Christina McCall Photography | Athens Canton Kaufman and Tyler Texas Family, Children, and Senior Portraiture Photography

In honor of the little celebrated but federally recognized holiday today, I thought I’d preempt today’s original post to celebrate the presidents we normally think of on this date … Washington and Lincoln primarily as their birthdays are close (date-wise) to President’s Day itself.

… and in recognizing our past presidents, here’s a few images from one of the many places around our great nation recognizing former presidents I’ve had the fortune of visiting over the years …

The Lincoln Monument — west of Cheyenne, Wyoming on the old Lincoln Highway (modern day I-80). The monument is at the highest point on the transcontinental I-80.

Confession: I’m an Olympics junkie.

Therefore, the next couple of weeks of my life are pretty much pre-empted for very little else (sorry NCIS and The Amazing Race, that’s what my VCR is for!). Okay, I do have to continue showing up at work during the week, sleep during the night, and shooting/editing the sessions on the calendar between now and the end of the closing ceremonies …

… but just know the best way to reach me is via email during this time period. Because if I’m not at work, in the car going to/from home, work, sleeping, showering, or shooting sessions, I’m listening/watching whatever sport is being broadcast on the NBC & Universal Sports networks I pick up at out of DFW. And, well, I become grumpy when someone interrupts my patriotism fanaticism with all things Olympic. Don’t believe me, ask the members of my family and a friend or two how I responded to them during all the pre-Olympic coverage on Universal Sports when they interrupted my attention from world cup skiing and luge (okay, I should clarify, more like my attention on the gorgeous yesteryear Winter Olympics locale of St. Moritz, Switzerland that I was taking a virtual vacation to - the hostels there are probably out of my accomodations budget!). Imagine how much worse it would be if I had cable/satellite and all the various NBC affiliated networks to watch …

And please — if the regular NBC station is airing snowboarding or curling, please know I’ll respond as soon as its over or during a commercial break

I promise not to post too much Olympic-related stuff here. But I won’t promise not to on my personal blog if you’re a fellow Olympics junkie.

Oh, and the significance of the teepee image at the beginning of this post  …

  (a) its an encore image from The Roadtrip taken during our stop in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada last June. How huge is this teepee? Large enough to see easily from the main highway coming in from Lethbridge on the other side of the city.

… and (b) from the Medicine Hat, Alberta website: Originally constructed for the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics, the Saamis Tepee is a tribute to Canada’s native heritage. Built entirely of steel with a concrete foundation, the tepee is ringed with 10 large circular story-boards depicting aspects of native culture and history. Below the Saamis Tepee in scenic Seven Persons coulee, lays one of the Northern Plains archaeological sites – the Saamis Archaeological Site. This self-guided walking tour will show you one of the foremost important archaeological sites of the Northern Plains. The area was once a buffalo camp and meat processing site. Experts believe over 83 million artifacts are buried at the site.

This week’s quote that I wholeheartedly agree with … came from an email forward of all things:

A Birth Certificate shows that we were born

A Death Certificate shows that we died

Pictures show that we lived!

… and on that note, back to editing images from recent client sessions I go! I’ll share snow photos tomorrow … I only have eight gigabytes worth to convert from RAW to jpeg …

Last summer — by a stroke of very good fortune — we stayed at Hotel Terra in Jackson Hole. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t shared the detail shots from the lobby and the room itself yet.

This week I’m sharing some of the details from the entrance and lobby. Truly a gorgeous — and eco friendly! – hotel resort worth every penny. Course, next time I’ll have to pay full price!

As I told them in the note I enclosed with the Christmas card I sent last month — the kindness of the night manager after the rude treatment from the evening desk clerk at the hotel next door we were originally scheduled to stay at guaranteed that any and all future trips to Jackson Hole will result in reservations made at Hotel Terra. Service and attention to detail does go a long way — especially after 14 hours on the road, having someone offer to help you get your bags to your room, a smile in the lobby every time you pass through, not to mention having the door held open for you as well, and the stunning views available from the room as well as throughout Teton Village.

I have a few more to share at a later point this spring …

To book a portraiture session with Christina, contact us via email at christina@christinamccall.com or call 903.477.9069 today.

Ah yes, its freezing cold outdoors — it was a *balmy* 9 degrees this am when I darted out backdoor before daylight to head to work. Thank goodness I didn’t have to scrape the windshield …

What is this weather and what’s it doing here in East Texas, you ask? Blame the Almanac — it said we were in for a colder than normal winter! I know we hate the cold, especially in this neck of the woods that always misses out on the good snowfalls the western half of the state actually gets, but at least we don’t have to endure it for months, like my best friend in Great Falls, Montana does!

That said, here’s some good winter weather imagery — only, I didn’t take these photos during the winter. They were taken on June 15, 2009. Yes, you read that correctly … these were all taken either from the gondala ride to the top of Mt. Rendezvous (at Jackson Hole, Wyoming) or from its summit — just so you know why there’s a bit a motion blur in a few!

Brief intermission for an insightful and heartwarming poem shared with me earlier today:

” WINTER “

by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre

Crap It’s Cold

The End

Oh, and silly me left my gloves back at the hotel that afternoon – so after 30 minutes atop the mountain, my poor exposed fingers were grateful for the return to 60 degree temps!

Now, if we had some of that white stuff here in East Texas right now, the temperatures would be a bit more bearable — and maybe we’d all have gotten a day or two off work in the process!

Sidenote: Yes, that’s a new watermark — you’ll see it on all of my travel, fine art, and landscape images from here on out …

To book a portraiture session with Christina, contact us via email at christina@christinamccall.com or call 903.477.9069 today.

PSA first … CMP is officially closed December 23-26, 2009 for the Christmas holiday. As of 3 pm on the 23rd through 9 am on the 27th, all posts are pre-blogged and winners for the last two days of giveaways will be announced on the 27th. Emails and phone inquiries will also be returned starting the 27th. Thanks for understanding and Merry Christmas!

From Christina & the Elves (Robby, Danna, Frank, and Amanda), we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy 2010.

Images pictured above are from The Roadtrip 2009 — front: Mountain Lupine at Grand Teton National Park, the Red Buses at Glacier National Park, and The Prince of Wales Hotel at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada. Back: Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.