Today was a beautiful day at the Family Circle Cup! We had some hard-fought battles during these early qualifying rounds. And we had some humorous moments too! Like when I caught Agnieszka Radwanska, the energetic 11th seed from Poland, hogin‘ a few tennis balls to take with her after her practice session!!!

Well Gang, it’s that time of year again! Qualifying rounds of the Family Circle Cup begin today. As one of the official tournament photographers, I’ll be out here all day every day until a new champion is crowned next Sunday, April 20th. As always during this period each year, I’ll be difficult to get a hold of. But I’ll be sure to get back to everyone as soon as I come up for a breath of fresh air on the 21st! In the meantime, look for my images all over the tournament website, the tournament program, and on the banners hanging from the stadium walls. If you come out to cheer your favorite player, and spot me hustling from one court to the next, don’t forget to say “Hello”!!!

As I begin preparing to cover the Family Circle Cup this week, I wanted to let you all know you could bid on a press pass to shoot with me and the other professional photographers as a Photographer for a Day. “The 2008 Family Circle Cup has selected the Center for Women as its charity of choice for the third consecutive year. The following activities and auctions are designed to raise money and awareness for the Center for Women… The proceeds will fund many of this organization’s important programs.” Don’t worry, it wasn’t MY IDEA to put this ugly mug on the auction site. But the money goes for a really great cause. And there’s tons of other cool items in the auction as well. So start bidding!!!

Cami’s brother and his family were in town visiting this week from Ohio. Too bad they have to head home today. We had a great time touring the town, playing card games (which Kristin won EVERY time), and getting schooled on the computer game “Rock Band” by Andrew. Last night we had a fun impromptu photo session and here’s one of the fun ones with “Grandma”.

I had the privilege of photographing the Charleston Regional Business Journal’s “40-Under-40″ again this year. “The Forty Under 40 Awards recognize business people under the age of 40 who balance bottom line results with a desire to participate in charitable and community activities.” I get to meet a lot of really neat people through this project. This is Kristin Kuhlke, owner of Cupcake. Although you might imagine her with a pink apron on, during her off time she enjoys building projects of all kinds. Her enthusiastic spirit and joie de vivre made the session extra fun. And since cupcakes are becoming so popular at weddings, I’ve added her information to our Links page of recommended vendors. Next time you’re hankerin‘ for something sweet, stop in her store downtown on King St. for some instant gratification!

We just got back from an AWESOME canoe and camping adventure with our good friends Byron & Kathleen. This has turned into an annual trek for us, picking a new remote location each year. But this was the first time they brought their wonderful daughter, Amelia with them…and she did GREAT! Byron is the mastermind and does all the research to find the cool locations we go to. This year we paddled a 34 mile stretch of the St. Mary’s River. Byron is also a big fisherman. But more importantly, as you can see in the last photo he provides me with a good subject to photograph.