I copied my gallery to another to automaticlly renumber the photos within the gallery. Once I was ready to delete the copied gallery, I accidentally deleted the original. That did away with both of them, much to my amazement and dismay! Some of the images had been transferred to my other galleries and were easy to get back, captions and comments intact. Others need to be uploaded again, and I will do my best to recreate the captions... What a major goof. I hope this type of thing does not happent to anyone else.

"Not So Scary Monster"
Jonah found Josh's monster costume from two years ago and put it on this morning. The boys never let me take their photo, but Jonah agreed to sit down for a shot. I attached the Brolley to one of my Alien Bees 800 strobes and fired this test shot. He bailed on me before I could make any adjustments for a second shot, so it is a little hot on his facial highlights. With a busy three year old, one shot is all I get sometimes...
This beautiful shot won First Place in the Halloween Challenge on November 8, 2003 at www.dpchallenge.com. Hooray, my first Blue Ribbon at that site!
And it won a POTD at www.bestfoto.com on November 11, 2003, and tied for third in the Best of Month voting!

"Spray Painted Baby"
It looks like we spray painted Ethan, but I actually achieved this effect just using Levels and Hue/Saturation in Photoshop. I didn't mean to, it just sort of happened. It is not something I would print and cherish forever, but it was interesting enough to put on here! Kinda weird, don't you think?

"Homework"
It is gray and cold out today, and I hurt my knee on Tuesday (really bad... need surgery). Sooo... I'm taking a simple still life for today's shot. I have lots and lots of Photoshop and other graphics related books. These are just a few... If I get more energetic later, I'll take some more shots, but for now, this is it! Everyone have a great day!

"Robin Hobb from the UK"
Just a book you say? I don't think so! Robin Hobb is one of my favorite authors. This book just came out in the UK and Austrailia, and is not scheduled for US release until February. Well, February is forever away, so I ordered the book from the UK Amazon website in order to get it three months sooner! I don't read much 'fantasy' genre books, but Robin is such an incredible author I would read anything she writes! If she did a book on colon cancer, I promise you it would be an excellent read!! Check her out... I highly recommend her books, even if you don't normally read this type of book. You won't regret it! Besides that, if gave me a chance to use my Alien Bees strobes! I wanted to get an even lighting with no glare spots off the shiny book cover, and to also have detail of the individual pages fanning out at the top.

"Forks are for Sissys"
Jonah is having a little spaghetti for lunch. He decided the "hand-shovel" method was more effective than a fork! I love his eyes in this shot!

"Concentrating on Homework"
Josh is in Kindergarten and he is working on his cursive writing. Academics come so easy for him (reading at four), but the physical coordination required for cursive writing is a challenge for him!

"Learning to Slurp!"
Ethan figured out how to slurp spaghetti for the first time today! We celebrated his new talent by making chocolate chip cookies! Aren't stay-at-home Dads great! I love the way it looks like he is snapping his fingers! I don't remember any music playing during lunch!

"Headed for the Park"
We took Quinn to the park yesterday to run and play. Jonah got out ahead of the rest of us and I snapped this shot from behind. I love shots like this, and I have several other similar shots in my galleries...

"Quinn"
Quinn has turned out to be a great dog! She is house trained, she does not run away when off the leash outside. If we call her, she comes to us immediately, even if she is interested in something else. She does not pull on the leash, stays to our right, and if we stop she sits down until we walk again. She sits on command, she never barks, and she is very loving and protective to the kids, just after one day! Also, the kids can walk around the house with food and she does not try to take it. She does not hang out near the table while we are eating a meal. Whoever had this dog before us did a great job with her! We are very lucky to have adopted her at the animal shelter!

"Hands"
This is a custom made tile at Mark Twain Elementary School near our house. Each class in the school created a tile, and a landscaped area outside has a patio area made with them.

