Wednesday was a pretty good day for gathering information.  The Kansas detective working Grandpa's case spent a good chunk of his day in Oklahoma going over Grandpa's truck.  This is what we found out.

One of the most vital finds in the truck was a discount card for Dillon's grocery store.  A scan of the discount card revealed that Grandpa bought some Fig Newtons, hot dogs and candy bars at around 9pm Friday night.  A review of the surveillance camera in the Winfield Dillon's shows him pulling into the parking lot in his truck, walking into the store carrying what look like a handful of letters to mail, walking to the part of the store where the mail drop would be, gathering his items to purchase, going through the checkout line and pulling out of the parking lot.  He was steady on his feet and did not appear to be suffering any physical problems.  Unfortunately, the angle of the grocery store surveillance cameras did not reveal which direction he went as the pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the road.  However, we are hoping a review of the surveillance footage from the Walmart, next door to the grocery store, will show us which direction, north or south, he was going when he pulled back out onto Highway 77 (Winfield's Main Street).  

We know from this information that he was alive and well and going about his business as usual as late as 9pm on Friday.  We also know that it was dark by the time he left the grocery store, so it was more than likely still dark when he found himself 1/4 mile south of the Kansas/Oklahoma state line on Highway 81.  The darkness may have made it easier for him to get confused and head off in the wrong direction if he was trying to make his way home.  The upside to the fact that was dark is that the cooler evening temperatures reduce the chance that he suffered a debilitating physical reaction to the high temperature and humidity that day if set out on foot after abandoning his dark blue 1999 Ford Ranger.

Today's investigation of the car also revealed that the truck still had a half of tank of gas in it and that the truck battery was still working.   These facts would seem to indicate that after he drove the car through the weeds and stopped by the railroad tracks, he was well enough to turn off the car.  Otherwise the car would have idled until it ran out of gas, and the dead car with the ignition on would have killed any charge in the truck battery.  Also, there were working flashlights in the truck, meaning he had access to light if he set off on foot during the dark night. The day he disappeared, Aug 1, was a new moon, so it would have been very dark without a flashlight. 

All of this seems to indicate that we was still physically well after abandoning his truck.  We are hoping that a kind motorist or trucker has picked him up and is traveling with him unaware of the intense search that is underway for him. Tomorrow I plan to contact the major truck stop chains and ask them to distribute his photo nationwide. 

To clean up a point of old news, today I contacted the reporter for the Wellington Daily News that reported the finding of a navy blue sweater that belonged to my grandfather.  After double checking her source information, she realized she had made and error and there was never any mention from investigators of a navy blue sweater.  She apologized and promised me that she would correct the errors in her article.  

 Here are the new web story links I have run across since yesterday's post:

www.foxkansas.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=eb44b2...

www.newscow.net/story.php?StoryID=2177

www.kansasmissing.com/

www.arkcity.net/stories/080508/com_0003.shtml

www.mytvwichita.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=eb44...

winfieldcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID...

www.wellingtondailynews.com/homepage/x1100308198/Official...

The story that most caught my eye is the last one on the list.  It mentions that a navy blue sweater belonging to Grandpa was found somewhere in the area of the truck.   I found this puzzling because this is the first mention we as a family have heard of a navy blue sweater.  After reading the article, my father contacted the Sumner County Sheriff's office to ask about the sweater.  They informed us that no sweater was found.  Other than his truck and it's contents, no trace of him has been found.

I mentioned yesterday about foggy information regarding some kind of mix-up with Grandpa's license plate number. We've gained some insight into what happened there.  Apparently when his 1999 dark blue Ford Ranger was impounded on Saturday, the tag number was mistyped in the computer system.  When the APB went out on Sunday for Grandpa and his truck, one of the officers that had seen the truck sometime after it was found realized that it matched the vehicle description in the APB and double checked the tag number to see if it matched.  It did, so the error was corrected and the Kansas authorities were notified that his truck had been found, towed and impounded in Oklahoma on Saturday. The photo above shows the truck after it was found in Oklahoma, but the photo was NOT taken in the location where the truck was first found.

As a family, we are anxiously awaiting more information about the contents of the truck and if any of those contents might give us an idea of his state of mind or physical condition when he left the truck. We do know that a small bag of groceries was found in the car, and we hope that the investigators can successfully track down when and where those groceries were purchased so they can begin to retrace his steps and find someone that may have seen him. The detective on the case has been extremely diligent and we have great confidence in him to give Grandpa's investigation all due attention.

