Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from all of us here! We are offically off for the rest of the year to take a break, spend time with family and to look at new products for the new year. I just wanted to take this time to thank all the wonderful people I have had the pleasure of working with this past year since it is because of you why we continue to look for the latest and greatest. 2007 will prove to be the best year yet as we have partnered with a new printing company (some of you have already had the opportunity to see their products)and have already begun looking at some hot new prducts to offer in the weeks to come.

I really would have liked to post a picture of Rocky, our "baby" Rottweiler, but he just won't cooperate :) Maybe when he's a little more settled down...

Though we are off, I will continue to post from wherever I am at the time, so I look to write soon. Be sure to visit my other blog for other posts as well!

I suppose this is a follow up to a recent post where I and a couple of fraternity brotheres went out to create the hottest jacket designs. I picked my jacket up recently and was blown away by what was created. It all started with a concept in my head and it turned out to be one of the hottest designs I had ever seen - and it was mine! No longer was I looking at someone elese's jacket and wanting one of my own because now I have something that I am very happy with and it will be other "bros" wanting this same design that I am wearing.

After looking at it a couple of times, though, I want more!! Maybe there will be another follow up to this post with more elements added to my curent jacket :) How do you like it? I'm sure there are other fraternity/sorority clients out there who have an opinion.

Have you ever come across someone from your past without any notice or expectation? With the popularity of internet, I'm sure many of your have! Well I recently got a phone call from someone just like the person I'm describing. I dated Yasmin about 10 years ago when I was a sophomore in college! Of course she lives hundreds of miles away, but she was able to locate me via the web and I think that is so awsome!

Back then she really meant a lot to me and we met in the strangest of ways(that calls for another post). When we broke up, I hadn't spoken to or seen her since then, so this phone call was a huge surprise to say the least.

As we went down memory lane, it was like being in my 20's all over again. She and I could both remember things as if they had occured just yesterday and it is so weird. From places we had gone to people we knew and events that were really important to me - she rememberd them all! I wouldn't have thought that someone would actually remember ME.

Yasmin had seen a picture of me on my blog and mentioned how I looked the same as she rememberd and it is completely true. I literally have not chaned in over 15 years! ...Not even a pound of difference! You know how someone may say to you that you lok the same, but in reality you have actually gained those "age pounds" or gained a few extra wrinkles on your face? Well not the case here!!

It was good talking to Yasmin and reminiscing on those early years. Hope to talk with her again sometime.

I have been looking at this brand of toothbrush for over a couple of years now and have tried several others. It seems as if every time I see one of those infomercials about the latest, greatest toothbrush, I'm on it. I spent at least the last two years using the Cybersonic system. I started with the original Cybersonic and then upgraded to the Cybersonic 2 when it was introduced. I was happy with its performance until I want out of town and left my trusty toothbrush at home. I stopped by the local drugstore and picked up the Oral B CrossAction and boy, was I surprised! I made the switch back to a manual toothbrush - yikes!!

I was skepital about trying another brand that I really wanted, but the price tag is what held me back. Now Sonicare toothbrushes can be purchased for as little as $30! I said to myself, what the heck, it's only a loss of $30 bucks if it doesn't work like I hoped. As it turned out, that was one of the best $30 I've ever spent!! Check out their site and read about this amazing toothbrush. Now I have become a Sonicare Ambassador and I'm telling everyone how this is a "must have" item this year for Christmas.

I had a day of just hangn out with a couple of friends and the day began with one of the things we all love - dogs. It was the first time I had seen Titus' pit bulls and I really never knew how awsome a pit bull could look! Trust me, these dogs are not your everyday dogs around the neighborhood dogs. They have very unique colors and temperments. Before now, I had never seen a grey colored pit bull or the light tan either. I think I remember Titus referring to them as "fawn" in color. Of course my puppy, Rocky was acquired from my Frat, Greg. His mom, China, is just an awsome sight to see. She is just a massive work of art and obeys hand signals unlike any dog I have ever seen!




I'm not sure if I should still be doing these type of things(It seems as if I'm trying to relive the memories) Anyhow, my friends(clients and frat brothers as well) and I went out in search of the hottest designs we could come up with. When I say designs, I mean, jacket designs.




Let me explain. If any of you are a part of or know someone who belongs to a fraternity or sorority, there comes a time when you absolutely have to have the hottest designed outfits to really show your true colors and your faithfulness to the organization. I, for one, get really excited when I see my fellow Greeks around various places and parts of town.

When we got to this Greek store, I was like a child in a candy store! I wanted everything I could put my hands on - rings, shirts, the jacket I went there for in the first place, paddles, car tags, wallets- EVERYTHING! I almost forgot what it was like to be around so much paraphanalia!

I was assigned one simple task this year and that was to bake the cake for Thanksgiving dinner. As much as I LOVE cakes and pies, I am not good at baking :) Knowing this, I wanted to make a contribution to dinner and this was by far the easiest thing I could prepare (with the exception of hot fresh dinner rolls.)

So here I am early in the morning trying to juggle a cake in one hand, but have great anticipation of Christmas decorations, on the other. To make my life as easy as possible, I asked for good ole Betty Crocker, cake mix. I really thought this would be a safe bet, and a no brainer- just follow simple directions on the back of a box. How wrong could I be? I baked at the specified time and measured the ingredients as accurately as possible. When I opened the oven, everything looked great until I returned to put the frosting on. I began to pop the cake out of the pans and it started to fall apart! There were crumbs and little chunks of cake all over the floor! As frustrated as I was, I continued to put my butter cream frosting over the crippled cake until there was no more frosting left.



