Well, needless to say it has been awhile since I last updated my blog (Christmas time). It is one of those things in which, you know you need to update it, but the longer you go the more you need to update...until you are sitting here 6 months later with so much stuff to update it becomes a little overwhelming (In fact, it took me going on vacation and doing a little bit of below to bring you this). With that in mind, I will do my best today to get things back on track, and going forward will truly try to regularly update! So with all that said, the last 6 months has been VERY busy with so many major life events happening. Where to start? I bought a house, had a restaurant chain buy one of my pictures, successfully launched OLE MASON JAR and I GOT MARRIED! (more to come in detail for all of those). Obviously, things have been a little hectic, but I can't help but make sure to stop and count my blessings, as God has truly been good to my family and I in 2013. Stepping back, and not getting ahead of myself (remember I have 6 months to make up for here), todays blog focuses on me buying a house, specifically, less about me buying a house, but more on me moving away from uptown Charlotte. Those that know me know this was a tough thing for me...and a major milestone in my life (If you picturing me being drug away kicking and screaming, you are almost spot on :) ). I had lived and worked in North Carolina's largest city for over 4 years this past January when my lease finally came due, and that was the end, as it was time to grow up and enter the next chapter in my life. A couple months later, I bought a house in the quaint little town of Belmont, and my days of being able to step outside my front door and snap pictures of the QC are finally over. (as a side note, I would not change where I live now to move back to uptown Charlotte). As a final farewell/tribute to my time in Charlotte, I thought I would feature a few of my favorite pictures and give some "behind the scenes" insight for each of them as well.(The above picture was taken on the CATS Lite Rail tracks at the Carson St. Station. In the background you can see "the pink building" as well as Camden South End apartments. This picture was one of the first pictures I took while living in Charlotte around 2009, and was while I lived right across the street at Camden Grandview. Yes I was standing in the middle of the tracks, but don't worry no trains were coming!) (This is the only picture I have gotten of the Epicenter in uptown Charlotte that is any good. In fact this picture was purchased and hangs in Cheddar's restaurant in Gastonia...Go check it out! The hard part about getting this picture was actually the place it was taken, as it was taken on the adjacent lite rail platform that is next to the Time Warner Cable arena. Because I had to leave the shutter open for several seconds to get the exposure I wanted, and because the lite rail platform is always crazy busy, I was constantly having people walk in front of me ruining the shot. But, at last I obviously got the shot I wanted...just don't ask me to do it again :) )(A. I love the panthers. B. I love photography = this is probably my second favorite picture I have ever taken in Charlotte. This was taken on the Church St. overpass, and once again I have the shutter open for multiple seconds in order to get the headlight streaking. Now, just waiting on the panthers to call...I will gladly let you hang this somewhere in the stadium!)(This is my all time favorite picture that I have ever taken. 1 - This was the first picture I took when I moved to Charlotte. 2 - This was likely one of the first pictures taken of the new Duke Energy building in the Charlotte skyline, as they had just completed this when I took it. 3- This is truly one of a kind, as was taken from my balcony at Camden Grandview, and since there are only about 6 units in the building with this angle and view the only way to get this shot would be to live in one of those or go knock on their door and hijack their balcony. While I have always been interested in photography, this is the shot that reinvigorated my interest in the art, and set in motion my creative drive to continue getting better not only at photography but various other creative outlets as well. This is also the picture most frequently purchased by others on the site...looks great blown up on a canvas by the way!) Well folks there you have it. I do miss Charlotte, but I am so happy to be where I am right now in Belmont...look out for some downtown Belmont pics!!! Thanks all for reading...some great blogs to come soon that provide updates on other recent events and occurrences (wedding and honeymoon trip to Anguilla)! Best,Bradley Rhyne
