A comment I heard years ago when I was in a foreign country came to my mind today. This country I was visiting is a country where a lot of Americans adopt children from and there were/are people who are frightened about letting the children of their country be brought to America. It wasn't because of politics, or fear that the children would be mis-treated by their adoptive families or that they were being exploited. No, people were concerned about these children being brought to America because of an illness that seems to be rampant here.

Cancer!!!

I woke up this morning to find out that a little 8-year girl is/has succumbed to brain cancer after a 2 1/2 year battle. (She was not adopted, just want to clarify that.) I had the privileged and honor to film a fund raising event for her and her family back in 2007. I watched it and I cried.



I also have a friend of mine who's mother has been battling pancreatic cancer for the past 4 months. He is currently there visiting her for what could his last time. I also had the privilege and honor to make a video for him of their last family reunion.

And, my own mother went in for a CT scan last week to investigate "shadows" on her lungs.

I don't like this word. I hate this word. I hate all the tears it brings to the people in my life I love. I hate the pain it brings to people I love. I simply hate it!!!

In the infinite words of Forrest Gump, "And that's all I've got to say about that."

Bull Riding at The Buffalo Chip

Tonight I went out with Leonard and Debbie to The Buffalo Chip in Cave Creek. They had bull riding there tonight and it gave me an opportunity to try my hand at shooting this sport. You can see high rez photos by clicking HERE.

Below are the best shots of the night.


Notice the guy standing by the gate...


He had to make a quick get away from the bull.


Just missed this cowboy.




Rodeo Clowns are the unsung heroes of the rodeo circuit.






Doing good so far...


This hand touch ruined his ride and it didn't count.

FYI

I would like to be able to tell you that this does not happen, but unfortunately it does. I'm finding this out more and more since starting my own photography business.

Flashback to Sweden

I found these photos as I was cleaning up one of my HD's. These were taken the last time I was in Sweden back in 2006.

Competitions

I have recently entered some of my photos in two competitions.

This first was is from AZ Highways to highlight the work of world renown glass artist Chihuly. The AZ Botanical Gardens just concluded a 6-month display of some of his work.





















































The second contest I entered was the "Art of Photography". I entered a series of photos I took in Tanzania.