As I sit here in front of a nice big fire before sunrise on a cool rainy morning, I can not believe that another year has flown by.  What is it about the older we get, the faster time seems to pass; I mean when I was a child, it would seem like eternity before Christmas or a birthday would roll around.  And now it seems as though I blink my eyes and another year has passed!  Time, please slow down!!!!!

     2012 has been another Blessed year for my family and I.  We are healthy, we have a job, and we had a wonderful year of traveling together as a family and spending quality time together making memories.  The Lord has been good beyond what we deserve or could have ever imagined, & for that I have a grateful and overflowing heart.  

     So.......if 2012 was a productive and busy year, what does 2013 hold?  Well, I will tell you!  Besides all of the travel plans we have planned for the coming year, we are starting the biggest undertaking of my life!  The Lord has led us to open a coffee shop and gallery in downtown Macon that is slated to open in mid to late spring. I know, I know, MACON?  Yep, you heard me correctly!  It is not where I thought I would ever be opening a business as such, but we know it is where the Lord wants us, and we want to be in the center of His will for our lives.  It will not only  be a coffee shop/gallery, but the upstairs will also have 4 high-end lofts for people to rent out.  And last, but certainly not least, it will be a ministry where we can come along side and partner with other organizations both locally & nationally to help out in any way we can in the name of Christ.  I will have more details as we get closer to opening.   The name of the business will be "Taste & See Coffee Shop & Gallery".  And because it is such a large undertaking, we have partnered up with another family that we feel have the same vision as us.  Exciting to see what the Lord has in store for the businees and ministry in downtown Macon.

     So as we close out 2012 and look forward to 2013, I am ever aware of several things: 1) How much God loves me, not because of anything I have done to deserve this, but simply because that is the very nature of God himself. 2) I am aware of how very Blessed I am, not because of what I have, but because of who I get to spend my life with. (My beautiful wife and the most wonderful children a father could ever hope to have),  3)  How fast our children grow up before our very eyes.  4)  How we can not take anything for granted because we are never promised tomorrow.  So with that, I am thankful that I have a God that loves me and has a plan for my life,and I have a family that loves me and loves to spend time together!  So, give honor and thanks to Jesus for who He is, and tell your wife and children how very much you love them and how proud of them you are and watch it light up their faces.  

     In closing, go to the "contact" page on my website and sign up for my email newsletter so you can stay up to date with everything going on, and don't forget to check out some of my latest work by clicking on the image above and look for some of these images to be hanging in the Gallery come Spring.  God Bless and take Care!  

For His Glory!

                                                                          Kevin

As I sit here & write this, it is a beautiful Sunday afternoon with temps in the mid 80's and the humidity for these parts for this time of the year, are actually unusually comfortable.  For us folks in the South, Summer doesn't officialy lose its grip until October.  And we have even been known to show up for Thanksgiving in a pair of bermuda shorts & t-shirt.  It is what it is, and after nearly 45 years of living here, I can say I am used to it by now.  Don't necessarily like it, but I have learned to tolerate it.  

   Just returned from a trip to California with my two oldest children (who are growing up way too fast), where we spent a couple of days in San Francisco and Yosemite.  I had been to San Francisco some 30 years ago with my parents, but had never had the opportunity to visit Yosemite.  We had a great time just being together, seeing new places, & cutting up with one another as we always do.  The memories made, I will cherish a lifetime!  I realize more now than ever that our kids are under our direction & care for such a short time, and when that time is up, they move on and start lives of their own.  I do not ever want to live a life with regrets; I want to invest in my children as much as I can now while I have the opportunity.  I know that I am fortunate and blessed to be able to spend as much time with them as I do.  And I don't take one second of that for granted.  They are God's children and He has granted us to raise them up for Him!

   I know that in our walk with the Lord, the season's often change.  It is not a matter of saying yes to Him, and then everything else being a cake walk.  Yet, no matter what we face, He is with us and our very lives are in the palm of His Hand.  We just need to learn to listen for His voice, and be obedient to what He is saying.  I know that "all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose".  Not our purpose, but His.  And so therefore, things will not always look like what we think they will look like, or turn out like we think it will.  But He has plans for us that will bring Glory to His name.  So when our" season's of change" come, we need to be able to walk out of where we are and into the center of His will.  After all, isn't that the best place to be?

