Another fantastic golf tournament.

Waking up at 6:00 and driving 2 1/2 hours to River Landing in Wallace, NC was worth the effort.  I was able to participate in a MDS golf tournament on one of the most beautiful courses that I have ever played.

Although my game is far from good and I donated several balls to the water, I enjoyed the beautiful weather and course.

Jason Mraz 2012 - "Tour Is A Four Letter Word"

I've been a Mraz fan for several years and was happy to have the chance to see him in concert for the second time. My first experience with lawn seating was during the first Mraz concert and now I do not think i would want to be anywhere else during a concert.   I like being able to have some space and relax during the concert.  Being lucky enough to get a area center stage is perfect for me.  The view is good and the sound is even better.

 The concert special guest Christina Perri was awesome as expected.  if you get a chance to score some tickets its worth the time.


Set list:

• • The Remedy (I Won't Worry)
  • The Freedom Song
  • Bella Luna
  • Tonight, Not Again
  • Who's Thinking About You Now?
  • Lucky
  • Frank D. Fixer
• • The Sunshine Song
  • Plane
  • Living in the Moment
  • The Woman I Love
  • A Beautiful Mess
  • I'm Coming Over
  • You Fckn Did It
• • Butterfly
  • Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours
  • I'm Yours
  • Song For A Friend
  • Distance (with Christina Perri)
  • 93 Million Miles
  • I Won't Give Up

Long exposure time.

I am traveling to Seven Lakes, NC after a couple of evening photo sessions and the multiple lights of a feed mill on Highway 211 catch my eye.  As with many scenes I think to myself that this could make a nice photo, but I continue driving.  During the next 2 miles I am still thinking about the feed mill.  I have my gear with me and  am not rushing to another appointment.  I make a u-turn and head back to the feed mill location.  As I drive by I scope out a decent area to pull off the road to setup a tripod with camera. Conditions were great.  No moisture in the air and there wasn't any haze from the mill around the structure.   I dial in my camera settings, click the remote and wait for the photo to be captured.   After 5 or 6 shots I felt good about the results on the screen and packed my gear and continued my journey.    I've also included a few more long exposure photos that I have captured in the past.  I enjoy setting up a camera and tripod to capture some night time shots.  I like to capture the sparkle form the lights and as much detail as possible.

Perdue feed mill, Bensalem, NC

Perdue feed mill, Bensalem, NC

Cemetery, downtown Columbia SC

Downtown Columbia SC

Christmas decoration, Downtown Rockingham, N.C.

4th of July fireworks, Rockingham, N.C.

Rare snowfall at Harrington Square, Rockingham, N.C.

Disney Hollywood Studios, Florida

Washington Street, downtown Rockingham, N.C.

We had our cake and ate it too!

I was glad to be a part of the planning for Art's Richmond's 2012 fundraiser event themed Fire & Ice.  In addition to dinner,dancing and a silent auction, we decided to add a cake baking contest to the evenings events.  We out together some guidelines and invited local bakers, or cake artists as we like to call them, to participate.

In the guidelines the cakes had to represent the theme and offer a bite-sized sample for approximately 150 people.  Guest were encouraged to vote for Best in Theme and Best in Taste.  We opened the contest and encouraged people to vote at a $1.00 per vote.   The area around the cakes quickly became busy with guests taking a look and sampling the artwork.  We also provided a prize for Best Overall based on the total of the guests votes for Best in Theme and Best in Taste combined with sponsorship money that each cake artist collected on their own.  We had six cake artists participate and his proved to be a very large part of our fundraiser.

Special thanks to the cake artists:  Bambi Provensano, Wanda Bullard, Tracy McNair, Melissa Newton, Micheille Coggins and Jackie McAuley for their hard work.

Winners:

Best in Taste:  Michelle Coggins
Best in Theme: Tracie McNair

Best Overall: Tracie McNair


This could possibly be an event on it's own.  Planning for the Second Annual Cake Showcase will begin soon.

