Barnstable Brown KY Derby Party 2009

Each year, the Barnstable Brown sisters host a charity gala the night before the Kentucky Derby at their home in Louisville, KY to benefit Pediatric Diabetes Research. Bryan and I attended the event as well as the 135th running of the KY Oaks and KY Derby.

Our main goal was just to have fun with friends, but I used the opportunity to photograph the many celebrity artists that performed at the show. The headliner was Kid Rock, but you can see other performers from the night in my Music photo gallery. It was a very small backyard venue so I was directly in front of the stage and was able to get fantastic shots of the singers and musicians with the 50 mm 1.4 lens for low light.

Mentor Series in South Carolina

Bryan and I traveled to Greeneville, South Carolina for a photo trek with the Popular Photography Mentor Series over Halloween weekend. John Reddy and Tom Bol were the mentors. We photographed kayakers and sunset at the state parks. The highlight of our trip was shooting Revolutionary Days in Camden, South Carolina.

This was the first trip when I experimented with off camera flash with the help of Tom.

Our friend Vicki Smith from Kansas City also joined us for this trip. Her photos can be seen on her website.

www.vickismithphotography.com