   So, click on the image above to see some of my latest travels.  Enjoy and may God Bless us all as we seek to fulfill His destiny for our lives.  Blessings

                                                                           Kevin

 The cool nights, the breezy days, the fog over the lake, the maples and oaks changing color, and the feel and smell of a nice warm fire are just a few reasons why Fall is my favorite season of the year.  And yet it seems to last for such a short period of time here in the South.  From the time the weather begins to change from the hot, sticky weather until the last leaf has fallen off of the tree, seems to go by in the blink of an eye.  My son and I just returned from a whirlwind 3 day trip to Southwestern Colorado to photograph my favorite tree, The Aspen.  As much as I love the colors of fall in the Smokies and Blue Ridge Mountains, nothing to me compares to the changing of the Aspens.  Maybe it is the bright yellows (and sometimes orange) against the white trunks that create such a contrast that makes the trees stand out so much and seem to catch your eye and cause you to want to stand in awe and say "WOW".  Maybe I am wrong, but I don't think the Aspens look bad in any light.  I have photographed them at all hours of the day and from backlit to frontlit, to standing in the midst of a huge canopy of Aspens in midday sun, I am always amazed at how beautiful they are in any light.  My only regret is that I was not able to stay longer this year.  And as I talk to fellow photographers in Colorado who talk of the Aspens beginning to fade and fall off of the trees, I am Blessed in the sense that I am able to make that Journey to Colorado for the Fall and return home just in time for the changing of the seasons in the Appalachians.  It is a beautiful Season here as well, but different.  Unlike Colorado where the primary color of Fall is Yellow (the Aspens & the Cottonwoods), the mountains here are much more diverse in terms of variety of trees and color.  I don't know of a place where there is more diversity than the mountains that run from North Georgia up the spine through Tennessee, the Carolinas,Kentucky,Virginia & West Virginia and all of the mountains in the Northeastern U.S.  Every color imagineable can be found in all of the different varieties of trees as they showcase their beauty in this season we call Fall.  So get out and enjoy the beauty that is all around us, and thank our Creator for such a beautiful time of the year, for just around the corner is Winter.