"First Day Together"
We adopted Quinn at the Humane Shelter today. There were other dogs that we thought were cuter, but Quinn was so loving to the boys, we had to bring her home. She warmed up to the boys immediately. This shot was taken right after we got home.
This shot won a POTD at www.bestfoto.com on november 4, 2003, and tied for third in the Best of Month voting for November!

"Red Tail Hawk"
I often see wild hawks all over Colorado (in the city, out in the country, everywhere...). I have been unable to get a good shot of one in the wild, so I resorted to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. They have several birds of prey, but this was my favorite 'bird' shot today.

"Praying Mantis"
This is the first praying mantis I've seen since I was a kid in Indiana (circa 1975). I was really happy to find this guy at the bug exhibit at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. The light was bad inside the bug exhibit tent, and it was hard to get a decent shot. This is with on-camera flash and 100mm Macro lens.

"See You Next Year"
This is a dead flower at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. They do quite a bit of landscaping with various plants and flowers. There are signs that tell what the different varieties are, kind of like a botanical garden. I didn't catch the name of this one, but I'm sure we'll see its offspring next year. Reminds me of the story Charlotte's Web for some reason.

"Spider!"
This is a macro shot of our neighbor's Halloween decorations on their front porch.

"Scary Jonah"
This is a shot of Jonah practicing for Halloween. He has been practicing his scary faces all week! He is going to be a bat this year and Josh will be a Ninja. Ethan will be wearing a costume one of the boys wore in the past (not sure which one yet).

"Remnant"
I found a dead bird in the yard... This is all that is left.

"Quinn"
We went to the Raven's Nest Coffee Shop tonight to hear some live music (first time Paul and Heather have had live music in their shop). This little girl named Quinn was there. She spotted my camera and wanted her picture taken, but her approach was very shy. She would ignore me, and then shoot me a quick glance to see if I was paying attention to her or not! A little grainy as I shot it at 1600 ISO (1/40 sec, f4.0, 70-200mm L series lens).

"Stephanie J"
Stephanie is the girl in BW in this shot. She played acoustic guitar and sang at the Raven's Nest tonight. She has a CD out called "Eight Different Songs". The girl in color was her friend. I played with the BW/Color in Photoshop. This image was a little flat all color and all BW. This mixed treatment seemed to add a little visual spark.

"Gecko Abstract"
This is Jack, our pet Tokay Gecko. The original image was not good quality, so I made an abstract out of it! The new background is a Poplar Tree leaf, modified in Photoshop. I didn't think much of this image at first, mostly because the original was so bad. This version is growing on me, and I think I'll print and frame one!

This is the original shot... lighting was bad, and the spots on the glass really stand out. I liked the shape of his feet and tail, so I made the abstract image out of this one! The wonders of Photoshop! :]

"Withered"
This is a dead sunflower that I thought had some interesting details and colors...

"Slimy"
Josh came in from playing and sat down at the dining room table. Several minutes later, I noticed he had about ten of these slugs, several earthworms, and some rollie pollie bugs (pillbugs) on the table. With three young boys, we probably have a lifetime ahead of us with weird things on the dining room table, in their pockets, in tupperware 'bug houses', etc. I borrowed one of his slugs to take this shot. I used a slate tile for the surface.

"Fangs!"
This little guy dropped down from the attic of my woodshop and almost landed on my head! Now that is CREEPY! I just happened to have my camera in the shop with me, with the 100mm macro lens! I got several shots of him before he got away from me. I have since found out that he is a jumping spider. I love his pose, as he reminds me of a pet dog wanting some attention. This image is a finalist in the weekly assignment contest at www.fredmiranda.com (topic is Creepy). This photo also won a POTD at www.bestfoto.com for the Macro category on December 21, 2003!

I was working in my woodshop on a commissioned project that is due soon. I usually go to the Overlook at Palmer Park to get shots like this, but I don't have time tonight. I stepped outside my shop, fired a couple, and went back to work. I finished the project at 3:00 am, in time for a 10:30 am delivery!

