So as you may have noticed, this image doesn't have my obnoxious watermark on it. Reason, you ask? This is the first image in a long time that I've taken off-assignment. It's been weird to not shoot things that I love (I mean not that it wasn't exciting to shoot God, er I mean Oprah) and I don't quite know what's been amiss lately. As some of you may also have noticed, this blog has been boorrrrrrrrinng or rather, as Jen Bilec described it with a subtle downward motion of her hand, "downhill."

Well Jen, I couldn't agree more. So now that I'm sure I lost half of my readership, we're going to get this little cupcake back on the plate.

Believe it or not, I've never shot the tree in Rockefeller Center, so I figured, by accident really (a big thank you Bruce Springsteen, his wife and his daughter), that this image would be a festive way to renew. Even in the crappiest of moments, you can't help but be joyous to be where you are when you look at that tree. Not that it's any sort of beacon of hope or something of similar dramatic nature, but it's just a twinkling reminder that things aren't so bad. Not that it's the tree alone, but that it is an icon of a season in New York City.

A symbol of the grandeur, friends, stories, competition and history, reminding you that there is no other place on Earth that could deliver such an energy - if you choose to feel it.

And dudes, I am totally feelin' that vibe.