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The Flowers Where You Grow. 

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BEST OF 2016 | ENGAGEMENTS

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families! I wanted to share some of the top reasons why it is a great idea to do an engagement session with your wedding photographer. Here are just a few!

1) If you haven't already, you get to meet and spend time with me in person and we have the chance get to know each other during the shoot in a casual setting. It is great to work together before the big day since the wedding day is on a timeline and there is always a lot going on!

2) You get used to the poses and way I photograph before the wedding day. The first few minutes always feels awkward, but then by the end of the shoot you feel like a pro-model! And there aren't any surprises on the wedding day with the way I photograph.

3) It is a fun time to get dressed up and love on your fiancé! I always tell our couples to pretend like they are on a date and nuzzle in close, whispering sweet things to one-another and having fun together. We encourage our couples to go out to eat after since you are both dressed up. Also if you have a pup, I love to include them in a few pictures of the session! As you will see below, many of our couples included their fur babies in their engagement session, especially if they won't be a part of the wedding day.

4) You get beautiful pictures of the two of you in clothing that isn't your wedding attire. It is always nice to have professional photos of the two of you to use in your future home or online. They are also great to use for save the dates!

5) You can choose a location that is special to the two of you that is different than your wedding venue. Some couples want to do their engagement session where they got engaged, some want to do it by the water since they are having a barn wedding, etc. It is totally up to you!

6) It is complimentary to the wedding package so it doesn't cost anything extra! I love getting to know our couples during the session and delivering the images to give them a taste of what the wedding photos will be like.

All that said, enjoy some of my favorite images from our 2016 engagement sessions!

In case you missed it, check out our behind the scenes post from our 2016 wedding season!

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Best of 2016 | Weddings

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Behind the Scenes 2016!

Categories

ANNIVERSARY

DESTINATION

ENGAGEMENTS

MARRIAGE SERIES

PERSONAL

STYLED SHOOTS

TRAVEL

WEDDINGS

I am David Delavari and welcome to the blog! I am an East Coast and destination wedding photographer based in Towson, Maryland. My husband Kevin is also my second shooter! We believe in strong marriages and capturing moments of beauty, joy, and love that will last for generations.

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Lets find our WAY.

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i’m so excited for nasa (starfleet) to announce their new program (starfleet) for exploring those new potentially class-m planets (starfleet)

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2/27/2017 {2/100 Days of Productivity}

I’m self-studying Astronomy with a library book from 1984 because my resources suck but I’m determined to make the best of it. Science rules.

-Lea

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Bell Library Book Holdings, Reading, Research, Note Taking, Studying and Synthesizing Session (14)

In his book, Tales of distinction: European ethnography and the Caribbean Peter Hulme discusses the differences that can be made between “different kinds of other peoples” based on religious or culture grounds (191). By noting the difference between cultures and people he suggests that knowing these differences can allow for the reader to see a comparisons and understand the differences between cultures. For example, Hulme looks at the Europeans religious background of Christianity and traces it throughout history. Christianity is as he claims “a territorially bounded faith that gradually consolidated its hold on what we now think of as the continent of Europe” (192). With Hulme understanding of Europeans religion and the nature of its constant expansion under Roman empire, he starts to see the possible reason Christianity was so important in spreading into new world and explain the interaction and some of the narratives of storytellers arguing about how the women are dress or men act. Religion shaped the culture, attitude and ideas of what Europeans saw as what a proper society consists of.

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What no one tells you about periodization for team sports

First periodization models and concepts can be found almost 2000 years ago, in ancient Rome

and Greece [1] however what is currently understood about traditional periodization came from

our Comrades in 1949 [2], when training was divided into general, preparatory and specific

stages. Later it was including competitive calendar and climatic factors. [3]

Periodization has been defined as the methodical planning and structuring of training process

that involve a logical and systematic sequencing of multiple training variables aimed to optimize

specific performance outcomes at predetermined time points. [4] In team sport, like in a lot of

individual sports this traditional model was used. However the current competitive requirements

for the team sports challenge it. Below I will describe the traditional model, and after that I will

propose alternative methods based on recent studies in team sports and testing. This is a

snippet from my eBook about volleyball performance (book that just sits on my computer so far,

if there will be an interest I will probably release it) so this will focus around volleyball, but the

methods are applicable to most modern team sports in terms of intensity and frequency of

practice and competition games.

