Talk about a sunset, all I could see were purples and reds...

If you don't know, I was singing Rascal Flatts. If you have a brain at all, I highly recommend the new Rascal Flatts CD. I bought it the day it was released and it hasn't come out of my CD player since! Bar none the best CD they've ever done and the best CD I've heard by anyone in a really long time. (If you are Rascal Flatts or are associated with them or Lyric Street Records, please note that I do accept checks, money orders, cashiers checks and paypal. Pony up the dough boys!)

I LOVE this picture! Actually at first look I wasn't that crazy about it, but the more I look at it the more I love it. I'm also in love with my handy dandy new remote trigger release, which allowed for this tack sharp image. :o) Thanks little plastic thing!

As it seems, I have far to much to do than anyone should have the duty to do. I have tons of editing and design work that has got to be finished early this week. I'm entering what is by far the busiest week I've ever had since the creation of Ledford Photography, and it seems, I'll only have a short time to complete editing of it before the craziest month I've ever had begins! Just thinking about it, I need some caffeine! I'm busy and I may complain but really I'm enjoying this. I've talked about making this happen for so long, at some point I went from doing nothing to being too busy to realize I wasn't doing nothing. It appears my business is a business and by just having that happen has proven a few dozen people wrong.

A pretty cool feeling I must say!

A 1940's Carnival Ride

I LOVE this picture. This is Lake Winnie of course, I love it, makes me think of a 1940's picture of an old carnival. I'm also loving this tinting, which I've been using like crazy here lately. What's more is I have it set up on a F key command so it's basically no work to do! You can't bet that!

I spent the whole day editing pictures which is what my next 2 days will consist of as well. This coming week is going to be insane. In a 4 day span I have 9 shoots to do! Just the mere thought stresses me out to tell you the truth about it! My 1st Bat Mitzvah is coming up this week, I'm excited and scared all at the same time. I hope and pray it comes off the best I can get it done. If so I can see a lot more jobs coming in from this one. I'm also dangerously close to FINALLY finishing the baby book I've been working on now for a few weeks. For the first time ever, I've developed a complete block. Usually I can think about the images, get an idea for a theme and soon a whole book is done in the matter of a day or two. This one has been tough however, it's of Brooklynn's baby photos along with the maternity stuff I shot before her arrival. I've put so much pressure on myself to make this book the best thing ever that I've totally lost my focus and creativity. I'm nearing the end finally so keep your fingers crossed that it all flows together when it's finished. I feel really bad that it's taken me this long, and it's not from being slack either, I spent a good 3 or 4 days just staring at her pictures without getting anything done, just hoping a idea would come to me.

A real bummer for this weekend - I was planning on going up to Nashville for a few days. I had a few shoots to do up there, one of which was at Creekwood Gardens and I was so excited about getting some really great stuff in the Tulip field they have. The weather wasn't looking so great and it had called for rain on Saturday and Sunday all week, including yesterday. So I cancel the shoots and the trip only to wake up this morning to sunny skies in Nashville until late Sunday night! My Tulips will be long gone before I have another chance to head up there. I've got 1 weekend free at the end of May and not another one until July! A major disappointment, those photos would've looked so great on my new website!

Happy Burfday to me...

Aw yes, the blessed day I arrived on this planet, a mere twenty something years ago, this very day! What a great birthday - I slept late and when I woke up everyone was gone so I had the whole house to myself for a few hours. I laid around and watched movies all afternoon with Summer and we ate chocolate while we watched Willy Wonka. At 6 I had an shoot, which I was really excited about too! Usually that never happens and usually when it does there are no people involved. I took some pictures of my friend Hollie and her pretty husband Zack, whom I only just met today. We've been meaning to do some pictures for years now and have never gotten around to until today. I'm pretty happy with the results though. It wasn't everything that I wanted but it'll do. The place where we shot them closed at 8 pm on a Friday night! I was thinking more like 10! So we went to plan B and shot a few things in downtown. Afterwards I was treated to a b-day dinner. (Thanks for that guys, it was great!)

All in all - maybe one of my best birthday's ever!

Near death experience, kinda....

