Heroes

Believe me, I know how hard it must be to run a 5K, a half marathon or a marathon, but Sunday as I photographed at Independent Presbyterian Church's water station, these two guys won my respect.

My Funny Valentine

Yesterday I photographed the adorable kiddos from the Bell Center for Early Intervention before and during their race, as part of the Mercedes Marathon weekend. I walked into the Boutwell Auditorium, Command Central for the marathon, and met this adorable little guy. He blew me a kiss. Best Valentine I've ever had. xoxoxo

Get Ready.....Get Set....

RUN!

 WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS

THEN GET YOUR MEDAL!!!

Tomorrow is the best day of the year. It's the Mercedes Marathon weekend and the precious kiddos from the fabulous Bell Center for Early Intervention will have their very own run in the morning at Linn Park. Later runners and relay teams will run to raise money for this wonderful place. Seeing these courageous and happy kids and their parents, along with the staff, fills my heart more that you can imagine.

Details of a Renovation II

Today we are back on the mezzanine of the Pizitz Department Store building. The grooves in the flooring are where the rotten wood sub flooring as been ripped up. The actually hardwood flooring is safely stacked in the basement and will be laid again, with a good sanding and staining. That made me very happy. Bayer Properties and Brasfield Gorrie Construction are working their magic!

Details of a Renovation I

Many of you are well aware of my love affair with Birmingham's historic Lyric Theatre. I photographed her for the first time in 2009 and right up until her grand re-opening last month. Well now there's a "new girl" in town and she's been patiently waiting on the corner of 19th Street North and 2nd Avenue for someone to bring her back to life. The Pizitz Department Store was built in 1899 by founder Louis Pizitz and was their flagship store until it closed in 1988. Since then it's stood empty and deteriorating. ( See my photo from 2009 below.) Thanks to Bayer Properties and Brasfield Gorrie Construction, she is on the mend and will be open for business in October of this year.

New plans are for upper floors with apartments with all the amenities, including a roof top pool. On the mezzanine level offices and the ground floor promises to make Birmingham's foodies drool over the Food Hall.

Many thanks to a very patient Tom Walker, Bayer Properties Project Manager,  for the great tour last week. I was proud to don Bradfield and Gorrie's hard hat, safety glasses, lovely neon green mesh vest and glamorous construction boots for the occasion. More photos to come!

Meet the Artist

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by portrait artist Marc Chatov at Portraits, Inc. Marc, who lives in Key Largo is of Russian decent and here for the Russian music and art events this week in Birmingham. He spoke about his strong connection with music and his painting. A fascinating afternoon!

Portraits, Inc, will host another event on Thursday evening. It proves to be a wonderful night of Russian music played by members of the Alabama Symphony, Russian cocktails, food and art!

Portraits, Inc.

2801 6th Avenue South

Another Beauty

In January, it was announced that at the Shepherd Sloss Building on Birmingham's southside, will undergo a restoration process to bring it back to its 1930's-1040's glory. This terra cotta building thankfully still has some fine details in tact.

Winter Day on 20th

Winter Sky

I"ll be very happy if those clouds don't have snow to dump on our city. Hoping my readers up the East Coast stay safe and warm this weekend.

Brick By Brick

Many of the common areas at Birmingham's Railroad Park feature wire mesh holding bricks uncovered when the park was built. A beautiful/industrial reuse of Birmingham's history. 

Double the Excitement

Taking in the grand reopening of the historic Lyric Theatre on Thursday evening from their grandmother's opera box. They traveled all the way from Denver to share it with their grandparents and family. A great night for our city!

Cleve Eaton

Welcome to Birmingham Through My Lens. Today is the first post and I hope you will stop by often.This blog was previously Birmingham Alabama Daily Photo but on January 2, after almost 8 years as a City Daily Photo blog I made the decision to stop in order to give myself time to pursue new directions in my photography.

I've been waiting to find just the right image for DAY 1, and last night at the grand reopening of the historic 102 year old Lyric Theatre, the curtain opened to this. Cleve Eaton was just one of the many performers in the talent packed vaudeville show.  Cleve has played with Ramsey Lewis and Count Basie and to quote the program, "He has become a consummate bassist, producer, composer, publisher, arranger and head of his own recording company."

The Sun Has Set...

on another year, but also on Birmingham Alabama Daily Photo. Since its inception in June, 2008, I have, according to Blogger, posted 2,716 photos here! Along the way, I have met so many dear bloggers and readers, more than I can possibly count. The City Daily Photo community is a talented and caring group of photobloggers and thanks to this opportunity, I now have friends around the world, many whom I've met in person over the last 7 years. For all the perks, the daily responsibility of taking and posting a photo has started to drive my photography, and I feel I need a bit more freedom to explore new genres in order to grow as a photographer.

The good news is that this blog will just move to Birmingham Through My Lens ( the address will remain the same)! I won't post every single day, but I hope all of your who have followed BADP continue to come by and have a look at my latest images.

I thank you for your loyalty, comments, encouragement and most of all, your friendship.  Here's to a new and creative 2016 from Birmingham!

V

CDP Theme Day - Photo of the Year

The first day of January, City Daily Photobloggers around the world choose the one photo they consider their "photo of the year". I chose Millie and her dad. This is a special photograph for me as I love Millie and her family very much and for me, this photo is a mixture of joy, trust, and pure luck on my part.

Click HERE to see what my fellow City Daily Photobloggers consider their photo of the year. 

Happy New Year!