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My great friend Brian Dotson agreed to shoot our wedding, even though he's (up to this point) swore never to do another. Judging by the preview that he uploaded to Flickr, talking him into it was one of the best things we ever did.

Keeping it simple.

My holiday photography goals:

1. Focus on people, not objects. People, family and friends are the very essence of the season, and many times the highlight of the holidays. The emotions around events need to be captured. The tree may be really pretty, but does it make you feel.

2. Chimp less. Simple fix (ha) and directly relates to number 1. The less I'm looking at and adjusting the photos I just took, the more I'm able to see what's happening in front of my lens. Same thing goes for equipment. Nobody cares how many lenses I have or what size my flash is. They just want to know if you captured little Jimmy's huge smile.

3. Be the subject of my own photos. These are my memories, too, and I need to be a part of it - not just the man behind the curtain.

4. Give back. If I take a great photo of someone else, or better yet, someone else's kids, I need to share that memory with them. My shot may be the only capture of that event for them. It might be my photos that they are flipping through in 20 years, reliving the memories. Photos are important, and not just to the photographer.

I wasn't the only photographer (amateur, pro, or otherwise) out this weekend. There was gear everywhere - cameras of every size, shape and brand. It was easy to spot those there for the scenery. They were the ones that exchanged black leather for worn packs and camera straps.

The big picture, at 300,000 people and bikes strong, was slightly overwhelming - where do you start? I remembered some advice I heard on Photofocus and decided early in the day to pick a theme and stick with it. This is always a solid strategy, forcing you to think in a particular mode. In my case: details.

This past weekend we had the chance to run up to Eureka Springs for the day. Always a good time, and always a great chance to take some interesting photos.

Once we arrived we found ourself (literally) smack in the middle of a classic car parade. We took a unprepared seat on the curb and started snapping away. I say unprepared because my D40 was outfitted with a 55-200mm lens. Hardly ideal for quick moving cars that are 6-10 feet away.

After some frustration I changed tactics and began concentrating on the details of the cars: tires, logos and reflections. I also went after a poor-man's panorama, that is, one shot of the front of the car, one shot of the back. Figuring that once I got back I could throw it into Photoshop and see what it spit out.

I made a dumb mistake in cutting off the nose, but here's the result:



Some choppiness, but really not bad at all.