CRABBY HOUR

We had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours at Crabby Hour last night. It was held at Leo's Bier House in Lancaster, and hosted by none other than Crabby Fat Guy, one of my favorite on-line personalities www.crabbyfatguy.com The purpose of Crabby Hour was not only to celebrate Crabby's birthday but also consisted of a raffle with prizes donated from several local businesses--to benefit the Fairfield County Special Olympics. I am happy to report that $520 was raised for the cause. A good time was had by all those in attendance. There was some great music, great food supplied by Fat Willie's Pizza, and a great turnout. It was good to see some old friends and make a few new ones--which ended much too early on our part--but when grandma calls--the babysitting has ended!

NICOLE and JEFF-Downtown Lancaster Engagement photos

I had such a good time shooting Nicole and Jeff's engagement photos on Sunday! We wandered the streets of downtown Lancaster--and got caught in a brief rain shower. Of course I had left my collection of prop umbrellas in the car--and we were several blocks away by that point. Regardless, it was a wonderful session. Nicole and Jeff interact so well--it made my job a breeze! I look forward to working with you again in June, to capture what I know will be a fabulous wedding day!


To view the complete gallery, please click here.

LUNCH WITH BRYAN

A few weeks ago when I was on-line searching for something--I don't even remember what, I discovered a name that I recognized from the past. Bryan Knicely and I worked together back in my days at Cord Camera--actually quite a few years ago. When he finished his Master's at Ohio State, he accepted a position out of state and I lost touch with him. I came across his name on-line, because he's back in Ohio--Columbus, actually. He is now the President of the Greater Columbus Arts Council www.gcac.org Of course, I had to immediately e-mail him so we could reconnect. We met for lunch on Thursday at Due Amici in downtown Columbus. As great as lunch was(can you say delicious), it was even better to get to see Bryan again and hear about all that he has been up to since we saw each other. It sounds as if the Arts Council has some awesome things in the works and I definitely want to stay abreast of some of the upcoming events(of course the Downtown Arts Festival is a must-go-to!)

Anyway, thanks for lunch Brian and I hope to get together again soon!

MALIKA

Here are a few more from my tag-team senior session. Malika and Sammie came together. It was different from the normal senior session. Instead of having a break between clothes changes for hair and makeup, one was preparing while I shot the other. It was definitely a work out!

SAMMIE

It's time for all of those last minute senior sessions! I've been scheduling a lot of those now that the weather is warming up(at least some days). I'm also scheduling lots of engagement sessions--and rescheduling some--due to all of the rain we've had recently. Here are a few from Sammie's session. I will post from some more recent sessions soon!

WEBSITE IS DOWN

For anyone who is trying to view my website www.thevalerigaleri.com --it is down--and has been since at least yesterday. I'm not sure what the problem is, I have been in contact with my web-host/programmer. They promised to take care of it asap. That was this morning--no response from my second e-mail. If anyone needs to view their own personal gallery--or order from it, you can call or e-mail me and I can get you in the back way--since my Client Galleries are hosted by another company. Hopefully, they will have me up and running no later than tomorrow.

FEELIN LUCKY????

The annual Lucky Ticket Event will be held tomorrow at the Lancaster High School Cafeteria. This event benefits the Lancaster City Schools Preschool Program, which is an outstanding program working with many of the lower income and special needs preschoolers in our community. It also benefits Tallmadge Elementary(which is where the preschool is located).

The event opens for ticket purchase and shopping at 12:00. Tickets are sold until 2:00. It wraps up after the "lucky tickets" have all been drawn(usually by 4:00). Come early and purchase tickets for chances to win lots of great prizes. My favorites every year are the themed gift baskets put together by donations of each classroom(2'nd grade made an Ohio State themed basket this year). The baskets are always really cute--and would make awesome gifts! There will also be lots of other fantastic prizes donated by many local businesses(including a gift certificate for a photo session from ME!!)

There are other activities, games, and food! Come out for a fun time and help out a worthwhile cause! Stop by and say hi to me--I'll be one of the volunteers selling tickets from 12-2. Hope to see you there!