East Orlando Photography » Portraits

Arlington National Cemetery – My Grandfather’s Military Funeral

Chris Honour — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 07:21:06 +0000

My grandfather lead an interesting 90 year life. He lived through 17 presidents and 35 years in the Navy (which included flying 26 types of airplanes with almost 4600 flight hours). He worked another 16 years for the city of Jacksonville (through one form or another) and enjoyed almost 25 years in retirement. He was the father of 4 sons and one daughter and had 6 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.

My granddad loved to tell stories. Stories of when he was a boy, when he was in the Navy, his career with Jacksonville but most of all how good his golf game was. I have heard most of his stories so many times that I often tuned them out. Something I feel kinda of guilty about now a days. But golf…. thats something we all enjoyed. I dont think there was a visit in my adult life that we didnt play golf. Heck, even as a kid I used to drive the cart and watch him play. My granddad had a pretty good game in his younger years but as you can imagine old age increased his scored and handicap. Even then, the man hit everything straight as an arrow… just not as far. My cousin Scott and I used to tease him about how boring it must be to hit the ball just about where you want every time. If you played competitively with him, you had to watch the putting because he loved to give himself “the benefit of the doubt”. My dad and I would chuckle about his interpretation of the rules. However, in the end it was golf that was his demise. On June 11, 2007 Walter Whitaker Honour had a major heart attack on the green of his home course in Newland, NC. The unfortunate event made worse by the fact that Newland is in the middle of no where. The closest trauma hospital was by helicopter in Johnson City, TN. Forest fires were fairly bad that particular year so the travel was slow. After surgery and a stent, granddad never returned to golf. In fact, his health never was 100% after that. His health slowly declined to his passing October 31, 2010.

Our family had a “celebration” service back in November to remember his life. My dad went over his life’s “timeline” and told funny and proud stories of his dad. My Uncles did the same. I listened to bunk mates from the Naval Academy (class of 1944) tell stories I never heard and coworkers from his 2nd career told their fond memories. Scattered around the room were mementos of his life… plaques, medals, certificates, airplane models and lots of photos. It was pretty humbling how many people came. Granddad’s final funeral service would be at Arlington National Cemetery were he would be buried with full military honors, that took place back in April.

My wife, son and I traveled to DC to attend the memorial service. I have to admit that I was taken aback by how much honor, pride and patriotism was displayed that day by both the men and women of the old guard and the tourists that were also there. The ceremony in the chapel was short and sweet. Afterwards, just outside the chapel my granddad’s ashes were placed in the horse drawn caisson. Since his branch of service was Navy, all the service personnel performing his service were Navy. A nice touch. The band began their parade song and march, followed by the escort troops and the horse drawn caisson. My dad, my 2 Uncles, my granddad’s sister in law and I all walked behind the caisson for the 1.5 mile trip to the gravesite. During our march, we encountered tons of tourists that stopped what they were doing and stood still while we passed. Children, teenagers, parents and retirees all stood in awe of what was happening in front of them. The coolest part was when we passed a group of Boy Scouts and they stopped and gave the three finger salute. My dad fell back from the formation, turned and faced the group and saluted back. The act was so simple in nature but was so symbolic that it really took my breath away. At the end of the trek, granddad’s ashes were taken out of the caisson and placed at the ceremonial grave site. The service included the gun salute, bugler playing “Taps”, flag folding and the presenting of the flag to family. It all went so fast, but was so surreal to experience.

As a grandson, I wanted to soak it all in and feel the emotion, but I was concerned about how I would handle it all emotionally. I took my camera but as many of you that read this blog know, I wanted to be a part of the ceremony and not be a “photographer”. However, as the day started I quickly fell into that role anyway. In the end, I was ok with my decision. Anyway, this blog post and working the photos were a major part of me processing the entire event.

Below is the Obituary that the family created so I wanted to share that and the photos at the end of this post. Thank you for reading…

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Captain Walter Whitaker Honour USN (retired)

Captain Walter W Honour made his final takeoff October 31, 2010. Born into the “greatest generation” August 4, 1920 in Orange NJ, son of Stanley and Carla Honour, he attended public schools in Waterford, NY and graduated from East Orange HS in 1937.

Walt studied engineering at Newark College of Engineering and enlisted in the Unites States Marine Corps Reserve, rising to corporal before accepting an appointment to the US Naval Academy in 1940 where he played varsity soccer and basketball. Ensign Honour graduated after three year war curriculum as part of class of 1944 with a BS in Engineering. He married Elaine Gibson in Newark the next day. Together they had five children, Walt Jr, Craig, Eric, Stephen and Melanie.

