For years I’ve been a businessman traveling the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. I’ve always felt blessed that I work in an area where others spend their vacations. The natural beauty of the area is captivating. Through my windshield, I’ve seen how the bay changes colors from green to blue to grey depending on the time of day and type of weather. I’ve seen the sunlight dancing on top of the water in the afternoon and setting spectacularly over San Francisco or Marin. The wine country, just a few miles north of San Francisco has a completely different type of beauty. In spring the hills and vineyards are green with bright yellow mustard and in the fall the vineyards are ready for harvest and turn incredible shades of red and yellow.
In the midst of my travels, I would occasionally take a break to return phone calls and grab a bite to eat. Many times these breaks would be in places with incredible views. A few years ago, I thought others would enjoy seeing what I was seeing so I started taking a few photographs and posting them to a section on my Facebook page called Between Appointments. To my surprise, my Facebook friends really enjoyed the pictures and over time many of my friends began to encourage me to do more with them.
Personally, 2011 was a stressful and difficult year with many unexpected challenges. As a result, the concept of Between Appointments gradually began to take on a deeper meaning. I began to realize that in pursuing my plans and goals for the future I was missing too much in the present. The idea of recognizing, appreciating and enjoying the simple things that God had given me became much more important. Instead of just being an album on Facebook with nice photos Between Appointments became a state of mind.
As 2011 progressed, the idea of creating a Between Appointments website really appealed to me. The website would provide an opportunity to share the photographs with a larger audience and it would hopefully encourage others to smile a little more often. In September, I met with a close friend and incredibly talented portrait photographer, Treacy Mize, and asked for her assistance in developing the site. She gave me the tools and resources necessary to develop the site and in November 2011, between-appointments.com was launched.
I hope and pray that this site blesses you in some way, that you enjoy the photographs, you smile a little, think a little and slow down a bit as you discover life Between Appointments.
Bryan Maxwell
by Bryan_Maxwell