Austin Ballroom Festival

I LOVE this event almost as much as Salsa Central,

and I finally got around to editing the hundreds of photos!

This is Katusha and Arunas, 

World Ballroom Champions
and headliners at this year's festival.

If you want to see them in action,

that's right...

you can see them

in this clip from Dancing With The Stars.

It's such a rewarding challenge

to photograph

these wonderful dancers
and their colleagues.

(And it is always a challenge
to keep up with
such fantastic dancers.
Watch the clip,
you'll understand.)

Being Yourself

Forgiveness will come 

when being yourself 

is enough to fulfill you.

~Deepak Chopra

What a Weekend!

The weekend was a whirlwind of love and joy.

Had a great time at a 

Women For Sheryl Cole fundraiser

at Kirk and Liz Watson's house Friday.

Here's some evidence of the fun:

Texas Senator Kirk Watson and Mayor Pro-Tem Sheryl Cole

From Left: Sheryl and Cheryl.  ;-)

Ann Kitchen, Sheryl, and Kirk

Cooper and Sheryl

I spent the rest of the weekend

being with the glorious energy 

of 40 beautiful souls

committed to the compassionate work 

of supporting others through prayer.

Here we are, Sunday afternoon,

during a clearly lighter moment!

This is going to be an amazing year for this team,

and my heart is bursting with love 

to work side by side with my sweet soul son

in the compassionate love of chaplaincy,

(regardless of his shenanigans in front of the camera.)

;-)

 

Client of The Week

I don't have a client of the week feature,

but if I did, 

Leah Torti wins the prize.

Gorgeous.  

Simply gorgeous.

Even goats think so. ;-)

I loved photographing this 
gorgeous, gorgeous woman.

How could I not?

Other People

Blessed

I'd say something different here,

but for now,

I'm feeling tired,

satisfied, 

and totally blessed.

What else does one need?

 

Goodnight.

What Are You Thinking?

The Universe does not know 

whether the vibration that you're offering 

is because of something you're observing 

or something you're remembering 

or something that you are imagining.

It just receives the vibration

and answers it 

with things that match it.

--- Abraham

Happy Easter

Easter is not a time 

for groping through dusty, musty tomes or tombs 

to disprove spontaneous generation 

or even to prove life eternal.  

It is a day to fan the ashes of dead hope, 

a day to banish doubts and seek the slopes 

where the sun is rising, 

to revel in the faith 

which transports us out of ourselves and the dead past 

into the vast and inviting unknown.  

~Author unknown

as quoted in the Lewiston Tribune

The Darker Emotions

In the West,
we haven’t been taught
how to be comfortable with darker emotions,
and they scare us.
We don’t know
 that when we run away from something,
it follows us.
So, we have created the enemy du jour.
For a while,
it was the Communists,
and then the Muslims,
or the immigrants.
We have a history of looking
for the source of our problems outside ourselves
and then being frightened of them.
It’s really based on misunderstanding and ignorance. 
When we turn toward that which is difficult,
 it brings dignity and courage 
and teaches us to live wise, compassionate lives. 
Our very difficulties become the places 
where the heart grows compassionate and wise. 
Every being on Earth will have a measure of difficulties in life. 
When we are taught not to be afraid 
of joy and sorrow, 
gain and loss, 
birth and death, 
we become free.

From "Awakening Inner Wisdom to Navigate through Difficult Times," 
an interview with leading Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield, 
by Diane Williams, Science of Mind April 2012.

Leaving The Stage

If death meant 

just leaving the stage 

long enough to change costume 

and come back as a new character...

Would you slow down? 

Or speed up?

~Chuck Palahniuk

Universal Language

Unfoldment

I want to unfold. 

I don't want to stay folded anywhere, 

because where I am folded,

 there I am a lie. 

And I want my grasp of things 

true before you. 

~Rainer Maria Rilke

Salsa Central 2012

I shot over 1300 frames this week.

A little over 400 of them were at Salsa Central...

I love photographing Salsa Central!

It's one of the most fun events I do all year,

and I just finished year three last night.

Some of the very best shots I get 

are of the kids who love 

to get in on the action.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A musician must make music,
an artist must paint,
a poet must write,
if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.
~Abraham Maslow

Lookit What I Found

:-)