Friday Foto, sad again

This has been a sad couple of weeks for us island folk. We are loosing a lot of our beloved landmarks, be it fast food or beauty. We all know this is happening, and there is nothing we can do really... but, I've decided to photograph as much of these landmarks that are leaving us as I can. One day I hope to make a collection of St. Simons (and surrounding areas) photographs in the way that I remember it.

Did you ever give someone directions on or off of the island? I bet it most always included something along the lines of, "You'll see the stables on you left...". Well, they are tearing that down too. Earlier this week I, uh, went in to the stables by means of hopping a couple of fences, to take photos before they started demolition. They have the entire thing gated off now. Who knows what it is going to be. Probably some sort of pretty grassy park covering up the expansion of parking lot for Sea Island. One thing I know though, you won't be able to ride Cherokee there for your birthday anymore. It's a real shame.

Then you got your folk out there that will say that it is great for the horses... they are moving to their new facility out towards the north end, they have better stalls, yadda, yadda, yadda.... plus, it's great real estate right there, and the stables always smelled. You know what I say to that? Horse shit (couldn't resist!).

Friday Foto

This week has been a sad one in the eyes of the local island food connoisseurs like myself. Two of my favorite restaurant locals closed this week. Sweet Mammas on Ocean Blvd. and, breaking my heart, the Del Taco.

Sweet Mammas has moved their big production kitchen to the store next to their Frederica Road location, and as I am sad to see them go, it's probably a smart move. It was a great place to get something to eat or drink after dining or a day at the beach.

Del Taco is a tragedy though. 28 years it has been there serving tacos and fries. A #4 for me please, Sweet Tea. The word on the street is that the landlord wanted too much to renew the lease, in hopes that he could kick them out to put something else their. I heard from a Manager that it's going to be a Starbucks. I like coffee, don't get me wrong, but a Starbucks will just solidify the yuppie persona that is associated with many Island dwellers. Plus, I've been to plenty of Starbucks, but never one that is as big as Del Taco. What the hell will they do with all that space? Just think, I would much rather sit on that back porch over watching the traffic, sipping a Double Chai Iced Latte listening to Macy Gray instead of chomping on a couple of soft-tacos (hear the sarcasm?), wouldn't you? Oh, and we can't forget Taco Tuesdays. Three Tacos for a dollar. The most I ever ate was 27 in HS... oh the days.

It's the end of an era I guess... I'll leave you with this lovely story told by the very last customer of Del Taco:

"So i got way way way too drunk wednesday night... woke up thursday with one of the WORST hangovers of my life. finally the sun came out so i went outside and sweated out some of the toxins for about 15 minutes.... i felt better... reese called... "where the EFF are you, you were supposed to take me to del taco at noon!!" (reese is car-less)... oh, sorry, i almost threw up on myself 4 times, i'll be right over... i pick up reese, we get to del taco as they're putting signs on the door "CLOSED"..... we beg the sign putter upper for food, as we notice the billboard that reads "thanks for the 28 great years, closing at 2:30".... the clock in my car reads 2:28... she instructs us to hit the drive through.....reese shouts all kinds of expletives at me, declaring his hate for me, because i've made him miss del taco by 10 minutes!..... we hit the drive through and the dude says "we're closed"...."BUT THE LADY UP FRONT SAID YOU'D SERVE US!!!" i whine into the magic voice box...."ok, what will you have?" euphorically we ask for hamburgers and burritos, OH MY... we pull around, pay the lady the money... "is it true this is going to become a starbucks?" i ask.... "we don't know what's going to happen here... is that the rumor?" she asks back... i shrug my shoulders and thank them all for letting us be the final customers... as they give us the food and close the window they all hug.... no more food was served that day, my friends.... Risi and I were the final customers at the legendary and institutional "DEL TACO"

Friday Foto(s)

I got up this morning at 5:45 with all intentions of getting a great Friday Foto for y'all. I had a tip that the moon was hanging perfectly over the marina at 6:30 in the morning. I get out there and the moon was too high in the sky for my taste. So, I came home empty handed. You'll have to settle on party pictures from the birthday bash we held last weekend. Have a GREAT weekend.

