Intimate photo shoots around town are our favorite.  We hope that these photos of Tiffany and Max will reflect the quietness, yet strength and passion of their relationship. Congrats you guys! We had a lot of fun shooting with you! (go Steelers!)

Tis the season for family photos! This bunch was just a blast We were so lucky to be able to take advantage of nearly 60 degree sunny weather in late November, I’m sure this has to be one of our last nice days for doing things outdoors. These pictures turned out really nice, and I love the color coordination they planned. Hope you guys had as much fun today as I did!

Fall 2009

Eden Park – Cincinnati, OH

Balluminaria. A crazy deal where the city gets a bunch of hot air balloon owners to show up to Eden Park all at once and light ‘em up. It’s free. it’s annual. It was so awesome. I have a lot more shots but I found that the ones with people in them were the most interesting.

Here’s my 2nd Press of my Photos of the Weekend Slot. I took this at Eden Nature Park on our last day stay just this August.

This isn’t rally a good shot but I really love the angle. It made me think of Stairways to heaven or somethings like that. I so miss eden!

Maddie is such a dollbaby! We had a wonderful time at Eden Park this afternoon and there were plenty of dogs and ducks to keep Maddie thoroughly entertained. This little one is just too cute, look at a few of my favorites from this afternoon below

Fall 2009

Eden Park – Cincinnati, OH

It is almost time for Portraits in the park.   This is a great chance to get out there and have wonderful family portraits taken without the huge headache.   This isn’t something that I have offered before, so let me explain:

WHEN: November 29th, 2009. Appointment slots available from 9am-12pm, every 30 minutes.

WHERE: Eden park, Cincinnati Ohio

WHAT: a mini photo session for your children,family and pets

COST: $35 for 20 minute session and 2 5×7 prints and 8 wallets.

DETAILS: It might be cold! Wear your hats, scarves, and mittens. All portraits from the day will be entered into a drawing to win 25 free holiday cards.

CONTACT me for more information or to schedule your appointment.  Becky with Simper Expressions Photography www.simperexpressions.com

I love doing senior portraits, I get to remember how fun it was to be in high school! Michael was great today and looked sharp in his suit and we got some really wonderful portraits. Here’s a sneak peek of a few of my top picks

Fall 2009

Krohn Conservatory – Cincinnati, OH

Eden Park – Cincinnati, OH

I had so much fun with these two! They were so excited to get their engagement portraits taken and their photos turned out awesome They even made shirts with their wedding date (March 27…get it? I love it!) Good luck with the planning and enjoy these photos!

Fall 2009

Eden Park – Cincinnati, OH

Spring Grove Cemetery – Cincinnati, OH

www.wherethehellismatt.com

Conheça Matt Harding, que em vez de tirar aquela famosa e chata foto de postal, faz diferente: criou uma dancinha totalmente boba, mas contagiante. Funciona assim: alguém se encarrega de filmar, ele vai lá e dança, na maioria das vezes acompanhado. Já esteve no Brasil, em praia no Rio de Janeiro e no Monumento à Independência em São Paulo. Lá em Auckland, se eu não me enganei, foi no Eden Park.

Curtam: (PS – dica do Dr. Pepper, pelo blog MariMoon. Ótimos, por sinal)

Meet Matt Harding! Instead of taking that very boring and famous post card picture, makes it different: He did create a silly but contagious dance, and he does it everywhere in the World. Sometimes, local people join him to do it. Matt has  been in Brazil, at Rio de Janeiro beaches and at the Independency Monument at São Paulo. He went to Auckland as well, if I’m not mistaken, at the Eden Park.

Enjoy it!

Here is a video of me singing the 1848 Shaker hymn Simple Gifts at the Eden Park Overlook in Cincinnati. The video runs 30 seconds.

Here is a link to more information about this classic American song. At this link I recite all the lyrics to Simple Gifts while a ship passes behind me on Galveston Island, Texas.    

It is a gift to be simple.

It is a gift to be free. 

To bow and to bend I won’t be ashamed.

