When the World was Written by Sammy Davis Jr.

It’s too bad we grow out of the age when the world looks like a Sammy Davis Jr. song, when even foam noodles are fair game to gnaw on.

Oh, who can take tomorrow, dip it in a dream
Separate the sorrow and collect up all the cream
The Candy Man, oh the Candy Man can
The Candy Man can ’cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good

Still no word from Shanghai

So I’m still waiting for my power cord as I mentioned earlier this week.  What I didn’t mention is that I bought it on ebay for $16.  And I guess it’s coming from Shanghai.  Maybe I should have looked for a seller in Des Moines.

I just wasn’t going to pay the prices that the big box stores charge for replacement power cords – $90 or more!

I really need that cord before Friday and especially for Saturday!  I have three shoots to do this weekend and one on Monday.   Does anyone have an HP or Compac laptop, and would you be willing to loan your power cord to me!?  I’ll throw in a free photo shoot!

I’ve been accepted as an istock photographer!

It’s a bit of a process that involves reading all of their submission rules, taking a test, and submitting sample photos for review. So after going through all of that, I was recently accepted to be an istock photographer. I’m eager to begin submitting photos and watching and waiting for complete strangers to buy them.

Sad Maddie

I’m back from visiting the folks in Minnesota. I didn’t take too many photos, but I did grab this one of a very sad little girl. Madelyn caught a cold during our week with my parents and was miserable a lot of the time. Poor little Bean.

Family shoot in Santa Monica (part 3 of 3)

Finally, the last of the Santa Monica photos. You can see the entire gallery at my gallery site.

I loved this image of the invincible 8-year-old boy challenging the entire ocean.

I think it was a tie.

This is what an eight-year-old does with a back massager from the Brookstone.

Family shoot in Santa Monica (part 2 of 3)

Well, I thought that I could get the rest of the photos from Santa Monica processed tonight, but I just couldn’t stand sitting in front of the computer any longer. So I took a break and watched The Great Debaters. The final installation from last Saturday will have to come tomorrow.

Let’s see, where did we leave off? Oh yeah, my nephew was done with photos and was sprinting toward the shoreline. But before he got his legs under him, he took a little airplane tour.

His mother made him come back to pick up his sandals.

Once he was in…

He was all in!

“Swimsuit? We don’t need no stinkin’ swimsuit.”

More tomorrow!

Family shoot at Santa Monica (part 1)

I have a memory of my niece that I will never forget. I was a senior in high school, and my niece was about a year old. For whatever reason, I laid down on the living room floor. My niece, sucking vigorously on her pacifier, came crawling over to where I was, stood herself up against my side, and stared at me. I picked her up and laid her down on my chest. She immediately let out a big sigh, closed her eyes, and fell asleep within minutes. It was awesome. I laid there for a long time. That was eleven years ago, and now that little girl is quite tall (in my opinion) for a sixth grader.

My sister and her two kids (ages 8 and 12) came out to visit Jill and me last week for a few days. On Saturday, we decided to head out to Santa Monica to spend the day at the beach. We had a great time!

My nephew wasn’t so much for the whole posing for photos thing…

So instead he pulled on his sister’s hair.

“Ok, it’s time for a break from photos,” I said. And he was outta there!

Babies love prunes

A couple of weeks ago my wife posted a few photos of Madelyn and her prunes on our personal blog. The photos were very popular… infamously popular. From the volume of comments we’ve received about those prunes, I thought people might be interested in seeing the prunes from the other end. It strikes me that the prunes look just about exactly the same in pre-production as they do in post-production.

Madelyn at 6 Months

Welcome to all of you who are visiting this photo blog for the first time. If you’re a friend or family member coming over from the Mark and Jill blog, you probably know that I’ve been talking about and dreaming about getting serious about photography for a long time. Well, now I’m doing it.

I’ve launched this blog as a way for people to see my work, and as a way to keep me accountable for shooting several times a week. Thanks to Greg and Rachel, Sheila, and of course, Madelyn, I’ve been able to begin building a portfolio for others to see. If you’re interested in helping me continue building my portfolio, please let me know; I’d love the practice! I’m eager to do some senior portraits this summer as well as more children and couples. Call or email and we’ll set up a date!

Here are some of the photos that Jill and I took to celebrate six months with Madelyn. It was my first time using a flash and I’ve got some learning to do, but a lot of these turned out great.

I learned that babies aren’t supposed to have strawberries at this age, but we thought we’d make an exception for the photo shoot.

I love hats!

boom! She’s got to work on her balance yet.

At six months, Madelyn is already very reflective…

…and patriotic.

This one’s for Jill’s dad who loves dogs and gave Maddie this toy (I think).

Thanks for stopping by! Please be sure to let me know if you live in the Redlands, CA area and you’re ready to set up a date for you and your significant other, or you and your kids, or just you!

Come back soon!