Yo Yo Yo

Yeah, can you believe it? I'm bloggin' and it's not the Friday Foto! Let's celebrate. I wish I had time to do this more often.

Tomorrow marks the year anniversary for me at my current job. I can't believe it has been a year since I started. It's crazy how much happens in a year once you are out of college. Last year this time we were in such different places in our lives. I feel like I have come so far in so many ways, and am actually very excited to see where life will take me in another year.

OK, enough of the sappy talk. So, you all know my wife is the cheerleading coach over at the local High School. Well, guess who is shooting the cheerleader's individual and team portraits? Me. Oh yeah, I'll be doing the other HS and a middle school too. I'm pumped, that's some good exposure and money as well.

I got to get out on the water this weekend. It's been several weeks since I have made it out on the boat or even to the beach. I got big plans for Saturday and Sunday.... sun, water, sand. Kelly starts school with the kids tomorrow. She has been back for a week, but the students go tomorrow. She has freshmen and juniors this year. She is really excited. I am happy for her. She is really happy, but stressed.

So, we're going to New York City! For mine and Kelly's birthday present my parents got us a roundtrip ticket to the city. We have relatives in the area, so we already have a place to stay too. I'm really pumped. Kelly has never been to NYC, not even more north than Virginia. We are going to go during the Christmas season sometime, when the whole city is decorated really pretty.

Aight, it's 11pm... I guess I'll get to bed.

Friday Foto

Maybe I should just change the name of this blog to "Friday Foto." I feel like that is all I really have time to do any more. I enjoy so much writing on here, but I have such a hard time finding the time to sit down and do it.

Today's Foto is from a ground-breaking event I shot this week. It's for a development going up in Brunswick called Liberty Harbor. It's going to be this very up scale community of condos and homes starting in the $600k range. It really should do wonders for the rest of the homeowners in Brunswick. They had a hot-air balloon there for publicity purposes, but no one was allowed in it. I really wanted in to. If you have never seen one in person, they are huge. Way bigger than I thought.

A couple of things going on the next week to come. This Saturday we are throwing a joint birthday bash for Kelly and our friend Jennifer who both just had birthdays. Sunday I'm going to see Talladega Nights. I have been wanting to see this movie even before it was conceptualized. Any movie that makes fun of NASCAR is a must-see in my book. Plus, you got Will Ferrell.

Next week my cousin from California is coming out for a visit. You avid readers of Island Profilin' might know him as "Steve from sunny San Diego". It's always a blast when he comes in to town.

Well, that's all I got for now. I will hopefully post some pics of the birthday bash on here, but I can't guarantee they will be as good as any of the Soirees. Man, I can't wait for soiree season!

Friday Foto

Today is Friday, finally. This weekend is going to be great. It is my wife's birthday and we are celebrating. I'm taking her shopping tomorrow (I'll bring a gun for myself) and out to dinner tomorrow night. Tonight we are going out to dinner at the new Cloister. We have a gracious friend who is taking us.

Yesterday afternoon I broadened my photographic horizons. I delved into Maternity Photography. I wanted to try it because there seems to be a market for it down here and I might have a possible in into it with a friend opening up a maternity wear shop.

I haven't processed the photos from last night, but I pulled one out for you guys to see. Let me know what you think, really.... I took a lot more in different posses and with kids and husband. She is a classic pianist, hence the piano. Post your comments. Oh, and the other foto... that is obviously not the same lady... it's just a funny picture.

Friday Foto

I'm really glad today is Friday. I have had such a long week. This photo is pretty fresh. I took it on Pelican Spit Wednesday early evening. It's an OK shot. I like the composure and colors, but I was borrowing a lens from a friend and wasn't used to shooting it, hence the blurriness.

I don't have many plans this weekend. I think I am going to tile my foyer and do some other house projects.

