Exotic Animals

I went with a friend on a group trip to an animal sanctuary in Wise County, Texas. They have mostly large wild cats: bengal tigers, sumatran tigers, white bengal tigers, leopards, jaguars, cougars, bobcats. They do have two servals but those are very small.

This particular sanctuary has European brown bears -- the same as grizzly bears, and two black bears. We went Saturday, October 10. It was a cold and overcast day. The black bears and the servals were the only animals I didn't get to see.

Because of their safety regulations, I didn't get very many good pictures. I was really disappointed. I guess for pictures without cage wires in front of me I am going to have to go to a nice zoo or photograph animals in the wild.




The tour of the place was about 1 1/2 hours, there were some animals who didn't like visitors and some who were in quarantine. We also toured the facility where the food and medications were prepared. It was a nice tour for the price. Because there was a group of about 20 people, we got a discount and paid $10 per person. They don't charge an entrance price but they do request donations -- which are tax deductible -- of $20 for an adult and $10 for children 7-12 (I think). They do not allow children under 7 for safety and insurance purposes.



The website for the sanctuary is http://www.bigcat.org/. I'd like to know if you go.

Until next time.

Soltis Wedding

This is technically my second wedding to photograph. The first one was by accident seven years ago. I was at my cousin's wedding when one of his groomsmen found me seated in the church. This poor guy frantically told me that Wes needed help because the photographer they hired was having equipment problems.


Well, every wedding day has a story. My brother's wedding had a bridesmaid faint and fall down several steps. Luckily the poor girl was alright but she could have been seriously injured. My wedding was pretty smooth. I think at one point my dress was missing.



This wedding, the wedding of Matt Soltis and Carrie Gann, went smoothly. It was so smooth that I think everyone should take a hint from this couple. They have known for a while they were going to get married but they didn't want to plan the big, stressful, huge family-involved event. So they narrowed down a time when they could both take off work, asked for a few days of vacation and planned the ceremony accordingly.

The only people who knew they were getting married were the Reverend and his lovely wife, the witnesses, Matt's son and me -- the photographer. We took some photos before the ceremony. Naturally I took some during the event and then we took more afterwards.



After the couple came back from a few days at a bed and breakfast, they showed a few photos of the ceremony to their close friends, put some on Facebook and then everyone knew they had been married. I know they were both anxious and a little nervous but the wedding was really beautiful. I NEVER cry at weddings, I am just not that kind of person. I shed a few tears at this ceremony. It was very sweet.

I am glad that they selected me as their photographer. There are more photos of the wedding on my Facebook page. I am limited here on what I can post, the number of pictures. If you need a photographer for any reason, any type of event, let me know. If you can't afford my prices -- which are VERY REASONABLE, we can work out some agreement.



Until next time.