Merry Christmas
We wish you the best for you and your family this holiday season. Merry Christmas. We have a connection with Santa. He came all the way to North Carolina for his official portrait.

Merry Christmas

THE VAN
I was glad to get my card back from a long stay in the shop because of a recall from GMC. After driving this van around for a week I started thinking about going to a few soccer games or maybe doing some car pooling just like back back in the old days. If you are in the market to buy a new car you should always think about the serves after the sale. You can't ask for a better dealer than Strickland Auto Group in Ahoskie, NC. I noticed a problem with my car on a Thursday and Charles Strickland had it picked up the next day and I was driving another care. In this business market this means so much.

Senior Video Special

Check out the new video we can create from your session session and take advantage of this cool offer to all senior that have placed a package order. Use the video to post to your favorite online account page.

Aspen Colorado

This weekend has been an adventure visiting brother Tom in Aspen for his 60th birthday. The last leg of my flight from Denver to Aspen was a little different. When we left Denver I thought we were not gaining altitude so shortly after we took off this loud noise was coming from the right side of the plane. The wheels would stay in the down position and we lost hydraulics. The pilot came on and said we have to turn around to Denver because of a warning light. We flew by the tower so they could see if the gear was ok. After landing they had to come pull us to the gate since the plane's wheels could not turn and after an hour we switch planes. By the time we finished boarding the second plane most of us in the back seats knew each other very well. It was an exciting ride. The airlines did an awesome job taking care of all of us during what could have been a bad deal.
I had a chance to take a heart pumping walk pasted the closed road at the beginning of Independence Pass on the outside of Aspen. At almost 10,000 ft this sea level guy's heart was pumping strong. Be back on sea level Monday.

Back Home

We were glad to be back form a wonderful visit with Hilliary & Francois in Charleston over Thanksgiving. The road is always an adventure coming home after that weekend. When the kids were small we made many trips to and from New Jersey over this holiday and I don't miss that 10 to 11 hour ride with traffic. On a normal day it's not a bad ride but not the best time to go during Thanksgiving.
The dogs were glad we made it back so they could get back to the sofa. We enjoyed seeing our "grand dog Cooper" showing off his new Christmas outfit.

The Ferry
Our Sunday was full as we started with some early morning Sunday school and then ducking our of church. We had to travel to Bayboro for a family portrait at 2:30.
After the session we took our first ride on the Minnesott Ferry to Havelock. It was a nice way to break up the drive since we were leaving there to Emerald Isle and then returning home to Tarboro in the same night.It was a long day.

The Retouched Photo

One of my life long favorite shows as a kid was the Little Rascals. Back then who knew that my favorite ever was the one when Spanky would not have his "picture took". I live those days every now and then today. I love this clip when the photographer talks about retouching a photo.

Fall Colors
On my way downtown this afternoon the late day sun was casting a beautiful light on WIlson street in Tarboro. I was coming from a location session and I'am glad I had my camera in the car. Tarboro is peaking out and on fire with fall colors right now.

Take The Wheel

It was a awesome surprise to know my friend Steve Brittain was the pilot on our flight to San Francisco a couple of weekends ago. We had a an early flight from Raleigh to Charlotte and had just enough time to get to the other side of the airport to board our flight to San Francisco.I asked Steve if I could take the "yoke" for awhile ( fly talk) since I had a few hours on Flight Simulator what the heck. I really wasn't in the air when this shot was taken but It was exciting sitting in the drivers seat for a moment after we landed. Thanks Captain Steve!

A Bill Goode music video from our trip to San Francisco last weekend.

This guy was doing his thing as we came off the boat in Sausalito. One of the many creative homeless guys you will see in the Bay area

Great Place to Eat
Here is one of those places you see in the God Father movie. We were in San Francisco last weekend for Ian's birthday and after a long shopping day downtown we ventured over to this little street in the corner of town. It had four different restaurants in such a small area. Total atmosphere with the seating outside and great food.I will get Lori to send me the address so I can post a link. It is a must see if you ever go San Fran.

Trick or Treat
Friday before I sent out our November newsletter I wanted to include a little Halloween touch. We now have a portrait contest in progress to guess my favorite candy. The hint is the candy is soft and the original design was made into a bird. The website for the hint is this candy link. We are giving away a portrait session and 16x20 portrait. All you have to do is visit our website at BillGoode.com and write in the name of the candy company to have a chance.
I had a hard time climbing into that jar.