I went and ate at the Lady and Sons restaurant (Paula Dean's place) last night. It was great as always, and I came away feeling really full. I hope to take some more photos this weekend, that way I'll have some more stuff to share with you all. I feel like I'm running out of fotos for Friday.

Friday Foto, zoom zoom edition

Zoom Zoom because it was a fast week for me, and so I picked a foto that portrays that.

I have this fascination with un-ordinary photographic techniques. Like this one for instance. Taken out of a moving car traveling north on good ole 75 just south of downtown Atlanta. Set the shutter speed at about 1.5 seconds, and watch the fun. It's good for the whole family (just not the driver)!

I may sound delirious in my posting and there is a good reason for it. Remember how I said I had to go to Jacksonville to pick up my cousin from the airport? Well, I'm there right now... at 12 a.m. The flight was supposed to arrive at 10:45 p.m. and was bumped to 11:30, then 12:45, the 1:02, and now it is it scheduled for 1:50... oh wait, this just in, 2:22. Great. I'll be arriving late for work tomorrow for sure.

It really pisses me off that all the concession stands in the airport have closed. I was banking on the Starbucks and it was closed when I got there at 8:30. Man, I'm tired. Thank God I brought my computer though.

So, nothing on the agenda for this weekend. Some beer and the beach sounds loverly. I might even get a run in. OK, that's enough...

Good Monday Morning

How was everybody's weekend? Mine was about perfect. Friday I went and saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which by the way, was stupid. I have this theory about the second movie in trilogys.... they stink. They start off in the middle of story and end unresolved. I would have gone into the movie with different aspirations had I known it was a trilogy, but I didn't.

Saturday I ran four miles. My shins are finally not hurting any more (after a 10 day vacation from running), so hopefully I can pick up my training again for the marathon. I spent the whole morning doing yard work and then spent the whole afternoon drinking beer and playing in a pool and playing a couple of intense sets of volleyball. Definitely won both games.

This week my cousin and her friend arrive from New Jersey. If you have ever seen that show "What Not To Wear", my cousin's friend was on the show. Allison, my cousin, was actually on the show too, as the best friend. They're arriving at JAX late Thursday night, and I'm going to pick them up.

So anyway, that's about it. Hope everybody's week flies by, I'm already ready for the weekend.

Friday Foto

Well, we sure had a blast on our vacation. We spent 5 days or so up at our family's cabin in Blue Ridge, GA. We hiked, drank, ate, shot guns and fireworks, and went white water rafting. We swam in the creek, and Gwinny didn't stay out.

The time off was great, except I didn't get to shoot much. It rained a good hour a day, which was great, it kept things cool, but it left a thick haze in the sky the entire vacation. I shot a lot of shots, but nothing really turned out that great due to that haze. When I get a chance to work on some of them, and if they turn out any good, I'll share them with you all. I was excited about the one shot that I got of the firework seen above. I must have shot 100 shots of these little bottle rockets, until I finally got one that turned out OK.

We had a .22 up there and it was fun to shoot. Kelly went crazy with the semi-automatic feature, emptying the clip as fast as she could. Yee-haw! Redneck fun.

Friday Foto

This is a quickie... I'm leaving to go out of town for a nice long weekend. We're going to our cabin in the North Georgia mountains and are coming back on the 5th of July. I promise to have plenty of new fotos and such to share with you all.

Anyway, this photo was taken a couple of weeks ago on the infamous Drift Wood beach on Jekyll Island. Too many people shoot this place for me to really want to shoot it, so I took a slightly different approach with this photo. Hope you like.

Summer Boating Fun, part deaux

It's been a couple of days since this boating story took place, but I've been real busy with the end of the fiscal year around the corner, and I really felt I needed to do this story justice. So, now I have some time, enjoy...

All six of us set out on Saturday to have a great day out on the water. We had boat (not mine), skis, a tube, a knee board, food, a grill beach chairs, two coolers, a beach tent, and various bags of towels, books, etc. As we began to load the boat on the Hampton River Club dock, one of the dock hands that put the boat into the water notified us that the steering was a little spotty. We got in and tested it, and it was a little loose, but nothing like it hadn't been before. We decided, to still go out (see where this story is going?).