We are also hoping that as Oklahoma and Kansas authorities continue to work with each other and compare notes, more clues can be found can be found and it will help point us in the right direction to find him.  

Please, anyone that has seen him since noon Friday, August 1, call 911 immediately.  Help us bring Grandpa home.

My 87 year old Grandpa, Jack Lee Howe, is missing.  I have spent all day hammering every news outlet I can think of in the Kansas/Oklahoma area with info and photos in an effort to get as much publicity as possible for him.  These are the news links where I have found his story so far:

www.kake.com/news/headlines/26247779.html

www.ksn.com/news/local/26254479.html

www.newscow.net/story.php?StoryID=2174

www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=8785823

news.kfdi.com/News/Story/tabid/5154/story/24376/Default.aspx

winfieldcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID...

www.arkcity.net/stories/080408/com_0006.shtml

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26014099/

prairiechicken.blogspot.com/2008/08/elderly-cowley-co-kan...

KAKE-TV News also aired a story about him tonight.  A reporter from MedfordOklahoma.com has kindly contacted me and has promised to post a web page with photos and info about the search for grandpa.  That post should go up in the next day or so.  

Some of the stories have yet to post his photo, but I'm trying to get them to do that for us.  Ironically, my grandpa's hometown paper, The Courier has turned out to be the least accurate of all the reports and is one of the online stories sans photo.  To fill in some facts and dispel some inaccuracies in some of the news reports, here is what we know so far. 

Grandpa loves his independence and lives alone.  As a family, we have tried to do what we can to help him remain independent despite his age and physical limitations.  We have tried to set up a system of watch care that he will accept as not too intrusive and still help to insure his safety.  His good neighbor, Lela Bright, is what we all consider his tireless guardian angel.  She checks in on him with extreme frequency, brings him his mail, drops off groceries, etc.  Last Friday, around noon, she dropped off some groceries at his house.  She left the groceries with him and went on her way, knowing he would pay her for the groceries later.

Saturday evening around 5:30, she grabbed his mail out of the mailbox with the intent of taking it up to the house for him, but noticed that his truck was not there.  She remembered that he had mentioned something about driving to Ark City to pick up something, a metal bucket, I think, so she assumed he was out running that errand.  She put his mail back in the box, knowing he would grab it out of the box as he pulled back into his driveway.  The next time she stopped by to check on him was Sunday around noon, at which time she noticed that his truck (a dark blue 1999 Ford Ranger pickup) was still not home and the same mail was still in the box, indicating that he had not been home all night.  She immediately called my mother and father in Wisconsin to tell them of her concern for Grandpa.  My dad immediately got the sheriff's office involved.  After searching the house, they found no signs of foul play in the house or anywhere on the property.  His checkbook, wallet, and walking cane seemed to be the only things he took with him.  A check for the groceries was written out to Lela and left lying on the kitchen table, presumable to be given to her the next time she stopped by.  One of his dogs was in a pen behind the house and the other dog was in a kennel inside the house.  All signs indicate that he left the house with the intention of only being gone a short time. 

Shortly after Grandpa was reported missing to the Cowley County Sheriff's department, an APB for him and his vehicle was put out over a wide area.  It was sent out to multiple states in the off chance that he had decided to drive up to visit his son in Minnesota or his wife and daughter (my mom) in Wisconsin.  His wife, is no longer physically strong enough to live at home and resides in a care home near where my parents live in Wisconsin.  After a few hours, an APB turned up the fact that his truck had been found just south of the  Kansas/Oklahoma border on Highway 81 between Caldwell, KS and Medford, OK.    

The abandoned blue Ford Ranger Pickup was spotted by a passing train on Saturday morning and reported to the Oklahoma authorities (Highway Patrol, I presume).  A train had been by there at around 9 pm on Friday night, but did not report the truck.  We don't know if the 9pm Friday train didn't see the truck or if the truck wound up there sometime after that train had already passed.  We were told that officers came out and investigated the scene assuming that the truck had been abandoned by a drunk driver, so the scene was investigated to gather evidence, then the truck was sent to the impound in Tonkawa, OK.  We have heard foggy reports that there was some sort of confusion about the tag number on the truck, which slowed down the process of identifying Grandpa as the owner, but so far we as a family haven't been able to gain a clear understanding of what that confusion was about.  Once the APB went out, the Oklahoma authorities realized that the impounded truck belonged to our missing Jack Lee Howe, and we finally had a place to start concentrating the search. 

