"Drive by Painting"
Josh and Jonah painted Ethan today. He didn't seem to mind very much! They played in the sprinkler to get cleaned up when they were finished.

"Ready for School"
Josh started Kindergarten this year, and here he is in his uniform, waiting for his ride. One of his classmates (Aiden) takes him to school, and I pick them up in the afternoon. They wear school uniforms at the Cheyenne Mountain Charter Academy.

"Portrait of a King"
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs, CO
I took Jonah and Ethan to the zoo while Josh was in Kindergarten. It rained on us, but we decided to stay anyway. This lion wanted to eat Jonah and Ethan for breakfast! Only a plate of glass separated us from him, so we could get very close. He kept lunging at the glass, wanting to attack. The kids found it humerous, I'm glad the glass didn't break. (9-1 to 9-7)

This Sunface hangs on the front of our house...

"Saying Goodbye..."
I shot this today at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. This was at the 9-11 wall, where all the names of the firefighters lost in the attacks on September 11, 2001 are engraved. I stop by there every few weeks, and there are always new flowers, photos, and notes attached to the wall. People come to visit in honor of their loved ones... I like to take my three boys there, to teach them to have respect for those who serve their communities and their country.

"Menu Choices"
This is my friend, Paul Fay. He and his wife are opening their own coffee shop called The Raven's Nest. This shot was taken in their shop, with the menu boards in the background.

"Raven's Nest Coffee"
This image is comoposed of two shots. The first was the logo in the front window, the second a close up of the hardwood floors in the shop. I deleted the background from the window logo shot, and superimposed it onto the hardwood floor shot. I gave the logo a slight 3D bevel...

"Patriotic"
With the 9-11 anniversary looming, I've heard lots of talk about patriotism and displaying the flag. I spotted this one at our friend Lisa Harradon's furniture store in Old Colorado City today. We have a flagpole in our front yard and fly the flag year round... This 'shabby chic' store will be my consignment outlet for reproduction antiques that I build.

Tracy and I took Josh, his Kindergarten friend Aiden, Jonah, and Ethan to the zoo today. The weather was great and we had lots of fun...

"Aiden"
Josh's friend from Kindergarten. She is the sweetest little girl!

"Remembered"
September 11, 2001 affected each one of us in one way or another. It had strong meaning to us then, but that meaning has evolved into new feelings today. What I feel now is that I support our President in his decisions, and above all I support and respect those who serve. I hope to teach my three young boys to have respect for those who serve our communities and our country.
This image is dedicated to my little brother Aubrey Ira Weaver who was injured in Iraq supporting our war against terrorism.

"Reading to My Brother"
Josh was able to read at 4, and his Kindergarten teacher says he is reading at the 3rd grade level now at 5. Here he is reading a story to Jonah.

"Saying His Prayers"
I intentionally over-exposed this shot, hoping for a result like this. I didn't expect it to turn out so well, though! This shot is ranked (a finalist, so to speak) at www.DigitalPhotoContest.com. (9-8 to 9-14)

"City Kid"
Downtown-ish Colorado Springs, CO. Just chasing the kids around with the camera. My goal is to photograph them, their goal is to keep me from doing it, oh yeah, and to run out into the street, throw rocks, and eat bugs... Such is life with three boys.

"Pessimistic or Optimistic??"
The age old question... Is it half full or half empty? The shadow, to me, represents the pessimist as it is dark. The bright, colorful goblet represents the optimist! I see it half full, and getting fuller all the time!

This image was a finalist at www.fredmiranda.com for the Weekly Assignment #79! (9-15 to 9-21)

"Simplicity"
The title speaks for itself... no commentary necessary!

"Cloudscape"
This is a panoramic consisting of 21 photographs stitched together with Panorama Factory 3.0. I love couldscapes and I hope to get some better panos of the sky than this one...

"Big Brother"
This is Rowan (2 years old) and Quillan (11 years old), who are brothers. They are friends of the family and I love the interaction that I see between the kids (Alexis-14, Quillan, Emma -3, and Rowan). It is obvious there is lots of love in their home!

