On Thursday, September 11, 2008 Clarence Allen , owner of Allen’s Wrench,  and Harold Martin introduced to the public what they call “The New Innovative Automotive Technology Showcase”.   Here you have two intelligent men that love Jesus Christ and love everything that has to do with the concept, design, fabrication and maintenance of high performance automobiles.
There were many people that came out to support Clarence and Harold new business partnership. As you can tell by the photo below their attention was 100% on what was being shared. Outside of interacting with vistors Clarence and Harold participated in two press conferences.
Below are a few images of Harold’s racing car and the rig that carries it.
Clarence Allen also offered a chance for local Hot Rod enthusiasts to showcase some of their sweetest rides.
At the end of the day Clarence and Harold signed many autographs, gave out firm handshakes and took pictures with the guests. Below is a picture of Clarence’s hands as he signed a flyer for one of the guests.
THIS STORY IS NOT OVER THERE ARE MORE PICTURES TO VIEW
Tanika’s day started before daybreak on Saturday August 23, 2008. She had an appointment to get her hair done at 6:00 a.m. at “Reflections of Elegance” hair salon in Carborro, NC.
When I arrived on the scene at around 6:05 am Tanika was already in the chair making getting ready for “her” day.
Before we knew it Tanika’s hair was complete and her veil was set for the rest of the day. Around 11:30 am I stopped by the home of her parents to capture her dress and shoes followed by makeup etc.
Once her makeup was complete I left the room to give she and her bridemaids privacy to get dressed.  However, I had a special request. I asked that they call me back upstairs when they were about to fasten the back of her dress.
A few more images were captured of the bridal party getting ready. You can view those images in the full gallery located at the end of this post. Next we made our way to Duke Gardens where the ceremony was to be held.
As the reception moved forward I noticed that the setting sun’s rays were shining on the windows.  Derrick Tucker and I took the lights outside and rounded people up to capture a few photos in front of the sunset.
One fun thing about being a photographer is that you get to meet different people and come together to brainstorm on ideas.  The idea behind this shoot was to see if we could mimick some of the Martial Art Katas that one commonly sees in martial arts movies.
We decided that we would meet at Crab Tree Lake because the sky, air and view of the lake make for a very serene location. Photography is a fun outlet for artistic expression and it was rewarding to see our brainstorm of an idea become a reality.
First a special thanks goes out to Kim for coordinating this special recognition for Mechelle. I also want to thank Kim for e-mailing her notes to me so that I could share with you what was spoken.
On Wednesday, August 27, 2008 North East Baptist Church honored Olympian Mechelle Lewis.  There was a strong family atmosphere and the members present showered her with love and congratulations.
(Written by Kimberle Walker)
Tonight we take the time to honor a North East family member, Mechelle Lewis, for her achievements – particularly in track and field.
Most of you are aware that Mechelle earned a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track and Field team…running in the Women’s 4 x 100 meter relay race. Mechelle represented herself, North East, her country and most of all, her Creator, in an exemplary manner.
Mechelle’s  journey to becoming an Olympian is quite compelling with many, many worthwhile lessons for both the young and old alike. Her story is about discipline, sacrifice, frustration, humbleness, success, taking risks, pursuing dreams.
So tonight, Mechelle, it is our privilege to recognize your achievements and to offer some golden ‘scriptural’ medallions to encourage you as you move forward and pursue future endeavors.
Youth and adults with medals, please come forward.
Medal 1- Psalm 119: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path.
Medal 2- Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.
Medal 3- Isaiah 40:31: But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength…they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Medal 4 -Acts 20:24: However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace (NIV)
Medal 5 – Hebrew 12:1: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (NIV)
Medal 6 – I Peter 1:7-8: That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (NIV)
Medal 7 – I Corinthians 9:24-25: Do you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I do not fight like a man beating the air. No I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (NIV)
Medal 8 – Phillipians 3:14:  I press toward thegoal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (NIV)
Medal 9 – I Corinhians 15:57: But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (NIV)
Medal 10 -2 Timothy 4:7: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (NIV)
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Now, it’s important to note that Mechelle has 10 gold medals….That’s two more than Michael Phelps’ historic record in the 2008 Olympics! Symbolically, for us tonight, Mechelle’s 10 gold Olympic medals mean that all things are possible with Jesus Christ…and that Christ has many more great things in store for Mechelle and those of us who believe and who keep the faith.Â
(end of words from Kim)
After everyone had presented Mechelle with her medals she took some time to entertain questions from the congregation about her experience at the Olympics.
