"Skeletons in the Closet"
We spend our early adulthood making mistakes, the rest of our lives wishing we hadn't...

"Drones"
Tracy's Dad keeps bees and he brought some drones for the boys to see. They do not have stingers, so it is ok to hold them. It was hard to overcome a natural instinct to not touch bees, but Josh was very interested...

"Sleeping Jonah"

"Self Inflicted"
Josh is sad today because he had to get normal shoes, instead of some weird shoes with characters on them from a show on Nickelodian. He got upset enough to shed a few tears, but he'll be ok...

"Before the flowers arrive..."
This is a flower bed in my neighbor's yard, but nothing has bloomed yet.

"Ethan and Tonka Truck"
I had a Tonka Truck just like Ethan's when I was about five. Watching Ethan play with it brings back some great memories. I used to lean on it like Ethan is and run all the way to the park like that in Anderson, Indiana. I filled it up with buckeyes, then ran home, pushing the truck the whole way. My friends and I would then go around the neighborhood and try to sell buckeyes to all the neighbors. Every now and then, someone would buy one for a nickel... not because they needed any buckeyes, but just to be a good sport. I often stop at childrens' lemonade stands for that very reason. I try to be a good sport about things, even though the lemonade is usually horrible!
Today is Tracy's birthday! She gets to be as old as me, at least until June 24th, then I leap ahead again. Happy Birthday, Tracy!

"One of the many heros..."
I made it a point today to talk to my three boys about Patrick Tillman. There are not many people in today's American culture who would give up fame and fortune to pursue an endeavor becuase they feel it is the right thing to do, regardless of the cost and sacrifice that might be required. Patrick did exactly that, as many others have done, although more anonymously. I was hoping for a sunny day, with a colorful and flowing flag to photograph. Instead it is cold, gray, and snowing. Just as well, as these conditions better fit my mood. Regardless of your thoughts on the government's stance, please take some time to pay respect to our troops who have placed honor and service above all other things in their lives. I intend for my children to learn to respect those who serve their country and their community.

"In the Eye of Jonah"

"Starburst Dandelion"

"Bibleman"
This is one of the boys' action figures named Bibleman. Here is a shot of Josh in his Bibleman constume: http://www.pbase.com/image/10309823

"Garden of the Gods - Snowstorm"

"Garden of the Gods, Rock Formations"

Seed Pods

"Solitary Confinement"
This won a POTD on August 31, 2004 at www.digitalphotocontest.com. I'm hoping it will do well in the monthly contest voting, as the Still Life category has some great prizes this month!

"Hiking... Sort of...."
I took Josh and Jonah hiking, but they decided they would rather climb down this steep ravine, rather than stay on the trail. We usually have Ethan with us and don't go off the trail, but we took advantage of the fact that just the three of us were hiking today. The boys wound up with a few cactus thorns and Jonah got a skinned knee, but we had lots of fun!

"Alex the Pirate"
Alex is one of the neighborhood boys. He came over and played pirates with Josh for awhile. I used my 70-200mm f4.0L lens to stay out of the action so they wouldn't notice me. I shot at 200mm trying to get some good candids. I snapped this one just as Alex looked my way... I thought about cloning out the dirt on his face, but decided it works with the whole pirate theme...

"Flowers for Mommy"
Jonah brought these daffodils home to Tracy yesterday. This reminds me of when I was little and picked flowers for my Mom. They always went into a 'kitchen' glass, as opposed to a vase. The little 'seeds' on the deck are wheat berries. Tracy mills her own wheat for making bread, and Ethan ran off with a bag of wheat berries. He likes to eat them like sunflower seeds or something, and he always does a good job of getting them everywhere! On a sidenote, the only drawback here is that Jonah picked the flowers from our neighbor's house. They only had three daffodils bloom so far, and it appears Jonah wiped them out!

"Feels Like a Monday"
This is Ethan not getting his way. My three boys are all wonderful, but they have their trying moments here and there...

"Slow to Bloom"
Out of 20 tulips, this one green bud in the middle is the only one that has not opened yet. These are the same ones as my shot from 4-11-04!

"Fiona"
This is our neighbor's dog... I'm not a big fan of pet snapshots, but this one had a little artistic flair!

"Heading Home for Dinner..."
...and not happy about it! Josh and Jonah would rather stay out and play rather than eat dinner!

"My Jeep"
We bought this Jeep for $1400 when we came back from DC. It's not the prettiest thing around, but it starts everyday and is very reliable!

"H2O Hummers Ad Layout"
OK, not exactly PAD material, but this is what I worked on for the last 3 1/2 hours. I was hired to do a 5x7 magazine ad layout for this client. What do you think???

"Tulips for Tracy"
I bought these tulips for Tracy for Easter. They had numerous colors to choose from, but I bought these so the color would be a surprise... Just waiting for them to open...

"The Real Reason for Easter"
Jelly Beans, Peeps, and the Easter Bunny are all fun, but please give some thought today to the event behind the Easter Celebration!

"Do Over"
This is a re-edit of my shot from 3-24-04. I used a tighter crop, and darkened the left side of the eye to make it more realistic. I think this version works much better...

"Withered"
This is the same flower from April 1st. It has been sitting in my 'studio' drying out for a week because I haven't had time to take any photos... I added grain in Photoshop, as well as a little vignetting.

"Quinn again...'
This is Quinn, the same little girl from my PAD shot on October 24, 2003. I did not know who she was at that time. I took her photo at my friend's coffee shop when they had live music for the first time. Since that time, Paul displayed my photos in his shop and Quinn's Mom saw them and wanted to use me for her wedding photography. We met to discuss it and I recognized Quinn from that candid shot in October! Small world, huh??

"Whimsical"
If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to get some mileage out of the roses I bought for Tracy the other day. I thought they would be in bad shape by now, but they are actually hanging on pretty well. I haven't played in Photoshop for a little while, so I spent a few minutes with this one, just having fun! I'll post the original so you can see the differences...

This is the original, straight out of camera-shot I used to make the 'Whimsical' image...