After a short tour as a navy flight observer, he joined USS Intrepid (CV 11) bound for the pacific war as Assistant Navigator and survived many combat engagements in the Central and Western Pacific. During battle for Truk, the ship suffered a direct hit by an enemy aerial torpedo. Captain Honour was designated a naval aviator on V-J day and rose rapidly through various squadron and station tours in Guam, Atlantic City, Memphis, Patuxent, and Purdue University. After flying C-118’s across the Pacific for two years, he was promoted to Commander and graduated from Army Command and General Staff College in 1959. He joined Patrol Squadron VP-18 flying P2V’s and rose to be Commanding Officer. He was rewarded with a second command as the Commanding officer of VP30 where he flew P5M seaplanes, P2V’s and introduced the P3 to the fleet. He followed with Executive Officer tour on USS Boxer and then the pentagon navy staff.

Captain Honour next commanded the ship USS Pawcatuk before becoming the Commodore Fleet Air Wing 11 at NAS Jacksonville. He headed back to pentagon where he earned dual Master degrees at George Washington University. He retired from a distinguished career after 35 years.

Captain Honour then had a successful second career in Duval County government as Director of Bio-environmental Sciences where he was influential in stopping sewage into the St Johns and reducing pulp mill odors. In retirement he consulted, travelled, built three houses, wrote books and played a lot of golf. He married Bobbie Sue Blanchard Miller in 1998.

He is survived by his second wife Bobbie Sue Honour, sons Craig Honour, Eric Honour, and Stephen Honour, 7 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

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Hope you enjoyed….

Maddie Smedley’s Baby Photo Shoot

Chris Honour — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:06:58 +0000

Here are some photos of my friend’s new baby girl, Madison Danielle Smedley. They needed some photos for their Christmas cards and I was happy to help. Thanks for letting me shoot your baby girl!!

Chris

Welcome to the Family…

Chris Honour — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:42:41 +0000

Santa arrived early this year, with a present for Zachary. If you have been following this blog for awhile now, then you will remember when we lost our 12 year black lab, Abby, to Lupus early this year. Putting the guilt for replacing our girl aside, Zach is ready for another puppy.

So, with out further a do… I introduce, Miss Molly.

“This is my Choo-Choo”

Yes, she even took a bath with him. Though, she didnt last long!!

Her sleeping in the play room after some playing and running…

Sneek Peak at the 2009 Family Christmas Card

Chris Honour — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:19:37 +0000

I took some time this week to think of a photograph that is a bit different than the usual “dress them up and put them in front of the tree”. Lynne liked the concept I came up with, so we set it all up on Sunday. Zach was a little leery of putting lit Christmas lights around him, but we convinced him it would be fun. He was great during the whole 10 minutes of shooting and only during the last couple of minutes did he complain of the “big camera flash” scaring him. To get some good, natural looks from him, Lynne asked him about what he wanted for Christmas and about all the fun things we did over the weekend. The second picture, where he looks a bit mischievous, he is actually getting ready to tell us something with a huge grin on his face!!

Anyway, I think these two work well, and they are now part of the Christmas card this year…

Cheers!!

Chris, Lynne and Zach

UCF Graduation Photos

Chris Honour — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:13:36 +0000

David is my brother in law, so I was honored to shoot his “traditional” graduation photos. We had two different sessions because of rain and other scheduling conflicts, but we got everything he and his parents were looking for. The shots are a bit more “formal” and “traditional” than I prefer, but thats the look everyone wanted…

I “entered” my wife’s family in 2001 when I started dating David’s sister. David was a high school freshman then and really just your average teenager. I am such a big kid at heart and laughed when I realized that we both enjoyed the same music!! Since that day, lots has changed and I really dont considered him my brother in law just my brother. Like is just flying by that he has graduated both high school and college (Rosen College of Hospitality Management). He has started his new job with, none other than the prestigious Waldorf Astoria. I ask nothing of him except a chance to talk to the wedding coordinator there!!

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite shots from the shoots…

Corporate Shoot

Chris Honour — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:55:00 +0000

Shot the CIO and her IT Directors over at Rotech Healthcare for a company newsletter. Here is final image. Just a reminder to those that follow my blog, I shoot more than just weddings!

- Chris

Rhonda, Scott and Aiden… Continued

Chris Honour — Sun, 31 May 2009 03:34:00 +0000

More of our friends from Athens below… I had a blast guys… so I am ready for you guys again.. when ever you want!!!

Some of these have my wife, Lynne and son, Zachary. Funny how they just happened to sneak in…

Vist my portfolio at http://EastOrlandoPhotography.com

Family Portraits – Rhonda and Scott

Chris Honour — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:44:00 +0000

Rhonda and Scott are good friends of my wife and I. They live up in Athens, GA, and are a great couple. I got lots more coming (hopefully by the end of the week) but I just wanted to throw this one up now because I love it!!