Tonight my friends Ricki & Erika took me out to dinner at Mellow Mushroom to celebrate me getting older tomorrow. ( Thanks ladies, I had a great time!) Had it not been for the shoot I have tomorrow night I would be talking to you from a hotel room in Atlanta with a belly full of Melting Pot. Be that as it may, I settled for hummus, pizza and a little bit of night shooting in downtown.

A few months ago I was out shooting in downtown and got some really cool stuff up on the roof of a parking garage deck. Seeing as it's now Summer time and the tourist are flocking to our city, a lot more lights are lit up in the downtown area now than they had when I first ventured up on the roof. Ricki, Erika and I drove up to the rooftop and with our tripods and my newly purchased remote trigger release & took a few shots of the cityscape.

As we were shooting we saw lights from a car driving up the ramp to the roof. It was an old beat up car, something like a murdering looney would drive. The car pulls up to the back of mine and stops. Ricki & Erika were actually inside the car and I was shooting some street stuff on the other side of the roof. I had left the back hatch of my SUV wide open so a locked door would've been pretty pointless. With no weapon available I decided to unattached my camera and prepare to go in swinging with my nearly new tripod, which I've really come to love over these past few months. From where I was standing all I could see was the creepy car and hear a guy yelling something that I couldn't make out. Luckily the car pulled away and I didn't have to injury my tripod... opps, I mean luckily Ricki and Erika weren't killed.

Turns out it was the parking attendant informing us that we shouldn't be up there that late at night. GEE THANKS BUDDY, YOU SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF US! Anywho, we were done anyway, so we packed our things and left. He had hung back on the 4th floor to see if we were leaving, or he was planning to come back and kill us, either way, my point is that he wasn't at the gate when we left so our parking was free! Seeing as it's my birthday and the fact that we could've died, I opted for strawberry cheesecake from Taco Mac. The desert actually took longer to get than our pizza but it was well worth it, they have the best cheesecake ever! Had we had someone else joining us, it would've been a scene ripped right from the Golden Girls! (Which by the way, the 5th season is coming out in a few days, feel free to get it for me as a late b-day present!)

Up and Gone - Minus our Cameras

My friend Chad invited me and whoever else I could talking into going, up to Nashville for the CMT Awards Pre-Party today. I had basically talked myself out of going when Ricki signed on yahoo.... Well, long story short, within 10 mins of making up our minds to go, she had called her daughter's school and checked her out for the day and we were all on the road to Ringgold to meet up for our trip. I admit I only half listen to what people say so I assumed that the pre-party was in the Arena in Nashville. Thinking it was in the arena I didn't take my camera because I knew they wouldn't allow a pro camera in a concert. Skipping ahead 2 hours or so when we arrive in Nashville, Chad had to make a 'quick stop' at a radio station on music row to pick up a box of goodies. Our quick stop resulted in me spending more time on music row than in the whole time I lived in Nashville! Granted we had a great time driving around in circles. Weeeee

Side note: If you've never been to music row it's actually a shocker to see. You think of all these huge record labels and the places where music is make and you think big huge buildings... a nice area, right? Well, my friends, music row is made up of a few streets of old houses that are now used as the major dwellings of the top notch labels, publishing houses and studios in 'Music City.' While driving around the area, be sure to roll down your window, if any street ever smelled like money it would have to be that one!

Back to the point, located on the edge of music row is Belmont University. Belmont is the 'who's who' of music industry students and because it's located on the edge of the row, it's full of every opportunity you can imagine, granted it's at a large price, but still. Well we drive away from music row and head to the pre-party, which is in fact on the street at the corner of Broadway and 2nd Ave in downtown. We exit the car and nearly every person in site is holding a big camera with long zoom lenses... Just like the ones we DIDN'T BRING! Yeah I really need to start paying more attention when people talk. Naturally I have no blog photos of the day and I really missed out on some great shots too. Please direct your attention to the illustrated drawing I so lovingly created just for your view pleasure, it's an amazing accurate portrait of the talent we witnessed on our trip. We saw Little Big Town perform among other people I can't remember the name of but the highlight was seeing Cooter with the General Lee. Back in the day boy I would've been all about meeting Cooter... I was a tad crazy about the Duke's of Hazzard.

We left the pre-party and walked down the street towards the arena to scope out the ticket situation only to find that the show wasn't at the arena like I had assumed, it was at Belmont University!! The very place we just came from! It's true, I'm retarded...

