Random Shots, February 2008

Sometimes in life some things just don't work out the way you planned. This months random shots is a great example of that. Drew and I planned on going to the I-70 Drive-In to take some shots this month. We pulled up, and both of us got all excited thinking about all the different things we could do here. It looked awesome...

And then we met JC. 'Ol JC informed us that we couldn't take pictures without the owner's permission for liability reasons. Not one to piss anyone off, we left and drove around Independence for a little while. Here's what we got.

It really wasn't our day at first, some creepy old guy came out and yelled at us after we were here for a few minutes.


Then, someone was driving up to us here as well. Why can't people leave photographers alone?


So we finally went to a place where we knew no one would bother us...the old Blue Ridge 5 East Theater! And, this place was awesome!


I really, really, really like the way this looks:)


You gotta love old movie theaters






They had some sweet looking weeds growing through the concrete


Until next time, and as always, thanks for looking:)

Designer Dogs

Jenny is getting absolutely sick (no pun intended:) of me talking about getting a dog. And it didn't help any when my parents bought me a copy of Designer Dogs, the new dog book from Caroline Coile and Anna Kuperberg for my birthday. Anna is one of my absolute favorite photographers. Check out her portrait/wedding blog and her dog photography blog for some wonderful pictures.

Anyway, I really, really want a dog, and it's driving Jenny insane, and flipping through this book hasn't helped any. If you love dogs, or just want to check out some amazing pictures, pick this book up:)

Why has Josh been answering all the e-mails?

If you've sent and e-mail to Josh Solar Photo in the past few weeks, you may have noticed that it was Josh's name at the bottom and not Jenny's. Well, Jenny wanted me to post a quick blog to let everyone know what's been going on over at the Solar household the past few weeks. It's a very, very, very long story, so I'm going to give you the basics.

Jenny has been very sick for the past 2 weeks. Originally it was headaches, then it turned to itching due to some liver enzyme combo with tylenol 3, and then when she was finally getting better she then came down with the flu.

Let's put this all into a simple math problem:

(Headaches * Itching * Flu) + (Pregnant - any medicine that people who are not pregnant can take + 2 young children) / stressed out dad = Sucky situation for all

So, Jenny is currently in the hospital, where she has been since Wednesday afternoon. She just wasn't getting any better at home, so it was for the best. Now, I DON"T WANT TO WORRY ANYONE, she's getting better and should be home in another day or so, and the baby in the belly is just fine as well. Luckily, Max, Ava, and I have so far dodged all the sickness thrown around lately, so that's a plus, too.

I now want to take the time to thank my amazing parents who have spent more time the last few weeks with my children than they probably would have liked:) Thanks for all the nights you've let them stay over, fed them, and played with them. It's physically and mentally impossible for one person to take care of a 3 1/2 year old, 18 month old, and a very sick wife who can't move, eat by herself, or do much of anything for that matter. I don't know how we could have done this without my mom and dad.

I also want to thank all or friends for the kind offers to help with anything we needed. It makes us realize how blessed we are to have such great friends. I really didn't want to take anyone up on the offers because I would feel terrible if me or my kids got anyone sick. We appreciate all the kindness thrown our way, thank you.

We'll be back to normal soon!

And since I don't like to post a blog without a picture, here is a snapshot of Grandma EE helping Max do his "work" the other day:)

Pats Fans

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the clothes of losing Super Bowl teams, World Series teams, etc? I have always wanted to know what happens to all the t-shirts, hats, and all the other merchandise that is pre-made and never released due to the fact that only one team can win.

Anyway, now I know, and I wanted to share. The NFL donates all the merchandise to WorldVision, which then donates all the stuff to third-world countries. And I think it's great.

In the cold with Heather Cole

This afternoon, the kids were napping, Jenny was still sick in bed sleeping and I get a call from Heather asking if I want to go out and take some pics of the snow. Everyone was asleep, so I said it sounds like fun. So, I grab my camera and we jet out to this nice wooded area. I step outside of her car, and, BAM, the wind gets me. It was so freakin' cold out! But, we were already there so we had to take some pictures. So, here are my favorite shots from today.

