The dog days of summer....

According to Wikipedia, "Dog Days" are the hottest, most sultry days of summer.  In the northern hemisphere, they usually fall between early July and early September.  The name comes from the ancient belief that Sirius, also called the Dog Star, in close proximity to the sun was responsible for the hot weather.  Pushing 90+ Fahrenheit each day puts us in dog kennel of summer!

Two BEAUTIFUL flowers!

Ahhhhh.....the pool!  Atticus has become a regular fish lately!  He has learned to dunk his head underwater, hold his breathe, and retrieve a dive stick.

Leigh was in love with the colors the sky was producing on the trip back home from swimming.

An old shed across the street from my parents house.  Growing up we couldn't see it from across the road as the entire lot was filled with orange trees.

The stages of a Fritillary Butterfly.  Each year they come and feast on our Passion Vine plant.  It's worth the destruction of a few leaves to see this miracle take place each year!

(Left) My little brother Monty always wore a cape as he ran around the house and played, so Leigh felt it was time to make one for Atticus!  I drew a logo and she went through her material remnants and put this together...SUPER ATTICUS TO THE RESCUE!  (Right) Just a normal night after dinner.  Atticus ate every bite of his mom's delicious home made Chicken-Pot-Pie!

Calm-Cool-Collected.....

....for a couple of seconds anyway!!!!!

--markTHOR!

EXTRA! EXTRA! Our photos have been published.....

CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE STORY!!! 

...well, it's a community newspaper, but it's a start!  I've always wanted to get into Sports photography, and playing soccer my entire childhood and through highschool was certainly a great first assignment!

Lined up for national anthems before kickoff.  Bolton Wanderers of the English Premier League came to the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando to face the Orlando City Lions in a summer exhibition.

Kevin Davies of BW and Matt Luzunaris of OC, two eventual goal scorers, warm up before the match

 

Great shots came from both sides, and in the 18th minute Davies put one home off his head (seen in bottom photo above)

It was great to be down on the field with the guys you see playing every weekend in the EPL, on the left is Zat Knight, the tallest player in the league measuring roughly 6' 6"

Some more great action, the bottom photo showing the scramble to remove the ball from the box after a corner kick which in the end was futile as it ended in the back of the net for Bolton's 2nd goal. 

 

It's called the beautiful game for many reasons, the strategy, the sportsmanship, and the whole ambiance surrounding the pitch!

 Boden concentrates all the way from ball to boot.  Chung-Yong Lee (right), a South Korean, had a great following in the crowd.

 Wanderers' Petrov, shown left, would score the 3rd and final goal for Bolton.

Matt Luzunaris, the sole Orlando City goal scorer is on loan from San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) and attended one year at the University of Central Florida (my alma mater) before beginning his pro career playing for multiple European clubs.

Stuart Holden (Right) plays for Bolton but also the U.S. Men's National Team!  He is currently nursing a leg injury and did not play in the recent Gold Cup nor this night.  He was a really good guy and came out after the game was over for photos and autographs.

A great showing by the support groups of the RUCKUS (left) and the IRON LION FIRM (right).   Drums, smoke machines, flying streamers, and plenty of verbal abuse poured out onto the pitch from both groups!

It was definitely a once in a lifetime chance to be down on the pitch! 

I will be back taking photos when the Orlando City Lions take on Newcastle United this Saturday, see y'all at the game, I will have more photos of that game to come!

Summertime, and the livin's easy...

 Summertime in our household is always busy!  Leigh's b-day is the end of June, America's is begining of July, and Mine (Mark) is the middle of July...which usually yeilds all kinds of craziness and usually keeps us too busy to book photoshoots for clients, so here are some photos to wet your whistle!  I will be Photographing the Orlando City Soccer games versus Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United this coming week and can't believe that I will be on the sideline with a Telephoto lens!

Jen surprised Leigh with this great Rainbow cake, Leigh loves color!

So i got her new nail polish....she needed it!  :)

Ahhh yes, finger paints....i can remember the smell and taste like it was just yesterday!

WHAT A GREAT PAINTING BY ATTICUS!  The application of paint by both digit and stamping of the top of the jar provides tension between geometry and nature.