Theme: Tower

Feeling tired and uninspired (and a bit irritated) on my way home from my soccer game tonight, I took a little detour hoping to find something interesting to photograph for today’s post.  I took a detour through Mt. Adams and Eden Park hoping for inspiration, but was concerned because the sun was setting and I didn’t have my tripod with me.  This old water tower in Eden Park really got my attention.  I managed to get several great, crisp shots of it by using the sidewalk as my “tripod.”  I can’t believe how well it worked out.  After 10 minutes or so of snapping pictures, I felt much better- it was very soothing.  I just love Eden Park- it truly is Cincinnati’s “Eden”

Near this watertower was a little garden.  There were stones placed along the garden path with the following message:

“‘Remember that…

Everyone you meet…

Is afraid of something…

Loves something…

And has lost something.’  H. Jackson Brown, Jr”

I think I will remember that.

La prima settimana di Agosto è stata inaugurata la nuova piscina “La Fornace” a Colignola (Pisa).

Da allora ho già trascorso due piacevoli giornate in questa piscina all’aperto. La piscina La Fornace, così chiamata poichè costruita di fianco ad una vecchia fornace, ancora esistente e ben visibile, si trova in piena campagna, vicino all’argine del fiume Arno. Il luogo è ideale per una costruzione come una piscina, circondata da prati ed alberi, senza contare che, essendo uno spazio aperto, è sempre ben ventilato.

Il costo di ingresso è di 7 euro durante i feriali e 8 euro i festivi.

La piscina La Fornace è organizzata abbastanza bene. Prima di accedere alla piscina vi è la struttura di accoglienza con gli spogliatoi per uomini e donne, accessoriati di bagni, doccie e stanze interne in cui potersi cambiare.

La piscina non è grandissima o meglio, non è grande come quella comunale di Cascina nè tantomeno come quella del Boccaccio a Bientina, però è abbastanza spaziosa. E’ un’unica struttura suddivisa in tre parti:

• una piscina bassa
• una con altezza 1.50 mt
• una con altezza 1.30 mt + idromassaggio

Importante: nella piscina La Fornace vi è l’obbligo di indossare la cuffia per questioni igieniche.

Intorno alla piscina vi sono sdraie, lettini ed ombrelloni a disposizione dei clienti,  il tutto gratis, senza alcun costo aggiuntivo al prezzo di ingresso. Di sicuro una buona idea!

A pochi metri dalla zona piscina vi è il bar. Su quest’ultimo non posso che esprimere un giudizio negativo. Entrambe le volte in cui sono andata alla piscina La Fornace il bar aveva finito i panini e i gelati disponibili erano veramente pochi. Capisco che i clienti, e soprattutto i bambini, mangino durante l’arco della giornata, però è bene che un bar, a maggior ragione all’interno di una struttura ricreativa, si organizzi di conseguenza per evitare che alle ore 14 del pomeriggio non ci sia già più niente da mangiare. Colpa dei fornitori? Questo non lo so. So solo che ho pranzato con uno stecco ducale!

Nel complesso La Fornace merita un 7 come voto. Per le prossime volte confido nel rifornimento del bar. Sono infatti intenzionata a tornare in questa piscina a Colignola, tra l’altro abbastanza vicina a casa mia, per trascorrere qualche ora in relax, prendendo il sole e godendomi un pò di idromassaggio!

PROSTABLOG NZ: The NZ parliamentary inquiry into prostate cancer closes off its submissions this Friday…and to mark the occasion, I want to write about a man called Tony.

He’s a mid-50s Kiwi bloke. Friendly, articulate, life-experienced, a bit more adventurous, perhaps, than some.

He and wife Marlene (at right) run an excellent bed and breakfast in Mt Eden, Auckland, under the shadow, almost, of where $300 million of my money is being spent revamping Eden Park for the rugby world cup in 2011.

Tony drove trucks across America for a while, until the mid-2000s. Marlene missed him, so joined up, taking the wheel during daylight. They had a fantastic time.

But now they’re back home, with Tony working three jobs as they build up the B & B (left) during the recession.