Pinball Wizard?

During my trip to Charlotte this week I decided to stop and have lunch at Pinky’s Westside Grill at W Morehead St.  When I entered the building the first thing that I saw was a KISS pinball machine.  I had not seen one of these in a long time.  I have been a KISS fan since the late '70's. I've played their music and seen them in concert.  I considered playing a game, but my stomach forced me to continue with lunch as planned.   After my meal, I took a look around the restaurant and heading to my car.  As I reached for the door, I realized that the pinball machine was still there and I should play one game.  Two quarters later I was flipping the flippers and bumping the machine as the balls bounced off of the bumpers.  It was a very brief game considering my pinball skills are not as good as they were many years ago.

This machine is in great condition.  Upon research I found out some history and just about any part needed for a machine refurb can be foun on Ebay.  The original price of the machine in 1978 was $199.00.  Most recently the machines have sold for almost $4000.00

Kiss April 25, 1978
4 Players
Manufacturer: Bally Manufacturing Corporation
Date Of Manufacture: June, 1979
Model Number: 1152-E
MPU: Bally MPU AS-2518-35
Type: Solid State Electronic (SS)
Production: 17,000 units (confirmed)
Theme: Celebrities - Licensed
Specialty: Conversion Kit
Notable Features: Flippers (2), Pop bumpers(4), 4-bank drop targets (1), Rollunder spinners (2).
Used a different power supply than the other 3rd generation tables.
Design by: Jim Patla
Art by: Kevin O'Connor
Notes: A 'Kiss' prototype was built which used speech.

A quick view of the sunset.

In a previous post I commented about sitting in traffic.   Once again today it too me approximately 40 minutes to go 10 miles.   South of Charlotte, NC there is an area where Interstate 77 dumps hundreds of cars into I-485 traffic already loaded with hundreds of cars.  Traffic becomes a slow crawl with a few idiots constantly changing lanes to a complete standstill.  Today I witnessed an ambulance trying to get through the four lanes of congestion.  A few of us pulled off of the road, but I was sad to see the rescue vehicle come to a complete stop in front of me because cars were not getting out of the way.   For the next mile or two I expected to see a fender bender, but there was nothing.  somehow the traffic manages to magically thin out and everyone remaining races to get to their final destination.  Just before I was preparing to exit on Highway 74 east in Matthews, NC I caught a glimpse of the sunset in my rear view mirror.  I managed to get my iPhone changed to camera mode to capture the photo below.   The struggle through traffic was worth the view behind me as I continued my journey home.

Social Media Marketing 101

I have been using Facebook and Twitter for a long time and thought that I knew a lot about both.  During a Social Media Marketing seminar today I learned that there was much more to learn about these sites and the thousands of second tier sites sprouting up daily. 

It was interesting to meet and exchange thoughts with people from other industries. There were lawyers, physicians, photographers, sale representatives, municipality managers and new paper publishers present. Although we were from many different jobs our missions were similar.  Reach more people.  The presenter was a former ad rep and knew the difficulties of reaching new clients and retaining current ones.  I learned many uses for social media sites and how to prevent from overload while using them.

The seminar covered about 3 days worth of material into one.  I am still soaking in the ideas and experimenting with different procedures. Since I was out of town I had to take advantage of being close to some favorite businesses that I follow on Facebook.  Krispy Kreme and Carrabbas was less than two miles apart.  My brain needed some comfort food.

The photo above captured the first batch of doughnuts coming off the line and soon into my hands. :)

Ocean Isle Beach - Oysterfest Weekend

I am always happy to add beach weddings to my schedule.  I enjoy all outdoor weddings, but I am very fond of the beach locations.  When possible I take advantage of the opportunity to spend some time on the beach and enjoy a restaurant or two.