"Isaac"
This is Isaac, our next-door neighbor. He comes over to play with my three boys just about every day. He also loves to have his picture taken. I hope some of that will rub off on my kids!

"Love is..."
1Corinthians 13:4-8 Tracy and I credit the incredible strength of our marriage to these verses, these 61 words! There are so many things that go into a strong marriage, but this is our foundation. If two people apply this concept to their marriage, they can't help but have a happy and successful relationship. These four verses remind us that a relationship is about what we can give, not about what we can get. If both people are giving, then the relationship flourishes, and neither party worries about what they are getting, because all of their needs are being met! We still have times that we stray from this, but those rough times are grounded with these verses. The answer to any problem in a relationship is contained in these 61 words, and 99 times out of 100, it begins with being selfless instead of selfish in our thoughts and actions!

"Driving Lessons"
Ethan found this cart abandoned at a strip mall. He pushed it around for about 10 minutes. He was determined to push it straight, but he mostly went back and forth, crashing off the curb several times.

"Making the Calls"
We went to my nephew's football game today. (James Powers, junior at Wasson High School, varsity defensive end). I took about 400 shots, but being in the stands rather than down on the field limited my ability to get some great action shots. My shots of the 'off-the-field' action came out much better.

"G Force"
Just a shot of Jonah on the swings after the football game.

"One Day Soon"
This younger kid wanted to play so bad. He was ooozing ambition and desire... He will be there, one day soon, I'm sure.

"Ready to Play"
The Halftime show was about to begin...

This collaboration of two photos and some Photoshop creation won POTD at www.bestphoto.com on Oct 26, 2003 and at www.digitalphotocontest.com on November 6, 2003! Way to go Jonah!! It also won third place in the "Best of Month" voting at Bestfoto!

I put my Canon 10D on 3200 ISO just to see what it would do. I was hoping for a grain that would remind me of old BW Tri X I used to shoot. I was very happy with the 'gritty' rendition. Jonah was making up his own songs on a keyboard, and this was the look of concentration he had on his face the whole time. It was very interesting to watch him. He was not looking at his hands/fingers playing the notes, but he was staring into space, in his own little world. His intensity was amazing to watch, especially for a three year old.

"Just My Size"
Ethan picked one out for himself. He was not interested in the big ones his brothers wanted...

"Happy"
Simple pleasures work for Jonah. He was very happy to have a cup of milk at the Raven's Nest Coffee Shop (Institute and Boulder, for those in Colorado Springs).

This shot of Jonah won a POTD at www.digitalphotocontest.com on October 14, 2003!

"Dirt"
Ethan at Palmer Park. Mesmerized with the falling dirt! He did this for about 30 minutes!

"Early Morning Light"
Ethan in the early morning light coming through the living room window.

"Joshua Drew"
Josh is my oldest at 5. He was very bored on the ride home from church. He was also upset that we were not going to stop at 7-11 for Slurpees!

Some people asked how I achieved the muted colors in this shot of Josh. I used the channel mixer in Photoshop to convert to black and white. I then placed the BW copy in a layer above the color image. I reduced its opacity to approximately 30-40% to provide the muted colors. I erased teh BW version over his eyes, to keep his eyes as vibrant as possible.

"Jonah Skylar"
Jonah is our middle boy at 3. We were out walking in the Autumn leaves that are falling everywhere. I laid down on the sidewalk to get this perspective. Our neighbors think I'm a little off kilter, but I'm OK with that.

This image won a POTD at www.digitalphotocontest.com on December 2, 2003 for the Black and White category!!

"Ethan Taylor"
Our youngest at 1. This was also during the ride home from church. This is just before he told me no pictures! My own kids consider me papparazzi!

"Braedan and Natalie"
We took our friends Dan and Kas to the Raven's Nest Coffee Shop today. These are their kids...