The car had gone off of the east side of the road at a right angle to the highway.  He went through the tall grass in the ditch, over a berm, and onto the edge of the railroad right-of-way. There were no skid or acceleration marks noted anywhere.  After conversation with several officials, it is inconclusive if he was traveling north or south or if he had headed straight across the highway from a driveway.  At that point the truck would no longer have been visible to a passing car on the highway.  A detective on the scene today indicated that he believes the most likely direction for a man on foot to go after leaving the truck would have been right back to the road by the same path that the truck had just plowed through the tall grass.  Foot travel along the tracks looks to have been difficult enough that is unlikely he would have attempted it and the grass all around in other directions would have been difficult to walk through as well.  The paint on the truck was scratched from being driven through the weeds and brush, but showed no other signs of damage.  There was no broken glass or blood to indicate that he suffered any injury when he went off the road. 

Aircraft began searching the area for him yesterday and continued until dark.  Today's search began at 6 am (Monday, Aug 4) and included an extremely detailed search for a 100 yard radius around the car, a shoulder to shoulder grid search for a one mile radius from the car, and an additional search by air, horse, and ATV up to a 5 mile radius out from the car.  The ground search turned up absolutely no sign of him and was called off around 2 pm this afternoon.

His youngest son arrived in Winfield today and is staying at Grandpa's house while the search continues.   Given the limited information we have, there are so many possible scenarios, that it kind of boggles the mind.  At this point some investigators are assuming that he took a wrong turn and wound up lost and on the wrong highway.  Once he saw the "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign, he realized his mistake and may have been attempting to turn around and head back north when he went off the road.

We are hoping that someone picked up Grandpa and may be transporting him somewhere without knowing about the extensive search that is going on.  

Anyone anywhere that can help pass this story and info along, please do so.  If he were picked up by a passing car or truck, he could have driven anywhere by now.  I am convinced that someone, somewhere knows where he is and we just need to get this story spread far enough and loud enough for the right person to hear it.

I have posted his photo on Flickr.  Here is the link (click here).   I also started a discussion thread in the strobist.com flickr group hoping that the wide audience and abundant photojournalists that frequent that group may be able to offer some help.  Here is the link to the discussion thread (click here).  

Why is it that I am so obsessive about checking for comments after I post a new blog or photo?  Seriously.  I'm like a rat in a Skinner box, pressing the button over and over and over because maybe THIS time there will be one more reward pellet coming down the shoot.   Skinner figured out that rats are most active and aggressive at hitting the lever if the rewards shoot out randomly rather than on any kind of predictable schedule.  What's more, it takes those rats take a lot longer to give up trying after the rewards dry up.  That is SO me!  BTW, slot machine engineers have figured out this little bit of psychology, too.  

It's a good thing I have decided to abstain from substances and gambling because if my preoccupation with blog comments is any kind of indicator, I am frighteningly prone to addiction.  

So feel free to leave me a comment.  I'm going to try and walk away for a while, but more likely I'll be spraining my button finger checking....and checking....and checking..............and checking again to see if anyone has left me my next fix.  

This the title of the new movie script I am writing.  It is about a group of lovable, law abiding, everyday people that suddenly find themselves besieged by chenopods.  They rally together to jury rig pollen filters out of old socks, paper plates, a used bulldozer engine and duct tape. 

I don't want to give away the ending, so I'm not going to tell you much more except that there is an extremely intense scene where they storm a pharmacy to buy every last box of Claritin-D and Sudafed.  The drama escalates when the pharmacist pulls out his huge list of federal regulations and "explains" to them that he is only allowed to sell them a half a tablet of pseudoephedrine based decongestants per household per week.

I am hoping to cast Angelina Jolie and Daniel Craig in the leads.   

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO 200

Every year, in celebration of Pioneer Day, my daughters' dance school puts on the Pioneer Legacy Pageant.  It is a wonderful show depicting the true story of George and Elizabeth Fox as they migrate from England to Utah.

This year my 10 year old daughter is a "Child of Light". Their dance depicts the children that die along the handcart trail as their families make the difficult journey west. I am supposed to watch this without crying my eyes out? Yeah, right.

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2, 1/750 sec, ISO 800

My 3 year old's dance is a lot easier for me to take.  She is one of the adorable little preschoolers doing the "Dolly Dance" while onstage with the other school book children that play various games and pranks on each other.  

