Iona Traylor

Amber Shehan's new character in Bombs Away Cabaret!

Rogue Dance Innovations

RDI

Rogue Dance Innovations

Generation TECH

I watched a 4 year old operate an iphone without too much issue while on his mission to watch some Thomas the Tank Engine on the net.

Dana Stevens

Asheville Herb Festival

Today my housemate and I went out to the Asheville Herb Festival. It was beautiful! So many colors and smells! There were so many people selling lovely plants that I didn't know where to start! Luckily we knew our friend Shannon Haun would be at the festival with her shop House of Herbs. It was great to see her and she was having an amazing time.
 
We wondered around the open air area of the Market checking out wares from so many different vendors that I lost count. Flowers, trees, seedlings, herbs, fresh veggies and fruit. These people are serious about their plants and you can tell. Even though its a little early, many people where selling strawberries and they smelled heavenly in the warm afternoon sun.

 We made our way up the hill to the main part of the WNC Farmers Market and took a look at the things that are there 7 days a week.  This part of the farmers market is a long, closed-in building, with most any type of local good you can think of in it!

There are so many things that I will be coming back for! This is just one half of the inside of the Farmers Market.  I could have spent hours wondering this place! We stopped to check out the local ASHE cheese vendor, yum! I got to try cheese curd and Jalapeno Cheddar!

Then we passed through a stall with all types of jams, jellies, pickled goods, and butters! The sun was shining in and it all looked so lovely! 

 I was pretty tuckered out after the three hours we spent there, time flies when you're having fun! We stopped by one last time to see Shannon and then headed home to enjoy some of the goodies we picked up today!

Fuchsia Flower

April showers bring photos on sunny days!!

This past weekend I had a Fantasy shoot at my house. I just really wanted to let spring in and fill some new photos with lots of color and smiles! Here's a taste of what we got:

Charlotte Murphy - Model/Costume/Hair

Charlotte lives locally in West Asheville and is a hair stylist at a local salon downtown. She created most of the costumes that you will see in this shoot! Thank you so much for your help, Charlotte!!

 Liz Hughes - Model

Liz also brought out a wedding dress that she picked up for $5 at the Goodwill Thrift Store and we had lots of fun with that:

Liz in her wedding dress

It was a long day but totally worth it! The shoot lasted about 5 hours throughout the day! If you want to see more from this session, you can check out my Flickr account, and there are MANY more images there.

Getting Involved Locally!

House of Herbs on site Green-House

Moving to an area that supports local business has been very rewarding. I have met some amazing people!

Recently, I have been working with Shannon Haun at the House of Herbs; a shop located just down the street in Candler. She has a great "U-pick" green-house and a great mix of other handmade, local goodies! She has been featured with Moon Doggies in Mountain Xpress as well as a few other local publications. 

Pixies Pocket™ honey and HoH Flavored vinegars

• Pixies Pocket™ - Infused Honey - Candles - Electuaries
• Blessed Botanicals  - Organic herbal tea and cooking blends
• Sonrisepottery - Vessels of Mountain Heritage

Their selection of gifts and goods are growing every week!







If you want to stop by House of Herbs they are located at:
1444 Smokey Park Hwy
Candler, NC 28715
(828) 667-3737


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Fantasy

Conjuring

I <3 Fantasy Photography! Its my favorite thing to do! The fun makeup, wigs, costumes and props make it so versatile!  The post production is just as enjoyable as the photo session! I get to make amazing works of art and sometimes help people fulfill a dream! I don't think it gets better that that!

Made for a friend's RPG character

 

Drow Fantasy photo shoot

This is from the Drow photo shoot that I did, there is info about the bodypaint and photo session in a previous post.

I am currently using Adobe PhotoShop CS3 extended. I have been playing around in PhotoShop since 1996 when I got my first copy of PS4. It has never stopped amazing me thru all its incarnations. It allows me to work in a way that I never imagined I could! I was always enamored with the classic arts when i was younger. I learned about technique for things such as oil painting, Sculpting, and Drawing in college. What I learned is there is no medium more fluid and changeable than pixels.

The picture below is a combination of one of my Drow images and the other from Oliver on Deviant Art. He makes all his own armor!

The Under Dark is here

A moment shared!

A Military Family

It was great working with this family. I love seeing happy faces on a portrait day, and it's something that can be very stressful for a kid if it is not handled well. We showed up a little early to give the little guy some time to check out the rig and lighting. He was totally fascinated! I found out later the little man LOVES fabric! Curtains, sheets, blankets, you name it, with Mom being a seamstress it all makes sense!