Sunday

Like many weekends, it starts with a sort of plan.  This weekend was no different.  We had planned to meet some friends in the local stadium parking lot to do some proper football game tailgating.  We knew we wouldn't be able to stay long as we were attempting to go between Eli's naps.  Knowing this, Leah (my smooch-e-kins) made these Super Radical Sandwiches pictured below.

Super Radical Sandwich!

 Can't go to a tailgate empty handed so I made cookies.  Not just any cookies, but rather chocolate chip and Reese's Pieces cookies with names of All-Stars written on them.  It is of course an All Star game right?

[Pay no attention to the spelling errores.]

All Star Cookies

 Once we all loaded up, we headed out.  Since this was the only pro-football game to be had in this state every season, traffic was horrible.  But, thanks to timing, Eli slept the entire way.  The entire 1.5 hours.  On a regular day it would have taken over 19 minutes to get to the stadium. Once we arrived, we quickly made our way to our seats. This proved to be a chore as no one in this party knew where they were going.  At. All.

The Tickets

Our View from our free seats.

This entire weekend started as a party with friends, but it ended with just us.  Just us, alone in a stadium, thanks to our friends.  

[Shout out to Ouida for making this day awesome for us!]

Camera Stuff: All images were taken with the Canon 5d Mark II.  The last shot was with a 15mm fisheye, the others were taken with the 100mm 2.8L.  

The Hope

And so begins the Package Project.

I'm shipping one pelican case filled with a HD video camera, a picture camera and a hard drive off to my friends.  

The hope is that it makes it through all my friends and back to me with actual footage of their families.  A sort of "hey, how ya' doing?" chain letter of the new world.  

I've also included a logbook for written notes of it's arrival, grid coordinate and whatever other wisdom might be so inclined to input.  The Magic cards are for my nerd friends.  All of them.  They are for using, not for selling on ebay.

I will be tracking the package regularly as I keep in touch with everyone.  It's first journey will begin next week after I capture some videos and pictures of my family.  Standby for some awesomeness.

Continuing the Evolution

Continued the Evolution today.  The pain in my legs grows as I try to recover from the family walk on top of the Cross Fit workout.  Along the way, I stopped to find some details in our everyday community.  

Gears

In finding those details, I've began to experiment with black & white. A step into the dark...?  Definitely not a step away from the light...  So it must be a darklight.  Yup, this pictures displays true darklight. 

Dese Two Berds

If you don't believe me, Dese Two Berds will.

One for All...

True Gentlemen

In these last few days, many changes have happened.  These are not New Years Resolutions, but rather, evolutions into a greater something.  That something is bigger than myself.  That something is defined as those who drive and inspire me.  They are the 'All' this 'One' is 'For'.  

First, my family.  My 5 month old son barely released a whimper when he got 2 shots today.  A big man for 17 pounds.  I challenge anyone to his same feat.  My wife, for having the ability to make a Paula Deen desert better.  Seriously, she did this while doing everything else she does that makes my life so great.

Also first are my friends.  For helping me out with these crazy ideas that I have.  "Let's do an online blog where we post our workouts to keep each other motivated!"  Thanks to another blog, which has inspired me to get a workout blog setup.  It's also caused a brainstorm of sorts where the damage is yet to be realized.  More on this to come.  

This 'One' thanks you 'All'.  

Cheers!

Not a Stairway to Heaven

Those who know me best, know when I am telling the truth.  They also know that I am a terrible liar.  And this is not the Stairway to Heaven.  Nor are these the droids you are looking for. Rather it's a stairway to an old abandoned radio tower at the top of a very steep and overgrown mountainside.

In this first image, taken by my best friend, you see me resting behind a bush to gain shelter from the fine mist that is falling.  It's soaking us through and through.  With all of our camera gear in our back packs, we're attempting to stay as dry as possible.  It didn't last long...

Moving Up

The incline surpassed 45 degrees for a majority of the hike.  As you can see in this picture, a majority of the hike were we either entering or leaving the clouds.  It was nearly silent and motionless in this part of the hike.  

Moving Down

 This might be the best depiction of the steep terrain we encounter.  Also note the width of the ladder.  If you wanted to pass someone, you had to "step outside".

The Intensity of the Angle

 Thought I would include a high contrast version of the pulley system used at the top of the hill to bring up supplies to the radio tower.  As you can tell, from it being in black and white, it hasn't been used in a while.

Pulley System at Top

 On the way down, it started clearing up again.  If you follow the scene from the bottom left of the image, you'll see how steep the stairs get.  And how rapidly they drop off.

Finally Clearing Up

Camera Stuff: Canon G10 and a waterproof Casio.  Both were backup cameras as the primaries were safely tucked away to be protected from the constant mist.

the Mokes at Dawn

Never Stop Believing

These Islands, which I've blogged before, are known locally as the Mokes.  A friend invited me to trek out there with a kayak before dawn to catch this image.  We were in the water at 0630 and it was the perfect temperature.  The water was cool, the air was warm, and we were the only two people on one of the best beaches in the world.  

Cheers to adventure, its addictive nature and those who seek it out.

Camera Stuff: Canon G10 with some boost from Photoshop CS5.

Fun Family

This holiday season, I introduce Emily (youngest), Luke (oldest), Allison (smartest) and John.  It was during a break from class that John had asked if I would take some shots of his family. Of course I jumped at the chance to take some pictures! 

Luke and Emily

If you were to ask me what was my favorite part of this shoot, I would say "everything".  Let me explain why. Growing up, I had three siblings, all within one year of each other.  Doing anything as a family was a chore.  We couldn't arrive anywhere on time, clean and without someone fighting with someone else.  Even my closest friends were used to my siblings and their antics.  Regardless of the event, it was chaos if we were involved.  

Allison (the taller cutie) gets credit for setting this one up.

Fast forward to this photo shoot. Emily was a fireball.  Luke was looking for direction.  Allison knew her time with the light and attention spans were limited.  John was ready to finished already.  When someone was getting their picture taken, someone else was giving direction behind me. "Hold still", "Come back here", "Get down off there", "hurry up, we're losing light"!  All of these different aspects and I couldn't stop thinking about my family growing up.  Thanks John and Allison for allowing me to photograph your wonderful family.  It was truly fun and exciting the whole way through.    

 A brief moment alone

The Crew

Emily dominates this image!

Thanks again to John and Allison and their wonderful family! It really was a great time and can't wait until we can do this again!

Camera Stuff: Canon 5D Mark II, 100mm 2.8L Macro, 50mm 1.8, and 17-40 4.0L were used for this photoshoot.