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200

I somehow managed to get recruited to play the pioneer mom to my girls and a few extra children.  They were short on adult costumes, which meant I had to come up with my own, so I've been doing a little sewing this week.  Playing an adoring mother to a batch of gorgeous kids is causing me to really stretch my range as an actor.  I hope I can pull it off.  Just for the record, I do NOT dance in the pageant.  I am more like part of the set dressing.  Here's a shot of our stage family. 

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4, 1/90 sec, ISO 800

The show is free, so come down to the Springville Arts Park and check it out. Show times are July 24, 25 and 26 at 9 pm.  See ya there!

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2, 1/1500 sec, ISO 400

Note:  All of the photos in this post are from last night's dress rehearsal.  Keep an eye on my Pioneer Legacy Pageant set on Flickr (click here) to see what other pagent shots I come up with over the next few days.

My three year old daughter and her best friend recently had a fight.  One of them called the other one "stupid".  There were tears from both of them; one because she was offended, the other because she felt terrible about what she had said and was begging for forgiveness but not getting it as fast as she wanted it.  It was very traumatic all around and my heart ached for both of them as I watched the whole scene.

I most keenly felt the pain of the offender.  I have been in those shoes many times, knowing what I did was terribly wrong, feeling horrible about it and trying to make it right. When the person I have sinned against doesn't want to forgive me fast enough to ease my uncomfortable regret, I find myself growing resentful and on the brink of compounding the offense by lashing out in anger. Too many times I have even crossed over that brink.  

I have walked in the other shoes as well, feeling too hurt to quickly forgive.  Having someone come forward in humility puts one in something of a power position.   At that moment they are vulnerable, the future of the relationship is laid at my feet and I have a choice to make.  Do I accept the petition and freely offer forgiveness, quickly and without reservation?  This is what I know I should do, but sometimes the hurt is so deep that I feel a need to hold back the part of me that wants to throw my arms around the offender in forgiveness.  That part is always there whispering in my ear like an angel on my right shoulder.  The devil at my left ear wants to give in to the temptation to punish my offender by letting them suffer in their sins until I am satisfied that they understand and have felt the depth of my pain by their hand.  (All this is with the offender asking for forgiveness.  How I react when I feel offended and no apology is offered is an entirely different topic, and a much more difficult one.)

I was proud of these two when in spite of all the hurt feelings, it didn't take long before the sought after forgiveness was given and they were all smiles and playing together again. We adults like to take what should be a simple thing and make it confusing and complex.  They love each other and worked out the problem quickly, with the simplest and best of solutions. Ask for forgiveness quickly and completely.  Forgive quickly and unconditionally, then move forward without looking back.

Matthew 18:4 has been on my mind since then. "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/8, 1/750 sec, ISO 1600.  Noise reduction software used.

Pentax K100D, 50mm lens at f/1.4, 1/2000 sec, ISO 200

Since March 2005, I have been serving as the leader of the women's axillary in my congregation.  Yesterday I was released from those responsibilities and another woman will now shoulder the heavy burden of watching over the temporal and spiritual needs of the sisters I have grown to dearly love. I adore the woman that is taking over for me, and know she will do a fantastic job.  It helps to know that all my sisters are in excellent hands, but this transition in my life is still profoundly bittersweet. 

It will be wonderful to have a lot more time to spend with my family, especially on Sundays.  Scott is REALLY looking forward to having me available to help get the kids ready for church on Sunday mornings, he's pretty much been single handedly tackling that enormous task for 3 1/3 years.    Then as soon as church is over, he would often do the single dad duties again for most of the afternoon while I was out making visits and tending to Relief Society tasks.  So many times I would come home after being gone for hours and find he had been in a flurry of activity cleaning up, doing dishes, and chasing children.  Never once in all that time did he complain about my many absences, but I know how hard it has been for him.

As demanding as my responsibilities were, it is still hard to think about letting go.  Serving in this position has given me the opportunity to witness countless tender mercies and humble acts of compassionate service and generosity offered from one sister to another.  Many of these acts of kindness are only known by a small circle of people.  I know that this service will continue happening all around me, just as it always has, but now I am outside of that circle and no longer have the privilege of watching it happen and sometimes serving as the charity broker.

I will also sorely miss the connections I have felt with people around me.  Some of them, I'm not sure I would have gotten to know otherwise.  Others I have known for a while, but serving together strengthens bonds of friendship in a unique way.  It has been so inspiring to stand next to those talented men and women and to feel like we are all grabbing hands and working together to push forward in good works.  I am a better person for knowing them, and hope that these bonds of friendship will stay strong even though we are moving in different directions in our church service.