Oh well, we had fun anyway, (Thanks Chad, for the tickets!) but next time I'm bringing a camera!

How do you know you've reached the big time?

When a photograph you've taken is tattooed on someone's back! Okay so it's a bit unusual but sweet all the same. Remember a few months ago I did a shoot with Morgan, a little girl around 18 months with blonde hair & blue eyes. Well her dad liked them so much he had one tattooed on his back. I admit that seeing photographs you've taken blown up, framed and hung all over someone's house is always a thrill but I never thought I'd be perminately inked! I told the little girl's Grandma that if I had known he was going to do that I would've tried harder! I just laughed and laughed.... she on the other hand just looked at me funny. HAHA - Oh Well I thought it was funny anyway. :o)

Let the good times roll...

Two times the good times! I've started an offical Ledford Photography blog. It's a work in progress and it hasn't been posted for public release just yet on the site but eventually you'll see it up and running. Here's a peek before it's posted for client view: http://ledfordphotography.blogspot.com/

It'll be customized to match the new theme of the site, which by the way, is going to be awesome! It'll be a few months yet before it's finished, my goal is to have it up by sometime in June. My smugmug site will also change faces to match. I'm really looking forward to it! Anything beats the site I have now!

How sweet is that!

Wow have I been busy! Baby shoots, bridal shoots and engagements. I'm playing catch up now with all the editing and book design. I've also started on a new website layout. This one is from a professional designer, let's just say you'll be shocked! :o)

I returned to do Brooklynn's 3 month portraits. This time we did super natural stuff. Mostly just laying on the bed with mom & dad. Some very sweet moments, as you can see here. I'm really loving these baby shoots, I hope the new advertising that I've got in the works will lead to a lot more.

LOST & LOSING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay so I might be a little heated! Do you watch 'LOST'? Who the CRAP do those 'LOST' people think they are!!! Good grief, I've watched this show from the very beginning and I've seen ever show they've ever done. Then tonight we find out that this whole island might not be anything more than a crazy man's mind game. Granted the person who writes this show is an evil genious but I really wish I didnt watch it. I can't NOT watch it now, I'm in the crowd who must know who "the others" really are and just what happens when the 108 mins runs out. The 'guest' in the hatch now says he DIDNT push the code. Then again he lied about his name, life, family, arrival, etc etc... Just who do you trust here!! Good grief it might have been the best and worse episode ever. We're even MORE CONFUSED than we've ever been. You know if Hurley really had jumped the cliff and magically awoke the world of 'LOST' fans would've been the happiest/maddest people on the planet!!!! I'm pretty sure wars have been started over less reasons!! THE PURE MADNESS OF IT ALL, OH THE NERVE, THE HUMANITY! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Out with the old...

I have just realized that I'm nearly out of business cards. I'm not complaining by no means, if only people actually used them for dialing my phone number more often. I've been working on some new designs, I tend to get bored pretty easy so I didn't want to go with the same ones I had. I'm really not sure if I like this one or not, I go back and forth between yes and no. I think it needs something, I just don't know what, any thoughts?

Colorfide Country Time

You can't tell so much on this web image but I had a good ole time changing the coloring on this image. I took this a few weeks ago when I rode out to Lookout Mtn with my Grandma & Mom to put some flowers on some family member's graves. I thought we'd go riding afterwards so I drove down the back road of Lookout and through Rising Fawn. My grandparents lived there way back in the day when their kids were little. My grandma hadn't been there in a really long time and some of the roads we went down she'd never been through. We had a good old time, I really enjoy getting out riding the roads in the middle of nowhere. It's weird, when I was a kid I hated to do things like that but now I just strike off down roads I've never been on before just to see where they go. I've found some really cool stuff before though so it's all worth it in the end.

I can't believe that it's April Fool's day and I didn't play a single joke on anybody. How sad is that! I've never been one for really good April Fool's Day jokes anyway so I guess it's best to just give up. I remember the only one I ever played that made any sense was on my grandpa. We were in the woods cutting wood, well actually he was cutting I was watching, anyway I started screaming and told him I saw a snake by his foot. I was expecting him to yell or at least jump backwards, instead he just said to make sure it didn't crawl up his leg. I kind of lost all hope after that... what a shame.