Traditional periodization has an annual plan that can be divided into Macrocycles:

Preparation or General Phase - Sessions are to prepare/develop physical capabilities (strength, power, endurance, etc.) it lasts longer in younger or amateur athletes. It consists of periods of Anatomical Adaptation, Strength and Power [5]

Competitive Phase - To keep the strength gains, coaches following the traditional periodization model are encouraged to keep the training more volleyball specific and have strength to power ratio in their training 1:4.

Transition Phase - The end of the calendar for this Macrocycle.                                        

However due to the demands of modern competitive volleyball we can observe up to three-peak periodization in the traditional model, so you would have up to 3 macrocycles with all the phases spread out, see picture below for one peak, two-peak and three-peak periodization examples.

Transition phase is for players to rest before next macrocyle or season. Light full body activity

with 30% - 50% 1RM is recommended [6]

It gets more complicated. Each phase or macrocycle is then divided into mesocycles.

Mesosycles are usually composed of 5 microcycles:

Introductory or applied

Standard or ordinary

Shock

Restorative

Competitive or activation (which include the session allocated before competition or test) [7]

Below I will show you examples of an annual periodization model based on traditional model for

college and elite volleyball players. [8]

Annual periodization model for college players

Traditional periodization model for 18 month for players in national leagueSo if we have everything figured out, why did I say in the beginning of this chapter that the

traditional model isn’t optimal for today’s athletes?

Reasons are plenty. The traditional model was based on individual sports. Very often it was

matched to drug taking performance of one or three peaking moments in the athletes’ annual

calendar. These days competitive athletes play many friendly games, attend many different

tournaments, their competitive calendar can go on for about 9 months, so it is impossible to

taper and peak for 20-30 competitive microcycles, or 100 games in a season [9] based on the

traditional model of periodization, therefore it makes very little to no sense to do so.[10, 11, 12,

13]

This model is still viable though for young and amateur players, whose competition phases are

relatively short and can be matched to those done by individual athletes. The other problem with

the traditional model is that even though work seems to be focused on sequencing different

goals, going from general, to specific to power, etc. Trying to hit too many abilities and therefore

can result in conflicting physiological response, due to exercises interacting negatively and

excessive fatigue caused by long periods of multi-targeted training. Then on the elite level, sport

specific progress demands large amounts of training stimuli that cannot be obtained by

concurrent training for many targets in multi-peak environment, where top teams are involved not

only in national championships, but also national, european and world cups.

Then there is the fact that the carryover is not necessarily optimal for volleyball or athletic

performance. Strength phase is a great and important aspect of every periodized training

programme, but often improvement in 1RM squat don’t automatically mean that short sprints on

the court will be faster or that jumping ability will improve. [14, 15, 16, 17, 18]  It makes more

sense to challenge athlete with resistance that will not reduce the force and can develop power in

more specific situation that they encounter on the court or field [19]

Based on the above I think it is impossible to have a specific model for planning a team sport

season. Below I will go through some alternatives that are more suited for multi-peak preparation

and successful performance during the entire annual cycle, which complement the traditional

model is in contradiction.

For elite athletes the training programme needs to be more specific.

Rather than sticking to rigid structures of the periodization model, repeated effort testing that

resembles demands of the match is a much more favourable model, especially in the competition

phase [20] also known as ‘in-season’ training. This will allow to assess if any changes to the

programme need to be done, especially when the season is in full swing, as there is no way of

predicting the outcome of the players, injuries and situations so coaches need to take into

account the challenges as they face them.

For preparation and transition phase, which I will call ‘pre-season’ and ‘off-season’ from this point

respectively, can have similar approach to traditional model. It can be combined with more sport

specific movement for best result. Currently, best alternative in my opinion, to traditional

periodization is Block periodization where workloads focus on a minimum, highly concentrated

training stimulation per block (60-70% of time, e.g. spike and block, usually two to three targets),

total number of proposed blocks is small (3-4) and a single mesocycle block lasts between 2 and

4 weeks, which allows for the desired changes without excessive fatigue accumulation.

