Light the Way 10/365

On Friday we headed to Greensboro after work to spend the weekend there. Our good friends from college, Matt and Carrie, moved to Greensboro a few months ago and we all couldn't believe that it had been 2 months since we have gotten together! Matt has been away training in Charleston, so it was great to see them settled into their new place. The apartment is adorable :)

We met them out for dinner at Stamey's for Bar-B-Que. I have been going to Stamey's since I was in a high chair and it is still one of our favorite spots to stop into whenever we are in town. After dinner, we headed back to Matt and Carrie's for the night. Our wedding gift to them was beautifully on display, so we decided to use it for our picture of the day. It was great catching up with them throughout the weekend and we are so happy to have them close by!

Left on Bridgeton Lane 9/365

Tyler left yesterday morning for a quick trip to Ohio. I went to work and then headed over to our good friends Andrea and Jeremy's house for dinner with Andrea and her parents. (Jeremy was out of town for work as well.) Andrea is in her 9th month of pregnancy and she looks so beautiful! It was great to catch up and we had so much fun going through all the adorable stuff for "little lange" in the nursery. I know we are all excited for this little one to make it's debut!

As I pulled up to the house on the corner, I saw the street sign resting against a tree out front. I stopped for a couple quick snaps before I went inside and they ended up being some of my favorite shots I have taken yet. I love the rust and the green together and am really happy with the composition of this one. Enjoy :)

What Are You Looking At 8/365

During this lengthy project, we will probably be doing some smaller themed projects to help us get through 365 days with our creative juices still flowing. I have been making some lists to hopefully help us as we go forward. One is of pictures that inspire me and spark ideas for pictures I hope to take during the year. The other is of concepts and themes to use when the day does not seem to inspire anything on it's own. So since yesterday, hump day, was looking to be one of those less than inspiring days, I decided to pull something off of the list.

The idea is to dedicate yourself to finding completely new places to shoot. Whether you decide to commit to once a week or once a month, walking out the door to someplace you have never been before can only be a positive thing. It will allow you to find new favorite places and will offer new subjects and opportunities for your pictures. I thought yesterday could be the perfect day to start this! I love the idea of using this project to find great new places in and around Charlotte, so my hope is to use this weekly.

I work in an office building that stands in a business park with several other buildings. My building is at the end of the line and when you drive in you can either park on the left side or the right side, there are entrance doors near both lots. Since day one I have parked on the left side, in the bigger lot, because I like the fountain out front and it is closer to my office door once I get into the building. So, for my first attempt at finding someplace new to explore, I decided to walk out of the doors on the other side of the building when I left work yesterday to see what the lot on the right side had to offer. What I found on this overcast day, were beautiful weeping willow trees who all seemed to be checking themselves out in the mirrored windows of the offices. The thought of this tree staring itself down made me smile.

It's Your Move 7/365

Tonight, after I got off work, I picked up my little brother Ethan to hang out for a couple of hours. We decided to go check out the library near his house. After arriving at the library, we found a couple of comic books and sat down to enjoy them. After about 30 minutes of reading comics, Ethan noticed a chess table and we sat down to play. I was very impressed with his knowledge of chess and what pieces moved where. Unfortunately, my competitive nature could not let me lose and I beat Ethan all three games.

I had not taken any pictures all day and thought the chess pieces could turn out really cool. I snapped a picture and right before it took, Ethan put his head right in the middle of the picture.

During our 365 days, we hope several pictures of Ethan will appear in our blog as he has become an important part of our lives. I hope you enjoy getting to see our time together as much as I enjoy getting to spend it with him.

Monday in the Mirror 6/365

Since we started the blog on 9/9/9, we have yet to have a Monday to take a picture for our picture of the day. We had a great weekend and woke up bright and early for work this morning. The last couple of days had been very easy to take pictures with Lindsay enjoying a fabulous spa resort and me attending football games. Of course work doesn't have as many photo ops as the weekend, so we went the majority of the day without anything good.

The weather was beautiful so I put my top down on the way home and started to enjoy the drive. As I thought about Monday and what the picture would be, I looked into my rear view mirror to change lanes and thought how most Mondays "mirror" themselves. Always tough to wake up in the morning and always one of the tougher days to get through. When I got home Lindsay liked the way it turned out and thought how it was like we were leaving Monday behind us. But like the mirror says, "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear." Monday will be here again before we know it.

2nd and Goal 5/365

Football season is officially here, as it was the NFL opening weekend. I was in Columbus, Ohio for the USC vs. OSU game on Saturday and was able to get a free ticket for the Colts vs. Jaguars game in Indianapolis on Sunday. A few of my clients were going to the game, so I was able to get a ride from Columbus to Indy with them.

Walking into Lucas Stadium for the season opener was a great experience. The crowd was a sellout and I had seats almost on the field. I was on the Jaguars sideline, around the 5 yard line, in the 3rd row. I was able to get some great pictures and there was a lot of exciting action near the endzone I was sitting near. The picture for today was 2nd and goal for the Colts and on the play after I took this, the Jaguars made an interception to stop the Colts from scoring. Despite the Jags close loss, the day was fantastic for a football fan.

Lindsay and her mom also had a great Sunday. They slept in and got packed up before taking some final pictures to remember the weekend by.

We both met back in Charlotte after great weekends! We have a busy week ahead as Tyler is heading back to Ohio for Thursday and Friday. Then we will be celebrating this weekend at our friend's wedding. Keep checking back for daily pictures! We are really loving this project so far, and we hope you are enjoying following it just as much.

With Love for Rosebud 4/365

My mom and I woke up on Saturday morning and headed to the spa. We had pedicures, facials and massages and just enjoyed a relaxing and beautiful day. September 12th is the anniversary of when my grandmother passed away, so we had a nice time talking about our memories of her and when we left our aromatherapy massages we knew, before asking, that we had both chosen to use Rose oil instead of the others.

The flowers on the grounds are incredible but I was hoping to find a rose to photograph in rememberance of our Rosalie. These beautiful yellow roses sat in a vase in the parlor room of the mansion and seemed like the only choice for our daily picture. So, in honor of our Rosebud, I dedicate this picture to her. We miss you and will forever hold you close in our lives and in our hearts.

This is the side entrance of the mansion where we stayed. There are 6 guest rooms upstairs with a dining room downstairs in addition to the parlor room and den. Off of the parlor room is this incredible porch with a perfect view of Grandfather Mountain. We enjoyed drinking our wine our here in the evening before dinner. What a slice of heaven!

This is the other view from the top of the mountain.

The flowers on the grounds were in full bloom. I did nothing to alter the color of this flower in the picture below...I thought it was beautiful in person and I could not have been happier with how it comes through in this photo.

It was tough to capture the sky as we were heading in to dinner, but here is my best shot.

An after dinner shot of me and mom!

The chandeliers in the foyer were so gorgeous at night.

While I was falling more in love with photography on top of a mountain, Tyler was enjoying one of the weekends biggest college football events...the USC at Ohio State football game. He even wore a sweater vest for the big occasion :) He said the day was great, from the tailgating through the game, and even though the Buckeyes couldn't hold on for a win, it was a great game to be at.