THE MEAT
Here is a way to fix a great meal. For many years on Christmas Day our family would share family time with the Kent family in Tarboro. Jesse Kent would fix a standing roast covered in rocky salt and just a little Lea & Perrins for taste. This is the best ever!
A couple of days ago Amy purchased a eye round roast.When we were coming home today from Greenville she said it had to be fixed tonight or it would go bad. Let's rock salt it. It was awesome. The eye round is not as tender as a standing rib roast but it still had the flavor. Jessie's secret cooking tie is 12min a lb. A 4lb pound roast would cook about 45min at 500 degrees. When it's done you have to take it outside and crack it with a hammer to "release the meat". That doesn't sound good. I am looking forward to this weeks lunch. Try it.

The Fair

We made it. Another hard working day at the NC State Fair. We got together with our friends Dean & Tracy Nance from Greenville SC around 3:pm. We were only there for three hours but it felt like a whole day.My good friend and awesome photographer from Raleigh Cindy Smith gave us her cow pass. With this pass we can drive in and park in the animal area for free. Like having a back stage pass.
I remember I said a long time ago never go on a Saturday. Now I know why. It was tight. I was able to still do a Cattleman's Rib Eye Sandwich, A London Broil Sandwich, A Funnel Cake, Share some Chips and two corn on the cobbs from Wild Bill's. The best corn on the planet. I even stood in line for a pizza but gave up. It was a full evening in many ways. To top it off Amy wanted a drink on the way home so I did a hamburger for the road. I am done! I should keep a set of paddles for my chest in the car.CLEAR! We had fun and it's a once a year stuff fest.

Tarboro Website

I want to give you a chance to check out the new Tarboro NC website. I did a bunch of images for the site and it was producted by

Latham Jenkins // President
Circumerro Media
t. 307-733-8319 | c. 307-690-1642
http://www.circumerro.com

It should put us on the world wide map.

Newsletter

We just sent out our fall newsletter and I have posted a sample. You may not be able to read it but if you did not receive it let us send you one. In it we have information about our Christmas Special starting Sunday November 16th and our outdoor portraits, in home sessions and a few examples on our designer Christmas cards. How about $50 toward a location portrait session? Its in there.
You may want to take advantage of the contest we have on the back. Just send in your email address to our website and have a chance to win a $75 gift certificate to On The Square in Tarboro. You can go ahead and jump in.Go to our website and select the contact us page. Enter your information and write " list" on the page. I am going to give it away next week.

Rocky Mount Academy Seniors

Once again we picked the perfect day for working with the senior class of RMA. I always end with the group pose and has some fun getting them close together. Thanks to Rose Hill for offering us a beautiful location for this years seniors.To view some of the other groups visit our website at www.billgoode.com and select portrait proofing. The password is seniorgroups in small case letters.

Beach Wedding

I enjoyed myself Saturday following Brittany around getting in her way as second shooter during a beach wedding for Ian's friends Ryan & Allison. I had a family beach session at 5:30 pm but had enough time to show up and make Britt nervous.

I was was having a good time just shooting a little from the outside but mostly playing with my video camera. I want to make a studio marketing video for Brittany and myself and I thought this was perfect timing since I was on the coast anyway for another reason. It was a beautiful wedding. The day could not have been any better. Brittany loves this kind of beach wedding since her and Nick were married about a year ago on the beach. More and more people are searching interesting locations now to celebrate their wedding and the Crystal Coast is one of the most popular area in NC.

Big Cake

I have enjoyed playing around with my new phone and the photo features it has. Nothing I love better then a new toy. I am now sending images back and forth to the kids whenever I can so last Friday night we had a few friends at the house. Amy went crazy and used our special mixer my sister gave us for the first time. The cake was "big" is all I can say. I had to shoot a pictures and send it to Ian since he loves big cake.



Ian and Lori sent me back a pic of them getting ready to cook a big meal all the way in San Francisco. The digital world does help the miles get a little closer.

Early Morning

The last few times we were on the coast I have been wanting to get up early and do some sunrise images. This morning Howard and The Worm had the early morning call and had me up at 5:30.





These images are from this morning.

Beach Portrait

The real reason for going to the coast this weekend was to capture what may be my last beach session of the season. I would love to do all the beach sessions in the fall because the sun is lower in the sky and the light is just beautiful. This was an awesome session and the light was perfect.

Great Weekend

I was looking forward to this weekend because It was going to be a dry run for the State Fair. Yes I am talking about Funnel Cake. Nothing like it and this weekend at the Crystal Coast Seafood Fest I was going to jump in. Of course rule number one. Never put on a black shirt when you are planing to eat funnel cake so I was ok.

Charleston SC


One of my favorite images form Charleston is of John & Jessica Kent.After the service we stopped by the Battery area before the reception and had some fun creating some beautiful moments.



When Amy and I are on a road trip my favorite thing to do is hit the street early in the morning to capture the views from the area. Here are a few images from Charleston this past weekend.