After all questions had been addressed the children took their group photo Minister and Estella Feaster said some final words and closed with a prayer and blessed the food.
Since this is my blog then I can say this. For those of you that are sitting back wondering… let me say this. NO! Mechelle did not drop her baton. She ran her leg of the race with determination and supported her other team mates in a Christ like manner when they experienced trouble.
I had the chance to capture the Flaggler family at Duke Gardens. We spent some time looking at various spots but this small pier on the lake really captured our attention. So rather than bore you with a lot of words I’ll let you soak in the tranquility that we experienced.
Visit www.ivanwatkins.com for all of your photographic needs.
Swarms of people attended this event and filled their bellies with a variety of food items. From the top of my head I saw hearty soup, smoked corn, hot dogs, hamburgers, chopped bbq, baked beans, potato salad, green beans along with a host of other foods.
As people enjoyed good food and company they sat down to listen to the tunes of the “Shady Grove Band”.
There is more to be said but instead of me telling you about I’ll do this the easy way and let you experience the atmosphere for yourself. The most relaxed way to do that is to take a few moments and watch the slideshow below.
The images presented here were captured to preserve the historical importance of this trip for members of the Raleigh-Durham Triangle Chapter and North East Baptist Church which is pastored by Dr. Wesley Elam, Sr. The images cover our entire trip and not just one aspect of it.
During the week of August 3rd through the 9th I had the opportunity to travel with some other church members to Chicago, IL. We attended the “75th National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses” and we explored the Windy City when time permitted.
Note: I’ve tried to arrange this blog entry in such a way that it makes it easier for you find and view the images of interest to you. However, I encourage you to PACE YOURSELF and visit each photo gallery over several days so that you can experience the entire story.
Here is an index of the various sections that you will find within this blog entry.
Getting There
The Hotel
Exploring The City
The Convention (Monday – Friday)
Shoe Care Specialist
Kids Playing & First Meal
Miscellaneous Pics
Our story begins in Durham, NC where we attended church and then made our way to the airport to catch our flight on SouthWest Airlines. We had a good time just sitting around in the airport and our flights were very peaceful. Upon arrival in Chicago we quickly secured our luggage and then focused all of our efforts on finding a shuttle to get us to our hotel. To our surprise, we ended up getting on the wrong shuttle and had to back track to the airport to catch the correct shuttle. Once we arrived at the hotel we were met by Minister Roland Perry II and he filled us in on what was to take place for the week. I invite you to take some time to view the departure and return photos.
Our home away from home was the Hilton Chicago which is located in the downtown area. This was a very nice hotel and became our 2nd home at the end of a our busy days. If I remember correctly there were 24+ floors to this hotel. Certain elevators only went to specific floors and it took some getting used to. After getting lost several times we soon got our bearings and became comfortable learning our way around. There is much more to the hotel than what I was able to capture but it will give you an idea of what parts of it are like. I invite you to take a peek into the hotel by viewing the hotel picture gallery.
The scene above was captured one morning as we walked out of the hotel to make our way to Dunkin Doughnuts to grab some breakfast. Since this is my blog then I can say that I don’t care if I don’t see another Dunkin Doughnuts for a few years. Okay, moving on . . . Chicago, IL – The Windy City. The ironic thing is that while we were there there wasn’t any wind at all. For the majority of our days we spent our time in convention classes, rehearsals and service. However, we made sure that we had enough time to explore the downtown areas of the city. We made our way down to the shoreline of Lake Michigan, explored downtown stores, ate authentic Chicago Deep dish pizza at a place called Pizano’s, we visited a park to take photographs, jumped on the free trolley to get a tour of the city, briefly visited the art institute and more. There were many visually interesting sites to capture and I invite you to take a look at Chicago through my eyes.
