Why oh why do my very favorite TV shows always end after just one or two seasons?  First, it was Dark Angel, then I discovered Eli Lilly, and then…Heroes was so good, how could they possibly have ended it after only one season???  And now!  I started watching John Doe, and that last episode was just oh so good, I search for season 2, and alas, it’s nowhere to be found…  Am I the only one who loves these TV shows???  So, so sad…

Anyway, as you can tell from my lack of blog posts this week, I have been BUSY!!!  I’ve photographed several important corporate events this week, one of which was a very cool Cirque du Soleil-style awards/all-star event, plus did an executive portrait for a CEO at a local public relations firm, and bright and early tomorrow morning, I’m doing executive portraits for four people from the leadership team of a local tech start-up.

And, in addition to booking weddings for 2011 and 2012, I am already booking portrait photography (newborn and family) sessions for both this spring and summer, as families and parents-to-be are wanting to make sure I’ll be available for them during wedding season!  So this is your chance too!  Don’t forget about my Be-My-Valentine portrait photography package promotion – between now and Valentine’s Day, book any of my portrait photography packages, and receive an additional $100 in complimentary luster and metallic prints!  Hurry!!!  There’s only ten days left!

And finally, I wanted to share with you a few new publications I’ve got.  The first is a full-page photograph of our very own Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, published in Dan Brown’s bestselling book, The Lost Symbol: Special Illustrated Edition (available from Doubleday; isbn: 978-0-385-53382-9).  The second photograph below is from Burkina Faso, West Africa, and has been published in a textbook called Masters of Media: The News Never Stops from Heinemann Raintree Publishing.  To Doubleday and Raintree, thanks for sending these over to me!

When I photographed the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, DC last weekend, I also shot a sequence of 59 images (360 degrees around me plus up and down, making a 3D, 360-degree sphere), as I wanted to try a 360 degree panorama, as well as a stereographic (spherical) panorama.  Check’em out here.  Too crazy?

The first image below is a simply 360 degree panorama on a single plane, stretched out in a line.

Here, I took the 360 degree panorama, and warped it a bit to make it a bit “straighter.”

And finally, this is the 360 degree stereographic panorama.

Or do you like it inside out?

Idrissa and I spent two hours this weekend at the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington, DC. I love photographing ecclesiastical architecture, and there are a few locations in the city that I would love to shoot a wedding in: the Washington National Cathedral, the Franciscan Monastery, the Cathedral of St. Matthew, and the Basilica of the National Shrine. Are you or a friend or family member getting married in one of these locations? Download this 9-page booklet about my wedding photography services in Maryland-DC-Virginia, and give me a shout!

I came home from New Orleans in August with an idea.  A stolen idea.  From the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.  The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New Orleans has the most awsomest bed I have ever ever slept on.  It was so soft.  So fluffy.  So comfortable.  One evening, I lifted up the bed sheets to peek at the mattress.  And I made a wonderful discovery.  It’s not the mattress that was so soft and fluffy.  It was the extra comforter sandwiched between the mattress and the bedsheet.  After getting home from Burkina Faso a few days ago, I searched in the closet and came up with an extra comforter of our own.  Today, we have a most awsomest bed too.

This is my last New Orleans photo story post.  This is where I spent my last morning in New Orleans.  The Garden District.  Classified as a National Historic Landmark, the Garden District is known for historic southern mansions.  In fact, this collection of mansions may be the best preserved in the United States.

The staircase above is my favorite image of the day.  It’s the exterior staircase of my favorite house in the Garden District (below).  Although this house may not be the largest or fanciest, I love the cute little windows poking out from the top of the house and the two symmetrical staircases curving outward along the front.  These southern mansions all have double staircases because men and women were not supposed to walk the same stairs.

Originally the post-civil war mansion of a prominent Louisiana sugar planter, the mansion at 2343 Prytania Street (below) is now the Louise S. McGee School.  Designed by Architect James Freret in 1872, the building reflects the influence of the “Ecole des Beaux Arts” in France.

Here’s a gallery of all New Orleans photos.

Well, after five weeks of wandering the dusty roads of Burkina Faso, West Africa, we are finally back in the good ol’ U.S. of A!  You know, I did miss home.  We had a great time, but five weeks is pretty darn long.  My #1 cause of homesickness?  Those of you who know me might guess really bad internet.  But nope, this time, more than anything, I missed our clean, white bathroom.  I mean, for 3 1/2 of our 5 weeks, we were taking bucket baths.  I became a good friend of bucket baths in my Peace Corps Niger days, but I haven’t had to see a bucket bath in…let me count…four years, since living in Southern Sudan!  In fact, yesterday (the day after we got back), I was really appreciating our bathroom.  I promise, it was already clean, but the first thing I did yesterday was to make it sparkle more!

