Oldest Deploys

Our oldest leaves tomorrow on his first deployment. After a little over 2 years of training, he is well prepared to begin this journey.

He is a Navy Petty Officer 2^nd Class. His rating is STG2. This means that he is an operator and electronics technician responsible for sonar systems on his ship, a destroyer.

He has been receiving special training to be part of his ship’s VBSS team. He began the training last year with SRF-B (Security Reaction Force – Basic) training. Earlier this year he completed SRF-A (Security Reaction Force – Advanced) training. The last of the training is the actual VBSS (Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure) training and he completed the course just last week.

The Navy has trained him well. He has moved what belongings he can take with him back on the ship. He has new boots and ship-board uniforms. His iPod is loaded with music and videos. All of his personal business is taken care of. Now, if Mom and Dad could just feel as ready as he does!

He will be at sea for six months. He told me he would love to get cookie care packages. I have been researching recipes for cookies that ship well and how to best pack them. From what I have found, people have cookie care packaging down to quite an art!

San Diego, August 09

We had a great time this weekend, visiting the oldest in San Diego. The apartment complex he lives in is all Navy and on the base. It is really nice. The following are views from his balcony.


It's a little hard to see, but there are war ships on the horizon in the picture above.

Saturday morning we went to Little Italy and shopped for fresh veggies. Marc fixed his world famous gorganzola steak and all the fixins. Really good.

The farmer's market included musicians in a couple of locations. The folks above are dancing to salsa music - in Little Italy.

Stone Brewing Co. is a local micro brewer that has grown up to be a big player in Southern California. My favorite is a beer called "Arogant Bastard" the subtitle on the label says, "You're not worthy". It might be my favorite beer ever.

The brewery tour was very interesting. The free samples were even better. And they have a really nice restaurant with an interesting menu.

We also spent some time at the Maratime Museum http://www.sdmaritime.com/ and toured the boats their. They have a collection that includes surface craft and submarines, some of which are over 100 years old.

The highlight of the trip was our guided tour of a US Navy Destroyer. It was fascinating and exciting to see. We toured most of the ship and got to get a feel for how life might be aboard the ship at sea. Unfortunately cameras are not permitted, so no photos to show.

Twins

We had a blast photographing these two little guys. They are three years old and yes, they are identical twins.

My big sister

We photographed Susie (hubby's sister) today. I've been hoping to do this for awhile. These were all taken at her house with what has become our standard lighting setup. We usually try to include a window light portrait, along with some flash photography. Susie was very patient with our slow pace and the time to set things up. I think they're pretty good; hopefully she'll like them too. Thanks big Sis!

Debra and Emersyn

On Saturday we photographed Lisa's neighbor, Debra, and her daughter, Emersyn. We've got a lot of good ones; here are a few.



Em's got a new puppy, Casey.

Well worn -

Our current assignment for the photo club is "well worn". So Hubby and Wife took a little drive into the Missouri countryside to look for things well worn. These are some of Hubby's shots.

This the top of the guard rail on an old concrete bridge. The lichen and the erroded surface of the concrete make for a wonderful texture and color combination.

We saw this barn with loads of character and just put the car in park, rolled down the window, and made the exposure.

Near the barn we found this Farmall Super C tractor. According to the web this model was manufactured from 1951 to 1954. I think I was drawn to photograph this machine because that was about the same time I was manufactured.

We watched the sun set over from western Missouri from a road near Odessa before returning home.

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.