We get to Pelican Spit, set up camp, do a superb job of anchoring the boat and begin to chill. A little soccer here, a little cooking here, a little sea turtle saving there. It was a blast. Come 2 p.m. we decide it was time to up it a notch and go skiing. We pack all of our gear up and pile it in a nice pile on top of the beach. We planned on coming back for it, this way we would have a lighter boat for all of our skiing purposes. We get out into the Village Creek and have a blast. We all tubed, we all fell off, we all experienced first-hand G forces. Close to 5 p.m. someone said they heard a snap, and whether they did or not, the steering stopped dead. You could turn the wheel all you wanted to, but the engine wasn't budging. We detected a leak in the hydraulic steering fluid line and it must have all leaked out, because we weren't going anywhere. Yes, we tried pushing the engine out of the 30 degree position it was in, thinking maybe we could manually steer it, but to no avail.

What to do. After making a couple phone calls to various possible rescuers, we decided to call Sea Tow. Sea Tow, for those that don't know, is basically an on-water tow truck service. They said they would be there in an hour. Don't worry, we had plenty of beer. So, we drank a couple of beers and then began to think about our stuff sitting on the beach as the tide came up. We hadn't anticipated being away from our gear this long. One of our friend's dad was out on another boat on the way to go somewhere and said he would swing by the Spit to get our gear. We get a call from him a short while later to hear that they couldn't get it. The waves were too rough and they couldn't get to shore. Great, there goes our stuff....

The Sea Tow boat arrived and we decided that Kelly and I would board on the Sea Tow boat and go out to the Spit to swim ashore and get our stuff. It would be dangerous. I was hoping to mainly get my dry box that had my wallet, cell phone, keys, and a few other things in it. As we approached I began to notice stuff floating everywhere. Sunscreen here, soccer ball over there, cooler way off in the distance. What I noticed more was the 6-7 foot waves swelling up all around the shore. It was more rough there than I have ever seen it. Then I saw my dry box, floating about 20 yards off shore. I jumped in the water to retrieve it and then swam to shore to attempt to rescue anything else. Nothing was there except the beach tent and one chair. I tried to pick them up and as I looked up I see Kelly and the boat captain waving their arms at me telling me to come back. I grabbed my dry box and swam back to the boat, only being able to see the boat while on the crest of the swells. I got aboard and Kelly was hysterical. I tried to soothe her and the captain informed me that while I was ashore, they took on several waves and at one point there was 3 feet of water in the cockpit. He said it was the worse he's ever seen it. We begin to motor away from the Spit when I saw my cooler floating by... I couldn't let that go. I straddled the side of the boat and stuck my hand out to grab it. My hand latched on and the cooler was so heavy it pulled me right back into the rough waters. Problem was, Kelly was in the corner crying and the Captain was intent on driving... no one saw me fall off. They traveled close to 200 yards before realizing that they were short one swab. Here I am, exhausted and floating on my cooler (unfortunately all the contents had been emptied too!) only seeing the massive waves in front of me. The boat comes back and I climb back aboard and pull my cooler on too, the wind picks up and blows the lid off my cooler and it floats away. After all that, the cooler is shot... what good's a cooler without a lid?

After I was back on board the second time, we rushed right back to the others, hooked up the two boats and were towed back to the dock (without running out of gas) and were all better. We were all fine, no injuries, just some missing material items, but hey, we got a GREAT story out of it. Here are some pics:

Friday Foto

Good Morning to all. I got up nice and early to post to y'all, get to work and my keys are locked in the coffee shop from last night's opening, which BTW, went very nice. So I'm blogging to you from my Palm in the parking lot. Thank you to all that came in support of me. So to thank you, I have some great pics for you.

