taken.

Roadtrip 2012: Buford, WY

this is the first stop of our official road trip of the year, Buford, WY. population= 1. my wife recognized the place from a show she seen on tv and from what was reported, the town is now abandoned. I can’t imagine what life is here when you are by yourself….

amazing record:
- nation’s smallest town
- highest town on Interstate 80 between New York City and San Francisco

so we went inside the town to see what we can find out and found the store was closed and boarded up. we checked the gas station and it was broke. we were the only ones there at that time… and so we left for the next stop…

Mt. Rushmore National Monument

This is Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota lit at night, captured handheld at 1/4sec

captured at night

devils tower indian prayer offerings…

we took a trip to the devils tower to see the magnificent display. we learned that the tower is also sacred to the indians and you can spot at the bottom of the tower hanging by the trees surrounding the base are prayer flags and offerings. they are quiet small and rarely noticeable until you really look for them. here are some of the ones we found along the base.

Mt. Moran, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Brat Pack Band: An exercise in low light photography…

these pics were taken during a civil union reception as part of their entertainment for the night. thanks to Julie and Kathy for inviting me and have fun taking these pictures.

this one is my favorite:

these are other pics I took:

the keyboardist:

and the often left out in the pics because they are most often at the back of the band;