If you spent the time to view the galleries before this one then you were probably thinking “When is he going to get to the convention pictures”. Well here we are! The image above is a powerful image which gives you an idea of how many people were involved BEFORE all the seats got filled and people were forced to stand in the aisle. If you think the scene in the picture is moving then think consider what the book of Revelation says in Chapter 7 verse 9 “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;” There is a lot of symbolism in the picture above and it is one of many images captured during the “Consecration Service”.
I’m not here to teach but to share the images and therefore I will keep moving.What can I say about the convention? (sigh letting out air). It was AN AWESOME JESUS CHRIST FILLED EXPERIENCE!! It had such an impact on me that when I was post processing the pictures I felt a sense of sadness because I longed for the environment that one experiences when they are surrounded by a multitude of people praising and worshipping God. Why was I saddened? I missed the fellowship, the high praise environment, the young people that love God and aren’t afraid to express it, the energetic but bible based preaching and the diverse music. Just realize that the ambience lasted for SEVEN DAYS without end. Don’t take this the wrong way because we should all praise God in our homes by ourselves and in our churches but when you’re surrounded so many other people doing it “all the time” then that is a different experience all together.Belows these quick directions you will see the days of the week Monday through Friday. There is a SINGLE gallery for each day of the week. The bulleted topics beneath each day are QUICK LINKS to specific sets of photographs WITHIN each gallery.
You have two ways to view the photographs associated with each day of the week.
You can select your topic of interest and go straight to those pictures.
To guarantee that you see all the pictures for a particular day just click on the “Click Here To View Photos” button.
Since I know that people were getting anxious to get to the convention pictures I decided to continue with “other” pictures at this point. As I walked around the Hilton Chicago I ran into a man named Donald. He was very soft spoken and was patiently waiting to get some business. I wore sneakers most of the time and my dress shoes were already in good condition but I still wanted to capture the essence of his setup in a respectful manner. Donald gave me permission to photograph everything and in return I tipped him for his cooperation and time. I invite you to view more images of Donald and his setup.
A trip to a different city wouldn’t be fair for the children if we didn’t just let them break free and have some fun. This gallery is devoted to some of that activity because if the truth be told the children had a demanding schedule as well. Brent hooked up with some other teens and would be gone for hours on end. A few of our church members even ran into him a local eating place. Speaking of eating.. this gallery also contains images of our first meal in Chicago.
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The picture above was taken of me and the children eating breakfast at Dunkin Doughnuts. This miscellaneous gallery contains a few random images that didn’t really fall well into any of the other galleries. I invite you to view them.
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I hope that you have enjoyed this documentary of our trip to Chicago.
Emily and I have a passion for creating images that make one think “how in the world did they come up with that”. After a few weeks of talking we agreed that we’d set an appointment to start capturing some images. Emily has a down to earth personality but she is also game for thinking outside of the box. For this photoshoot we went went for several different styles. As you can probably tell it was a very fun shoot and I’m looking forward to being able to work with her again. We have several other shoots in mind and will reveal them as they are completed.
HERE SHE IS IN SOPHISTICATED MODE
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During this session I asked Emily if she could give me a very creative expression while she had the sophisticated hair do going on.
Next we decided to change the mood of the shoot and mix things up a bit. Before we allowed our more artisitic sides to kick in I noticed something very interesting. Emily’s cat has eyes that compliment hers very well. Therefore, I had her let her hair out and pick up her cat so that we could grab this shot.
Next, we decided that we’d go for a hip sassy gal type of look with a hint of attitude.
Now its time to start getting creative. Here is a little play on depth of field and a fiesty pink bracelet that she owns.
Now the fun starts… Emily told me that she had a pink wig and so I asked her to go ahead and grab it. We didn’t want to hide her natural hair because we wanted this to look “off the wall” and more on the artsy side of things. There are some wild and crazy poses that can be seen on my main website.
To end our evening we decided to completely change the mood again. I asked Emily to put on something that would compliment the color of eyes. Once she came out then we agreed on a color gel to use on one of the lights and here is the resulting image.
