Merle Fest continued to amazing on Friday. Performance from The Duhks, The Waybacks, The Greencards, Cadillac Sky, Dierks Bentley and Little Feat kept up the energy left over from Zac Brown Band Thursday night. With an amazing line up of performances, Saturday looks to be very promising.
Wow! What a start to what seems to be one of the best MerleFest in years. I am a photographer for MerleFest so I was able to walk around today and enjoy the great bands that played as well as capture moments within the festival. Usually, Thursdays are a little bit boring. Most of the larger acts don’t play until Friday or Saturday but that is not the case with this year. Earlier in the day, the Duhks played a killer set on the Watson Stage and later in the night, Taj Mahal and Zac Brown Band entertained like no other. It was truly a great start to an already amazing festival. Fridays line up promises to be a great day of music with performances from Dierks Bentley, Sam Bush, and Little Feat. I will be posting photos tomorrow night of Friday’s performances. Until then, enjoy these shots taken today.
As I had posted earlier, this shoot with Lara in Salisbury was a lot of fun. Casey, my lovely bride-to-be, assisted me on the shoot and I couldn’t do it without her. Lara is a graduate of Catawba College and wanted some images to remind her of her time spend at Catawba. She is very much awesome and she has a bright future in front of her.
Saturday was an action packed day consisting of assisting at a wedding and a portrait session in Salisbury, NC with an amazingly awesome young lady by the name of Lara. Lara is a senior at Catawba College and wanted some images that would document the final few weeks of her college career. My beautiful bride to be assisted me during this shoot and did an amazing job. I’ll be posting more images from the portrait session later but until then, enjoy a sneak peek.
Here are some images from my camping trip of death. We went to Grandfather Mountain afterwards and it was very enjoyable. It is truly a beautiful area.
Times change and seasons come and go. I am coming up on the final few weeks of my college career and while it is a sweet feeling, it also brings a little bit of bitter. I have met numerous people of the past two years who have greatly impacted my life with their words, works and friendships. A few of those friends got together this evening to have a graduation photo shoot and it was a lot of fun. It has been months since I have shot in the studio so it was a nice felling to get back to the cyc wall.
I am uber excited for the upcoming months (mainly marrying the love of my life) but I will miss the friends I have made over the past couple of years as we part ways and begin our careers in a difficult market. I am truly honored and blessed to have known you all, including Kara, Nikki, Rebekah, Heather and Sarah. I wish you all the best of luck and may you stay strong in the future and pursue your dreams.
Thanks guys for all the memories.
- “Steve”
For some time now, I have been pondering on the word Cultivate and how it correlates to relationships. Relationships are with out a doubt some of the most important things we come across in life and they take time and effort. They have to be tended to and nursed into maturity. No matter what kind of relationship you may be in, it can be difficult to grow the relationship into a healthy one without guidance and encouragement and that is what the Cultivate Project is going to be about.
The Cultivate Project will be a series of blogs that deal with relationships and how to nurse and grow them into something unimaginable through the implementation of Scriptural ideas and concepts. Several pastors that I consider to be great friends will be guest bloggers to give encouragement and guidance. Although everything isn’t set in stone yet, we are all very excited about this new project and we hope to make an impact on people and how they treat and develop their relationships with others. The Cultivate Project will tentatively launch in July.
More information will be posted soon but until then, enjoy the poster above.
April has been a productive month so far.
Yesterday, I was able to set up an exhibition at Appalachian State University displaying some images from my wedding portfolio. I must say, there is a nice sense of accomplishment when you see your work hanging somewhere. I am really excited about the exhibition and I hope that because of it, my work will be introduced to many new people.
This past weekend contained a series of events that I will surely remember for a long time to come. One of my best friends and roommate, Jason, and I went on a little adventure deep in the heart of Pisgah National Forest. There are several free camping areas in the Forest and we decided that this weekend, due to the exquisite weather, would be a great weekend to take advantage of these areas. I received some information from a good friend Lynn Willis as to the whereabouts of these camping areas.
After driving, for what seemed like hours, down a treacherous and windy we finally arrived at a location that suited our camping needs. We unloaded the car and immediately set up our ENO hammocks. Now I have camped many times but usually it has been in a tent. This was my first hammock camping experience and I was already a little nervous about it because I had no cell service, no weapon and bears and mountain lions have been spotted around in the area.
Yes, lets hang from a parachute 3 feet off the ground so that the animals will have great access to my flesh….
After hanging our hammocks, or death beds rather, we attempted to find some fire wood, with the key word begin attempted. After over an hour of searching and chopping, we were only able to get a small amount of hardwood to keep a fire going. We decided this feeble amount would be enough to cook with and proceeded to create our stove for the evening.
The fire lasted just long enough to cook our corn on the cob and potatoes. They were nothing but delicious, if you overlooked the burn kernels and nearly raw pieces of potato. We then sat around the fire until there was no more wood to keep the “blaze” going. It was then off to the hammock-o-death.
Three feet off the ground is simply not high enough. I didn’t verbally say anything about it, but I was extremely nervous. It wasn’t the “first day of class” nervous but rather the “flesh is going to be ripped from my body” nervous. After 30 minutes of adjusting straps and hooking bags to trees, we settled in for the night. Jason is a member of the United States Army and this stuff is normal for him. I, on the other hand, not so much. Jason fell sound asleep soon after settling in but I on the other hand, stayed wide away, listening to all the sounds of the isolated forest. Owls, rabbits and deer were all easily heard. I was just waiting to hear the bears.
I feel asleep after some time of hearing odd sounds I haven’t heard in so long but I certainly didn’t sleep well. With every snap of a twig and screech of an owl, my eyes popped open wide with my heart racing faster than the winner of the Kentucky Derby. Over and over in my head, I imagined a ferocious mountain lion gazing at me from a distance, thinking to itself what limb it should devour first.
Maybe it was the exhaustion that made me finally fall asleep or maybe it was my body shutting down from the overload of fear. Either way, I slept until morning.
I didn’t get eaten. I didn’t get mauled. It was a good trip.
I suppose the moral to all this, if there is one, is that sometimes you have to do things your not comfortable with in order to grow.
Pictures from the trip will come soon.
I was struck by this word yesterday.
It has so many possible meanings behind it but nearly all of them have some sort of positive meaning. 2009 was a rough year for many people in the world. Many lost jobs, loved ones and ultimately hope. They simply gave up. They allowed the darkness in this world over take the joy in their life and because of that, they were left stranded, alone and hurt. 2010 is the year to change that.
The definition of “cultivate” that strikes me the most is this one:
to acquire or develop (a quality, sentiment, or skill):
- to win the friendship or favor of (someone)
- apply oneself to improving or developing (one’s mind or manners)
This year I have a goal, not a resolution (since resolutions are rarely fulfilled). My goal is to be selfless and compassionate. A goal to give when I don’t think I have the time or energy. A goal to build relationships with people in an attempt to show them hope, to make them feel loved.
I was very blessed last year and to keep that all to myself would be selfish and egotistic. I will apply myself to improve someone’s disposition.
I will cultivate.
Photo by Landis Woffordl/Grandfather Mountain
Landis Woffordl captured this beautiful image from Grandfather Mountain this morning. On the horizon, you can see the Charlotte skyline. Charlotte is over 100 miles away so, for this shot to be taken, there has to be near perfect weather conditions. Great shot Landis.
For more information on Grandfather Mountain, visit there website.