We recently gave Atticus our HUGE office and moved into his humble room.  He can have all of his toys, his crib, his dresser with fish tank, a bookcase filled with books, a play tent, and two toy chests and still have room to run and jump around.

Looking for the horses, they must have been at a show.  This kid is so hip, check them kicks!

We've never had a problem with him eating his vegetables....in fact for this lunch he STOLE my tomato soup.

This year I knew the 4th of July would be dicey....would he like/dislike the loud bangs, would he put up with it, we just didn't know....but we did know one thing for sure..... 

 ....bring lots of clothes!  He went through 4 changes of clothes in a 4 hour span!  If that's not the tell tale signs of a good time I don't know what is!  Whether it was watermelon, cupcakes, sweat, dirt, or all of the above he found it and owned it.  We went to a great 4th of July block party hosted by the Wrights.  They invited all of the neighbors and everyone brought food and outdoor gaming supplies.  We played basketball, corn-hole, horseshoes, volleyball, and blew stuff up!

The real fun began as the sun began to set.  We celebrated our country's freedom the correct way!

July 8th was sadly the last Space Shuttle launch and unfortunately I couldn't get the day off.  My mom wanted to make sure that Atticus at least saw it live on tv....problem was, as you can see on the left, him and Hensley had just finished painting and were in the tub....well, you see what happened on the Right.  A proper farewell if I don't say so myself!

Good summer fun, the pool!

And last but not least, my birthday!  Leigh took us out for delicious tacos and gelatos!

We all scream for Ice Cream!

There are few things in life greater than soft-served ice cream.
It allows to devour copious swirls of deliciousness in order to acquire a proper brain freeze.  Twistee Treats of East Orlando has over 20 different flavors, as I see it that's at least 20 reasons to keep coming back!

That "things in life greater" thing I was telling you about...if you don't believe me reference the picture on the left!  This kid has only had ice cream a few times and all we had to do is say the word once and he was ready for it.  Share....I don't think so, he'll take a "medium" strawberry please!

One of the other greatest joys in life....sharing it with the next generation!

Thanks Seanáthair & Nana!

The Center of Attention...

The very best (and for some the WORST) part of being photographed, is you are THE center of attention.  The lighting is metered just for you, the focus is on you, and most of all, our eyes are directly on you!  Maybe you've never been the center of attention, not to worry, Leigh always has a knack of  comforting our clients and they always tell us how enjoyable and natural everything felt.  In lieu of the clients being the center of attention, here are some photos with absolutely NO people in them!  Take yourself out of the "it's a flower" mindset and enjoy the shapes, colors, and textures!

(Above: Wild Iris)

Sunflower & Passion Vine Flower

Roses

Squash Flower, Canna Lily & Tulip

Columbine

Unknown Wildflower, Cactus, Hibiscus

Beautiful Downtown Orlando

Mark and I don't get the opportunity to go out that much. We only have so many babysitters and we use them a lot for photo shoots. In an effort not to wear out our sitters(aka grandparents) we simply just don't go out on the weekends. Well a few nights ago we got Uncle Ben to watch our crazy kid and we got a nice night to ourselves. Nothing good was playing at the movie theaters so we decided to head downtown with our cameras and see what happened. 

 The swans in Lake Eola are so crazy awesome! :) I forgot to bring them some snacks but they came up and said hello anyways. There are white swans and black swans and even ones with red on their beaks! They are definitely a really cool addition to our city! I'm hoping one day to get in one of the swan boats they have out there. 

 Downtown Orlando has such beautiful oak trees!

 Downtown from the other side of Lake Eola.

Wildside Barbecue in Thornton Park. Mark and I got married across the street from here at the Veranda B and B and had our rehearsal dinner at Wildside so this is a pretty special area for us!! :) Mark did a 30 second exposure here. I love all the lights on the building and of course the streaks of light made by all the passing cars. After this we headed to the bookstore. Exciting night, I know!! :) Sometimes when you're a parent just a little time away can be the best night ever! And of course it doesn't hurt to get some fun time in with your hubby! <3