I received a call from the Coles stating that they wanted an informal family portrait taken in an outdoor setting. We headed out to Duke Park and captured these portraits. It was hot out there but Mrs. Cole’s makeup held up. Their little boy B’Jorn was easy going and then he reached his limit of wanting to have his pictures taken.
On July 12, 2008 my sister Eileen celebrated her 40th birthday. What she didn’t know is that a surprise party was being thrown for her. My sister Benita had told her that she was going to enjoy a nice dinner at P.F. Chang’s. Unbeknowst to her the planning to surprise her began about 2 months earlier. The mastermind behind the surprise was our sister Benita. Everyone was told to be at Benita’s house no later than 5:30 p.m. because Eileen and Fred were due to arrive at 6:00 p.m. to go to dinner. Well at least that is what Eileen thought…
What Eileen didn’t know is that an ambush had been set for her. There were balloons placed on the road which was perpendicular to Benita’s street. People were spread out to welcome Eileen with signs and happy faces as she turned onto the street. In the picture below you will see several people placed along the road with signs in hand waiting to welcome Eileen.
Eileen was in the white jeep in the front and the people holding signs are being pointed to by the arrows.
As you can probably imagine, Eileen was quite surprised and I was able to capture this picture of her as she drove past in the jeep.
And of course Fred is playing it cool because he’s known all along what was about to take place. As Eileen stepped out the jeep she she was amazed to see how many people had come to welcome her. One of the first people that she hugged was Benita and she realized that she had been hoodwinked and bamboozled.
Eileen probably ended up hugging a million people by the time she made it into the house. Eventually she worked her way through the crowd and then we headed for the backyard. Benita had arranged for several people to have a rose along with a card with a character words on it.. such as “loving”, “inspirational”, “caring” etc… I’m not sure what the real words were because I was focused on taking photos so don’t hold me to those.
Each person walked up to Eileen, spoke their word as well as anything else they wanted to say and then placed their rose in a vase. Below is a picture of our mom presenting her rose to Eileen.
Another part of this party involved a special song from Eileen’s four boys to her. They stood in front of her while the song “mama” by Boys 2 Men played. I’m not going to say that they actually sang but we understood their intent. It was funny because on different parts of the song a different son would step forward, as if he’s singing a solo.. YET none of them actually sang. I think that they were getting choked up and just couldn’t bring themselves to sing because that would have put them over the top.
By the way, Eileen has placed ALL OF THEM ON PUNISHMENT for being in on this suprise party and not letting her know.
After each person said some words we socialized for a bit and grabbed us a bite to eat.
Another surprise lay in wait for Eileen. She didn’t know that Benita had me to put together a video to be a tribute to Eileen’s life. It contains pictures from birth to age 39 and has several guest appearances by various family members. Special thanks to Antonio Davis over at www.viewfindersmedia.com of Winston-Salem for capturing the family members in that part of NC for me.
Below is a picture of Eileen “Rose” Watkins-Rice sitting on the couch and watching the video.
Although the point of the picture below is to capture the sign hanging from the ceiling you will see a faint image of Benita on video talking and singing to Eileen.
The video was created with music from the 70’s and 80’s. Just a few of the songs included are Double Dutch Bus, Get Off, Planet Rock, Outstanding, Carwash etc… You can view the video by clicking on the image below.
After everyone had the chance to view the video then we took a moment to have a brief toast to Eileen as well as sing happy birthday.
We then headed back outside for a little fun and games which included, a SOUL TRAIN line, some free style dancing and just having a good time.
There was a point where Eileen was laughing so hard that she could not stand up. Fred, her husband, had decided to get his “boogie” on and the rest was history.
Then Eileen (in red hat) and one of her home girls started to get their soul train boogie on.
Right before I left to head back to Durham I managed to get everyone to SHUT UP and move into a group so that we could get this shot. Unfortunately I couldn’t be in the shot because I didn’t have a tripod. However, I’m in two of the pictures thanks to Christian and Sharon.
If you know me by now then you understand that I don’t capture just a few moments and put my camera up.
If you want to view the entire celebration, the memories, the fun and the mingling the take some time and visit the full gallery of photographs.