Specialized blocks form periodized training.

Types of mesocycle blocks:

Accumulation: developing basic abilities, general aerobic endurance, cardio fitness, strength and coordination, high volume and reduced intensity, 2 - 6weeks;

Transmutation: sport-specific ability, proper technique, tactics, 2-4weeks;

Realization: rest and preparation for competition, drills for modelling competitive performance and sport specific programme for quick active recovery, 1-2 weeks.

The correct sequencing of the mesocycles within the training stage makes it possible to obtain

"optimal superposition of residual training effects", so as to allow competitive performance at a

high level for all motor and technical abilities every 5 weeks if needed to.

This possibility arises because the training residuals of the basic abilities last much longer than

the residuals of more specific abilities, while the residuals of maximal speed and event-specific

readiness are the shortest.

This can be scaled in intensity in pre-season, season and off-season period with minimal losses

of performance, based on regular weekly testing. Below is a table illustrating multi-peak

conditioning within one annual cycle using block

periodization training.

Another way, and this what you will probably end up with, is to observe the athletes and skills you

want to focus on, test them weekly and apply changes accordingly. However, I feel that the block

model will work best for it, as it allows to apply a lot of focus to specific changes in performance

desired without loss of performance. [21]

But most important thing to remember is, to train a person, not a theory.

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Ultimate guide to a successful NEW YEAR resolution

You want to make this coming year YOUR year, every sign in the sky is showing that this ishappening. Absolutely NOTHING will stop you this time!

Except …

Two thirds of Britons are making New Year resolution of getting fitter and losing weight and 80% of those resolutioners succumb to the old habits, mainly within the first month. What happens next is a period of giving up, frustration, and self-ridicule. Then we forget about it, so we can do it all over again next year.

This is how it happens to most of us. Frankly, it’s quite depressing.

How to get out of that rut?

What makes the 20% so successful that they follow through with their resolutions?

In short:

Goals have to be realistic

Motivation doesn’t last

You need to plan for moments of weakness

You need to be vigilant of your behaviour

If > Then > Else

Elaborate:

Goals have to be realistic

Setting up a goal is usually a wishful thinking process; it goes something like ‘I would like to achieve X (be it certain weight or size) by Y time (usually unrealistic time frame)’

Problem here is three-fold

We don’t have realistic expectations

We focus on the goal rather than the process

We don’t have emotional attachment with the goal

Solution

1. Setting realistic time-frames for your expectations

For weight loss, it is realistic to think of losing 0.5% - 1% of your current bodyweight per week. This is 10 TIMES LESS than what contestants on shows like The Biggest Loser lose.

It may seem like a small difference but the mind shift that is required for such small loses is huge. Don’t think big.

Let’s say you weight 200lbs (14 stone or 90kg), you are aiming at losing 1 – 2 lbs per week ( 0.4kg – 1kg).

Even though it may seem like a pathetic result (due to unrealistic expectations set by the aforementioned shows and similar), and no one will notice it initially but, over 12 weeks time it is still a 24 lbs weight loss (almost two stone or 10kg). And this is amazing!

More important, it is realistic and possible to do it and keep it off.

2. We focus on the goal rather than a process

Close your eyes for a minute and think of two people, let’s call them Ben and Jerry (you can guess my dessert after last nights dinner, can you buttercup?:)

Ben wants to lose weight and that is where he leaves it, he looks at some fat-free or low-calorie options in the shop to swap his usual breakfast and lunch choices, decides to make a smoothie for a snack, and throws some typical health buzzword foods, like kale and goji berries and hope for the best.

Jerry wants to lose weight as well, but he wants to control the process, Jerry wrote down a list of things he knows he needs to change (wine in the evening, one to many tablespoons of dessert after the wine, chocolate bar in the afternoon, etc.) and decides that some of these are easy to replace with lower calorie options or forego altogether.

Do you think these guys will achieve similar result? More importantly, which one do you think will stick to their New Year resolution longest?

Focusing on the process and looking at things that are within your grasp are much more powerful strategy to achieve your goals.

