ButterFlites -- Laura Shmania Photography- powered by SmugMug

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Freelance Photography by Laura Shmania-- Chapel Hill, NC

... capturing candid, spontaneous, essential moments

I am available to capture your special moments -- click here for more info and a few photos of me

For a separate on-line gallery of my street photography- click here

Thanks for stopping by! Please check back regularly, as I add new photos every day!

"May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life."
-- Apache blessing

Photos ©2005-2008 Laura Shmania - all rights reserved.
Please do not use my photos without my written permission. EMAIL ME

Featured Galleries

Picture a Day- July-August, 2008 : daily eye catchers

Picture a Day- July-August, 2008

daily eye catchers

Updated: Aug 27, 2008 6:45pm PST

Picture a Day- January-July, 2008 : daily eye catchers

Picture a Day- January-July, 2008

daily eye catchers

Updated: Aug 27, 2008 6:12pm PST

Franklin Street area : Photos of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC;
Orange County website

Franklin Street area

Photos of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC; Orange County website

Updated: Jul 28, 2008 6:50am PST

UNC-CH campus : University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
website: www.unc.edu/

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill website: www.unc.edu/

Updated: Jul 28, 2008 11:04am PST

Gallery Categories

6 galleries with 898 photos

Updated: Aug 27, 2008 8:45pm CDT

Photography Services

5 galleries with 43 photos

Updated: Aug 27, 2008 8:36pm CDT

Southern Part of Heaven

6 galleries with 883 photos

Updated: Aug 27, 2008 8:33pm CDT

Miscellaneousness

1 gallery with 342 photos

Updated: Aug 27, 2008 8:24pm CDT

Birds, Butterflies, Beaches, Bailey

4 galleries with 419 photos

Updated: Aug 27, 2008 8:23pm CDT

Barns, Farms, Cabins, Old Stuff

2 galleries with 167 photos

Updated: Aug 27, 2008 8:20pm CDT

4 galleries with 120 photos

Updated: Aug 27, 2008 8:18pm CDT

1 gallery with 16 photos

Updated: Aug 18, 2008 9:09pm CDT

7 galleries with 91 photos

Updated: Aug 18, 2008 9:07pm CDT

2 galleries with 491 photos

Updated: Jul 28, 2008 9:27pm CDT

13 galleries with 670 photos

Updated: Jul 05, 2008 6:37am CDT

Street Photography

1 gallery with 29 photos

Updated: May 26, 2008 9:17pm CDT

Autumn in the Smokies

1 gallery with 82 photos

Updated: Mar 26, 2008 7:43am CDT

1 gallery with 22 photos

Updated: Jan 19, 2008 9:52pm CDT

Williamsburg, Virginia

3 galleries with 122 photos

Updated: Jan 01, 2008 10:12pm CDT

3 galleries with 180 photos

Updated: Nov 28, 2007 9:05pm CDT

1 gallery with 151 photos

Updated: Nov 28, 2007 9:02pm CDT

Arts and Crafts

2 galleries with 49 photos

Updated: Nov 10, 2007 11:53pm CDT

Doors, Porches, Fences, Gates

1 gallery with 73 photos

Updated: Jul 24, 2007 10:22pm CDT

1 gallery with 54 photos

Updated: Feb 27, 2007 9:57pm CDT

1 gallery with 42 photos

Updated: Oct 23, 2006 8:51pm CDT

1 gallery with 58 photos

Updated: Oct 02, 2006 12:33pm CDT

Hay Bales, Fields

1 gallery with 42 photos

Updated: Sep 27, 2006 10:08pm CDT

1 gallery with 28 photos

Updated: Apr 10, 2006 9:00pm CDT

Most Popular Photos

11-29-06-- Wednesday
heavy fog this morning. afternoon sun warmed us to the 70's

"the art of art,
the glory of expression
and the sunshine of the light of letters,
is simplicity."

-- walt whitman

7-27-08-- sunday
we had an incredible thunderstorm last night just as I was ready to post this- so here 'tis now!

8-17-08-- sunday

"whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise,
think on these things."

-- from philippians 4

8-4-08-- Monday
For Linda

"I arise today
Through a mighty strength:

God's power to guide me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's eyes to watch over me;
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to give me speech,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to shelter me,
God's host to secure me."

Irish - first millenium - Bridgid of Gael

6-29-08-- sunday

"sleep 'til you're hungry,
eat 'til you're sleepy."