Definition, “bucket bath”: Fill a bucket with water from the pump.  The water will most likely be cold, unless you leave it to sit under the sun.  If at night, there is no sun.  Also look for a plastic cup.  Carry the bucket (and cup if you found one) into the shower area, which hopefully will have cement on the ground.  Make sure you drape a piece of cloth or clothing on the outside wall of the shower area to alert people that you are inside.  Use the cup to pour water from the bucket onto yourself.  If you didn’t find a cup, then use your two hands to splash water from the bucket onto yourself.  Splash the water as quickly as possible, so that your soapy hands don’t put too much soap into the clean water.

Over the next month or two, I’ll be working on sorting, editing, and processing the 2,487 images that I brought back with me, so stay tuned!  Some of them will be ready in time for Christmas shopping!  And now, onto today’s post…

In this economy, many of us are seeking ways to freshen the look and beautify our homes and offices while keeping expenses down.  Painting a wall with an accent color, or simply adding artwork in accent colors, is a great way to “economically remodel.”  The Paint Quality Institute forecasts that three color directions will share the fame in 2011: Back to Basics, Well Worn Hues, and Shimmer and Shine.  Which one are you?  (Me, I’m definitely Shimmer and Shine…)

1.  Back to Basics

The ultimate in practical home remodeling, neutral colors are versatile, allowing the look of a room to be dramatically changed simply by adding a few new accessories.  With neutrals, expensive remodeling or repainting is unnecessary, and this is the perfect time for neutrals’ claim to fame.  Some of the colors that we’ll be discovering in kitchens, bedrooms, and baths across the country in 2011 include warm whites, tawny tans, “barely-there” coral, and green.

Will a fine art photograph in neutral colors spice up your home?  Check out this photograph of “Wheat Fields Waving” in Cades Cove, at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.

Or, check out all fine art photographs with neutral colors here.

2.  “Well Worn” Hues

Are your favorite pair of jeans blue?  In 2011, blue’s popularity will grow, not just on jeans, not just on walls, but also on ceilings.  Blues across the spectrum are well worn hues, from denim dark to grey-blue, and are great in any room of the house.

Seeking to accent your home with blue?  Check out “Mist Over Canyonlands IV” from Canyonlands National Park in Moab, Utah.

Or, check out all fine art photography with blue here.  And if you have blue walls, think about accenting them with fine art photography in yellow or orange.

3.  Shimmer and Shine

Thrifty consumers are taking a look at higher paint sheens and metallic finishes to add a bit of sparkle to their homes.  Very glossy hues will make their way in 2011 into hallways and living areas, top to bottom.  More gloss = more reflectivity = more light, subtly facilitating a brighter, upbeat mood, while speaking to style and pizzazz.  Perfect areas for the sophisticated shimmer and shine selection?  Dining rooms, master bedrooms, and master baths.  Perfect metallic choice and paint hue?  Gold is returning coupled with the high-shine trend!

For shimmer and shine, check out “Tinged with Gold,” a photograph of snow geese at sunset in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.

Or, check out all fine art photographs with gold here.

4. Bucking the Trend

Are you the black sheep of the family?  Do you not fit into any of the categories above?  Well, we have something for everyone, so check out the other colors below!

• Accent your home or office with fine art photography in RED. (Also check out yellow as an accent to red.)
• Decorate your home or office with fine art photography in ORANGE. (Also check out blue or purple as accents to orange.)
• Remodel your home or office with fine art photography in YELLOW. (Also check out red and blue as accents to yellow.)
• Beautify your home or office with fine art photography in GREEN. (Also check out yellow as an accent to green.)
• Freshen up your home or office with fine art photography in BLUE. (Also check out yellow as an accent to blue.)
• Stylize your home or office with fine art photography in PURPLE. (Also check out orange as an accent to purple.)
• Add elegance to your home or office with fine art photography in IVORY/TAN/BROWN.
• Add pizzazz to your home or office with fine art photography in GOLD.

And don’t forget, fine art photography or a fine art photography gift certificate also makes for a very special Christmas gift for friends and family!

I was over at the Washington National Cathedral earlier this week for a family/baby portrait shoot in the Cathedral gardens.  I got there a little early to do some scouting, but had just a minute or two for a peek inside the cathedral itself.  I didn’t have time to set up a tripod, so this was a quick shot handheld at ISO 400, aperture f/4, and shutter speed of 1/15 seconds.  I processed the RAW file in Lightroom using a mix of overexposure, increased blacks, lots of fill, and a boost of clarity and vibrance, topped off by some desaturation.  Beautiful, isn’t it?

A chandelier hangs above the entrance to the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Of neogothic design and architecture, the cathedral is the sixth largest in the world and second largest in the United States.