Max Bittle Photography : New Hampshire Photographer : 618.727.0510

here’s a slide show on the ballroom dancing stuff i’ve been shooting lately.

i’ve been to the vfw’s weekly friday night dance for the past three weeks while working on a ballroom dancing essay.

the band leaders have announced my presence to the crowd each week and tonight i had to go up in front of everyone and tell them where to look for the upcoming audio slide show. it was kinda embarrassing talking in front of a larger crowd. but it was fun tonight and i’ll miss seeing the regular faces.

i took a lesson a few weeks back and learned a step or two that i’ll be putting on display at some upcoming weddings. hopefully i can find time for some more lessons next semester.

my head has been in such a fog lately with questions about the future.

with graduation coming up in five months the future has been the main topic of my thought lately. i don’t really like thinking about it though. i want to live more in the now.

i heard a radio show that was talking about how careless children are and it’s totally because they live in the moment. thinking back to the happy days of childhood i can remember having no cares at all. it was wonderful. i want to get back to that living for the moment.

there’s no reason to worry about the past because it’s behind us and there’s really no reason to think too much about the future because most of the time it’s out of our control. if we could all just live for the moment and make decisions with instinct.

goodbyes are hard.

last night was my final time to visit the vincent family farm while here on my internship.

i learned so much from them over the course of the past 6 months. they have truly been the most amazing family i have ever met. the bond they share is extremely powerful. i’ve never seen anything quite like it.

i can’t thank them enough for letting me into their life and will miss them deeply. but, i have an open ended ticket to come stay with them any weekend that i need to get away from school next semester. so hopefully i’ll be seeing them relatively soon.

singers gathered for caroling in the park tonight. it was super cold, but with the holidays just around the corner everyone was in good spirits.

i just realized there are only eight work days left in my internship. these things always seem to go so fast………

wondering around the bus stop tonight in the snow…….

jacksonville, a town about 40 minutes west of springfield, got hit really hard by the recent wave of ice that has frozen over central illinois.

as of today over 6,000 people were without power. with temperatures in the 20′s and 30′s many have fled to local hotels. those who can’t afford a hotel room have had to either brave the cold or go to the shelter.

as i here in a warm apartment watching the freezing rain fall from the sky, i can’t help but think of all those families that haven’t had heat for the past two days.

my day today pretty much revolved around the ice. i shot a feature in the morning, then in the late afternoon lost power while cooking dinner, and after that went to shoot some people wrapping christmas presents in candlelight. the lights came back on though shortly after i got there and the scene lost all its ambiance and uniqueness quickly.

the skies over springfield have been raining down an icy mix of nastiness the past few days.

ice formed on my camera today during a shoot in the freezing rain. first time for everything huh?

here’s a little piece i did tonight on the ice.

i ventured into vfw post 755 tonight to work on my ballroom dancing essay. i was instantly struck by this scene of hanging christmas lights and an american flag.

i worked the scene a lot. in looking through my take there though, there were only a couple almost frames. hopefully i’ll be able to go back next week, find the right composition, and work it until the pieces fall into place.