I was also nice enough to boil the eggs for the deviled eggs we are having for dinner!

I am usually the first to get a quick giggle from something that I had seen that I thought was pretty stupid. As we go about our daily lives, we are bound to see someone involved in a silly act and this time it was me!
I went in the kitchen with nothing more on my mind than to prepare something to eat. This involved thawing some of my favorite type of meat- beef. At the time, I thought it would be quicker for me to grab a steak knife(that was in a knife caddy beside me) instead of going through the trouble of walking a few extra feet to the microwave. What a HUGE mistake that was, OUCH!!
I tried to seperate this meat with a steak knife for crying out loud(which is what I was short of doing) and stabbed myself in the hand!!! I guess I'm a typical guy in not wanting to see a doctor, so I put pressure on my wound and jumped in bed for the rest of the evening.

I hope everyone is keeping updated with the latest news and updates from us by reading this blog! Keep in mind, there's another blog at http://blog.aminrussellimages.com/ with more information and updates.
Here is the latest Russatage from this weekend's wedding. The album from this wedding will be published soon, so stay posted!

It has been brought to my attention that some of you may not be able to view the slideshow from the last post. If this is the case, you can download free software that will alllow you to do so, HERE. You should be up and running in no time at all! For most of you, the download will be the very first one on the list.

Ever since I realized no more trick-or-treaters were headed my way, I decided to put together a slideshow of a great couple that I had the pleasure to meet and work for.
View this show by Clicking Here. For all past, present, and future clients, remember this type of show is available and can be customized to suit your needs. This is a scaled down version of our "Lover's Story". It's so cool because you can add an infinate number of songs and images to each show. The ability to add text and video is also a BIG Plus!

I get pretty excited about Halloween each year and this one is no different. It seems as though no one else around here enjoys this holiday like I do since we're the only ones with any decorations. On that note, did you see the article where the adoption agencies banned the adoption of black cats? The article was on the Yahoo home page a day or so ago and I found it quite sad that anyone would actually adopt an animal just to mistreat it. If any of you have a black cat, be very careful and make sure your pets stay indoors!

Here's a glimpse of what trick-or-treating looks like around here in my neck of the woods!

I had to leave this post for a minute because I just got my first group of ghouls at the door! I forgot to start my ghostly music, but it's playing now and I can't wait for the next group to show up. The CD is awsome- it has the theme songs from Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elmstreet, Jaws, Halloween, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and many others.

I have been awake for hours on end trying to get this design just right. If you could imagine having two photographers covering your event will double the final image count! I talked about this couple on two seperate occasions and now the album design is finally ready for viewing!
After I had the opportunity to really view all the images from the wedding, I was that much more exicited about being the photographer for such a wonderful couple. As the day unfolded, you could really see through the camera's eyes just how happy this couple really was. They looked as they were just married or something

View they're album Here.

It's a funny thing how coincidence is sometimes. I was just thinking of a more efficient way to offer the vast selection of albums to all of you when I got this email. It was yet another solicitation from an album company to market their albums. I have come up with the best choice for everyone. What I will do is let you choose! Have you ever been given the option of selecting what album vendor you would like? It's all about having choices and options with us.

You can visit each of these companies' websites to look at them more closely. You can click on the following links to view their sites. Art Leather, Asuka Book, Capri Albums, Renaissannce, ZookBinders. I think the best thing to do is create a poll for your responses and let you know what the results are. You can help me to help you by voting right here on this entry. Simply click on the comment link and let us know what you think!

I hope you all have stayed tuned because here is the first sneak peek at that wonderful wedding from this past weekend. As I was finally able to view the images from the reception location, I was really able to see just how grand Gallier Hall really is. I must say that this place is HUGE! It has some historical meaning as well and it was a lot of fun to be able to take advantage of such a beautiful location. Beautiful weather along with the signature New Orleans brass band to compliment the reception, and a great crowd equaled to be an awesome time :)

If you're following the results of this wedding, hold on until the middle of next week when the album is published. Be sure to check back as the link to this album will be posted right here!

This weekend's wedding was a classic! Before I got to the dressing location, though, it took a phone call to Erin's family to realize exactly where I was. If you haven't been to New Orleans East, you may not understand. Most street signs were still down from Hurricane Katrina which made navigating a little hard, but once I got to my destination, we were all set to go!
I met with Erin before the ceremony as we began coverage for the day. She made such a beautiful bride and the ladies in the wedding party were all so energetic! When we made it to the ceremony, I was surprised to see my Godmother whom I haven't seen in years!! As it turned out, she was a speaker at the wedding! I was at complete awe on this day and this is why photographing weddings continues to be one of the most rewarding things I have found.
Stay posted as I will post images from this wedding really soon!

I'm at my pc, as normal, and I'm creating this newly designed blog. I am so excited about the whole blog idea that my thoughts seem to run into each other. It's 12:49am and I have a long day ahead of me in the morning. It will begin at 7am when I get on the road to New Orleans and when I arrive, I have a wonderful couple that I will meet at one of New Orleans' most popular photographic locations - City Park. Once that engagement is complete, it doesn't end there. It's on to a wedding where I'm onsite at 4:30. This wedding is expected to go into the evening until 11pm or so when I will then attempt to make the 3 hour drive back to Jackson.

How does everyone like the new look? When I get caught up with everything, I can't wait to post pics of my new puppy! He's 4 months old at a whopping 41 pounds! This puppy is going to be a monster in a couple of months and I can't wait to introduce you to him.