... and something's gone horribly wrong in the basement, I suspect. It smells a little musty down there, and there's evidence of water on the floors. Ugh.

I miss my Lexington apartment already.

***

Of course, I'd be much happier to be home if Kristina and Caroline weren't still in California, but they're coming home on Monday. In the meantime, at least Maggie, my Jack Russell Terrier, is happy to see me. However, Dorothy, Caroline's goldfish (named after Elmo's Sesame Street goldfish, of course)... well, there's gonna be a new Dorothy when Caroline gets back home. And this time, I'm not letting my mom put the fish in a goldfish bowl. I know that's how Elmo has his Dorothy, but fish need more water surface than that if they're going to live. The aquarium's coming out of storage this time.

***

As I walked home from the railroad station (I took the JFK Airtrain and the Long Island Rail Road to get home), I passed a Burger King restaurant, and it dawned on me that I've never seen a BK in Lexington before. I don't think I've seen Wendy's here, either.

You see, I have an ironclad rule of traveling... don't eat anywhere you can eat at home. It's a great rule, and it means I get to try a lot of food I'd never have otherwise, but it also allows me into most chain restaurants. Long Island is one of the least chain-saturated places in America. Folks, we don't have Denny's here. No Cracker Barrel, no Waffle House and no Bob Evans. No Sonic, and no Hardees. Chik Fil-A isn't open on Sundays in New York... or on any other day of the week. WE DON'T EVEN HAVE DAIRY QUEEN. If I'm lyin', I'm flyin'.

But here's the thing... While I've done a good job of staying out of McDonalds, Arby's (which just came back to Long Island this year), TGI Fridays and Moe's Southwest Grill, at what point do I finally say, I've been in Lexington long enough that I can have a John Coctostan at Moe's? It's a real conundrum.

I need some help here. Somebody give me a good reason for either keeping up my stance, or ditching it. Leave your thoughts in the comments. Best reasoning gets dinner at your favorite Lexington restaurant on me. Contest open to anyone who isn't related to me and lives in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Winner announced first week of September.

(Pretend I inserted some lawyer talk here.)

Saturday's wedding was very special for me. Long before they were clients, Gwen and Jeremy were already friends of mine. To be such a big part of their happiness was really an honor. They were married at the Taj Lounge in Manhattan, and while it's an awesome venue, lighting the photos was a little tricky because it's so dark in there, and there aren't any neutral colored surfaces for me to bounce light off of. I have to say, however, I'm thrilled with my results.

Some early highlights:

Gwen and Jeremy are both involved in a company that provides medical anatomy artwork, so it was natural that they found a way to involve art in their wedding, replacing a unity candle with a unity painting, which they intend to display in their new home.

In the wake of the Lexington Bridal Show, I've been fielding a lot of inquiries and have already booked one wedding off the show. As a result, I thought I'd pass on which dates have come off the board over the last three weeks:

2007:
September 8
October 6, 7, 20, 26, 27, 28
November 2, 3, 4, 18

2008:
January 6
May 10
July 12, 18

Since Brian and I talked to over 200 brides on Sunday, I would recommend you don't wait to make sure you lock in your wedding date! In addition, if you book over the next two weeks, I am booking Lexington area engagement sessions during the week of August 13-16th. After that block of time, I don't project that I'll be doing any Lexington engagement sessions until October!

***

This weekend, I'm shooting one wedding in New Jersey and one in Manhattan, then flying out to Memphis for a conference Sunday through Thursday.

...and meeting so many of you at the Lexington Bridal Show today definitely falls under the awesomely tired bracket. I'm still amazed that I got my booth back into the minivan after assembling the table and sofa.

It was great not just to talk to so many brides in one place today, but also to see how many of you really get what my work is all about. I can't wait to give you ladies some gorgeous images for your albums. I sense my calendar is about to fill up very quickly.

(Special note: Thanks for finalizing your booking today, Sarah! I can't wait to shoot your wedding!)

The only thing that was not so great about today... I've got about 300 pieces of Ghiradelli chocolate and Lindt truffles I've got to find a home for. And my able associate, Brian, somehow managed to skip out without taking any of it home with him!

It's Friday night and I'm sitting in my hotel suite here in Lexington, with stacks of Chinese food containers around me, and everything smells like really good chocolate.

Come by my booth at the Lexington Bridal Show to find out what I'm talking about! (You can still sign up at http://www.Lexington-BridalShow.com to get your coupon for $2 off admission.)

10 years ago, on July 12th, this bride

saw fit to take this man

to be her husband, and since then, I have lived happily ever after.

In other words, my July 12th's are booked in perpetuity. Happy 10th Anniversary, darling.

The less photographed females of the Lozada family...

Once upon a time, my future wife was a drama major in college. Like every other would be actress, she went and paid to have some headshots done. Now, Kristina's a bit of a blinker. And clearly this guy wasn't a very good photographer, because out of 100 frames he took, only 6 of them didn't feature her eyes shut. And those 6 were half-blinks.

Needless to say, she's had a mistrust of studio flashes ever since. So it wasn't without some trepidation that she sat down in front of my new octabox last week. Let's put it this way-- she wanted the dog to be part of the session, too, just so it wouldn't be all on her.

Well, she's finally got her headshot.

My, I'm a lucky man.

Got to spend time with one of my favorite couples today. Often, my clients become my friends over time, but this is one of two weddings I'm doing this summer that are friends who became clients. (The other set has their E-session next weekend.) Jeremy and I used to play together on our church's worship team back when I had more time for my bass, and Gwen takes care of our little Caroline in the nursery at Crossroads Christian Church in Brooklyn. They're perfect for each other, and it really shows on camera.

I met Gwen and Jeremy up at the Cloisters, a great old church/castle up in Fort Tyron Park up at the northern tip of Manhattan. Today, the Cloisters houses the Metropolitan Museum of Art's medieval collection. We shot there for 90 minutes, then went down to Little Italy for some more photos and dinner at a sidewalk cafe. It was an absolute blast, and I can't wait for their big day!

Here are a few of my favorites:

I've been splitting my time equally between wedding and editorial work recently. Got home at 3AM early Saturday morning from shooting a wedding at the W Hotel in Manhattan's Union Square and was back out the door by noon to shoot at the Belmont Stakes. It was a really exhilarating day as some of the finest horses in the nation were competing in the six graded stakes races, topped by Better Talk Now's last gasp finish in the Manhattan on the grass and then Rags To Riches becoming the first filly to win the Belmont Stakes in 102 years. There was no doubt she was the best bred horse in the race, and to make it even more impressive, she stumbled to her knees at the start, basically giving the boys a head start. Her connections have her pointed to at least two, possibly three, of the remaining shooting days on my New York horse photo schedule, so I'm looking forward to seeing her in my viewfinder a lot this summer!

...can be seen here.

http://www.drf.com/covers/052507.pdf

I've never had a cover before.