All Growsd Up

Waterfront Park Kids, a photo by erickpineda527 on Flickr.

This past year has gone by so fast for me. A lot has changed. With my extra time I've (and some new lenses and filters) rediscovered my passion for photography. Charleston is an incredibly photogenic city. Earlier in my design career and as a student here I had already shot the obvious subject matter of blatantly touristy subject matter in a typical manner. This go around I've invested a considerable amount of time into exploring what most visitors here have missed.

Local farms, vineyards and distilleries; plenty of night shots after parks have closed, local neighborhoods and out of the way historic sites that seem to be mostly overlooked. There's interest in everything if...you...just...look...a little...closer.

And to boot it's been a great excuse to bring the kids to see something other than SpongeBob and Dora on the TV all day. TV in our house is kept to a minimum - it's usually reserved for nighttime right before bed. We call the short excursions "safaris" to add a little excitement for the two knuckleheads. They seem to enjoy the exploring, too. Even in Florida El and I would take road trips to little known attractions, gardens and other scenic spots (which reminds me that there is alot of other photography hidden away on my drive from Morikami Gardens and the Gulf Coast).

Speaking of change and kids...they've grown so much this past year. I recently posted a short video clip of collected photos Isa and Nico took on their "toy" Lego camera. It was cool to see what would capture a child's interest enough to photograph it. It also was a shocker to see how they had changed in the two short years here in Charleston. My children are my pride and joy and I'm stuck between happy and sad to see them progress the way they have. I love seeing them at this age and excited to see everyday how much they've developed, but at the same time sad that they're leaving a stage in their lives. Corny, I know.

A few words to describe Nicholas and Isabella:

Very affectionate and sweet to each other.
Unbelievably funny.
Naughty, but not in a bad way.
Shockingly intelligent for their ages, but maybe I'm biased.
Fun to be around with.

I'm pretty stoked about this coming year. I've got a project I'm working on. The notion was originally inspired by an old colleague and friend of mine in Orlando (Thanks Sweet T!), but it took a different turn from what she originally suggested for me to try. Nonetheless, it was an idea I was too embarrassed to even consider doing. But now in it's initial phase with a good lead I'm determined to complete it.

So here I am.