Still, I know that this change is good.  While we were weeding the garden the other day, my 11 year old son made an observation that I've been thinking a lot about lately.  He noticed that the weeds with the tough sturdy foliage are easy to grab and pull out, root and all.  He said he figures the smarter weeds are the ones that look fragile and delicate on top.  When you try and pull those out of the ground, only the tops come off, but the roots are still firmly planted in the soil.  Pretty soon the tops grown back, usually stronger than ever.   I want to be the wispy looking weed.  Changes happen in life.  Sometimes the change is so drastic it feels like we have been ripped apart and will never be the same again.  That is probably true, we won't ever really be the same.  But if we have rooted ourselves in good soil, it takes no time at all before we can grow back better.

Today I will cry over the loss I felt yesterday at 2:24 pm when hands were placed on the head of the new Relief Society President and the mantle passed to her.  Tomorrow I'll start growing again.

To properly honor the opening of the new musical Mama Mia! which is, in case you don't know, stuffed full of fabulous ABBA hits, I got together with four of my good friends and we went to the opening midnight show on Thursday night/Friday morning.  We were even first in line. 

 What do you think of our costumes?

I have been getting boatloads of requests begging me to get some new blog posts up.  I have a sincere love and appreciation for all of my fans out there (both of them), and I don't want to disappoint.  

Part of my trouble is that I have so many truly profound ideas that I have a hard time narrowing my thoughts down to a size that won't take up too much of my time to write, and too much of your time to read. And if you believe that...

Joking aside, I do kind of get stuck when I try to figure out what kind of post to write.  I enjoy posting tutorials and technical stuff relating to photography, but I doubt either of the people that read my blog really care about that stuff.  I write it anyway, because my blog serves as kind of a documentation of my progress as I learn more about photography and digital photo editing.  And who knows, maybe someone...someday...will pick up a useful or inspiring photography tidbit from me here or there.  I suppose I really should spin the photo stuff out to a seperate photo blog, or as my friend suggested I call it, a "phlog", but I haven't gotten around to doing that yet.

Another option is just a straight "What I did on my summer vacation" type entry.  The close cousin to this type of entry is the "guess what my kids did THIS time" type stuff.  My extended family is scattered all over the country, and I get the feeling that this type of entry is what they most hope to find when one of my posts pops up on their RSS feed.  The thing is, documentation of most of the events in my life are covered when I post photos on Flickr and write captions for them.  But alas, getting everyone to actually GO to my flickr page, much less keep an eye out for new photos, has turned out to be more problematic than I expected.  In the past, slow internet service and techno-phobia have gotten in the way.  I'm not blaming anyone for this little bump in the communication highway, I just didn't anticipate those obsticles when I decided to go higher tech as a way to stay connected to loved ones.  So even though they are redundant to info already on Flickr, I still write the scrapbook type entries here to make the happenings in my life a little more accessable to those of you that are intrested.

Then there are entries like this one.  All my random musings plopped down right here in black and white.  These are the type of blogs I most enjoy reading on your web sites.  I love the little insight they give me into the lives, thoughts and feelings of all the people that touch my life.  Still, as much as I love to read this type of blog, I'm not so sure I'm that good at writing this type of blog.  I'm guessing that 90% of my audience has, by now, gotten bored of this long winded entry have either stopped reading altogether or started skimming the first sentence in each paragraph.  Given the number of people that subscribe to this blog, that means that only 1/5 of a person is still reading by now.  That's okay. Unfortunately for you, I glean a fair amount of personal satisfaction out of this type of writing.  It's kind of like therapy.  

So...what is your favorite type of blog to read?  What is your favorite to write?

Note:  For those of you ( Dad ) who have been dying for me to get around to blogging the astronomy photos I told you about on the phone, I will supply a link to my Astrophotography Set on Flickr  (click here). I intend to blog the camping trip my family took over the Fourth of July, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.  If you can't wait for the blog, then check out my Duck Creek, Utah Set on Flickr (click here), but as of now, I'm not done posting all the photos to that set yet.

I know that I posted this photo in yesterday's blog entry, but I have a reason for posting it again.  Read on...

Pentax K100D, 18-55 kit lens at 35mm, f/11, 4 seconds, ISO 400 

This morning I ran across Scott Kelby's Amazon blog.  Scott Kelby is a photographer, author and an expert in Adobe Photoshop.  He has written many how-to manuals and is the author of "The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers" from which I have learned SO much. 

