Turning 50

Recently a very close good friend, one I've know since 1st grade, and myself turned 50.  We brought our family and friends together for a great bbq.  It was nice seeing some friends I haven't seen in quite some time.  With growing older our kids are now having kids and they had a blast playing in a dirt pile in my backyard.  Usually parents will prevent their kids playing in the dirt, especially while at a bbq at a friends house, but this time it was different, which I loved.  I feel kids need to be kids and should spend their time playing.  There is plenty of time for them in life to become serious, but not this day.

 

I spent a good amount of time just sitting in the grass capturing some shots of the kids playing and running around.

 

Surf City - Oceanside

Ok, so its not surf city, but it could be.  Went out to Oceanside a week ago to get some shots of my friends son while in surf camp.  First he's a great kid, which makes taking the drive all worth while.

I have to say this is where I excel, getting shots of kids doing what they love and at this age.  I would be happy if kids were all I could shoot from this point on.

 

The camp started at about 9am under over cast skies, which made it a bit rough on the exposure, but I never let that bother me and simply work my magic.

 

Had a blast and enjoy the shots.

 

Night Out Shooting Billiards

Every couple of months I meet up with some friends who have a passion and love for photography as I do.  We'll meet up and different spots to shoot various things and well, to simply get together for some talk, food, and of course some photography.

This get together was at a local billiards / sports bar in Newport Beach.  Had a great time hanging with my buds Shelly, Shannon, and a new addition John.  Was a pleasure to meet you John.

Spent more time enjoying every ones company then I did shooting, but I did manage to get a few shots.

Jacob

I was asked to take some senior pictures of a friend of the family and of course I couldn't say no, oh and his mom made our family dinner, which was very nice of her. I'm still learning and need a lot of help with posing. I don't really have the eye for your out of the box shots, such as tilted
and different angles, but I'm tying and learning a bit as I go.

With that said, here are a few shots to share.

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.

Eagle Scout

This Saturday I was given the honor to take pictures of a family friend who was getting his Eagle Scout. This is a very special moment in a scouts life and I was excited to be a part of it and capture this special moment for this young man and his family.

Here his dad is placing his Eagle Scout patch on.

This is his Scout Master placing his Eagle Scout Scarf on.

It is tradition that the troop salute a scout as he enters the boy scout troop and as he leaves the troop. Here is a shot of his troop and fellow boy scouts saluting the new Eagle Scout.

Jacob, let me congratulate you on this achievement. This is something you should be very proud of cherish forever. Thank you for letting me be a part of it.

Family Portraits

While some guys are getting together on Saturday night to play poker or hit the clubs with some friends I got together with some great friends to play dungeon & dragons. Yes you read it right, "Dungeon & Dragons". I have been playing d&d since high school and continue to play with my same friends. As a matter of fact three of our kids, one being my son, plays with us. What ever preconceived thought you had of d&d, just throw it out. We are your normal day to day guys who have great families. Playing d&d is more of a reason for a bunch of friends to get together and have fun and fart, because we all know that when you put a bunch of guys together, there is bound to be some farting going on, but enough of that.

While most of our kids are getting older and are in high school, one of my friends kid will be turning one later this month. I have been wanting to take some family pictures of his new family since the little guy was born and thought this weekend would be the perfect time. I also had a request from another one of my buddies to take some pictures of his daughter and her child, who will be one in April. They live in Anaheim Hills and very close to Yorba Linda Regional Park, which has nice ponds and tree lines. So the plan was to get together in the afternoon to take some portraits and then hang out and play d&d.

That leads me to the pictures. This first group of shots are of my friend and his son Issac. He is such a great kid and so very mellow. I started with some basic family shots, but did have a few shots that I really wanted to try and see how they would come out.

The following four shots are what I really wanted to achieve. I don't remember where I saw this first picture, but I thought this would make a great shot of the connection between a father and son.

These next two shot, well what can I say. Take a look at these and tell me they don't put a big smile on your face. I wanted to see the excitement and joy that a young kid has when being tossed into the air, there's no fear, just a little guy having fun.

This next set of pictures is of my niece and her son A.J. Now she isn't really my niece, but her dad and I have been friends since the first grade and all of our kids call each of us uncle. I mean we have been though so much together we might as well be brothers. This is his second daughter and her son, who will be one in April.

I was looking for a moment here. A special time that is shared between a child and his mom. There are no faces to look at, just a moment captured, something they can cherish for the rest of their lives.

Now while we were out at the park taking these portraits I saw this Egret near the water. You all know I just couldn't pass this up and had to take some shots. After I took a few shots of it just standing on a rock I had my son walk towards it to cause it to fly away. I was hoping for a nice action shot of it taking off, but it didn't work and everything was blurred, but I was able to capture a nice shot of it in flight as it came back through the trees. A reason to remind me why I need to have my camera with me more often.