You can’t know for certain when you will achieve your goal but, you can start behaving NOW in a way that will help you get there.

You can open your eyes now.

3. We don’t have emotional attachment to our goal.

We often throw our goals in the air based on our previous experiences and friends’ suggestions. We rarely identify ourselves with our goals.

Truth is, meaning comes from internal dialogue and only you can decide what is truly meaningful for you.

Losing two stone? Sure, it will make you look better in that dress but, think of the moment that your knees will hurt less from playing with your children or that your fitness will allow you to tick that Machu Picchu trek off your bucket list like you promised yourself for many years. Now this is way more powerful.

Find the deeper meaning in your goals and immerse yourself in the process.

Motivation doesn’t last

A popular quote says that motivation is like bathing, doesn't last so you have to repeat it.

I disagree. Motivation doesn’t have to be repeated, it comes and goes by itself.

Let’s compare motivation to driving through Italy, one scenario is with a Sat-Nav and knowing the language, and the other without the navigation or linguistic skills.

Starting with the latter.

Let's say you start in Bologna, 54 metres above the sea level, and let's say that sea level here represents your motivation threshold, the higher it is, more motivated you are.

Anyhow, you are happy and ‘ecstatic’, you have a Tagliatelle al ragù which tourists call Spaghetti Bolognese, your motivation is high and you want to achieve your goals.

Then you proceed to drive through Ferrara, elevation 9 metres above the sea level. Food is nice, everything seems ok, but your healthy habits are starting to wave off, you start to procrastinate. Next you drive through narrow and winding roads to a small commune called Jolanda di Savoia, 3 metres below to sea level - you lost your motivation and your map has pasta sauce all over it so you don't know how to get back to your high state of motivation; in this example - the town of Bologne.

So you start with high motivation, then it goes down a bit and then you lose it, feeling guilty and waiting. For what exactly?

For another wave of motivation, in the above story it would be someone who speaks English and is nice enough to direct you back.

Now imagine a different scenario, you’ve put all the routes into your navigation system, you’ve planned your stops and now just cruising and enjoying the view. Yes, you will still drive to Jolanda di Savoia and your motivation will go down but, you know that you have planned everything and you simply scale back, for example instead of going to posh restaurant you stay in the hotel room and have a simple meal. You get back in your car and drive to Bologne.

Lessons from this confusing story?

- Motivation doesn’t last

- Plan your goals when you’re really motivated

- Plan your fallbacks

- Keep in mind the big picture, good and bad times will pass

- Enjoy the process

You need to plan for moments of weakens

Important thing to remember is that You now setting your goals is the same You that gave up in the past.

This is a concept called Hyperbolic Discounting, you choose a smaller reward that is available now than bigger reward later.

If now you, say want to lose 14lbs (a stone) in 12 weeks, and all you need to do is to stop drinking half a bottle of wine on a weekday after work, and those three bottles that you have over the weekend. This seems realistic now.

But, comes second Friday in January and you already feel tempted. What happens next is you choose a smaller reward (wine) over the bigger reward later (weigh loss goal).

In order to avoid it you can do two things.

Be vigilant of your behaviour. Paying attention to your response is one of the most helpful techniques, one that works with weak and strong habits.

It is easy in theory but very hard to perform, especially on strong habits as we often do them on autopilot.

Monitor your behaviour and then you can do the following.

If > Then > Else

If (I want to open a bottle of wine) > Then (replace a healthier habit that gives you similar reward to evening glass, maybe favourite tea, walk, calling a friend, etc.) > Else (secondary option from the above list)

So the person that sets a goal is the same person that failed in the past BUT, and this is a big but, this time the person fool-proofs their future self from making a mistake that resulted in breaking the resolution a year before.

Summary:

Set a realistic goal

Focus on the things you can do to achieve your goal, focus on the process.

Don’t rely on motivation, rely on the process. Use motivation to plan your goal and the process of achieving it.

Attach a meaning to your goal.

Motivation doesn’t last but, it comes and goes by itself.

Be honest with yourself, if you failed in the past, you’re likely to fail again. Set up a plan for moments of weakness

If you fail initially, the best time to start again is as soon as possible.

IF > THEN > ELSE