Hope everyone had a great Memorial day weekend!

Vist my portfolio at http://EastOrlandoPhotography.com

Baby Portraits

Chris Honour — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:12:00 +0000

Our friend, Melissa, brought her baby over the other day to hang out and exchange Xmas presents. The funny thing was that it was so close to MLK day that we called the MLK presents. Anyway, you cant bring over a beautiful baby like Sanae and me pass up the chance to take some pics. Nothing fancy here, no light set up… in fact no flash at all as I shot these with available window light.

Hope you enjoy!!

Oh and while I am at it… we babysat a puppy not too long ago. The most adorable chocolate lab, just 8 weeks old. So, how does this fit in with the title, Baby Portraits?? Well, it doesnt, but the puppy is still a baby! Does that count? Here are some pics of her…

Here she is hiding from our 2 year old….

Costello Family Portraits

Chris Honour — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:23:00 +0000

Last month, I stepped out of my wedding comfort zone to shoot some family portraits. Ok, maybe thats a bit of a stretch, but shooting portraits one on one with no other distractions (except for a park full of on-lookers) is definately different than shooting weddings. None the less, I love doing it.

Now that I think about it, there is at least one striking similarity; families coming together and having their photos taken as one big group. Most families havent had everyone together for a big photo in either a long time and some never have. I hear that statement a lot at weddings, too!!

The Costello family and I met at Lake Eola park to get photos of their daughter wearing the dress she wore for her 16th birthday. While we were at it, they invited the rest of their family too. So here is a hidden secret for those that have read this post and didnt skip to photos…. the daughters of the family are the official babysitter(s) for our son. All of them have watched him at one time or another!

Here is the extended family…

Here is mom and dad… they told me that when they got married they had shots done under this weeping willow. I decided there wasnt a better place to shoot them!!

And the 4 kids…

A fun family shot…

And the final of the day…

Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday…

My Granddad, His Book

Chris Honour — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:35:00 +0000

I was asked by my granddad to shot some portraits of him for a book he is writing about a skirmish he was involved in during WWII on the Pacific front. My granddad can be fairly conservative so I went after safe, Navy Portraits (you know, the desk, the flag). I really wanted to pull of a dramatic photo like
Peter Yang’s Esquire magazine shot of Admiral William Fallon, but thats ok. After I set up and he came over to the house, I found out that he wanted full length shots and some with a sword. In fact, he wanted to swing the sword as it relates to some story in the book. Hmm…. wasn’t ready for that, but that’s OK, I can adapt!!

Here comes the action shots!!! Just look at his eyes in the next few…. WOW!!

Vist my portfolio at http://EastOrlandoPhotography.com

Infant Photography

Chris Honour — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 18:18:00 +0000

Babies are always so much fun to hold and to take pictures of. I was recently given the opportunity to spend an hour with the twins of Janet and Eric and take some photos. Their babies were premature, but only spent a few weeks in the hospital. They are now safe and at home, but are still hooked up to 24hr monitoring… just in case. The guys are absolutely beautiful and so, so small. It was a pleasure being there and I thank the two of you….

Here are some shots that I really love!!

Oh and their big sister Abby was there. Just look at those blue eyes!!

Vist my portfolio at http://EastOrlandoPhotography.com

Portrait Study: Abby the Labby

Chris Honour — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:57:00 +0000

My wife and I have two children… there is Zach, our almost 1 year old, and Abby, our almost 11 year old black lab.

Abby has been through a lot this year and just recently had surgery. She has been acting strange ever since then and we dont know why. Even the vet is at a loss, although he has some ideas that we are going to try.

My venture into photography involved Abby 99% of the time. When I worked from home for IBM, I would take every opportunity I could to photographer her. She got so tired of the flash, that she would run as soon as she spotted the camera. I learned to work fast and to try different ways to light so she wouldnt be upset or leave the room. It was practical training, in a sense. It got me ready for paying gigs outside of the house, photographing our ever moving son, and where I am today shooting portraits, weddings and events.

After I left IBM, the photographs of Abby diminished and they really became scarce
when Zach was born and my photography business started taking off. So, here we are at Abby being almost 11 years old and I cant stop thinking that she doenst have 11 years of life left. I really want to start shooting her in ways that show my style and her personality (as big as that personality of her’s is!!). Here is the first of those portraits that I hope everyone will enjoy. They were all shot with my 3 light ‘Strobist‘ studio.

May 2009 Update: Abby lost her battle and she now runs and swims everyday with God.

Vist my portfolio at http://EastOrlandoPhotography.com