I was asked mid-school year if I would be willing to be a mentor and I jumped at the opportunity. Most of the mentors had been working with their students since September, so we had only half the time that most of the other groups had in which to learn.

I was blessed with two wonderful mentoring students, Celine and Katelyn, and a third, Stacie, a friend of Celine’s who was interested in photography but didn’t formally join the program.

We jumped right in with all the exciting stuff they needed to know: Shutter speeds, f/stops, ISO, depth-of-field, composition, and more. But they clung on to every word I spoke. I was amazed!

When the weather finally was nice enough that we could get outside, I turned the three of them loose with Nikon DSLRs that they never dreamed they would ever learn to use. They took right to the cameras, however, and showed me that they had, in fact, been listening to what I was trying to teach them.

It was fun to watch them work as we walked around Nashville each week. Each of the three had a very unique vision and I enjoyed learning from them as much as they said they did from me.

It’s unfortunate that tonight was the last night for this year’s program, but I’m excited that all three of my kids want to continue learning from me. So for as long as they’re around town this summer, we’re going to keep meeting once a week. I’m thrilled!

I encourage everyone, no matter what your craft or skill, to take some time out of your life each week and pass along some of your knowledge to the younger generation. It’s an amazingly rewarding opportunity.

And that can only mean one thing … SENIOR PORTRAITS!

Book your senior portrait session soon, because with any October senior session, you get a FREE slideshow movie to put on your iPod or other video player and to share with your friends.

That’s a $15 value for nothing!

Call today to make your appointment … 812-345-8435.

But seriously, if you’ve put off having your senior portraits taken and realize that you’re about ready to walk across the stage and grab your sheepskin, all is not lost.

Call now for a last-minute appointment and receive your print order back in time to still throw some in with all those graduation invitations you need to send out.

Sittings start at $60 and max out at $130, so money shouldn’t be a reason why you didn’t get your senior portraits made. Prices include both indoor and outdoor settings and 2 to 8 different changes of clothing, depending on the sitting you choose.

Call (812) 345-8435 to make an appointment and receive 96 wallets for the price of 64 when you place your print order. That’s a savings of $13 over the regular price of $65!

And hey, try to not put this off any longer.

It had been several years since I’d shot motorsports and, fortunately, it didn’t take long for me to feel like I was back in the saddle.

I took the assignment to accompany my good friend Mark Motz, director of publications and communications for St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati and editor of the school’s alumni magazine.

Brad Jaeger, a graduate of the private Jesuit school, is a professional racer in the Indy Pro Series and was racing on what would be considered his home track, located only an hour or so south of the Queen City.

Mark, with whom I worked at the daily Times-Tribune newspaper in Corbin, Kentucky, many years ago, was doing a story on Jaeger, giving us an opportunity to work together at a race track one more time.

The magazine was published a few months ago, but I hadn’t seen a copy until last weekend. I’m proud to have the cover and a nice set of images played very prominently on the inside of this beautiful magazine.

Mark does great work at St. X and I look forward to working with him again soon.

As for Jaeger, he’s no longer racing in the Indy Pro Series. He moved up to the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, driving for the famed Doran Racing team. Brad is piloting the No. 77 Kodak Ford Dallara along with Memo Gidley.

Perhaps a trip to the Rolex 24 at Daytona will be in my future next year?

Why settle for the “cookie-cutter” approach to prom photos when you can have custom portraits made that will set you apart from everyone else.

Our studio will be open before the prom from 3 to 6 p.m. for walk-in portraits of you, your date, your friends and even your parents. No appointment is necessary and you are guaranteed once-in-a-lifetime portraits.

As an added incentive, we’re offering your sitting for $5 off our regular price of $30. Take advantage of this offer by downloading a coupon here.

Before you leave our studio, you will be given a Web link and a password that will allow you to pick and choose the poses you want to order beginning Monday morning, May 12.

So, mark your calendar NOW and we’ll see you before the prom!

In September, I began renting studio space in downtown Nashville where this photography business now calls home. It’s on the third floor of the very historic Village Green Building, less than a block west of the Brown County Courthouse on Main Street. My lease limits the walk-in-off-the-street business I can have, which works out great for me since working full-time at the newspaper keeps me from being in the studio on a regular basis.

Since opening the studio, however, I’ve kept very busy. And having a new set of Alien Bee AB-800 studio strobes to work with is making the process of creating portraits so much easier.

I’ve also launched a monthly e-mail newsletter for former, current and future customers and others interested in what we’re doing with the studio. For a look at issue No. 1 click here. To subscribe, e-mail me here. We’ll also be sending out special offers on prints, sitting fees and more every now and then.

So I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that I can keep this up now. The third time is a charm, right? In the next few days I’ll post some photos from a few of the more memorable studio sittings we’ve done.