He runs a disability transport service with his vans, walks people around central Auckland city at night telling them ghost and murder stories, and helps Marlene with the homestay.

By all odds, Tony has a 50% chance of hosting a cancer in his prostate.

He doesn’t know it yet, either way. He hasn’t been checked. He’s been too bloody busy.

But now he’s going to the doc and he’ll endure the finger up his backside and the scratch in his arm.

Why? Because Lin and I stayed with Tony and Marlene last weeked and he got an earful from me about getting checked.

Why am I telling you this?  Because Tony is fairly typical of most of the Kiwi men I know (the ones who haven’t had prostate cancer). They either don’t get tested, get only the PSA, or were tested “once” and think it’ll be fine for a few years.

They are what the Health Select Committee inquiry into prostate cancer screening and testing is about.

Two bitterly opposed protagonists

Anyone who thought NZ’s recent prominent murder trials (Bain, Weatherston, et al) were problematic for their juries, spare a thought for the Health Select Committee.

Not only must it contend with the politics of health care, it also faces two ferociously opposed lobby groups that can each present a compelling case.

On one side will be the NZ prostate community, comprising prostate cancer patients, survivors, some of their medics (GPs, urologists, urology nurses, oncologists, etc), and a vociferous band of patient advocates, the 330-strong Prostate Cancer Foundation.

On the other is the health care bureaucracy, encompassing a heavyweight team of health professionals, managers, advisers, epidemiologists, academics, researchers and various subgroups that include some GPs…and the NZ Cancer Society.

Both will lobby the inquiry with statistics, research, study results, precedents, and on one side, at least, some emotionally gruelling anecdotal evidence.

What will each side say?

The bureaucrats (the Ministry of Health and its pilot fish advisory committees) will say what it has always said: we should not adopt a screening and testing programme like that offered to women for breast and cervical cancer because it will do more harm than good.

Their argument is strong, and is the same one argued by other governments’ medical agencies.

It is this: many men (maybe 50%) will get prostate cancer in their lifetime, but only a few (12% to 16%) will contract a form that has the potential to kill them – and there is, as yet, no way to know (before treatment) which kind a man has got.

They say if there is outright encouragement for all men to be tested, whether they have symptoms or not (most won’t, initially), it will lead to unnecessary treatment.

This would cost the government a lot more as well, some argue, but that’s not a point the bureaucracy will highlight, since it doesn’t sound very humane.

Meantime, leave it to patients to raise such matters with their GPs, then make their own decisions based on facts they glean from consultation and research (ie, Dr Google).

The bureaucrats will say there is good reason to trust GPs to do the right thing.

A survey of nearly 350 general practitioners published in 2003 (GP survey 2003) found 74% would PSA test a 55-year-old man who asked (or presented for an annual check-up), with that number rising to 93% if the man’s family history included prostate or breast cancer.

The prostate community argues that since PSA blood tests became widely available in the 80s there has been significant decline in the number of deaths from prostate cancer, and this could be accelerated if screening and testing were promoted to the whole male population.

They say leaving it up to men to raise prostate testing with their doctors is not good enough.

Some men don’t go to the doctor unless they have to, which is a particular problem with prostate cancer, a devious disease that often shows its face when it’s too late for treatment.

Non-consultation is a factor that may apply particularly to Maori and Pacific Island men: the former have twice the death rate of non-Maori. No statistics are available for PI men, it seems.

The prostate community is concerned that some GPs are confused about their role in the prostate process.

Some refuse to test, some don’t proffer advice unless the patient speaks up first, some offer PSA only, some offer both PSA and digital exam. Some men die as a direct result of such a hit-or-miss system, the PCF says.

The foundation and its medical advisers know many cases of men who discover prostate cancer too late.

These are tragic stories, exemplified by the account being written on this website by Mary about her struggle with the medical profession to get treatment for her husband, John. It’s a heart-breaking tale.

There is some bitterness in this debate.

The prostate community is seen as deeply swayed by the emotional influences of suffering the disease or benefiting from dispensing treatment; the bureaucracy is considered heartless, unduly influenced by statistics, gender-biased, and penny-pinching.

