Web site improvements

I hope you like the new design of our website: www.FirstClassImages.com.

Phil has suggested some  improvements, and I have implemented them this evening.

The main change concerns the gallery hierarchy and navigation.  We want to make it as easy as possible for our visitors to find the galleries and photographs they are looking for.  So we have made the following changes:

1. We have dropped the menu item 'Home'.  The choice was redundant because the homepage can easily be reached by simply clicking on the heading, 'First Class Images LLC'.

2. We have reduced the number of menu items on the homepage.  (They were too numerous.)
All galleries can now be reached by choosing the menu item 'Galleries' and selecting the appropriate choice(s).

The gallery hierarchy is:


Events:

• Weddings
• Birthdays
• Community 

Nature:

• Animals
• Plants

Travel:

• Kurdistan-Iraq
• Albania
• UK
• USA

Associate Photographers:

• Aso Nihad Photography
• Tim Scott Photography
• Luis P. Reyes Photography

No doubt there will be other changes to make later, and various galleries and pages still have to be added.  Inevitably a web site is always a 'work in progress'!

Andrew Spreadbury

First Class Images LLC

A pleasant surprise!

Yesterday (Sunday) I was assigned to drive a group from York, PA to Annapolis, MD.

It turned out to be a birthday party (Happy birthday, Wanda) secretly organized by her family, spending the day on a beautiful motor yacht, and having lunch in St. Michaels, Maryland.

I was invited to go along, so this is where I spent most of my day:

The motor-yacht 'On Course'

Laying down some serious wake!

'On Course' at the Crab Claw restaurant in St. Michael's, MD

The Crab Claw Restaurant

Thank you Jim and Wanda for a fun and unforgettable day!

My first blog

I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.  (This is nothing new.)  I have wanted to start a blog for a while, and now seems a better time than before.

Three days ago I transitioned from the old 'Legacy' Smugmug Account to the 'New' Smugmug :-)  The promise is that more can be done by those with less.  (Less computer skill that is.)  Count me in.  It will take me a while to get everything organized and how I would like to see it, but the start has been promising.  (If you didn't arrive on this page via my Smugmug page please check it out here!)

Today was a good day.  My grandsons Luke and Ben came to visit and spent some time with my wife and I while their parents shopped.  They are so much fun!

Luke

Angela with Ben

Around mid-day I enjoyed watching Dr Guli Hamarash on Kurdish TV.  (I have three wonderful children of my own, but I'm honored that Guli calls me 'Dad' and I'm glad to call her my 'daughter'.) She lives in north-east Iraq in the city of Sulaimaniya.  I've been there twice and can't wait to get back to see her and my Kurdish friends again.  (This is not a high quality photo - it was taken from my computer screen with an iPhone:)

Dr Guli Hamarash

This afternoon my wife and I went shopping for a 'Tux'.  (I have to look my best for my son's wedding in 3 week's time!)  I might post a photo of my James Bond impersonation later on!

This evening it was time to work.  The assignment was a wedding video shoot.  I had the easy task of operating the second camera.  Although I've done a lot of photography, I'm a new hand at video.  Phil is an experienced and capable videographer.  On this shoot we actually ran 4 cameras.  A Sony NEX-FS700U, 2 Nikon D800's and a D7000.  

Tomorrow I have to drive a group to Annapolis, MD.  But my bus-driving days are coming to an end!  As from August 18th I will be a full-time photographer :-)