"Pikes Peak at Sunrise"
This was the view from my backyard this morning!
Happy Birthday to my sister Shelli!!

"Our Fake Bird"
This is our bird sculpture that hangs in front of our house, just outside the window. I shot this at sunrise while the yellowish light was reflecting off the window. The sculpture is realistic enough that when we have guests, they think a live bird is outside our window.

"Alligator!"
This is a shot from the archives. I can't remember if this was the Indianapolis, Denver, or National (Washington DC) zoo, but I do remember it was an alligator!

"Cloudscape"
I love beautiful cloud formations. I take lots of photos of clouds, and with a little adjustment in Photoshop, they can be turned into a dramatic shot like this.

"Garden of the Gods"
Happy Birthday Mom!!

"Ethan at the Laptop Again"
I really didn't intend for this month to turn into a gallery of my kids, but it is anyway. I have had very little time and my kids are always close by for a quick shot! I hope to get back to some more diversified and fun photography soon... (although I enjoy taking shots of the boys!)
I shot this in RAW just to play around with the conversion software in Photoshop CS. I am shooting a wedding at the Air Force Academy in two weeks and needed to play with the RAW format for practice... Also, I have been editing photos for the last several days on my laptop. I will probably find that the level adjustments and the color casts are all wrong when I view them on my desktop... Bear with me...

"Lost My First Tooth"
Josh was very excited about losing his first tooth today. He told me tonight he thinks Mommy is going to hire someone to dress up like the Tooth Fairy to steal his tooth and leave five dollars! LOL!! I told him we don't even know anyone with a Tooth Fairy suit... He seemed to give it some more thought and finally bought it...

"Birthday Boy"
Ethan turned two today!! How quickly the time flies!

"Stained Glass"
This is a very small portion of a stained glass window at Fargo's Pizza Company in Colorado Springs.

"Emily"
This is Josh, Jonah, and Ethan's cousin Emily.

"At the Funeral"
We attended Ethan's Great Grandmother's funeral today. This is a shot of Ethan seeming somewhat confused and bewildered. I imagine the events at a funeral are probably perplexing to a two year old. Small children sense and understand emotion, but not the meaning behind it at this age...

"Almost a Smile"
Josh smiles and laughs all of the time, but never if he sees a camera pointed at him. I had him laughing and tried to a take a shot... I caught the trailing end of a smile before it turned into the "Don't take my picture scowl".

"Ethan"
Ethan was playing games at www.disneychannel.com on my laptop at the dining room table. The bright front window was just behind him, giving a bright background and highlighting his profile details. I adjusted to 2 full stops overexposure, but it was not enough. I switched to manual and shot this at about 3 1/2 stops over exposure to get the facial details. I added a little bit of texture in photoshop, but only to the dark areas...

"The Future"
OK, so I went off the deep end with this shot of Jonah. I was playing in Photoshop and decided this was interesting enough to keep. Quite strange, but also a little thought provoking...

Ok, here is the original. The facial details were brought out using an extreme levels adjustment, hence the grainy, pointilistic detail. The background was created using a Render-Clouds with two very similar light colors, then several applications of the Plastic Wrap filter.

"Face Painting Victim"
Josh and Jonah wanted to paint my face today. I was expecting a dinosaur or a smiley face or something like they do at the carnival for kids. Boy was I in for a surprise! This has to be the strangest self-portrait ever!

This image won a POTD at www.digitalphotocontest.com on January 23, 2004!!
This also won Third place at www.digitalphotocontest.com in the january 04 Monthly contest. I will receive a box of Red River UltraPro Satin - a luster surface resin coated photo inkjet paper for a prize!!

This was from awhile back and I just ran across it again. I'm posting it here because I think it is a funny shot! LOL!

"Ready to Learn"
Jonah wants to learn to play chess. He likes the idea of the game, but at three, he doesn't remember the moves different pieces can make. It shouldn't be long, though...
This shot was taken at the Raven's Nest Coffee Shop at Boulder and Institute in Colorado Springs (a little plug for owner and friend Paul Fay).

"Tribute to Porky"
I took this photo of Porky while in Indiana in November. He passed away today after a very long, happy, and quirky life. (Anyone familiar with Porky will understand the quirky part). He belonged to my sister and her family in Indiana and he will be missed...

"Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak"

"The One Tree"
Along Highway 24 east of Colorado Springs... (this image was shot at 75mph out the side window)

"Jonah"
We had some great weather this weekend. I took the boys outside for some fun...

"Gear"
I took the boys to the firestation today for Nathaniel's birthday party. This is one of the images I shot while there. At first, I didn't like how dark this photo is. Then I realized it is real life, dirty jackets from use in the field. I wonder what stories are contained in that soot and grime...

"Go Colts"
A close up of my new hat I bought while home at Thanksgiving!

"Vintage Chevy"
A detail shot of my '69 Chevy pickup. And, yes, it could use a wash!

"Jonah"
I have to say, Jonah seems to be the most photogenic of the three boys, although Ethan does well, too. Josh has gotten to the point that he either does not want his picture taken, or he gives me a forced smile... I'd better shoot Jonah and Ethan all I can before they get to that stage!

This image of Jonah was chosen to be the Photo of the Week at www.DigitalPhotoCritique.com!!

"Dragonflies for the Boys"
In October of 2001, I went to Philadelphia for training in Primavera Project Planner. I spotted this Dragonfly lamp in a shop down by the Historic district. I bought it for the boys' room, but Tracy hijacked it and keeps it in the living room!

"Thick-Skinned"
Life can knock you around at times, but in the end, it all adds up to 'character'...
Enjoy life, and grow from the challenges.

"Homework Pencils"
I caught Ethan getting into Josh's homework pencils...

"The Eyes Tell All"
Overall this is not a great image, but I liked the 'feel' of it. There is some visual interest here, but I haven't figured out what makes it appealing to me...

"A Coke and a Smile"
Hey, this isn't working on Josh...?????

"Musical Nymph"