Home For The Holidays ▌Fort Huachuca Photographer, Arizona

On December 6th of this year, the Fort Huachuca Spouses Club, to which I belong, hosted their annual Holiday Tour Of Homes. The tour takes place each year on Grierson Avenue and Henry Circle, one of the oldest areas of Fort Huachuca. The historic homes are all reaching 100 years old, some are well over 100 years actually, and serve as the residences for several of the posts field grade officers. Rumor has it, those who participate begin decorating their main floors shortly after Labor Day, some trees boast over 500 ornaments alone! After hearing of all the hard work and artistry that goes into decorating for such an event, I volunteered my time and energy to photographing each of the homes in detail, for both the participants as well as the post museum to keep in their archive as a record of Christmas, 2009. What an undertaking! I initially thought that this effort would take about 15-20 minutes per house and a little extra time for editing. After an hour and 15 minutes in the first home on the Saturday before the event, it became obvious that I could easily spend a day photographing each residence! There were so many clever details and gorgeous trimmings, I didn't know where to start. Let's add in the fact that many of these homes have cavernous 11 foot ceilings and interior rooms that see little natural light, requiring the use of a tripod and a 25 second time delayed exposure. By the end of the weekend, between a promotion ceremony, my son's second birthday, and the Tour of Homes, I had taken over 1700 pictures... I am slowly working my way through the Tour images to create a keepsake album for the participants, but for now, here are just a handful of my favorites. I confess, I came home on Sunday afternoon after shooting for 4 hours straight and I felt compelled, perhaps guilted even, to decorate both my fireplace mantels and my banister. These extremely talented homeowners taught me that I have a lot to learn about making a "Home For the Holidays".