The Many Faces of A.J. - First Birthday

We spent Saturday at A.J.'s first birthday party. You may ask, "Who is A.J." A.J. is the son to one of my very close friends daughter, who for all purposes is my niece. My kids call my friend their uncle as well as his kids calling me uncle. we have been friends for so long (since around 1st grade) that we might as well be brothers.

We went to take part in the festivities and I of course brought my camera to document the day for them.

So with that said and since this was his birthday, I've only posted shots of A.J.

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Lakewood Track vs Poly

Attended my son's most recent track meet. Since he throws the day prior he ends up helping the team with measuring and hurdles during the regular meet, so I decided to capture a few shots just to keep on my game.

This first shot is something I've been wanting to try. I'm not all that happy with how it came out but I still find it interesting. I would have wanted the runner to be looking down through the hurdles.

Just wanted to show the intensity of some of the runners prior to the start of their event. I like the look of this young athlete just prior to the judge calling set.

I liked the slant of these two runners as they hit the first turn of their race.

A few high jumpers to share. The first two are of the same girl from different angles.

And finally a couple of the pole vaulters.

Nerd Birds II

Made it out to my niece's softball game today. This is the second game I shot of her and wanted to get some different shots of the girls for their slide show that I will be putting together for them.

I always try to take some shots during their warm-ups and wanted to get some tight shots of them hitting. These shots make the slide shows a bit more personal and shows more of their personality.

What can I say but "My Niece"
These two shots are your classic sportraits. I especially like the second one with the hair being highlighted by the back lit sun.

I was too close for a full body shot of this young lady pitching but really liked her look, so I took a tighter shot of her while she pitched.
Just a simple action shot of a play to first base and yes, she pulled her foot off the plate.
What is softball without some batting shots. This first one was taken on the opposite side of the batter. I had already obtained shots of all of the girls from the other side and was looking for something different to add to their slideshow. This view gave me a tighter look and follow-through of the their swing.

The rest are from their normal side.

Grand Canyon Vacation

During our kids spring break we went to the Grand Canyon for a few days. We went with some friends and had a great time, even though it was very cold throughout the time we spent there.

We started our trip at 5am on the 13th of April as we caravan-ed to Needles, where we had a late breakfast / early lunch and then continued to the Grand Canyon, a total of 10 hours on the road. After checking in and unpacking our cars we went for a short walk to the rim of the canyon at Mather Point, which was only a 1/2 mile walk from our rooms at the Yavapai Lodge.

These first two shots were taken from Mather point.

"Day Two"

Day two started overcast and windy, which made for a cold day. While lunches were prepared the kids ran around the wooded area around our rooms playing (as kids do). I grabbed a couple of pictures of my two kids during this.

Once we got started we took the shuttle to the South Kaibab Trailhead where several of us hike partially down into the canyon. Now to partially hike down the canyon really doesn't do it justice. If I remember correctly the hike to the bottom of the canyon is between 7-8 miles and we only hiked about a mile of it to Oh Ahh point. Now some might say a mile is nothing, but for me that one mile kicked my butt. This first shot was taken as we hiked down into the canyon. The three people you see in this shot are my son and two kids from the family we went with. My son is the speck on the right (LOL).

In the following two shots, where you see all of the people congested together is Oh Ahh Point and where we stopped. The trail does continue downward to the left, which I like to call the Abyss. What a awsome view we had from this vantage point. There's just really no words, at least from me, that can describe how you feel when seeing these views.
This next shot just doesn't do the feel you get when standing where I'm pictured. On this point is nothing but sheer cliffs and I for one hate heights. Can you see the look of terror on my face. I am trying my best to conceal this look of fear.
Once I crawled out of the Abyss, we spent some time along the rim taking a few group shots. In this first shot is my daughter and son. Don't they look happy, they got along great during this trip.

Here's myself, my wonderful wife, daughter, and son.
Here is my son (pictured on the right) with the kids from the family we went with.
"Day Three"

On the third day we all woke up to snow and some icy cold wind. The snow was blowing from all directions making it very pretty, but cold. Once again while lunches were being packed I took some shots of the kids while they played around in the snow. Of course I had to take advantage of this time for some shots with my kids.

Again after we were packed and ready to go we took the shuttle to Hermit's Rest. Even though most of the snow has melted and was gone, it was still very windy and cold, as you can tell from these shots. Here is another shot of me and the family, who look happy but we were very cold.
The next two shots were taken from Hermit's Rest, which had a great view of the canyon.

I loved how her hood looked and had to take a candid of her while she stood on the point of Hermit's Rest. After Hermit's Rest we continued to Mohave Point where it seemed the wind blew harder and colder, as you can tell in this shot of my two kids.
Even though it was colder and windier I was able to get the following two shots of the canyon, which I thought were my best two canyon shots. I loved how the clouds appeared to be falling into the canyon.
After a very cold day we went to the Grand Canyon Village to check out some of the shops and took this group shot along the entrance to the El Tovar Hotel.

"Day Four"

As things would have it our last day in the canyon was the best one for weather. It was mostly sunny and very little wind. We packed up our things and checked out of our rooms. After a bit of souvenir shopping we hit Mather Point for our last view. Here are a couple of shots as we said our goodbys.

One final shot of my son over looking Mather Point.

We had a great time and I want to thank our friends for inviting us to accompany them on their spring break vacation.