Well, it’s been a long time between posts… We’ve had a fantastic trip and I wanted to share some of our experiences with you all! The body of this post will be short and sweet, but at least you’ll get a feel for the second half of our trip 
After Rodanthe, we headed south, necessitating two ferry rides. It’s was a trippy experience to pull our RV onto the ferry, park and proceed to have a relaxed time sitting on the couch, looking out the window at the ocean pass by!! Not something you get to experience everyday.
This shot was done using our tilt and shift lens - enabling it to shift the focal plane so only to bird closest to the back of the ferry is in focus. Pretty sweet lens.
Arriving at Ocracoke, a cozy little port town on a sand barrier island, we decided to settle in for the day and enjoy the beach. The winds picked up and we were forced to stay a couple of days (the ferries don’t run when the wind is too strong).
Here’s a shot of Greta, doing her favourite things, wrestling Fritzi to the ground! Fritty’s such a good sport about it though - he lets her get away with it even though she’s half his size. She gets away with a lot because of those adorable eyes!
These little guys (Sanderlings) are the cutest things. As the waves washed in and out, they would run away from them, then chase them back out and proceed to dig up as many shells as they could.
When we did hit dry land in North Carolina, we were amazed at the vast number of military bases as we drove south. We continued to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. At one spot in particular, there was an airfield with fighter jets landing and taking off every 2 or 3 minutes! It was very cool to get out and stand underneath them as they flew over top. You can see how close were were to them in this shot.
More posts VERY soon
Last week we finally hit coastline at Virginia Beach. We spent a day cruising around and had a great time. With everyone back at school and work it was a little like a ghost town though. The beach was nice, and this King Neptune sculpture was pretty impressive. It stands about 6 metres high and is made of bronze.
The next day we cruised south… passing through some pretty amazing towns along the Outer Banks… for example, Kitty Hawk was the location for the Wright brother’s first flight. We also passed Nags Head - a town I’ve heard about many times over the years - known to be a great location to kite surf, drive dune buggies, do some beach combing or check out a ship wreck. We drove a little further south and crossed a massive bridge, to arrive at Rodanthe. FYI, here’s a map of our road trip so far.
We took an early morning walk up the beach to see if we could find the house used in the Richard Gere film, Nights in Rodanthe. Along the way though we came across something pretty crazy….
This house seemed to have fallen off it’s stilts during a storm! I can only imagine the sound it would have made as it went! After asking a few of the locals what happened, we discovered that two weeks ago during a storm, the waves crashed against the house and brought it down. All the locals were going on about the fact that they built it on 8 foot stilts instead of 18 foot. Makes sense but apparently it costs a lot of money to bring in really long stilts… would have been money well spent in hind sight I guess! Thank goodness insurance covers the damage and nobody was hurt.
How often do you get a chance to lift a house???
The Rodanthe Pier also featured in the film a few times I hear.. for a seafood feast as well as being the convenience store they used. We chatted to the owner of the pier as we took a walk out on it and asked him whether it was always this wobbly. He tells us that it’s designed with a lot of give to withstand the storms. It totally makes sense but doesn’t reassure us much as we stand at the end, shifting left and right about a foot with each wave passing underneath. You wouldn’t find me out there during a storm though!
It gave me opportunity to grab some pretty cool angles on the waves below. This one above reminds me of the feeling as you’re paddling out for a surf and you crest the wave and look back over your shoulder.
Needless to say, my reptile hunt continues… I finally found a snake - I think - it may be a species of legless lizard, but Charlotte wasn’t too keen on me trying to identify it. If anyone out there knows what species it is, can you let us know? Thanks
We spent three days in Rodanthe, with our RV parked about 10 metres behind the first dune - we were all in heaven. It turns out the dogs love the beach.
When it finally came time to leave, we headed south again (searching for that elusive warmer weather). Cape Hatteras is another famous historic location along the outer banks. The lighthouse there has an awesome barber’s pole swirl painted around it.
As we drove out of the lighthouse parking area there was a big swamp area next to the road and I caught a glimpse of what I thought was one or two turtles… We pulled over and after rustling through some bushes we found that there were literally dozens of turtles hanging out, sunbathing and generally just being turtly. How cute is the little guy in the front row!?
Upcoming posts… Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island & Savannah.
2008 marks the third year in a row for a really really great charity fund raiser that both Dave and I love to support. Imagine a Cure for Leukemia is an event to raise awareness and funds for Leukemia research and one day find a cure. Nara Abrams developed and organizes this event as Co-Chair and had us along to document this important occasion. With the recent loss of Nara’s Mother to Leukemia it was an emotional night for all involved. This being such an serious message we were so honoured for the third year in a row, to be the official Photographers of this cause.
If you would like to see more photos from the event, please log into the events page
We arrived outside of the Capitol Theatre on Yonge st. and saw the crowd of people already milling both inside and out. Arriving so early in the evening, we knew there was going to be a large crowd if so many were already here. Dave and I waited in line for our press passes. Dave commented that he was so happy that every year the event gets bigger and bigger. The word is out there and the awareness is growing. Events like these help so much, more then we know. I pulled out our shot list and Dave was pumped to start right away. That was fine with me, there was just so much to photograph. So many vendors were on board…We had Starbucks Coffee, NYF New York Fries (I resisted…but don’t know how), Dairy Queen, (ok… I couldn’t resist) Cupcakes…Bite Catering had a gorgeous cupcake display set up, pink frosting as far as the eye could see. Did I mention all the wonderful hors d’oeuvres? My goodness…the food was seriously delectable!
