Our New Son

This is our new son.

We don't know what to call him yet.

He was born on May 21st at 12:47 in the morning.

He was a big boy and was worn out after the birth experience.

Our midwife's assistant took a couple of pictures for us after he was born.

He was born in this room.

He tipped the scales at 9 pounds and 11 ounces. The next day he was down to 9lbs 4oz.

He had lots of bruising on his face.

Our midwife, Melissa Brake, was amazing. She and Pam Wright have delivered all three of our boys, and Melissa did a wonderful job.

Our "little" guy's head measured in at 14 1/2 inches.

He is 21 inches long.

He passed every test on his first big exam.

Sometimes he is awake, but he sleeps most of the time. I didn't get much of a chance to just look at him for a day or so. Lately I get to hold him a lot more when everyone but him is trying to sleep around here.

We still don't know what to call him, but that doesn't matter much. He is who he is, and

he always will be.

To see more pictures of our new guy, check out Lindsey Jane's blog

Douglas and Co.

We have not yet had our baby, but my sister, Emily, has. His name is Douglas, and he is most welcome in our family. I was blessed to be able to take some pictures of him and his posse this past week.

My Week In Moments

This past week I have been working on my timing a little (ninja photo skills and all that), so these next few pictures are really nothing to look at except to note that I was doing a moment anticipation exercise while the boys ran matchbox cars down the eight foot ramp. I was shooting with a very narrow depth of field and low light, so these are the few shots that turned out anywhere close to clear.

Okay, so none of them are really clear.

I had the opportunity again to take pictures with Alicia during a couple of her sessions over the past week or so. This little guy was just fifteen days old and we had a nice time taking pictures of him and his mommy.

And this family was a joy to be with. Aren't little red shoes on little girls the bestest?

Oops. How did these pictures get in here? Oh, I remember. These are a couple of shots of a bathroom I drywalled, taped and textured last week. Looks like I need to go to realtor photography school!

I made a gardening box in the back yard and helped fill it with dirt. The boys also helped.

Jamin and Mailli have been working with their mom on some sewing projects lately. Alicia has the nesting urge bigtime and was in a serious sewing production mode for awhile there. Now she is going into a different kind of production mode.

I love summer-type weather. I got the above picture in two tries. It is straight out of camera. The one below is at Dry Bridge Park on Sunday night after a "fishing" trip. I did adjust the exposure and the blacks somewhat in Lightroom. I really like my family.

We are going into the "Any Day Now" mode regarding our new baby's arrival. If I skip a week or two of posting, I will hopefully make up for it with some SPECIAL DELIVERY pictures.

Wait Ten Minutes

I had the privilege of shooting an engagement session with Alicia during the end of March. We will be taking wedding pictures for this young couple this summer and I am looking forward to it very much. Here are a few of the pictures I took during the shoot.

I have also been spending some time out at my Grandma's place at Echo Lake and, as you can see from the following pictures, the snow is almost gone. I finished texturing the drywall inside, and I put up a little housewrap and trim as well this past week. I am excited to see some work days when everyone who can is able to come out and pitch in.

The next three pictures are of the lone crocus out front of the house we live in. The first picture is the morning after a snowstorm around March 30th, and the second and third pictures are during a snowstorm a week later.

Like they always say, if you don't like the weather in Montana, just wait ten minutes. And if you do like the weather, get ready for it to change anyway.

I'm Still At It

I have been a busy guy these last couple of weeks. Our construction company had a booth at the local Home and Garden show last weekend and I attended a Lead Renovator Certification class this weekend. With all the other work going on, I didn't feel like I was getting much quality time with my camera, but, looking back on the time period, I did get some shooting practice in.

At first it was just the same old "get the camera out when the kids are being cute" routine. And a few before and after shots of a bathroom I taped and textured for a customer. But then Alicia brought me along on a portrait shoot of our friends, John and Kim. Alicia actually used more than one of my pictures in her blog post from that session. I also got to shoot more jewelry with my friend Bob as well, and the things I had learned from the first go 'round with him a couple of weeks ago sped our most recent shoot up tremendously.

The most amazing one for me was getting to work with Alicia to take pictures of a wedding design that Sara and Sharon from Serendipity Events put together just for us. They even brought a model bride and groom (real people!) with every detail planned and executed just so. The light was beautiful and we really enjoyed getting to take the photos at a nice mellow pace.

I have been feeling more confident this last week in my ability as a photographer, but each new experience emphasizes to me the need to work on one aspect or another of my skill set. Last week I noticed that I need to not always leave my aperture quite so tight all the time or I end up with shots that would be truly great except that a critical area is blurry. So I am learning in low pressure situations and enjoying it all. I keep coming back to the idea that pictures are truly everywhere, and it simply up to me to find them and frame them well.

One other thing I am looking forward to is the arrival of our new copy of Jesh De Rox's "Beloved Field Guide". If you are a people photographer, you should check out what this guy has going on. He sees people in such a full way that his pictures just naturally show the inner beauty of his subjects. His website is amazing, and some of the music on it is by a lady I worked with at Big Sky Bible Camp a long time ago named Amy Seeley. Her songs are deep and moving.

I am planning in the not-too-distant future to start shooting portrait sessions when Alicia is too busy with the new baby to be able to shoot for awhile. I am hoping to set up a couple of practice sessions before that, so don't be surprised if I call and ask if you would be willing to be my guinea pig!

"There's so much beauty around us for just two eyes to see. And everywhere I go, I'm looking."

-Rich Mullins, "Here in America", Liturgy Legacy album

Which is your favorite image? Feel free to leave a comment!