Bunch of Pinheads

We scheduled Halloween off so we could take Ethan trick-or-treating that night. Since Saturday is usually a busy photography day, it was a nice change of pace to relax a little and have some fun. We've been wanting to take Ethan bowling to see how he'd like it. Not surprisingly, he loved the idea of knocking stuff down and making a lot of noise... go figure. We had to bring a camera along to capture some of the action because it's kinda what we do.

Ethan turns the big 3

Our son Ethan celebrated his 3rd birthday this week, and what a celebration! We had his party at his favorite four star gourmet pizza/arcade joint: Chuck E. Cheese's. I don't want to brag, but I know some people, and we were even able to fly in the man, err... make that mouse himself for a brief meet and greet and some pics with the birthday boy. Ethan had a great time and won a ton of tickets. What more could a three year old want?

Alex gets a chance...

I can spend hours reading about the newest camera or latest lens to hit the market, and when we end up purchasing a new toy I'll spend weeks reading the manual and testing the limits of whatever we just bought. Alex isn't as anxious about reading all the technical data so usually she will let me play with the new equipment for a couple of months to "get the bugs worked out" and then show her the important highlights. This works out for both of us, she doesn't have to read several hundred pages of technical tidbits and I usually don't have to share until well after the newness has worn off :)


Sunday was our new equipment expo day... we went down to our local park and had a mini session with our newest camera and prime lens. Since Ethan was at his Nana and Papa's I ended up being the model. I usually hate being on the other end of the camera, but she took some great pics so I didn't mind too much. Here are some of my favs:

Another type of shooting...

I started the police academy in March with the intent of becoming an arson investigator at work, it's been seven long months and we still have two more to go, but at least we are getting to the fun stuff. Saturday was range day number two and since we were going to be shooting during the day I brought my camera up to capture some of the fun. There are 16 guys left in our class. Some have never shot a gun before this class and others can spell their name with bullet holes at the 25 yard line. We all had a good time and I think I'm turning into one of those gun nuts :) Here are some pics from the day...

Dylan's Senior Portraits

Believe it or not we actually got to shoot in the sun today... it's been a while! The weather was absolutely perfect and we had a blast during Dylan's shoot. Dylan wanted some "non-senior portrait" senior portraits and we knew exactly what he meant. No boring poses and fake smiles on cheesy backdrops in a studio somewhere. He was our type of senior!!! There is an old bridge in Mansfield that we used to take engagement photos of Dylan's older sister Carly. He used to hang out there with friends and wanted to have some pictures with his guitar in the same spot. They turned out to be awesome shots. Here are a few from his shoot:

Cody & Crystal's Wedding

Alex and I had a blast shooting Cody and Crystal's wedding this weekend. They were a fun couple to work with and I always love outdoor weddings! The temperature never reached the 75 degree mark we were promised by the forcasters, but no one seemed to mind too much. The families were awesome and we made a lot of friends that I'm sure we'll see again in the future. Hope you enjoy the pics!

OC Spray

I have sensitive eyes... I don't have a back up pair of glasses if I can't wear contacts... My department won't let me carry it anyways... I have to shoot a wedding tomorrow... I'm a wuss... All are pretty valid reasons for me to opt out of the OC spray day at the Police Academy (although the last one is probably the most accurate). Besides, someone had to capture all the excruciating pain from my buddies who are just a little more masochistic than I am :)

Deal Family Pics

Micheal and Natalie are in our Sunday School class and have a beautiful new addition to their family so it was time to meet up again and shoot some pics of the family. Meet Parker, Logan's new little brother. He's a cutie! Here are a couple of pics from the shoot:

Vickie's Family Portraits

Rain Rain Go Away! This was our second day in a row to shoot in the rain. All things considered the shoot went very well and everyone was in high spirits despite the down pour. Vicki had set this up several weeks ago and we were looking forward to it. Vickie is the mother of Mandi, one of our brides from a couple of years ago. Mandi and her husband Mike were there and it was great to see them again! Also they are expecting their first bundle of joy so a big congratulations to the upcoming parents!!! Here are a couple of pics from the shoot:

Crystal's Bridal Portraits

This turned out being a much better shoot than I expected... What I mean by that is given the ingredients of a rainy Saturday afternoon and a bride expecting some awesome portraits and we could have had a very different outcome. Fortunately for us Crystal was as outgoing and up beet as you could ever hope for even despite our little weather predicament. We met at a large gazebo in downtown Grapevine that protected her and her dress from the elements and we ended up getting some great shots. Crystals wedding is next weekend so as always this blog won't post until after the wedding so her fiance Cody can't sneak a peak at her beautiful dress. Here are some of my faves: