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Reid's Thanksgiving part 1

My thanksgiving was pretty awesome! After 5 weddings, a few engagement shoots, Heart walk of Tampa  and other events and a really hyper young man for a son, I was glad to get a rest. So, in the spirit of resting we decided to drive ALL NIGHT on Tue. to get to North Carolina on Wed. at 3am!

It was great. We made it in 9 1/2 hours to Maggie Valley. I got a few hours sleep and decided to get some coffee i knew Wendy and I would like at the store. On my way home i ran across this!

The day before Thanksgiving this retired couple lost all they had saved for their entire lives. They did get to keep each other though. Neither one was hurt!
Later that morning after reflecting on all God has blessed me with I got to enjoy one more blessing, a beautiful day! It's great to be blessed with things in life but I have realized I forget about the best blessings of all. I get to enjoy Seeing beautiful landscapes, and Hear birds singing, watch and hear a creek as it flows and Breathe clean air and spend time with people I love.

YEAH!!! New Wesbite

            Matt here! Reid and I have just launched our new website at www.12-1photography.com ! We're very excited about it and hope you enjoy it! Check it out and see some of our portfolios including Tampa weddings. We will be updating very soon with more photo shoots and weddings so keep an eye out for us.

Thanksgiving!!!!

Its Reid here! I am currently in Maggie Valley, South Carolina and its awesome! Taking some great pictures of my vacation and BEARD! Ha! Hope to have those up soon for ya.
Its been an adventure here. We got in at 3am on Wed., Went to sleep. I got up and was restless, so i went to the store for coffee and on the way back to my inlaws cabin which sits in the valley, I saw a 3 story cabin at the top of the mountain completely engulfed in flames! It was so high up and the roads were so narrow, the fire trucks could not save the house and could only keep the fire from spreading. The family was not hurt in any way! and everyone in the town here have already begun the process of taking care of the family! so awesome. On a better note! My mother in-law created an amazing feast for us. We had an enormous turkey with tons of sides and deserts.
Everything was home made. Sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, stuffing, mashed potatoes, some sort of sweet pecan bars! and tons of other stuff! It was great. It snowed a little last night and
we went to see the elk this evening. Going on a hike tomorrow through the woods, across creeks, looking out on the overlooks. I love it!
Might have to start a 12-1photo NC, or Tennessee!

A fine Day

I had the privilege of shooting a recent wedding of a wonderful couple, who were such a great, fun, relaxed couple to hang out with. Erin and Jarred Sutton! Erin handled the day very well considering it did rain on her wedding day! all that really matters is they got married to their best friends and get to spend the rest of their lives together! The wedding was at a beautiful place called Venetian golf and river club coordinated by the wonderful and very accommodating Angela Cisco-Ferreira who can be reached through the club. Here's a few shots! More to come as soon as i finish the editing.

Better yourself

So, I have been really busy lately and... really lazy as far as blogging is concerned. I just wanna put up really cool pictures on my blog at all times but it takes a few clicks to get those pix up, so I say " I'll do it tomorrow" Right! Never do. So here's what i've been up to. Engagement shoots, pictures of my friends band playing which happen to have been taken with my new Canon 5D mark 2 !!!! love it! I've been selling other cameras, lenses, buying new lenses and lighting to better my photography. I know what you say, "Reid, How can you possibly be any better than you are right now?" I often ask myself that question many times. The answer is always the same. You can always be better than you are. It just takes working harder, which i must admit, scares the hell outta me. I am so lazy sometimes but I also don't ever want to settle for being anything less than the best at everything I do. Kinda contradictory i guess. We want to be great at something but we don't want to do the work for it or are too scared at what the sacrifices might be. We are too content living our lives the same way we always have and living on our past accomplishments or failures. I say Screw the past and better yourself every day! If you messed up on something in life, Forget it and make things better! Redo it! If you have done something great and are living off that, Keep going and make things greater! Don't ever stop bettering yourself. there's so much we can all become. I have always come across situations when people say I can't do something because of one reason or another. I say, Why not?! I can do anything I want, What's holding me back? Doubt that we can be anything beyond what we currently are is what holds us back. I was told it would be too hard to start a window cleaning business and that i didn't know anything about business and it would fail. Truth be told...I don't know a thing about business! BUT I have had a good window cleaning business for 5 years now. I also Don't know a thing about the wedding business but I'm in my second year and booking up. I don't know business at all, but i do know people and how to connect with them. Connecting is the most important part. Connect and make new friends in everything you are doing. Let people know you care about them and what's happening in their lives, and that you would love to be a part of their lives, and really mean it! And then of course, Pray and live your life well, do good to others, always go the extra mile even if you don't feel like it. It will mean so much to that person you are helping. OK, thats a lot of thoughts for the day. And thats a typical day for me! I have a ton i'm thinking. So.... Better yourself with God's help and Love other people.

Nate

This week is one of those great weeks when i get to have my son with me! He has got to be the best kid ever! He is so well mannered, and get very very hyper! Which i guess comes from me.... I know it comes from me and the part of me seems to have been worn out this week. I haven't been the most fun dad this week. I've been working on pictures and other web stuff, trying to get my photography site noticed a bit more. I've spent a lot of time on Lynda.com studying. It takes me a few times of going over something to finally get it and have that - Oh I get it! moment -  Nate has come in quit a few times after school asking for things and I have been in the middle of a frustrating moment which tend to make me ignore everyone and come off a bit...... bitter. I have said I'm sorry to Nate so many times this week! Had to again yesterday. I always tell him, "I'm sorry buddie, I love you a lot, I just gotta get this stuff in my head. Sorry." I took him out last night to a little park after dinner for a tiny bit of fun and shot a few pix and today is a new day! I haven't gotten as much sleep as i would have liked to but, I'm gonna have some fun with Nate and Wendy today. We are going to Adventure Island which happens to one of Nate's favorite places!