Charleston for the weekend...




We spend a great weekend with Hilliary and Francois in Charleston and can't wait to return. Amy and I left Friday morning and enjoyed our first evening doing dinner at the house. Saturday we visited the Charleston street market and I had one of my favorite things in the world. Funnel cake! It was really the french type. (Benn-yas) I will let you get the spelling but you know what I mean.
We then captured Hilliary & Francois going through some tennis lessons.Of course those of you that know tennis will understand the difference of a 4,4.5 or 5.0 level player. Francois is in the upper 4's and plays a mean game of tennis.Sunday we did the carriage tour thing and a brunch with some of the best shrimp & grits on the planet.Charleston is a beautiful place with such a history. You need to plan a visit.

The Winner Is
We got the news today that The Evening Telegram newspaper in Rocky Mount has voted us number one in the area for photography studios. It is exciting to have the PR in that area. I am going to run an ad in the awards issue thanking everyone so I came up with this idea. I would jump in the air. Like a jump for joy! I felt kind of stupid holding a remote control trying to take my own picture.
When you advertise all you need is to get the attention anyway you can. I say if people are saying good things or bad things I will take all the word of mouth advertising I can get. Thanks Rocky Mount for giving us the good words.

The colors were beautiful along the roadside this time of the year. The tree are starting to show a hint of color change as the Fall season is just around the corner.






We had a chance to ride around over the weekend and take some pictures of the country side.




This is Amy in Linville Caverns on the bridge over the bottomless pit. We were the only ones on the tour.


Boone Weekend

Amy and I spend Sunday through Tuesday in Boone after a wild wedding weekend doing Cassie Stone's daughters wedding in Wilkesboro NC. We had a great getaway. We have not been in the mountains in a long while. I love this photo of Katie & Nick. I tried to make everyone move around them as they locked into a kiss.

Beach Portraits
The setting sun was beautiful tonight and the light was soft and just perfect as I spent time with Riggs family from Greenville NC. The kids did not waste time getting into the water at the end of the session.

Sometimes things get a little crazy in the middle of a portrait sessions when you work with a 2 year old and 5 year old.Some of the best images happen within the first 10 minutes of the session. After that its down hill.

The Family

Sometimes the best family shots are the ones that happen when your not ready. We were all together as a family last weekend on the coast. We tried to get a family portrait with dogs and all but now I know how hard it is on the other side of the camera. I will have a better image for this years Christmas card.

A long Day

Sherry Price from Greenville was here today and she is in our Baby Growing Plan. Her 6 month old little girl was having a good time and making some very funny motions with her hands. I will have a bunch of new photos coming this week and I look forward to sharing my own family portrait we captured last week when we were all together on the coast.

OK - It can be announced! This Saturday August 23rd is a WORLDWIDE Photowalk! And we're part of it In Rocky Mount, NC Chris Barns has been selected to host the walk in this area and it will be an exciting time to walk and share! Part of his responsibilities however is to promote the devil out of this thing, so sign up today as it is limited to 50 participants. And heck, IT'S FREE!!! go to the Photo Walk Link for more information.

Ian & Lori
We are looking forward spending time with Ian & Lori next weekend as they make a long awaited visit from the west coast.We should have all four kids home for the weekend so It may be the only time I can get them together before Christmas. Guess what? I am looking for a photographer so I can get a real family portrait of my own family. We have not had a family group photo since the weddings so It's time.We will even have Hilliary & Francois's dog Cooper along with Howard & The Worm. The last posed group was me setting the self timer and running into the pose.I hope to share the new pose with everyone right after it is complete.

Family Reunion

This past Sunday afternoon Amy and I traveled to Sunset Beach to photograph the
VanNess Family from Reidsville,NC. This family has been gathering for a yearly reunion for more than 32 years. Grand dad is now 93 years old and made it to beach for this group pose.You may not be able to see it in the photo but the wind must of been
blowing more than 20 mph.The only place to pose 45 people was on the beach access road behind a huge sand dune.
We are still getting requests for beach portraits for the Fall season.
August is family month so keep on the look out for some really cool offers for family portraits. You need to be on our email mailing list to get the information first hand so please contact me today so we can keep in touch.

The Garden

We had a great time in the garden today. The flowers are still look beautiful. I just love following a little one around with a hand full of flowers. You never know know what will happen.Visit our website to view more samples of our work. We had a big time last week doing our beach portraits so I am going to try and post a bunch over the weekend. Amy and I will be attending a wedding on Saturday of a close friend. It will be strange not to be taking the pictures but I am looking forward to not feeling guilty going to the food line. It should be fun watching someone else sweat.