Both sides are gathering their forces as this is written.

The Ministry’s line, probably, is encapsulated in advice it received from its satellite National Screening Advisory Committee this winter, after the committee examined the results of the two large overseas screening studies reported in March.

It recommended the Director General of Health should note that:

a) the benefits of PSA screening for prostate cancer identified in the European trial were small;

b) no benefit of prostate cancer screening was identified in the US trial;

c) both trials identified considerable screening harms related to over-diagnosis and over-treatment;

d) the benefits of PSA screening identified in the European trial were observed using an average screening interval of four years, whereas a screening interval of one to two years is more commonly used in general practice;

e) the utility of prostate screening increases with age;

f) a longer study follow-up period may alter trial results; and

g) a watching brief of these two prostate cancer screening trials should be kept, including similar trials of prostate cancer treatment effectiveness, to inform men about making prostate screening decisions.

There is some inevitability, then, about how this inquiry will proceed.

The Ministry hasn’t changed its stance, and the PCF has grown all the more powerful since it gathered considerable funding from the Movember crusade in 2007.

Which suggests the outcome will be influenced by political expediency. As these things usually are.

It’s not a good time to be appealing to a government that’s busy slashing spending in all sectors.

Trash the Dress shoots are always soooooo much fun! For Trash the Dress photography, brides can ‘trash’ her dress as much or as little as she’d like. During Bethany’s shoot, she decided that we weren’t going to trash her dress at all. By the end, she had so much fun that she decided she wanted to go all the way and trash it for real!

The portraits below are from our ‘clean’ Trash the Dress session. The messy session is scheduled to take place soon, I’m just as excited to see the results from that as well

Summer 2009

Cincinnati Tour

Brighton Wall – Cincinnati, OH

Eden Park – Cincinnati, OH

Holy Cross Immaculata Church – Mt. Adams, OH

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Only T20I Live Streaming

R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Aug Wed 12, 19:00 local | 13:30 GMT

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Live streaming will begin on the day of match.
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These two kept me laughing during our entire session. Trust me – we needed it! This was our third reschedule due to this crazy rainy weather we’ve been having. Our patience was rewarded with a beautiful evening. We were so happy to welcome sunny skies and mild temperatures. Diana & Brian’s wedding is next month, can’t wait to see you two then!

Summer 2009 - 60 minute session, 74 unique shots delivered

Eden Park – Cincinnati, OH

Overview

Eden Park homes strike the perfect balance between privacy, luxury, and the independence of a villa with the convenience, cost-effective maintenance and security of an apartment so it is called a Villapartments. The 1st phase of Eden Park comprises 14 acres of residential area. The architectural beauty stands tall with 656 apartment units. They are aesthetically designed across eight blocks with 14 levels and two basements and comprise 2 and 3 bedroom dwellings with state-of-the-art mechanics and a Vastu compliant architecture.It offers you 2BHK, 3BHK & 3BHK premium with different sizes of 1295 sqft to 2010 sqft.It is a residential paradise complete with apartments, villas, PSBB School, essential services, health care facilities and shopping spaces to make a complete community and lots of amnities like Gym, Sauna, Swimming pool,Playing court and much more.

Location

It is located at the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR). It is a popular hub for IT infrastructure facilities in Chennai

Features

    Gymnasium & Fitness Centre
    Jacuzzi / Sauna
    Cycling / Jogging Track
    Massage Room
    Swimming Pool
    Men / Women Beauty Salon
    Billiards / Table Tennis
    Cricket Pitch
    Skating Ring
    Solar Water Heating
    Recycled Water for Flushing and Landscaping
    Lush Green Landscaped Area and Lawns

Price

About Developer
L&T’s real estate property division L&T Urban Infrastructure Limited and its partner companies re-inventing the concept of urban living with Eden Park Chennai. As trailblazers in construction L&T have developed lots of residential properties, luxury apartment townships pan India.