Kelly has been away at cheerleeding camp (they won everything!) and I have been busy shooting. The first two shots come from wedding I went to last weekend in ATL. The first one I love. It sums up a wedding to me. I have been developing a look that I can apply to certain photos, and I think I've got it. That is the second one. Please give me your thoughts on that one. The last two come from a shoot on Jekyll Island I did on Tuesday. This is an shrimp boat that was beached and left years ago. What do think?

Anyway, I'm going out boating this weekend. I'm pumped, as usual.

Free drinks and food

I know that is the only way I'm going to get your guys out to see my art up at Monkey Love. This Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. is the opening for my show up there. Monkey Love is located in Redfern Village. I hope all you can come out and see my photos. My art will be up there until the end of July. Thanks!

Friday Foto, early edition

I'm leaving to go out of town for a college friend's wedding this afternoon, so I though I would go ahead and give y'all the Friday Foto today. Last night I went up to Rafters to shot some shots for the Georgia Music Magazine. They are running a spread on Rafters and needed some photography. I enjoy shooting things like this. BTW, the band, Packaway Handle Band, was great.

I also went a played triva, and just so you know, my team came in 2nd place! Free $25 bar tab! I'll back there next week for sure. Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Friday Foto

Today is Friday, and I am so glad for that. I've been looking forward to this weekend for a long time now. My cousin-in-law is getting married on Saturday and we have a lot of parties to attend. It started last night with a Low County Boil out at Village Creek Landing, only my favorite place on all of St. Simons. I was reserved, saving my energy for tonight and tomorrow.

The other night Kelly and I went down to the village and walked around. It's good to do that from time to time. It helps bring everything back down to earth you know? Often I find myself getting so caught up in all the work and stuff that I do that I forget to just let it go and enjoy my life.

These shots were taken that night. Two of Kelly. I love taking pictures of Kelly... it's so easy to get a beautiful one. The other one I, at first, didn't like... It's kind of commercial, but then again, I've never seen one like it. It's actually kind of growing on me. Tell me, what do y'all think? Hope you guys have a great weekend.

In my defense!

I knew it! I knew that I should have, theoretically, had enough gas two weeks ago when the tragic Memorial Day boat trip took place. After all, I have been boating all my life and never once have I ran out of gas. So, this Saturday morning started early with me and two other guys rushing to get the boat in the water at Coozies before the tide was too low at 6:45 a.m. We got all the gear in the boat and I had just topped the fuel off. For all non-boating folk out there, there is this bulb in the fuel line between the gas tank and the engine. Not a light bulb, but a big rubber bulb that you squeeze to pump some gas into the engine on a cold start. Well, I was pumping away and nothing was happening. I kept on hearing this wooshing sound and eventually I turned around to find the source. Sure enough, in the gas line 3 inches from the motor is a hole the size of a ball-point pen. AHA! The whole time we were out Memorial Day Weekend, there was a hole in the gas line which explains why the boat wasn't driving as fast and why we ran out of gas. As some was actually going to the engine, some was shooting right into the water. So there.

I luckily had the materials to fix it right there on the spot, and within 10 minutes we were out cruising Village Creek. Fishing was horrible, half a dozen whiting and a baby Black Tip shark. The beer, however, was good. I spent all day Sunday, after a 4-mile run, on the beach. It was perfect. My marathon training is coming along just fine, I think I am scheduled to run 6 miles this week; ouch.

Big wedding to go this weekend, with lots of parties, I'm pumped. It's going to be a LONG weekend, but very fun. Have a great week.

Friday Foto

Tomorrow I'm thinking about trying my hand at boating again. But this time, I'm just going fishing... no tons of gear, no boat load of people, so running out of gas won't be a problem.

These two pictures are from last weekend when I went over to Little St. Simons. I think they are OK, but not great. It was so beautiful over there, I was really in awe most of the time and shot very little.

If you are down in the St. Simons area any time in the months of June and July, be sure to hop on over to Monkey Love in Redfern Village. As of yesterday, my photography is on display there for viewing and purchasing. It's my first show, I'm excited. Hope you guys have a great weekend.

Always fill up

It's over... Memorial Day Weekend. It was great though, one of the best times I have had in a while. I LOVED having today off, it really made all the diferance.

