Sketch Name: Twitter Bird with Coffee

Thoughts While Sketching: Apparently bloggers seemed to have fallen in love with a twitter bird cartoon I illustrated earlier this year. Due to the popularity of this characterized twitter bird, I thought I would sketch up another. This one features a more laid-back twitter bird, perhaps an employee of a media agency or public relations office, enjoying his morning coffee before starting on some early morning tweets.

Bloggers and Web People - Please feel free to use this image in your posts or on your Web pages. The only thing I ask is that you credit me with the illustration and provide a link back to my site (acriddle.com).

Original sketch:

Photo Session Date: November 7, 2009

Photo Session Location: Ocean City, MD

Photo Session Details: I have learned that walking the beach during any time of year can lead to some great photographic opportunities. Quite often it has to do with being in the right place at the right time. As my family arrived at the beach for an evening walk on a cold November afternoon, two fishermen hauled in a very big rockfish (or striped bass). As I walked towards them, they beckoned to me and asked if I would take their photograph. As that was my intention in the first place, I spent sometime photographing their "catch of the day" and gave them my business card asking them to e-mail me so I could give them copies of the photos. Sure enough, this morning they e-mailed me and I sent them high-resolution copies of the photographs. All of us were grateful . . . I for being able to add the photos to my portfolio and they for having someone to capture their adventure on film.

This series is part of an on-going 26-week project entitled the ABCs of Photography in which I take a few photographs each week centered on on specific letter of the alphabet.

B is for Bunny - Giant bunny that is! Meet The Amazing Cosmo, my pet flemish giant rabbit. My wife purchased him for me four years ago as a Christmas present (and boy was I ever surprised). The Amazing Cosmo (yes, you have to say the full name each time because he is so amazing) is a very lovable rabbit. He is very friendly, relaxed and enjoys attention. Favorite snacks? Freshly picked dandelions from my lawn, fed to him frequently by my children during the spring and summer months. He is...The Amazing Cosmo!

Photo Session Date: October 30, 2009

Photo Session Location: Shenandoah Valley Golf Club, Front Royal, VA

Photo Session Details: This assignment led me to the kitchen of a private golf club in the Shenandoah Valley (Virginia). My client requested that I obtain some promotional photographs of a food safety instructor and one of his A+ chef students for use in a promotional brochure (advertising food safety courses). Both the instructor and chef were fantastic to work with, posing for a variety of shots and even heating up some brandy over the stove top for a few fiery flame-up effects!

Photo Session Date: October 31, 2009

Photo Session Location: Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Photo Session Details: I took my family for a half-day trip to the Shenandoah National Park. We entered from the north end (Front Royal, VA) and spent a few hours driving along the winding roads of Skyline Drive. The weather was perfect that morning with crisp blue skies, but as we made our way higher into the mountains, the low-lying clouds created some think fog that led to some holiday-appropriate (Halloween) photographs.

This series is part of an on-going 26-week project entitled the ABCs of Photography in which I take a few photographs each week centered on on specific letter of the alphabet.

A is for Apple - Apples and apple farms abound out in my neck of the Virginia woods. You can drive down the road and stop by many farms selling apples, apple pies, apple cider, apple muffins and so on. So it only took me a 5 minute trip down the road to obtain these photographs. The hardest part of snagging these photographs was keeping my 17-month old daughter from putting all of them in her mouth (as seen below).

Don't worry...we purchased that apple for her morning snack.

Photo Session Date: October 20, 2009

Photo Session Location: Local Community College, Winchester, Virginia

Photo Session Details: This assignment required that I take photographs of a local community college history class in session. The College plans on spotlighting the professor in a number of human interest stories and profile snap shots within the coming months, so I was asked to obtain some photographs to accompany the story. Taking these pictures brought back memories of sitting in the lecture hall during my College days (I took many history classes as electives due to my strong interest in the subject matter...from Greek / Roman warfare to modern day history). The class was very energetic for an early morning class and the professor did an outstanding job of engaging the students too.

Aaron Riddle, LFCC’s print and Web communication manager, won first place in the category of Course Catalogs and Schedules for the design of the spring 2009 Workforce Solutions catalog, “Partners in Your Success.” Riddle also earned first place in the category of 3D Objects for a megaphone designed using the theme of “Then and Now.” The megaphone was produced in-house for use during a special legislative visit.

Read the full new release:

News Release

Sketch Name: Facebook...No, Literally!

Thoughts While Sketching: We all have come to know and be a part of the social networking site Facebook (if you don't know what I am talking about, I am surprised you even came across my Web site). But what is a "facebook"? According to Wiktionary, a facebook is:

A college publication distributed at the start of the academic year by university administrations with the intention of helping students get to know each other better.

That definition is acceptable, but I think my sketch better illustrates what a "facebook" is to me.

There is rampant debate all across the world regarding climate change. Is it a real threat? Should it prompt swift action from governments to enforce laws protecting the environment? Is it only a theory developed by those wishing to restrict the production of certain products? My whole opinion on the topic is quite simple...

We Should Protect Our Environment Regardless

Whether or not climate change is real, we should be doing our best to protect and take care of the environment we live in. The earth is a beautiful place with so many diverse elements that often yield breath-taking moments, which in turn make for some great photographs! Shouldn't we as a society want to take care of the Earth, which takes care and provides for us?

To me the climate change issue is something that should not need to be brought forth to initiate action. Companies, organizations and individuals all over the world should do their best to protect the environment by reducing their waste, recycling and being "green". Who wants to live in a world full of smog, hazy polluted mist and an environment devoid of beautiful pictures?

It's common sense to me...take care of your surroundings because it is the right thing to do.

That said, I will leave you with some photographs from my collection (one contributed by my wonderful wife) that I have had the opportunity to take. These photographs are made possible by the environment we live in.