Outer Banks and extreme family fun

This past summer, just a few days after my last day of school, we packed up the Odyssey and headed south to the Outer Banks. This was my first time there. Let me tell you, it is now my most favorite beach. When my wife and I first met, we would spend long weekends at New Jersey beaches. It was always affordable, and of course we didn't have children, so we could truly relax. I remember one specific time we went down to Ocean City, NJ, right after I had my wisdom teeth out. To make a long story short, I was sent out of the dentist office with a huge bottle of good pain killers, and we immediately left for the beach. I looked like Popeye due to the last tooth being broken and stubborn. I think my wife, who was pregnant with our first son, had more fun watching me be a dope on a skim board. I didn't feel any pain from the dozens of falls.
Since then, we have migrated southward. The outer banks is the best family vacation ever. First of all, there isn't a whole lot to do except hang out at the huge beach house and be with family. There was about 12 of us that went down for seven days. My folks, my sister and her family, my brother-in-law's brother, and my uncle Bob all had a wonderful time enjoying each other's company. We went to the beach at about 9am because the boys were excited for sand and water. There was hardly anyone on the beach, and we got the same parking spot everyday. FREE parking at that, and only about a 75 yards from the water's edge. After a few hours there we headed back to the house and enjoyed our own private pool and some *ahem* beverages. They boys had a blast, and so did we "adults." I would recommend taking a trip to the Outer Banks to anyone. It is an awesome family experience.

A day at the races

In August, Maple Grove Raceway comes alive with the buzz of NHRA fans and the smell of Nitro-Methane. This was my second time attending the NHRA Toyo Nationals at Maple Grove. If you have never experienced the excitement and furry of top-fuel drag racing, do it ASAP! When 8,000 horse-power rockets off the starting line, your eyes and the rest of your insides will shake uncontrollably and your adrenaline will shoot through the roof. The cool thing about NHRA events is being able to walk around the pits and see the crews working on cars. My good friend's father gets press passes so we can park right behind the bleachers, handy for cooler refill runs. Here are some shots from this year.














Dan and our friend from Amsterdam, Geoff Charles.


The Gilles-pie

Say goodbye to the Stockyards

Once the largest livestock hub east of the Mississppi, Lancaster Stockyards has officially started to be razed. The now lifeless cattle chutes and quiet auction rooms will soon be gone. Here are pictures I was lucky enough to shoot in the stockyards final years. Most everything you see in my photos is gone, forever.

Caydn, my oldest son.


Noah, my youngest.



Well, summer is almost gone, and I am back to school. I am looking forward to the crisp fall mornings. The kind with the killer sunrises and incredible mist hovering in the deeper parts of the county.
This summer was fruitful. I made a lot of wedding contacts, and shot half-a-dozen. You can see them here. I am also busy with senior portraits. I enjoy a more one-on-one photo shoot, and this could prove to be pretty lucrative.