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My own little Clover Queen

So, this is the blog post where I get to tell you what a "Proud Papa" I am.

It's no secret that my little girl, Katlynn is growing up. She's eleven and getting ready to finish the 5th grade. She's always been a good kid - good grades, respectful, cute, funny - yeah, yeah - I know I'm biased. [laughing]

Last Tuesday night, my daughter participated in the county-wide 4H club talent show/competition. She sang "Colors of the Wind" from Disney's Pocohantas, and I have to tell you that I was absolutely floored by what I heard.

My daughter is a lot like me. I don't ask for a lot of help. When I want something, I prepare for it on my own. I work hard, but I don't usually do that in front of people. I had not heard her sing "Colors of the Wind" before she sang it on the stage Tuesday night. It almost made me tear up at how good it was.

Besides the singing, Katie also participated in the Clover King and Queen competition. The kids show off a sporty look and a dressy look, and then they're interviewed by a panel. Well, my little fashionista got runner-up in the Clover Queen competition. What a hoot.

Katlynn, I love you, and I frankly couldn't be more proud of you.

Here are some images from the event last Tuesday. Hope you enjoy them.

The "Sporty" portion of the Clover Queen Competition




The "Dressy" portion of the Clover Queen Competition




Here's a couple of Katlynn singing "Colors of the Wind" from Disney's Pocohantas. You can listen to a recording of this performance by clicking the link at the bottom of this blog entry.



Katlynn wins runner-up for 2009 Clover Queen!






And here's the link to the audio: Katie's Performance - Audio MP3

Video is here: Katie's Video Performance



Now, tell me about your proud parenting moments! I wanna hear 'em!

Jessi & Darren "Trash the Dress"

The day after Jessi and Darren's wedding in St. Croix, we all got up early and met first at the estate where they were staying and later moved to the beach. The goal was to shoot a "Trash the Dress" session.

Now, if you're not familiar, a "Trash the Dress" session is a photo shoot where the bride and sometimes the groom has portraits made doing things in her dress that she could never do on her wedding day (for fear of "trashing" it). Our TTD was a lot of fun, and I think we got some great images. I've got some video of us shooting that I will add later.

If you'd like to see the whole session, simply click this link: http://www.andyarmstrongphoto.com/jdttd/

St. Croix Wedding Day Images

On May 1, 2009, I was lucky enough to shoot Jessi and Darren's wedding in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. What a great place to get married, and what an incredible day and event. I'm so glad I was a part of it.

Here are a few images from the wedding day itself. I'm still working on the "Trash the Dress" session we shot the next day, but they'll be up soon. If you want to see all the wedding day photos, simply click the link at the end of this blog post.













































Link to slideshow: http://www.andyarmstrongphoto.com/jdwed2009/

Blake and Traci

Last week in St. Croix,
I shot a wedding and a trash the dress session,
but I also had the pleasure of shooting a portrait session for the groom's sister, Traci and her boyfriend, Blake.


We rolled out early in the morning the second day
of the trip and shot these portraits.


It was great to meet and work with both Traci and Blake,
and I wish them all the best.

I'm back from St. Croix...

...and I'm diligently working on the many sessions I shot while there, but first I wanted to share a beautiful sunset and a few little tidbits about my trip with you all. I'll post more and more photos as they become available.

First off, they drive on the wrong side of the road in St. Croix. That's right - er - left actually. The cars, however, are standard American cars with steering wheels on the left side. My Ford Focus was no exception. It really messes with your brain - left turns on red - right hand turns where you can't see anything - and no matter how many times it happens, you still get a little "butt pucker" when you see a Mack truck headed your direction on the right side of the road. I was lucky I survived.

There is an Armstrong's Homeade Ice Cream on the island, and it's incredible stuff. If you ever get a chance to go there, try the Pina Colada flavor. Of course, eat inside and pay attention to what the Cruzans are ordering. "BuhNAHNAH" was my favorite to listen to.

I also managed to dislocate my pinky toe while I was in St. Croix, and no, I wasn't even drinking at the time (maybe I should've been). Nope, I nailed my foot on a stone in flip flops, and when I looked down, my right pinky toe was pointing at a good 45-50 degree angle out from my foot.

If you've never looked down and seen one of your body parts doing something it ought not do, then you don't know what you're missing. I was shocked at first, and then I didn't know whether to laugh or cry... I chose to laugh.

I pulled it as best I could and taped it to the neighboring toe (as recommeded by the EMT groom). It's still a nice color of blue and purple, but it's feeling better.

And finally, I had to make several connection flights on the way home. My first flight from St. Croix to San Jaun was on a Cape Air, twin-engine Cessna. There were eight of us on board, including me and the pilot.

When we got out to the plane, the young man loaded our carry-ons to "balance us out" and then surveyed the group. He pointed to me and said, "You go sit by the pilot." I boarded the plan and immediately asked the pilot, "He said sit beside you. Does that mean here or there?" - He pointed to the co-pilot's seat.

Yeah. I rode for an hour with the optional controls right there for my use, and let me tell you it's an interesting experience to see a takeoff and a landing from the front seat.

More later - I've got to go keep on editing photos.