More family photos

Hubby has been trying to learn more about portrait lighting and was able to convince Wife's sister to sit for some photos. The sophisticated lighting set up included a flash shot through a shower curtain with a white reflector.

No one is safe as Hubby looks for new subjects to photograph. Our niece agreed to sit for photos last weekend. She was a delightful subject. These portraits benefit from a little more gear. They are done with two flashes, one umbrella and a reflector.

This last one is an attempt to be arty. There is no extra lighting - just available light from the window.

Family portraits

Having the whole gang together was a great opportunity for me (hubby) to try some portrait photos. The lighting setup was a low cost arrangement that included clamp lights and a $3 shower curtain. It’s cheap, but cumbersome to set up. I’m learning, but far from ready for prime time. Thanks for viewing. Feel free to post a critique.

Autumn 08 in KC

This has been a great year for fall color in our area. Some years we don't get much color and some years we get lots of color, but it doesn't last. This year the color came gradually in stages and lasted for weeks.


Our photo club theme this month was autumn color and we took different apporaches to the theme. Wife's solution was a very creative still-life approach. It was all done at the kitchen table and involved a light table, tripod, camera, and computer. Yes there is a little Photo Shop magic here. It's a very pleasing result.

Hubby's approach was more straight forward (imagine that). The pictures below are from the KC area and eastern Kansas.

Red leaves foreground - mirror curtain wall behind

The Loretto

Fox Creek School

Tallgrass National Prairie Preserve

Farm bins and grass - eastern Kansas

Jesse James Festival Rodeo

The 2008 Jesse James Festival and Rodeo in Kearney, Missouri

San Diego Trip

In September we traveled to San Diego for a weekend to see our favorite sailor. The weather was of course beautiful as we toured the Cabrillo Monument and Mount Soledad.

Saturday was really fun. We spent much of the day in the Temecula Valley wineries. It's northeast of San Diego and includes several wineries. We sampled several of them.

Sunday brought a trip to Tijuana. We drove down and toured by car a little, then parked and walked. No photos from that day - we elected to leave the cameras behind. Sailor and dad had fantastic tacos. Mom was a little skittish about eating at the hole in the wall restaurant. Our purchases included a cigar and some Christmas ornaments - big spenders!

Dog Park

Wonder Dog loves to go to the dog park with her "big sister" - the Big Dog and her buddy. This dog park is in Huntsville, Alabama. It includes an area specially for dogs under 25 lbs., which of course Wonder Dog was not about to stay in. She likes to run with the big dogs!

Farmer's Markets

The attraction of the farmer's market is interesting. If we wanted to, we could get all the same vegatables at the grocery store, but there is something fun about making the trip to the farmer's market. We choose to believe that we aer getting a better deal - better price or fresher product. But maybe its just more entertaining!