-- author unknown

3-16-08-- sunday
blooming blossoms on flowering tree

"do you not see
that you and I
are as the branches of one tree?
with your rejoicing
comes my laughter;
with your sadness
start my tears
love,
could life be otherwise
with you and me?"

-- tsu yeh, 265-316 AD

3-10-08-- monday
star magnolia blossoms

"we only have this moment,
sparkling like a star in our hand...
and melting like a snowflake.
let us use it before it is too late."

-- marie beynon ray

7-1-08-- tuesday

"'tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
and when we find ourselves in the place just right,
it will be in the valley of love and delight.

when true simplicity is gained,
to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed.
to turn, turn will be our delight,
'til by turning, turning we come round right."

-- shaker elder joseph brackett, jr

5-13-08-- tuesday

"four steps to achievement;
plan purposefully,
prepare prayerfully,
proceed positively,
pursue persistently."

-- william a. ward

8-13-08-- wednesday

"what a grand thing, to be loved!
what a grander thing still, to love!"

-- victor hugo

8-14-08-- thursday
blast of sunshine!

“let your light shine.
be a source of strength and courage.
share your wisdom.
radiate love.”

-- wilferd peterson

6-18-08-- wednesday

"who hears music feels his solitude peopled at once."

-- robert browning

8-24-08-- sunday

"and remember, no matter where you go,
there you are."

-- earl mac rauch

7-8-08-- tuesday

"outside the open window
the morning air
is all awash with angels."

-- richard wilbur

8-11-08-- monday

"everytime you smile at someone,
it is an action of love,
a gift to that person,
a beautiful thing."

-- mother teresa

7-28-08-- monday

"when you part from your friend, you grieve not; for that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain."

--kahlil gibran

5-22-08-- thursday

"in the middle of everything is the sun."

-- nicholas copernicus

1-1-07-- Monday
new beginnings

"from the end spring new beginnings."

-- pliny the elder, roman scholar & scientist (23 AD - 79 AD)

5-23-08-- friday

"each flower is a soul opening out to nature."

-- gerard nerval

6-23-07-- Saturday

"color is the language
of the soul of the universe."

-- rudolf steiner

5-31-08-- saturday
the air is thick with the perfume of gardenia and honeysuckle flowers!

"flowers... nourish every sense except the ear."

-- may sarton

8-1-08-- friday

"make the best use of what is in your power,
and take the rest as it happens."

-- epictetus, roman slave
and stoic philosopher (55 AD - 135 AD)

7-26-08-- saturday

"pray as if everything depended upon god
and work as if everything depended upon man."

-- francis cardinal spellman

8-20-08-- wednesday
got a flat tire. pouring rain. played with slow shutter speed with the rain drops on the windowpane while waiting inside the car for triple-a to come change the tire!

"we must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery."

-- h.g. wells

8-19-08-- tuesday

“the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. they must be felt with the heart.”

-- helen keller

4-4-08-- friday

"the last, if not the greatest, of the human freedoms: to choose their own attitude in any given circumstance."

-- bruno bettelheim

3-21-08-- friday
a lovely day to be outside!

"friends are the sunshine of life."

-- john hay

8-2-06-- Wednesday

"every moment of one's existence one is growing into more
or retreating into less."

-- norman mailer

4-20-08-- sunday
dogwood blossom after a spring rain

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."

-- claude monet

6-5-08-- thursday

"may the long time sun shine upon you,
all love surround you,
and the pure light within you
guide your way on."

traditonal blessing

1-28-07-- Sunday

"look under your feet.
the great opportunity is where you are.
every place is under the stars.
every place is the center of the universe."

-- john burroughs

8-16-08-- saturday
hand crafted baskets at the carrboro farmers' market

click here to see more photos of the market

"the soul's creative power strives from the heart's deep ground. kindle your god-like gifts for rightful work in human life. fashion the self in human love and human deeds."

-- rudolf steiner

10-18-07-- Thursday

"one misty moisty morning
when cloudy was the weather..."

-- mother goose rhyme

3-17-08-- monday
blossoms on unc campus

"... steady and strong
as the stars in the sky..."

-- lyrics by malcolm holcombe

6-13-08-- friday

"deep peace I breathe into you..."

-- fiona macleod - 1895

7-21-08-- monday
traffic stopping foray

"success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."

-- henry david thoreau

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