Property Advisor – www.InvestInNest.com

Email: info@InvestInNest.com

India +91 120 420723

UAE User: +971 50 644 685

UK User:  020 8090 4217

USA: (917) 338 6416

There’s no break in the rugby season these days and the Tri-Nations kicked off this morning. New Zealand got the opening win, but it was not plain sailing for the All Blacks and I still think they are vulnerable in the tournament this year. (I’ve actually got a bet going at work that the Kiwis won’t win the Tri-Nations so I’m pleased Australia at least picked up a losing bonus point for finishing within seven points.)

It was a great game with neither side willing to give an inch and the Wallabies will be disappointed that they didn’t make the most of the possession and territory they had in the first half. Berrick Barnes finished off a great spell of attacking play – the handling and attacking style of these Wallabies is fantastic to watch and I think they could well be favourites for the 2011 World Cup – but he then squandered another opportunity when he went himself rather than looking for support. 

Still, the Wallabies, and the Springboks for that matter, will take confidence from the weaknesses the All Blacks showed at the lineout and in defence. These areas will clearly be targeted in the coming weeks and the Kiwis definitely won’t be having everything their own way.

One concern I’d like to raise was the booing heard in the Eden Park crowd whenever Matt Giteau was taking a kick at goal. As I’ve said before in this blog, this is something we need to eradicate from the game. Silence whenever anyone is taking a kick is something that used to make rugby stand out above other sports so let’s ensure it returns to crowds around the world.

I also have to mention some cringe-worthy commentary on Sky Sports. At the start of the second half one of the guys was asked if he had any worries about Richie McCaw and Rodney So’oialo “in the lungs department” because they haven’t played much rugby recently. In response, the commentator said: “No, they’ve got big hearts.” This is rugby – if I wanted full-on cheese I’d go to the cinema to see a romcom, which I actually like doing quite often! Besides, given that So’oialo went off after 60 minutes that big a heart can’t have made that much difference!!

Finally, a big shout out (what am I, on the radio?!!) to my friend Kath, who was at the game in Eden Park. I hope she enjoyed her first taste of Test rugby.

As one of the largest public greenhouses in the world, the Krohn Conservatory in Northern Kentucky contains 5,000 varieties of exotic, tropical, and desert plants and six beautiful seasonal floral shows. Krohn Conservatory in Eden Park is itself architecturally significant, having been built in 1933 at the height of the charming Art Deco era. But it’s what inside those aluminum and glass walls that make Krohn Conservatory truly special. Our “world” changes throughout the year with special exhibits and programs. Don’t forget to visit the rainforest waterfall and exotic plants on permanent display in the Palm, Tropical, Desert and Orchid houses. Beautiful! For more information, please visit the Northern Kentucky Destination Guide.

Brenda is a very talented voice performer and can be heard singing at events around the city. She wanted some fun but professional portraiture to update her website with. We met at Eden Park and captured her beautiful smile!

Summer 2008 - 60 minute session, 51 unique shots delivered

Eden Park – Cincinnati, OH

In addition to guest editing the Who’s Jack blog this week, Sam is also taking a trip to the Eden Park show room as they’ve asked him to endorse their A/W range.

Sam also endorses for our pals at Red Bull - his drink of choice for all night djing… Read Sam’s top ten of everything on the blog here…

Pakistan vs Australia Only T20I Live Streaming

Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium
May Thu 7, 20:00 local, 16:00 GMT

on

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Live streaming will begin on the day of match.
Please open this page in Firefox/IE only for live streaming of match

For 2009, I set a goal of 1500 page views a day for Texas Liberal. In 2008, I had 912 a day.

(Above is a picture of the Ohio River I took from the Eden Park Overlook in Cincinnati two years ago. Cincinnati is my home away from home.)

So far for 2009, I’m averaging 1569 page views a day.

Also, yesterday Texas Liberal went over 600,000 total page views.

I’m also a featured politics reader-blogger at the Houston Chronicle.

Thanks to the blog reading public for the support and for your comments.

If you like this blog, please forward the link. A blog grows one reader at a time.

(Below–Galveston, Texas. Another home away from home.)