 It is 6am as I sit here and write this article drinking a cup of coffee and waiting for the sun to come up.  Summer is in full swing here in middle Georgia as the temperatures have already reached 100 degrees on several occasions!  (Tell me again why it is I live in the south)  Most people who have lived here all of their lives, have learned to acclimate to the heat and humidity that the South and Georgia are accustomed to.  As for me being here the entire 43 years of my life, I have not yet learned to deal with it.  I guess you could say I just tolerate it!  I am not too much of a fan of the weather in the south.  The spring and fall (if we even have one) are always way too short, and the winter is so weird in the sense it could be 30 degrees one day and the very next day it could be 70.  And the Summer's are just so hot that even a dip in the pool or lake is more like taking a warm bath than a time of cooling off.  So what do we do when it is hotter than a cat on a tin roof on a mid summer day?  Well, for one you do most of your activities in the morning or evening and save the hottest parts of the day for being in the cool of the air conditioned house.  The only problem with this is that my family  (myself included) does not like to be inside very much.  We love the outdoor activities like hiking, biking, camping, kayaking/canoeing, golfing, and pretty much anything else that keeps us active.  We often tell people that we were born on the wrong side of the Mississippi river!  We absolutely love the weather of places like Colorado.  The spring,fall, & summer are some of the most beautiful times of the year and the winters are beautiful as well, but I would not want to be in a place where you have to shovel snow for 4 or 5 months out of the year.  But we have been Blessed to be able to travel to so many different places that we love to spend time together as a family.  People often ask why it is I like to travel so much and I believe it started back when I was a child and traveled with my parents to different places within the U.S.A.  That ignited a passion within me even as a young adult to travel to different places and see new sights and experience new things.  And so my passion for photography is also expressed through these travels with my family.  I never fail to have my camera at my side when we travel, and while most people love to sleep in while on vacation, I am usually up well before the sun comes up chasing the light.  But this is what I love to do and it is what I am passionate about!  Yet I choose to have my family with me on these excursions!  I have tried to go places without them and I have found that I miss them too much when I am away from them, so at the very least, there are always one or two of my children who love to go on these adventures with me.  Especially my oldest son Levi!  He loves to stay up late and arise early in the morning to hike out to some location to shoot the sunset or sunrise.  Maybe the Lord has put a passion in him that will one day become a career.  Or maybe it is just a time to spend out in God's Creation doing the things you love with the people you love.  Either way, I cherish those times with my children that we spend together and I thank the Lord for the opportunity to be with them when I can.  I know that time goes by so fast and in the blink of an eye they are practically grown up and on their own.  I understand that more than ever now as my oldest is 15 and my youngest turns 3 thursday.  Where do the years go?  I want to live a life of "no regrets"!  I don't want to look back and say "what if"!  I want to take every moment the Lord gives me to be able to love on my children and speak into their lives by choosing to spend time with them.  The key here is choosing!  It is a choice we must make!  Not for our sake, but for theirs!
     We have had a busy spring and just returned from the coast with some new images and a new puppy.  So as that responsibility of caring for an 8 week old puppy will surely slow some of us down this summer, I will be doing some trips with some of my children individually.  The first of which comes up next week when Levi and myself head to the mountains of NC and TN to catch the rhododendrons in full bloom from the mountain tops.  So as for now, check out my Gallery pages under Recent Images to see some of my latest work, and check back in the coming weeks to see some of the places we have traveled.  Blessings!      Kevin

 As I sit here and write this, fall is in full swing where I live.  The maples, beech, and hickory trees are displaying all of their beautiful colors with the oaks not far behind.  I had a busy fall with three weeks spent in Utah and southwestern Colorado with my family and four days spent with my two oldest sons in the smoky mountains.  Fall is definitely one of my favorite times of the year with spring coming in a close second.  I have not yet added the images from my trips so you will not see them here, YET!  The reason for this is I am a featured artist at a new gallery opening in town called 567.  The show is November 5 and I have been preparing for this for several weeks now and did not want to spoil the fun by displaying the images here first.  However, I will be adding a couple of new images a day leading up to the show this Friday evening from 6-8 pm.  So if you happen to be in this area, stop by and see some of my work and see what 567 Gallery has to offer in the middle Georgia area.  Thanks again for stopping by to see what's going on in my little corner of the world.

I have just returned from a ski trip to Colorado with 3 great friends and my brother.  It was an awesome time of skiing and fellowship while enjoying the beautiful Colorado scenery!!!!  But now that I am back home in Georgia, I am so ready for spring.  It has got to be the strangest winter I have ever experienced in Georgia.  We have had twice the amount of normal rainfall the past six months, snowfall a half a dozen times, and it has been very cold by Georgia standards.  Spring cannot come quick enough!  And unfortunately the weird weather has not allowed for much in the way for photo opportunities here in Georgia, and I have not had the opportunity to get out of town much.  I have a few photo trips planned for the next few months, so hopefully I will have lots of new work.  Thanks again and check back soon for new images.  Be Blessed!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Kevin

 As I sit here and write this, I can hardly believe that another year has come and gone.  I have just returned from a week long vacation with the family to Disney, and feel pretty wiped out.  I have so much to do I don't even know where to start.  I have been blessed this fall to go on some incredible travels with friends and family, and I must say it was a successful time in terms of photography.  I got to witness the fall out West and back East and spend some time doing some quality hiking in the process.  My new website has just launched, so please bear with me as I begin to upload images and information.  And I want to say thank you to all who have encouraged me on this Journey.  To God Be the Glory!!!!  Have a Blessed Thanksgiving and let us not forget to thank our Heavenly Father for His Provision, Grace, and Mercy.  Be Blessed!

                                                                                                                                                         By His Grace,
                                                                                                                                                                       Kevin