Until then …

He is the son of Linda’s cousin, whom we’ve become foster aunt and uncle to. He was born six weeks premature and was his mom’s first successful pregnancy in five. He is our miracle.

A Backyardigans-themed party was held at Mill Race Park in Columbus, Indiana, and despite his youth, he seemed to have a real fun time. He received a lot of gifts and was shown tons of love.

Happy Birthday, Bryton, with all our love! Here’s to many, many more!

It was another fulfilling day that all of us enjoyed, but it sure feels good to be back home, relaxing on my couch and watching television.

Today we took in the the U.S. Air Force Museum located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. It was an amazing sight to see – three, huge hangers filled with military aircraft dating back to the origin of flight all the way through the Stealth Fighter and Bomber. There is even a section dedicated to spaceflight.

While I have never had any obsessions with either flying or military, I have always been fascinated with aircraft and today’s trip was very satisfying.

We left Dayton after spending about four hours at the museum and were home by 8 p.m. I have lots of photos to go download and go through, which I’ll add at a later time. For now, unfortunately, it’s back to the newspaper grind and a state of being pretty much miserable for everyone.

Fun times.

We are here because we couldn’t, at first, find anything else to do today. We knew we had to head toward home, but our options from there didn’t provide much excitement. Finally, Linda suggested we head toward Dayton where tomorrow we can visit the museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

All in all, this has been a successful vacation. Both boys have used the word “magnificent” to describe it, so I’m pretty sure we’ve done something right.

Some random thoughts and observations:

• Pennsylvania smells nice. At least, the part where we drove did. Occasionally, and for no determinable reason, we would pass through an area lasting about a mile that smelled incredibly floral … Mild and soothing.
• Parts of Cleveland stink. While walking several blocks toward Quicken Arena in downtown Cleveland, there were two or three points where the sewage aroma was overwhelming.
• Cleveland has successfully overcome its “mistake on the lake” syndrome. It’s a nice city, full of very helpful and friendly people.
• Gas prices in Indiana are criminal. When we left, regular unleaded was going for around $3.50 a gallon. We filled up in Columbus, Ohio, on the way north and it was around $3.10/gal. and some places in Cleveland had it for under $3.05. Depending on where one was in Buffalo, a gallon of gas was $3.079 to $3.229, and several stations along I-90 in Pennsylvania today had it for $2.999. We filled up here in Dayton at $3.049 and then found it a couple of miles away for $3.019. Hoosiers are getting ripped off, plain and simple.
• Canadians have cool currency. The $5, $10 and $20 bills are neat looking and it was kinda strange getting Canadian money from of an ATM (called ABMs there). The $2 coin is awesome, too.
• Zach likes sushi. He’d never eaten it before, but was curious. He talked us into letting him get some at a multi-cultural cafeteria in Canada and really enjoyed it. More power to him.
• Wireless Internet is the berries! Yes, I’m spoiled. Being able to carry a laptop throughout a hotel and stay “connected” is awesome!
• My family is awesome! I can’t imagine doing anything important without having them along to share my excitement with. I couldn’t be more proud of any of them!

Sadly, this is the last entry before we get home. Hopefully, we won’t confront any surprises when we pull in the driveway or walk in the door tomorrow. Then it’s back to the daily grind on Monday. But not before blogging about tomorrow’s visit to the Wright-Patterson museum.

Our morning began casually as we took full advantage of the hotel’s free continental breakfast then headed out to Niagara Falls.

The temperature outside was a little cooler than it had been the past couple of days as there was quite a bit of cloud cover. Thunderstorms threatened, but we experienced only light sprinkles occasionally. By late afternoon/early evening, the sun shone and blue sky appeared.

We began our Day 3 adventure on Goat Island, on the United States side of the Falls, where we walked out to Luna Island and stood between American Falls and the much smaller Bridal Veil Falls.

At the U.S. overlook for Horseshoe Falls, we realized just how much bigger it was than American Falls. Utterly amazing.

Once we tired of there, we headed to Canada, giving us a much better view of both falls and our third country in the past 53 weeks.

Oddly, after all the hoops we had to go through to get proper identification for the boys in order to cross the border, all they needed was their state-issued photo ID. At least we have everything now, though.

The view from the Canadian side was nothing short of magnificent. Anyone who goes to the falls and doesn’t take in that view is truly missing out on something. Seeing them from Canada puts them in a whole new perspective.

Tomorrow is a mystery as we have no clue where we’re headed. We purposefully did not reserve a hotel room anywhere in order that we might just wing it. Maybe we’ll end up in Pittsburgh, perhaps in Columbus (Ohio) or Cincinnati. Or we may just end up going straight home.

I guess we’ll just play it by ear from here on out.