Archive for November, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I hope and pray that it was a good and festive holiday spent with family and friends and that you are finally coming out of the comatose haze from the turkey hangover. I liken it to the many ways of preparing shrimp from Forrest Gump … Turkey .. Turkey Dressing … Baked Turkey … Broiled Turkey … Smoked Turkey … Deep Fried Turkey …. Turkey Salad … Turkey Sandwiches and so on!!!!

I was fortunate enough to be able to spend thanksgiving with my father and my sister and her family in Phoenix, Az. It was the first holiday celebrated without my mother and as difficult as it was, being with family and sharing memories made it a very special Thanksgiving. We all should be very grateful for the family and friends that remain.

Very seldom, while visiting Phoenix, do I get to spend time outside of the city and have an opportunity to photograph the natural landscape. The mountains and the desert areas surrounding the city are beautiful and majestic. You generally do not need to travel far to encounter every type of cactus that grows with abandon. I am always amazed by the quantity, size and form of each and every cactus. It is as if they have their own form of social community.

I was able to talk a good friend of mine, Herb Stokes, into taking a Sunday road trip and traveling to one of the desert area parks, McDowell Mountain Regional Park in the Sonoran Desert. The 21,000 acre park provided ample vistas which included a plethora of cactus and mountain ranges. To say the least, I was one happy “photographic camper”. Too many cactus’s, so little time but here are two of my favorite photographs.

If you are looking for a unique gift for christmas, take a moment to view our photography art gallery. It may make the perfect gift.Take the opportunity to look at http://www.dk-studio.com or http://store.hwy12photoarts.com.

Enjoy ……….
dennis keim

What an absolutely incredible weekend for football. All the upsets that were needed to put the SEC back on top and in the hunt for the College football national championship bid (BCS) occurred. I normally do not find myself rooting for the Big East, the Pac-12 or the Big Ten but I was cheering my lungs out for Iowa State Friday evening.

While most, if not all, of you were sleeping this morning, I was on an assignment at the Port of Huntsville shooting at 2:45 AM. While it is not typical, I have found myself on more than one occasion accommodating arrival and departure plane schedules to capture the required shot for the airport. This mornings’ special occasion was the arrival of the first Boeing 747-800F Freighter, operated by Cargolux, into Huntsville. The 747-8 freighter is the largest of the 747’s and was just placed into service in late September.  You might say, in the industry, it was a “pretty big deal” for Huntsville to be first! So rest assured, while you were asleep some of us (thank you Mitch) were up making sure your cargo is being delivered safely and on time.

I wish you the best with family and friends for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. It will be an emotional, but extremely special time for my family and me. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!!!

If you are in need of an executive portrait or have an upcoming photographic assignment, please keep us in mind. In addition, if you find yourself looking for stock imagery or art for corporate or private collection, we may have that perfect image. Take the opportunity to look at http://www.dk-studio.com or http://store.hwy12photoarts.com

Have Camera – Will Travel … Corporate, Advertising and Editorial.

Best regards ……….
dennis keim

With a road trip that covered two weeks and two thousand miles behind me, I find myself home, once again able to sleep in my own bed. What a wonderful way to see the country by driving but that is allot of time and miles to sit in the saddle. From Huntsville it was on to Atlanta, Tampa, Treasure Island, St. Petersburg, Orlando and Pensacola and then the trek home. I left Alabama just as the leaves were changing and again missed the full beauty of why I love this area so much, a change in seasons.

It was a very fruitful trip juggling my time between workshops, family obligations and friends. With each and every trip I find that my time with long lost friends continues to be the most gratifying reward. The time our conversations were split between what was current in each other’s lives (age, family and business) and relieving the past – as far as what we can remember. I am sure all of the stories are somewhat embellished at this juncture in our lives. Catching up with high school and college class mates while in Tampa took on a whole new importance with the advent that I may not be going back as often as I did while my parents lived there.