"Jonah"
Just a fun candid of Jonah at the Raven's Nest...

"Soon to be Egg Salad"
I ate these (some of them at least) a few minutes after taking this shot! Lighting was natural from the sliding glass door in the kitchen. My kids think I am strange for taking pictures of these eggs...

"Aspen"
The leaves will soon be falling...
This one is still attached to the tree in the front yard.
(PS... Sept 16 was Colorado Sky. This blue background was created in Photoshop.)

"Sonic"
This was a menu board near the drive-thru at the Sonic by the Citadel Mall. I stopped in to get Grape slushes for the boys... They behaved very well at the Department of Motor Vehicles, the slush was their reward!

"America's Pasttime"
Baseball was invented on June 12, 1939. Just imagine how many hours of baseball have been played since then...

"Joshua Drew"
I just received my Alien Bees studio lights yesterday, and this is the result of my first efforts! I am very happy with this shot and look forward to doing more with the lights. This shot was accomplished with one strobe on 1/2 power, shot through a Brolley softbox, and a reflector to the dark side...

This shot won POTD at www.digitalphotocontest.com for the People/Portrait category on October 1, 2003.

"Me"
Well, this is sort of me... I copied half of my face and flipped it, giving two identical sides. It is a little strange, as no one has a completely symmetrical face... (9-22 to 9-28)

This is another self-portrait, doctored up in Photoshop. This one is a little stranger than the first... I over exposed the image on purpose to give white tones for most of the facial area. A levels adjustment increased the constrast even more... This shot is ranked (a finalist, so to speak) at www.DigitalPhotoContest.com.

"Poor Man's Bouquet"
Beauty is all around us, sometimes in the most unexpected places... This shot is ranked (a finalist, so to speak) at www.DigitanPhotoContest.com.

I thought the lighting and composition are nice on this original, but it seemed to be floating in nothing. I added a surface, including shadow and reflection, in Photoshop for fun. Does this work for you???

"I can do it!!"
Josh is doing awesome in school, so his reward was Rollerblades and pads. We bought them today, and with a little practice and a great deal of determination, he did it! Injury talley was one fat lip and a scrape, nothing broken!

"Bricks and Ivy"
OK. I'm having trouble sticking to just one image a day. I really like the simplicity of this one, and I really like the shots of Josh. Today gets two photos!

"I know the Way"
Josh, Jonah, Ethan, and I went for a hike this morning at Palmer Park. We met Tim, Kiera, and Eli at the top of the overlook. This is Ethan leading the way...

"Cutting Mats"
I have two exhibits (if you want to call them that) coming up in a few days. One is at Starbucks Coffee in Woodland Park, Colorado, and the second is at the Raven's Nest Coffee Shop at Boulder and Institute in Colorado Springs. I am hoping these 'exhibits' will generate some sales. I will also be advertising my style of portraits at these two facilities. I intend to go on location and do candid style portraits for people, like the ones I do of my children. Wish me luck. Oh yeah, back to today's photo... I spent some time this morning cutting mats and framing prints to get ready for these two upcoming 'shows.'

"Poor Man's Bouquet 2"
I am playing around some more with the Poor Man's Bouquet idea. I may do a Still Life series on this concept... Weeds and vases. This time, I used some mat board for a base, so everything here is unedited, save Levels/Resize/Sharpen, and a little spot editing...

This is a pano stitched from 6 original shots, near Dublin and Research in Colorado Springs. I'm still looking for a few good panos, because I don't think this or September 17 are very good... I'll keep trying.

"My Street"
Another pano that I'm not especially happy with. I see I am going to have to spend some time to practice on panos in order to get a good one. This is 41 images, about 220 degrees of coverage.

Today's image Photoshopped a little. Well, OK, alot! (9-29 to 10-5)

"It's Been a Long Summer"
Autumn is here, as evidenced by this sunflower. This daily photo diary has been lots of fun. I've got one month under my belt, and I feel like I pulled off some decent shots. I look forward to doing even better in October! Six of these shots either won contests or were finalists in contests! I'm shooting for seven next month!