New Lens Wonderfulness

I got a new lens, I got a new lens! The canon 50mm 1.4 is a prime lens which is used by most photographers for portraiture work. It gives really nice bokeh (meaning: the subject in your picture is super sharp and everything else is nice and blurry). I've only been able to play with it a little bit so far around the house with the dogs and aubrey. But I am loving it!

ISO 800/f1.4 w/the 50mm on 5d mark 2 - only post production done is slight vignette on corners - all else is the camera, lens and a super cutie daughter!

Sadness

One of my friends and coworkers from my day job and his then fiance Dyan were one of the first couples to let us photograph their wedding; which helped jump start 5th-Street Photography. I owe them both much gratitude and heartfelt thanks!

Well, a couple years ago Dyan was daignosed with both breast and lung cancer. I am sad to hear Dyan lost her battle with cancer last evening. I know the last few months they both took many vacations, including a cross-country road trip out to California and back. These two truely loved each other. I only hope Dyan can find a long-lasting peace now and I wish Trevor all the best in this difficult time.

Please help support the fight against breast cancer by visiting Susan B Komen's Race for the Cure at http://www.komen.org/ .

Friday nights will never be the same...

4 years ago, I was sitting home alone eating a pizza from pizza pit flipping thru channels. I came upon this show that intrigued me. It has space battles, it was dark and edgy, and it had a fantastic story. It was the min-series marathon of Battlestar Gallactica. About halfway thru watching this show I started calling my friends telling them to turn to this channel. I was so fracking (<-the shows made up swear word) excited about it!

Well tonight is the 2 hour series finale. Ronald Moore, the creater of this revisioned series has decided to pull a seinfeld and pull the show on a high note rather than drag it on. I am excited to see how it all ends, but saddened that the journey is coming to a close. Goodbye BSG, thank you for entertaining me on Friday nights for the past 4 years!

Uugghh: Down with the Sickness part 2

Last week Nicole had come down with the stomach flu. Then Aubs had it for a day. So it was inevitable that I would get it, and get it I did. However, either I am a total wuss or I got it bad cause I'm still not feeling the greatest after 3 days, where as it only put nicole and aubrey out for a day.

It is times like this which really make you appreciate when you are healthy!

Down with the Sickness

The stomach flu seems to be going around. Nicole had it this last weekend which put her out for about 2 1/2 days. Good news is she now feels tons better; The bad news is we believe Aubs has it. She has been very sleepy last couple days and pretty low key. This morning she woke up, had a bottle, then went all exorcist on mom and the bed. I feel really horrible for her that she has to go thru this and she isn't even a year old yet.

On the plus side it should pass quickly - and even though she is sick, she still has a great attitude. Aubrey has rarely ever fussed since day one. She must get it from her mom! : )

Nicole & Aubs from the most recent trip to the mall playground (pic is straight out of camera)

Playground at the Mall

We have started taking Aubrey to a local Mall in Madison on Sunday mornings. They have a play area there which is usually pretty busy during regular mall store hours. But thanks to those early mall walkers, we can bring aubs there before it gets too chaotic. And she absolutely loves it!

These pics are from about a month ago, so when she was about 9 1/2 months:

Playing Catch-Up: Xmas

Merry Xmas! Yes, a bit late - but if you go outside, its still cold out. And depending on where you live, there is still snow on the ground, so it could be xmas, maybe?...

Well, whether it is xmas or not, I'm determined to play catch up with the Blog and wanted to share Aubrey's first ever xmas, which was a Blast! Nicole and I kept wanting to get her more and more stuff before we realized other people needed to get her something too!

Aubs is at the stage where she likes to pull hair, its fun!

Aubrey is a natural gift opener! She had fun ripping apart paper and studying what was inside.

Michael & Lynn: E-Session

I had the privilage of meeting Michael and Lynn for their Engagement session in January. We found these two lurking on Craigslist looking for photographers and quickly made email pen pals with them.

We met in La Crosse (my old hometown) for the session. You can tell these two are perfect for each other and it shows in their shots! Nicole and I are so looking forward to their wedding in May after seeing how awesome their E-Session went!

Congrats Bert & Michele!

This last Saturday we were invited to attend my old childhood friends wedding in Milwaukee.  I have known Bert since we were about 2-3yrs old.  It was a great pleasure to see him so happy on his wedding day.  You can really tell these two are in love with each other. Here are a few pics I took (as a guest - aka uncle bob!)  -

Bert & Michele

Berts parents, Gene & Ken.  They have always been so kind and wonderful to me growing up!

The papparazi.  Hopefully they get a picture of the cake cutting with all those cameras!

Congrats Bert & Michele!  You two look fabulous together!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Ahh, another year has gone by.  This birthday stood out a bit more than previous ones for two reasons.  First, this is my first birthday being a dad.  I was able take the day off from work (day job) and spend time with the family.  At one point I had Aubrey napping on me while watching Wall-E.  Sooo relaxing!

Secondly, Nicole made the most perfect and geeky cake for me!  For those who don't know, I am a huge nerd when it comes to movies and sci-fi.  And the Lord of the Rings movies are one of my all time favorites.  Knowing this, Nicole used her new love of cake making and artistic skill to create a replica of The One Ring as a cake for me.  It was soo cool and super delicious!

Thank you Cole & Aubs for making my 33rd so fantastic!