Severna Park High School Graduation | 2013

This year Severna Park Seniors had the pleasure to graduate from the newly built arena at Towson University.  This year was the first year I actually felt like a part of me was graduating and moving on to bigger better things.  I am really proud of this class, specially the ones who I had a part of molding!  

Thanks guys for making another school year great!

 

 

Event Photographer | Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser | Annapolis, MD

This ear we have had the pleasure of helping out many organizations who are solely there to help out.  On March 16th we offered our photo booth services to a Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser.  Not only was this great for us to help such a cause, but we also used the opportunity to try out our brand new setup for the photo booth!

The event was at the Metropolitan in Annapolis, MD which is a great little kitchen and lounge.  The group raised money from a silent auction and our photo booth prints.  We donated the prints and a photography session.  From our products, we were able to raise $250.  We met a lot of great people and had some great fun at such a benefit.

hanks again guy!

 

​Here is my crew from college that helped support the cure!

​Here is my crew from college that helped support the cure!

Holiday Party I Thompson Creek Window Company | Lowes Hotel, Annapolis, MD

Thompson Creek Window Company contacted me about being a part of their holiday party.  This was a great event to shoot because it was our largest event to date (550+ guests!) that we have prepared for. It was also very special because it was our first photobooth that was booked.  Thompson Creek Window Company is a huge company that is rated #11 home remodeling company in the United States.  The event was at the Lowes Hotel in Annapolis, MD.  The Lowes Hotel was a great venue and the service was amazing!  We are looking forward to working with them on future events.

Shop with a Cop I Denton, MD I Talbot County Optimist Club

For the 2012 holiday season, we had the pleasure of photographing an amazing event.  Shop with a cop is an event that the Talbot County Optimist Club puts on where they get stores around the area to sponsor a child for the event.  The child is partnered up with local police officer or trooper.  The officers take their child to Walmart and give the kid $100 to spend on whatever they would like.  Most of the children buy presents for their family and something for themselves.  It is a wonderful event and what the children get out of it is amazing, they see the police as good people not as the bad people. Watching the police work with their child is so emotional because you can see the impact they are making to the children.  

After Walmart, the police take the kids to a local resturant where their gifts are wrapped and they are fed lunch.  Some of the stories we so hard to hear, one of the little girls said she did not eat for two days, to hear this was heart-wrenching.  It was great to capture this event and be a part of helping these children.

High School Graduation - Severna Park High School - Towson University

Every year since I have started at Severna Park High School, I have been a part of the graduation at Towson University.  One because we are required as teachers to attend and help but they usually give the teachers a role of being at the end of a row seated with the students.  Some other teachers have different duties, so I asked if I could help out and shoot and give the photos to the school website and yearbook.  This was my second graduation and I really love it because all of the students are so happy to be done school and they are a lot of fun 

So I spend the morning winding the halls taking pictures of the students together getting ready and talking about their plans for the future.  I also catch the occasional teacher helping student who doesn't know how to tie a tie! (See below, haha)  These are the great memories that stand out in my mind.  Later I shoot the students entering and listening to all of the speeches.  Being valedictorian in our school does not come easy and it a huge race for many students.  It is not uncommon for our valedictorian to have at least a 4.85 GPA!!!   I do not focus on the students receiving their diplomas because another photography service owns that time and place on the stage.  I get a few just for capturing the moment for the school.  

After the event, families gather outside to take pictures and I usually get the "hey can you take this?"  I shoot it with my camera but am nice enough to shoot it with theirs as well.  I do get a few who buy my prints instead of just keeping theirs.  Thank You!  Lastly, every year I have the family, "wheres the memory card? Wheres the battery? YOU DIDNT BRING THE CAMERA!?!? &*#&^@!!!!"  Thats were I come in camera in hand with a smile on my face! 

Talbot County Optimist Club - Golf Tournament - St. Michaels, MD

The Golf Tournament that the Optimist club puts on every year is one of the best events we do. It is held at the Harbourtowne Golf Resort.  It was a very fun event to shoot with the people having a great time playing golf. After the golf outing, we have dinner for all the attendees and complete the night with a silent auction.  I donated a few items, framed print of a waterfall and two photography sessions.  All three were sold at a decent price.  To raise money, we sell tee signs, group tee times and the silent auction.  All in all it was a great event and I really loved shooting on such a beautiful course.

Talbot County Optimist Club - Awards Banquet - Easton, MD

This is the time of year that the Optimist club absolutely loves, the awards banquet. This is the event that we pass out our checks to each youth group.  During this event we invite the representative from the group and have dinner and talk about what we did this year.  Then the fun begins, when we actually get to pass out their checks that will help them push further during the year.  All of the groups have great things to say but some really go above and beyond to give us praise by telling us what special they are doing this year.  

One part that really set in was when we had everyone recite the pledge of allegiance.  To me this is normal because I say it everyday in school and we also recite it at all of our meetings.  When we gave our check to the Bayhawks Baseball Association, the father (show below in orange) started to cry as he expressed that his son is in Iraq and it really makes him feel great that people support his son. 

Talbot County Optimist Club - Oratorical Contest - Easton, MD

Since we have moved to Easton, MD, Kylie and I have been working a lot on the house and getting situated.   We wanted to meet some new people in the community so we joined the Talbot County Optimist Club (Optimist International).  We create events and fundraise to donate to local youth clubs and groups in our county.  We support many groups like the girl & boy scouts, baseball, football, senior after prom party. Some events that we host throughout the year are Christmas tree sales, Golf tournament, Oratorial contest and we help other group like the Lions club on some of their events. As you might imagine these take a lot of volunteering hours so I decided instead of just helping with time I would offer my photography service to document the club. Since the start I have created a Facebook page and shot all of their events. 

I shot the Oratorical Contest in these photos.  This contest was given to the local high school.  We had the contestants create a speech about a topic that we choose.  There are local judges who judge the event and the winner moves on to the regional event.  This year it was in Ocean City, MD. This year it was a great turnout with a variety of boys and girls of all ages. 

Lord & Taylor Fashion Shoot - Annapolis, MD - Annapolis Mall

Last weekend I had the pleasure of shooting my first fashion show at Lord & Taylor in the Annapolis Mall.  I was a very fun event which was much different than what I am use to.  The ladies were displaying this years prom dresses for the upcoming high school proms.  The audience was very nice and a pleasure to talk to.  Since posting the photos on my site and linking to the L&T facebook page, they have received many comments and likes from those links.  Hopefully, in the next few days L&T will post up the photos in their albums to see if they hold even more traffic.  I am excited to see what comes from this shoot and look forward to the next session.  They also posted the images on their facebook page, I guess you can call me published!! Here are a few shots from the show.