Summer Pics

How long has it been since I posted some personal pics?? I just downloaded these from my, ah, inferior camera, yuck. I might have to start reading the manual...

This was a shot I took before sunrise, leaving Wendy's farm over Labor Day.

Wendy's visit to Denver.

A beautiful trip to Cherry Creek Reservoir, I don't think I've ever been there. Miraculously I did not accidentally throw my camera overboard.

Tub.

Dave and Lori demonstrate that twins can be as tricky as they sound.


Ada is going to be ready for gymnastics in a matter of days, she has no fear.

Cutie.

Cutie.

I'm working on 'em.

One of my minor nightmares of the summer, Ada jumped out of her crib, and brought some crayons with her to Logan's. She's locked up good now with a crib tent.

Sandbox with Grandma and Grandpa C.

The same park - the water chutes were tough to leave!

Special treat at Jamba Juice.

I know I'm a little biased, but come on, she's gorgeous.


At the Little Gym in Boulder for Sam C's birthday. They aren't quite ready for parallel bars, but got some good hula hoop action in, and this bouncy thing was a hit.

Slideshow!

I've created a slideshow of the photography I did for Amy and Robert in Iowa over Labor Day, have a look! (There is sound, if you keep your computer muted...)

I love you Starbucks. I love you Adobe.

I've been spending the last two weeks learning Adobe Lightroom. (Well, that and trying to get Ada to nap and from throwing her shoes out the car window.) My new office is Starbucks, since it's $2.50 for a proper oatmeal breakfast, and the wifi is free.

Not that I'm surfing. I'm studying. Almost entirely.

So my Lightroom book is 440 pages, and it's been a slog, but I'm almost done. I've been working on my Iowa photos, over and over and over as I learn. How to import, organize, retouch, and crop, and convert to black and white, and brighten, and sharpen, and color correct, and toggle back and forth to Photoshop, and make into slideshows and paper prints and post online. (Well, I'm working on that now, stay tuned for more to come.) I'm not awesome at it yet, but I know enough to be dangerous, and I've been having some very big grins over my oatmeal, as I figure out how to do some cool stuff.

Here's an example of paper print layouts that I played with yesterday, I have to say I'm pretty proud of them. Click to enlarge. I'll make a separate post about some of these photos, after two weeks of playing with them, they are near and dear friends.

The Oatmeal

In the process of setting up a new website, I've enlisted a web "guy" who thoughtfully sent me this hilarious comic, on a promising looking website, and I had to share! The "old" webpage really made my day...

Lady Gaga

You know, I have to respect her angle. There are lots of pretty girls in this world, and Lady Gaga isn't trying to join the club, she's trying to be weird. And she's very good at it.

So here's the post I've been getting around to -- if you have a couple minutes to spare for fun, watch this video. It's an interesting video, and a song that really sticks with you. This video has been watched 35 million times on You Tube. At the very least jump to the middle and listen to the lyrics a bit, it makes the next more effective.

Now watch this one. I'm not a big fan of shows and videos with amazingly talented kids, but there is something really haunting and beautiful here, it's remarkable. Three or four million views of this guy, across a few different uploaded versions. It's a brave new world, eh?

And for a PS, the MTV video music awards were last night, and Lady Gaga had some pretty insane outfits, holy crap. Click to enlarge, who thought up those crazy boots? Oh yeah, and she won video of the year.

MOMS Sale

I am way behind on my posts! I've been meaning to publish these crazy photos I took at the MOMs (mothers of multiples) sale last month. The first one is the sales floor at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, the second pic is the line for cashiers, courtesy of my Droid phone. Click to enlarge.

The sale was an interesting experiment. It probably took me 25 hours to prepare all the stuff I had to sell, so it was a pain and I resolved not to do it again. But it was a wonderful luxury to shop the sale early, without too many people around. I made a few bucks, and only spent $100 on Ada and Logan's winter wardrobes, and a few toys too.

The next sale in the spring should be easier, since I already have leftovers tagged and ready to go, so I guess I'll eat my words and do it again!

Trip to Iowa!

I took a quick trip to northern Iowa this weekend, to celebrate Amy and Robert's new marriage! While I was there, I was able to photograph Wendy and Johnny at their new farm, and some of the countryside too. It was very beautiful -- and very busy! I have lots of pics to go through, but thought I would post a couple quickies.

Click to enlarge.