While on this two-week journey there was plenty to see and capture “on film”. I spent a fair amount of time running around the Tampa Bay area and shooting at places I had rarely visited while growing up there. On my trip home I decided to stop in the Pensacola – Perdido area and visit a dear friend whom I had not seen in a few years.  We had been trying to catch up for some time but schedule conflicts kept us from doing so.  As is always the custom when I visit, sushi was a must for dinner and she took me to a new restaurant called Jellyfish.

The next morning I left knowing I had all day to arrive home so I decided to photographically take advantage of the beautiful day. Jetting in and out of a few marinas, I was amazed by the infestation of jellyfish in the harbors. I had read about it but until you see them in mass it is hard to grasp.  Like any tourist I took my fair amount of jellyfish photographs and marveled at the majestic beauty of these creatures as they just drift with the tide.

With my quota of jellyfish photos taken, I headed back to the car only to be captivated by a group of butterflies nestling in on one of Florida’s tropical plants.  Like the jellyfish, the butterflies were there in mass.  I have been schooled enough, through responses to my blogs, to know that if I am not 100% totally correct on the identification of a flower or butterfly, I need to ask for assistance. Course it does assure me that at least a few of you actually are reading what I write. So for all of you, more versed than I, lend a guy a helping hand with “ID’s”.

With all that I had captured during my journey, I found this image to be a captivating moment of simplicity full of beauty, color and grace so, please Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!

If you are in need of an executive portrait or have an upcoming photographic assignment, please keep us in mind. In addition, if you find yourself looking for stock imagery or art for corporate or private collection, we may have that perfect image. Take the opportunity to look at http://www.dk-studio.com or http://store.hwy12photoarts.com

Have Camera – Will Travel … Corporate, Advertising and Editorial.

Best regards ……….
dennis keim

Happy Tuesday morning to you all and my apologies for being a day late with my Monday morning blog. Since starting my blog of Miss-Adventures a couple of years ago I have tried to keep on the “Monday morning coffee schedule”.  The demands of travel to teach two workshops back to back, as well as, attending to some family obligations while in the Tampa Bay area prevented me from getting it out as normally scheduled.

It has been over a year since I visited Tampa. This is my first trip home to my birthplace since relocating my parents to Arizona to live with my sister and the eventual passing of my mother.  Visiting the house for the first time since those events proved to be a little difficult. Walking in, I found everything in its exact place like I would have expected it to be. While sitting at the kitchen table I had the sense as if my parents would walk around the corner any minute to join me, as they had done a thousand times in the past. Looking around at all the family photos brought back very found memories of my childhood and all that we had shared. It is a bittersweet situation remembering all the great times that we shared during those years but difficult facing the inevitable realization that I was there to start the process of letting go.

It is always exciting to come home because the landscape of Tampa Bay is ever changing. The area has so much to offer and downtown Tampa has grown up to become a very beautiful and picturesque city. With a night to spare and a need to recharge my batteries I headed out with my good friend and fellow instructor Dave Hickey in search of the prefect location to capture a night view of the city. Following the hood of the car, we were on to our next big road tripping adventure!

The city of Tampa sits on Hillsborough Bay so a water view was a must. Of course it is always the same story, racing against time and chasing the elusive fleeting moments of sunset that makes for the perfect backdrop. With no time to spare and having exhausted all too many side roads we “stumbled” onto a location. It was the perfect water view, due east of the city, with nothing but tow away zone parking. Once again we chose to tempt fate and go for the gusto. I do believe the final capture was well worth the potential of having to ask for forgiveness for our parking indiscretion.

My hometown, Tampa!

If you are in need of an executive portrait or have an upcoming photographic assignment, please keep us in mind. In addition, if you find yourself looking for stock imagery or art for corporate or private collection, we may have that perfect image. Take the opportunity to look at http://www.dk-studio.com or http://store.hwy12photoarts.com

Have Camera – Will Travel … Corporate, Advertising and Editorial.

Best regards ……….
dennis keim