You’re never too old to go to Prom!
My little sister Becky is interning at Fairwinds Manor which is north of Pittsburgh in Sarver PA. It is a personal care home as well as an assisted living facility for the elderly. This year the staff decided to start a new tradition to give the residents a special day just for them. They decided to start having a prom….complete with a king and queen! It is so important to give residents of these homes days full of life and smiles. It can be very lonely for a lot of them, and to bring them all together for a good cause brought a huge smile to my face. Most of them are immobile but they just loved the attention and spending time all dolled up.
I jumped at the chance to volunteer to snap a few shots when my sister asked me about it. The staff and families gathered donated dresses for all the ladies, and they helped do their hair, makeup and even nails! The gents looked so nice in their suits too! It was just so nice to see them so happy and proud in their beautiful gowns! If you ever get a chance to volunteer or visit a personal care home or assisted living home I would do it. They may not know you, but they do know that you take your time to visit them and sit and talk with them. They all have stories to tell…they just need someone to listen!
Here’s just a few shots I nabbed that day!!
This lovely lady was all about striking a pose for the camera!
Prom queen receiving her crown!!!
This cute couple lives at the home together. They didn’t want to leave one another…too cute
This loving husband came in to take his wife to the prom 
These ladies got serenaded by the entertainer
I’m so happy I went up for their special event. Keep a look next year to see how cute everyone looks!
Hanging out at the Etheridge House
Here are a few photos from today while hanging out at our Pastor’s house. He had us and a few college students over for lunch and a Bible study. Calvin is a few months old now and Isaiah was a lot of fun and certainly entertained us by smiting dragons with his sword, and “fixing” people with his screw driver. Callie, their daughter, was taking a nap. But hopefully soon we’ll get together for a real family shoot… maybe even play in the snow.
Enjoy!
Fellowship on the Sabbath
This is why I always bring my camera with me just about everywhere I go. Tonight we spent the evening at a friend’s house for a fellowship dinner and some discussion on doctrine. It’s a beautiful thing getting together with friends to talk about our Faith and the saving work of Christ. We watched this extremely well-made video about the theology of Calvinism by the Apologetics Group titled “Amazing Grace.” If you have any interest whatsoever in your salvation in Christ, this is a wonderful video to watch. The scriptural references and the arguments posed are truly convicting.
But in any case, here are a few wonderful pictures of the kids playing around while we enjoyed some fellowship time together.
Enjoy!
National Guardsmen deploying to Afghanistan
This morning I went to the Hunt Armory in Shadyside to take photos of National Guardsmen saying their goodbyes to family and loved ones before deploying for Afghanistan. The unit was Delta Company, 1st Battalion of the 101st Infantry Regiment (Mechanized). I can tell you that there were quite a few moments when I had to try to compose myself and fight back tears. It’s been almost two years since I had to say goodbye to my wife before deploying to Iraq. This morning definitely brought back memories and emotions from that day. Good luck to all of you, and we hope you return safe and sound!
(Photos are property of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
At the Williams’ house
Yesterday I played some backyard football with guys and elders from our church. It was so incredibly cold out, and I was the only dumb one to wear sneakers instead of boots as we played in the snow. It was a lot of fun though. Afterward we went back to CJ’s house (he’s one of the elders from Providence RPC) to warm up with some hot cocoa and popcorn. The kids and nephews playing together, so I took the opportunity to take some photos (as always). Enjoy!
Charity was totally cheezing for the camera! Which is funny because all the kids love their pictures taken, but as soon as I am the lens at any of the adults they start laughing and covering their faces.
Father & Son look so much alike!
Something Old
On Friday night, Heather and I did a photo shoot of our friends’ kids. They were adorable and the photos turned out great. Unfortunately we won’t be posting those cute little faces out of respect for their privacy. But because our intent is to update this website daily, I decided to go back into my archives of photos and grab one of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken.
This is a photo of three girls from Iraq. I was in the province of Najaf for the opening ceremony of a new international Airport. This was a huge step forward for the people of Iraq and at one point there was a parade of kids who all came my way and surrounded me. They all pushed and pulled their way for the spot on the camera. I must have taken a hundred photos of those kids alone! Of those, this was the absolute best!
New Citizens
Today I went to the Federal Courthouse downtown to take photos of a Somali Bantu refugee receiving his American Citizenship. I took some photos of his family members while we waited for the ceremony to get started. It felt somewhat special being there because it’s now been three years since I received my U.S. Citizenship from the same courthouse.
This little girl was so cute. Her father, who is Irish, also received his citizenship today.
In all, 49 people became U.S. Citizens from this courthouse today. Congratulations to all of you!
Yellow Man
On my way into the Post-Gazette today I caught this city worker going by across the street. I caught a few shots of him and I loved this one the best. He’s isolated in color while the rest of the photo is black and white. One of my photo editors at the Post-Gazette calls this a “gimmick” but I call it “art.” ~
In the moment
I was walking from Station Square to the Post-Gazette building today after a photo assignment, and I watched these three guys walk toward me on the Smithfield Bridge. I’m starting to train myself in catching the little things, and I noticed that one of the guys was wearing Pajama Pants… in of itself, not all that interesting since I’ve seen that before, but I also noticed he was wearing bright red lounge loafers. I immediately backpedaled and started snapping photos of him. I asked him what was up with the slippers and he said he wore them to be comfy for class. He told me he was taking courses at the Kaplan Career Institute in Pittsburgh.
Enjoy the shots…
Some Candids
Today Heather and I went to Providence and I brought my camera with me to catch a few candid shots. We also went out to lunch at the Grand Concourse and snapped a few more photos there.
Enjoy!