So Friday night was fun, we went out, got some pizza, a few drinks and turned in before 12 in anticipation for Saturday. Saturday morning came and I was in my boat, on the water at 6:45 a.m. I love it. It's still cool out, no one is around, the whine of the outboard and the cool sea-misted wind in your face. There are few things better. I drove around looking for some shots and decided upon Little St. Simons Island. I parked the boat and, illeagaly because you are not supposed to go ashore here, hopped out with my gear and walked around. I got some good shots (which will be shared on Friday!). I wound up picking the rest of our party up at the boat ramp at around 10 a.m.

We had a great time on Pelican Spit. It's a little island off the coast of Sea Island, St. Simons and Littls St. Simons that is only accessible by boat. We played frisbee, went swimming and all got burned. This was about the time I started to wonder if I was going to have enough gas for the journey home. I had a extra 5 gallons in a can in the back of the boat, but I burned more than I though I would with all the folks in the boat. Luckily we had another boat with us so, if all else fails (I thought), we could have them tow us... We began our departure around 4 and I soon emptied that extra 5 gallons I had and shortly aftern that, was out. I hailed to the other boat, who reluctently confessed that they too were almost empty. We tied my boat to theirs and begain the 3-mile tow back to the ramp. After what seemed like hours (we were going VERY slow) the ramp came in sight and we neared our destination. 200 yards to go, the other baot cuts out... they just ran out of gas as well. Great. Again, luckly we knew another boat load of people that were out and hailed the on the radio. They were back in a jiffy and tied up to the boat towing us and brought us the rest of the way to the ramp. This is where the fun really began.

Because we were both out of gas, towing both of us to the dock was a challenge. The plan was to let me go, I'd set my anchor and wait until the they brought the other boat to the dock. The current was ripping here and the Mackay River ramp is a very tricky one to get to when the current is pushing. Everything would have went smoothly, had my anchor ACTUALLY caught. I couldn't get my anchor to grab as I drifted closer and closer to the oyster-covered bridge pilings knowing I was going to crash dead into them. About one minute to impact, the boat with gas finished towing the other boat and realized my predicament. They rushed over to throw us a rope, and in doing so missed and the rope was caught in their propeller and their boat stalled out. Here we both are, heading towards a concrete column, with the current and momentum from the other boat driving us. A guy from the newly-stalled boat has his arm down in the water attempting to untangle the rope when we collide together with the column. His arm gets crushed (although not broken as we thought), my boat gets scratched up, the other boat's whip-antenna gets broken (we are underneath a bridge at this time)... it was all pretty crazy.

My anchor finally set and they rushed the other guy (with the hurt arm) back to to the ramp while we waited. We eventually got back with no more problems and were back out at a party in about about an hour. All in all, a great way to spend Memorial Day weekend! Sunday was spent taking it easy, lounging on the beach and drinking and dancing my pants off at Gnat Fest!

Friday Foto, thank God

I look forward to the Friday Foto probably as much as y'all do. That means that it is Friday, the end of my work week and the beginning of the weekend. I LIVE for the weekend, a time where I can do what I want to do, a time when I don't have to sit in front of a computer the entire day. I like my job, don't get me wrong, but nothing beats a day off. This weekend is extended too, oh thanks for Memorial Day.

I haven't gotten out and shot since last weekend's Womp Fest, so you will have to bear with me. I am getting up nice and early tomorrow (go ahead, scoff if you like) and shooting. We are going out in the boat tomorrow, going to spend the day out on Pelican Spit (a great little island only accessible by boat)... so, I'm going to get in the boat early and go shoot... reaching some different places, I'm pumped.

Today's Foto comes at you from the last wedding I shot. This is a great example of digital technology. This shot wasn't anything to look out right outta the camera. It was one of the bad ones, taken on a quick shot. But, I really liked the focus on the brides face, the kind of solitude it eluded.... I converted it to black and white and blurred some areas and viola! I really like it. Hope you all have a great weekend.