Here's a wonderful portrait of Heather taking a picture of me.


I was feeling a bit artsy this afternoon, so I tried some new things with my camera. I like the results, what do you all think?






And, finally, here's a couple of pics of Heather loving on her new toy!

Basketball!

Little kids and sports go hand and hand. It's so important to teach them about teamwork, good sportsmanship (thanks dad), and how to play basketball. Max and Zoey have been doing little tykes basketball for the past 6 weeks, and this morning was the last session so I decided to bring my camera along.

Before you can play, you have to stretch


Then you have to run some laps (note: my son is almost always last, but he has a fun time being last if you ask me). I love how Zoey is turning around and smiling at him. It sure would be nice to be a kid again wouldn't it?


This is pretty much what happens at basketball every time there is a stop in the action. I sure feel sorry for the teacher who gets these two in the same class in a few years.


I think Zoey gave Max a kiss here and he got a little embarassed


Got the jersey and he's ready to go


That's some good defense, but Zoey managed to get the shot off


Some good defense by Max and Zoey


I love how excited he gets when he gets the ball


We're still working on the whole catching part


I just like the chaos of the kid guarding Max here, going all crazy, and Max keeping his cool and trying to make the play (actually, I think the kid stole the ball from him right after this picture).


Here's what Ava does during basketball. It was actually fun watching her try and participate with all of the big kids.




No! No! The basket is the other way!


Okay, you got the right idea (but he missed the shot)


And, finally, a little sequence I happened to be lucky enough to catch on camera. Check out this awesome shot Zoey made!

Congratulations, Kelley!!!

The sign says it all. A big congrats goes out to Kelley for the grand opening of her new studio. We met Kelley last June when we had her take our family's pictures and I'm glad we did. Both Jenny and I are so happy for her. She's such a talented photographer and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her business.

Since it's such a long drive, Heather rode up with us as well. She brought her new love, the Nikon D3, so I let her take most of the pictures, but I really thought this one says a lot about Heather and Kelley:)


Sam was really excited when I took this picture, so I wanted to share it with everyone.


Kelley's studio rocks. All the details are so...her. If you are ever up near Leavenworth, make sure you check it out!

Max and his trike

Being home all the time with my children means that my car gets really dirty because the kids are always in it. What happens is that every time we go somewhere, I give them a snack, maybe some Granola Bites, or like the other day when we went to Target and I bought Max and Ava some popcorn to share. Well, let's just say that more popcorn ended up on the backseat of my car than in their mouths. Anyone with kids knows how much fun it is to clean their car.

Anyway, it was almost 60 degrees outside this afternoon, so I decided to finally clean my car out, and Max came out to play. He was doing his usual dumping table (where he dumps water on stuff over and over), then all of a sudden he decides to grab his tricycle and ride off down the street. Jenny knows that I have been DYING to take pictures of him riding his bike. It's tough because not only does he not ride his little trike very often, but he still needs help to get up the hills. So, it's really tough to get good pictures when there's usually crappy light, and he needs help, but when he jumped on the trike this afternoon, I ran in, grabbed my camera and hoped for the best.

Here's some of my favorites from Max's trike ride. I've been playing with some cross-processing lately, and finally found a good mix with the editing of these pictures, so they will look a little different. Anyway, I hope you like them!

Is this supposed to be a tough face? I can't tell.


He's really concentrating on his footwork in these next 2 pics

Baby Nate: 3 months

It's hard to believe that Baby Nate is already 3 months old. If you all thought he was cute before, check him out now. I think he's going to have red hair like his mommy, and oh that smile is so wonderful. Enjoy the pics!

I told you he had a great smile:)




Daddy's a Duke fan, and how precious is Zoey with her little brother?








How cute is this?

Lily

Audrey has a new baby sister. Her name is Lily and I got the chance to take her pictures at 10 days old. Enough said, she's 10 days old! You gotta love the newborns:)

Her room looked awesome in all purple


So cute!






Audrey was so cute with her little sister. I love these next few shots.






And, we'll end with a nice shot of Audrey, who still doesn't know what to think about me but LOVES Jenny