We met so many generous, kind people they were all just there to support the cause make a difference. It was getting really busy now as the crowd moved toward the stage of the Capitol Theatre, there were sooo many supporters. We made our way to the front to get some shots of the singer Daphne entertaining us all in the crowd. Daphne has a beautiful voice and captivated us all with her music. It was a really well put together and well organized event. There were so many wonderful prizes like autographed NHL Hockey Jerseys and Spa Getaways, oh and WestJet gave away a round trip for two anywhere in Canada to one lucky winner!! All in all it was a great night, a great event for a great cause and we can’t wait to be part of it all next year.
If you would like to see more photos from the event, please log into the events page
Trent Morrow is a 34 year old from Australia’s beachside suburb of Bondi Beach. He looks like a regular guy, but he has a secret identity…Marathon Man! Marathon Man has many super powers, one of which is the ability to face the most harsh extremes on the planet the Sahara Desert. The Marathon des Sables is a 243km event held over 6 days through the Sahara in temperatures up to 50 degrees and is considered as the "toughest footrace on earth". These unbearable extremes are no match for Marathon Man who also uses his super powers fund raising to rescue children in Africa suffering from the devastating disease known as ‘Noma’. We meet up with Marathon Man as he was saving a falling school bus full of children in Toronto. Luckily Dave had his camera so we could capture this courageous real life super hero in action!! If you’d like to help Trent support his noble cause the Facing Africa Charity you can be hero too!
Extra!! Extra!! Marathon Man saves the day as a school bus of children falls from the sky!
This hero is changing the lives of children one marathon at a time…
Some of you may be aware of our strong support of charities here in Toronto and worldwide. We got this letter yesterday from the organizers of Imagine a Cure for Leukemia and wanted to share it with you. You may remember reading our blog entry last month on the event.
Dear David,
We hope you are having a great summer!
One of the great pleasures at Imagine A Cure for Leukemia is acknowledging the generous support of people like you.
We are thrilled to announce that this year we raised $112,000 for Leukemia research.
As you may already know, recent advances in treatment have been nothing short of amazing. The result is longer survival rates, better quality of life and many smaller steps that together, bring us closer to a cure!
All of us at Imagine A Cure for Leukemia are truly grateful for the contributions we received from the business community. With so many worthy organizations and causes, we truly appreciate that you chose us. That’s why we wanted to let you know about our overall fundraising success. Please feel free to visit our website to see pictures of our June 7th fundraising event at www.imagineacureforleukemia.com/2007photos.php
We’re also excited to let you know that the date for our 3rd annual event is now set for Thursday May 29, 2008 at the Captiol Event Theatre. It will feature fabulous Jazz Music, a silent auction and great food.
With sincere gratitude we thank you for participating in imagining a cure for Leukemia with us.
In good health and happiness,
Nara Abrams and Jennifer Shulman
Directors
I always enjoy being out photographing special events. This is doubly true when it’s an event like “Imagine a Cure for Leukemia” (previous post), which is aimed at raising both awareness of such causes, and financial support for further research.
The night was HUGE - a great turn out - everyone was in a great mood, and the energy in the Capitol theatre was a buzz. These first few shots are of the silent Auction that was held. There was some awesome stuff in there - including 4 signed hockey jerseys!
As you can see, the winner of the Sundin jersey was STOKED!!
Big Hair played for most of the night - they were AWESOME. They do wall to wall 80’s music. I was in my element!
Toward the end of the night, everyone got dairy queen icecreams which created some cool photoops for a studio setup we did.
If you’d like to see more shots from the event, check them out here.
Looking for photographic coverage for a charitable event, please contact us.
Did you know that approximately one in every 65 men and women will develop Leukemia in their lifetime?
That’s a scary fact.
Imagine A Cure for Leukemia are hosting their 2nd annual fund raiser to increase awareness of this valuable cause on June 7th.
We are proud to sponsor this cause by providing photography during the event, as well as offering a family portrait session in the silent auction.
It’s just one of the ways we give back to the community.
If you’re able to make it along to the event, we’d love to see you there, and who knows, you might be the winning bidder for our family portraits!
The gift certificate you’ll receive if you’re are the winning bidder in the silent auction : )
If you’d like to donate any items to this charity, please contact Nara via their website.
If you’re looking for photographic coverage for a charitable event, please contact us. Thanks : )
UPDATE:
A friend of mine just sent me this :
I just checked out your blog, here’s the latest in leukemia. the guy that did the research is *amazingly* talented and probably benefited from the kind of fundraising that you’re supporting.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/04/27/leukemia-stem-cells.html
Thanks for the link Heidi.
We’ve been fortunate recently to shoot several fund raising events for the Canadian Liver Foundation. One of these was “Boxing in the Ballroom” down at the Liberty Grand. We got some wonderful shots of the boxers during their pre-fight preparations. Enjoy.
