Craig's Blog

Michelle and I try to get out to the annual Luminaria event at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens every year during the Christmas season. This year there was a special event with pieces of renowned artist Dale Chihuly on display during Luminaria. Dale’s spectacular glass pieces are on display through May 31^st of 2009 but the only opportunity to see them with the Luminaria was during a limited engagement.

It was a cold evening and the crowd was out in full force. While I was not able to get a lot of the shots I would have liked, hopefully these will entice you to check out the Chihuly before they leave the garden. This shot was taken low to the ground with my tripod. I lost a lot of shots from the event with people moving into the pictures during the longer exposures but a few of these turned out. Here is one of my favorites of just the Luminaria lighting the paths throughout the garden.

These next three are shots of the Chihuly pieces that are on display throughout the garden. The size of the exhibits and the wide variety of colors are not given enough justice here.

This shot of Michelle was taken while she was using her point and shoot camera. I like the wide variety of color in the foreground and background.

This next shot is a little soft but I wanted to share just how many Luminaria are placed throughout the garden. Also note the Chihuly in the foreground as well as hanging from the ceiling in the background.

We had a great time at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens and I bet we are at the event again next year. With school now out of session until the 3rd week of January I plan on shooting a lot more so expect 2–3 more blog posts in January before schools starts. For more information on the Chihuly exhibit at the garden please check out the link below:

Chihuly: The Nature Of Glass

I hope all of our friends and family had a great Christmas and please have a safe New Years!

Our nephew Jason and his girlfriend Amanda stayed with us during their time in town and we had a lot of fun with them. They wanted to check out one of the local casinos and I brought them to the Wild Horse Pass casino which is not too far from our house. We started playing some games and I didn’t last long at the blackjack table. Jason spotted a group of machines that he wanted to try but all the seats are full, someone stands up and just as Jason grabs the chair someone at the machine next to this chair slides over right in front of him and takes the chair. Jason decides to take the machine that was just vacated and a few pulls later wins a jackpot of $1,074!! Amanda and I are watching all of this happen and it was spectacular, the guy that left the machine didn’t have much to say. They paid Jason out right at the slot machine and we left the casino to head to Juan Jamie’s to celebrate. Jason said he was paying for the drinks and the name “Papa Georgio” was used to refer to him since we were hanging out with the high roller who was going to take care of us. When we got home Jason started messing around with the money and I had to grab my camera and flash to see what I could get. These three shots are my favorites by far:

This next picture I really like with the expression and money falling around him.

Finally, this post would not be complete without this picture as a tribute to Papa Georgio. I didn’t have anything to do with this pose, Jason and Amanda did this on their own. As soon as I snapped this photo and looked at the preview in the LCD I had to see what it looked like on the computer. Every time I look at this picture I cry from laughing so hard. I stylized it a bit to look more like a painting, perhaps to hang on Papa Georgio’s wall?