July/Aug Free Desktop Background

The other day I was gardening and happened to grab hold of this giant caterpillar on one of my pepper plants. The little eyes that look like they're painted along his sides were very Alice in Wonderland, he's only missing a hookah. Feel free to use this as your desktop background if he doesn't gross you out too much. Click this link for the full-size version. Happy end of the summer!

May Desktop Background - Lilac

I'm pretty sure my favorite thing about spring is the smell. Everything comes back to life after its long winter nap, and the air is filled with all the new smells that were dormant under the cold and snow. When I close my eyes and conjure up the smells of spring, the first thing I think of is the smell of lilac blossoms. Their bright, sweet smell fills the air around my house, and its the first thing I smell when I leave in the morning. Now that May is here, they're already starting to fade away, so I took some snapshots of them to tide me over until next year. Here's my favorite shot for you to use as a desktop background if you'd like. Enjoy!

Click here to download the original version to use as your desktop wallpaper!

Jeaneen's 50th Birthday - A Metamorphosis

Two weekends ago I got to photograph my fun co-worker, Jeaneen's, 50th birthday party. She called it a "Metamorphosis" into the next stage of her life, and was sure to have plenty of butterflies around! The party was held at the Harbor House on Meyers Lake in Canton, Ohio. It's a private little...well...harbor house, complete with kitchen and bar. It was a beautiful little building. I didn't even know it existed. It would be a fun place for a bridal or baby shower or even a VERY SMALL wedding reception (especially on a nice summer or fall day when you could take advantage of the deck over the water!). Mia Macomson and her band provided the musical entertainment, and they were fantastic! I know everyone there had a complete blast. I know I did, and I was just the photographer! Here are a few pictures of the evening...enjoy!

The Impossile is now Possible - the comeback of Instant Film.

I'm in a great mood today, and not because I found five dollars in my coat pocket (although that didn't hurt matters). No, no...this is in response to something really spectacular. This morning on my drive in to work, during my ritual morning intake of other smart stuff on NPR, I heard what I've been waiting to hear.

Instant Film is back. That's right, dust off the Polaroid camera you've been using as a paper weight. Thanks to the team at The Impossible Project, today marks the reemergence of instant film. Starting on March 25th, monochrome instant film (compatible with Polaroid 600 cameras) is available on their website. A new color version of the old classic will be available sometime this summer.

I'm beyond psyched. No more searching for barely expired film on ebay. While the new film supposedly has a much sharper image quality, which won't give quite the same nostalgic quality as the old film, I'm happy to have it. A big Kudos! to the Impossible Project!

Check out the whole story from NPR here. Check out The Impossible Project's journey here.

Wedding Video Fun

Want an alternative to the same old wedding video? Take a page from Eileen & Brian's wedding. This is way better than the Processional Dance video that caught the internet on fire last year.

Brian & Eileen's Wedding Music Video. from LOCKDOWN projects on Vimeo.

March Desktop Background - Tiny Sweet

I'm going to begin posting a high-res image each month that you can download to use as your desktop wallpaper if it happens to tickle your fancy. I'll try to stay seasonal. As for this first offering, it's one of the cupcakes I made for Valentine's Day... so only one month late! :) Enjoy!

Click here to get the original size!

Let Google Plan Your Wedding

Just when I thought Google couldn't make my life much easier, they win my heart all over again. Google Documents now has a Wedding Template Collection to help you plan your big day. I'm a bit of a geek, so this serves as some very exciting news to me... and I'm not even planning a wedding. Now you can get help for everything from picking a photographer (may I suggest Olive Juice Photography?), organizing your guest list and their addresses, tracking RSVP's...all the way to writing your dang vowels...look out!

Some of my favorites:

• Wedding Address Book (pictured above) - allows you to request updated address information from your friends and families... so much better than getting that handwritten list from your mother-in-law to be.
• Wedding Seating Chart - automatically calculates the number of guests at each table for you and makes moving people as easy as Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V !!
• Wedding Day Schedule - put your mind at ease knowing you've accounted for everything, includes a sample timeline to get you started.
• Wedding Album - after your big day, you can arrange some of your favorite memories of the day in a cool online album to share with friends and family.

While it seems like Google is becoming the Walmart of the interwebs world, I'm okay with it, because they are so much cooler than Walmart. Google - you can plan my wedding any time!