Sharkys is a must visit restaurant when I visit Ocean Isle.  I've been to Sharkys before or after every wedding that i have photographed at Ocean Isle.  In addition to Sharkys, I have another new favorite place just across the bridge called The Causeway Gourmet.   Following the wedding we arrive at The Causeway gourmet just before closing.   The staff was very accommodating and prepared some delicious sandwiches for us.  

This particular weekend was also the weekend of the NC Oyster Festival.  I was a bit concerned about making trip between several destinations during the day because of the expected crowd. I am happy to say the the traffic control was on top of things and the crowd never became an issue for us during the day.

We had a wonderful day of food and wedding photography and were happy to retire for a good nights sleep.  Beside discovering an new restaurant I was very pleased with the accommodations provided at the Winds Resort Beach club.  This will definitely be the place I crash after future wedding gigs at Ocean Isle Beach.

The following day was just as beautiful as the previous and we spent some time on the beach as well as visiting the festival grounds to see tons of crafts and sample some food. 

Copyright - Jimmy McDonald Photography

Ocean Isle Beach on Dwellable

I love to be in my car and going places.  Going places means that the car is moving.  Sitting still surrounded by cars should take place in a parking lot, not on Interstate 485 south of Charlotte, N.C.  I have to ride this road a couple of times each month and try to avoid certain times.  Today I chose the wrong time.

Biltmore Estate

During our Summer trip to Asheville we had not planned to visit Biltmore Estate, but I wish that we did.   Since we didnt get to go in June, I decided that September would be a nice time of year to visit.  The temps should be cooler and maybe the crowds wold not be as large.  It was worth the wait.  We had a beautiful weekend to tour the house and surrounding area.

FACT:  Biltmore House is a Châteauesque-styled mansion in Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States, at 135,000 square feet.

The large home and surrounding land is the vision of the bachelor, Vanderbilt.  This was by far an ultimate bachelor pad designed to host various parties and other events.  In addition to the house, there are stables, winery, lodging facilities and several areas for outdoor activities.

When I purchased admission tickets, I took advantage of additional offers for the winery and reservations at Biltmore Deerpark Restaurant.  When we arrived to pickup tickets, the lines were already very long.  It appeared that my attempt to miss large crowds didn't work and I was concerned about parking.  Visiting the home and gardens with enough time to make it back to the van and to deerpark in time for our reservations was going to be a challenge.  Fortunately, the CSR at the ticket counter offered valet parking.   I can happily say that this was the best $15 spent all day.   We parked in front of the house, took our time visiting an shooting pics (when allowed) and the van was returned to the home for us to arrive at Deerpark in time for our reservation.. 

  Copyright - Jimmy McDonald Photography

This shouldn't happen!!!  That's all I have to say about that.

Taking the long route to Cherokee

 For  the past two years my family has traveled to over 70 counties of North Carolina to visit and take a picture of the current and previous courthouse buildings.   Most of the remaining counties are in the western part of the state.  We planned a trip for June to locate courthouses for the south western section.  I mapped out that we could drive to approx 11 different counties in one day with our final destination just south of Cherokee in Dillsboro.    A point "A" to point "B" trip would  have been appox 4 hours.  The modified route had us on the road for 11 hours.  With prints outs of each county seat and iPhone GPS we took a very scenic route through the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We made stops in Murphy, Brevard, Hayesville and several other towns.   It's interesting to see how many small towns have been  though or in the process of revitalization.

The route took is up and down winding roads past steep cliffs and waterfalls.  We all slept well after the long day of riding.

The following day was spent site seeing the area including tubing down the Oconaluftee river, indoor putt putt and Paula Deans Kitchen at Cherokee Casino.   Site seeing continued the third day as we visited a few more courthouses with the final destination of the day being Asheville.

We arrive in Asheville in time to get the Buncombe County Courthouse photo and walk around downtown for a couple of hours.  Downtown Asheville was lively as usual with plenty of street performers and bakeries to slip inside for a snack.