In today's blog entry he discusses how to shoot, well actually, how to photograph fireworks.  He recommends setting your camera on manual at f/11 for 4 seconds using a tripod and a cable release for the shutter.  Hey!  That's what I did!  After several trials, errors and a LOT of chimping, I zeroed in on f/11 for 4 seconds as giving me the best results.  I even used a tripod and cable release.  

It's pretty rewarding to set out to capture a shot, use my knowledge, experience and a LOT of trial and error to accomplish what I was hoping for, then a few days later read the words of a world class photographer telling me the best way to get the shot is to do exactly what I ended up figuring out on my own. 

The only place my shot diverges from his suggestions are in the focal length.  He recommends using at least a 200mm zoom.  I shot at a much wider 35mm for two reasons.  First, I don't have a 200mm lens.  (Yet.) Second, I was so close to the fireworks, if I had used a lens any longer than this, the explosions wouldn't have fit in the frame.  If Kelby were here, I like to think he'd see it my way.  : ) 

Happy Independence Day!  

Ack!  June is gone!  Here is a short summary of stuff we've done since my last blog entry.

We sent Alex off to a 3 day summer camp with the other boys in the school district that just finished 5th grade.  He came home exhausted and had the time of his life.

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2 and 1/200 sec, ISO 400

We took the three girls to watch the balloon launch at our hometown spring festival.

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2 and 1/500 sec, ISO 400

My oldest daughter and I took a ride in a tethered hot air balloon. While we were waiting in line, I had fun with a little photographic experimentation, and she had fun being my model.  The selective color on this is obviously done with software, but the reflection in her eye was done in-camera.

Pentax K100D, 18-55 kit lens at 55mm, f/8, 1/180 sec, ISO 400

Here is a shot of her in the basket waiting for take-off.

Pentax K100D, 18-55 kit lens at 18mm, f/6.7, 1/60 sec, ISO 400


On Saturday morning we enjoyed our hometown parade and the girls ate WAY too much parade candy.

Pentax K100D, 18-55 kit lens at 43mm, f/6.7, 1/250 sec, ISO 400

Later that evening Alex came home from camp and we all went to the outdoor concert.  The upbeat music was too much for the little ones to resist so they formed their own mini-mosh pit and danced off some of that parade sugar.  However, one of them was none too happy when we finally cut off her candy supply.

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1/4 lens at f/5.6, 1/90, ISO 400

After the concert we came home and everyone snuggled up on the trampoline to watch the fireworks.  Well, everyone but me.  I was behind the tripod and camera snapping firework photos as fast as my camera would keep up.

Pentax K100D, 18-55 kit lens at 35mm, f/11, 4 seconds, ISO 400

The next Wednesday was the second dress rehearsal for the ballet.

Pentax K100, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/5.6, 1/60 sec, ISO 200 (Orton Effect applied)

On Friday, my in-laws arrived from out of town to watch Ellie's jazz and tap show.  She danced her heart out and we are all so proud of her.  Here is a shot of her and her grandma after the show.

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4, 1/60 sec, ISO 400

We came home to find our basement flooded (sorry, no pictures) because I am a bonehead and left the water to the garden on while we were at the dance show.   3 days and $200 later it was dry.

Saturday morning, June 21, we were still scrambling to dry the basement.  But I also spent a good chunk of time helping my two dancers get their hair and costumes ready for the big ballet.  They were both the most beautiful dancers you have ever seen.  

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2, 1/750 sec, ISO 200

 Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2, 1/750 sec, ISO 200

Well, those are the highlights for the second half of June.  To see more photos from all these events, check out my flickr page. 

Also, watch for video of the ballet.  I'll try and get that posted soon.

Last Saturday was dress rehearsal one of two for Gwyneth and Gabrielle.  Both girls got up early so I could pull their hair back into tidy buns and help them get into their tutus, and load them into the car by 8:30am for their ballet portraits and rehearsal.  The morning filled up with a lot of "hurry up and wait", and both girls were done by lunch time.  Here are some of my favorite shots from the morning.

Her Leap:  Pentax K100D with 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4, 1/2000 sec, ISO 200 

The Bunny Tail:  Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4, 1/125sec, ISO 200

She Ain't Heavy, She's My Bunny:   Pentax K100D 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/3.5, 1/180 sec, ISO 200

At four in the evening we were back at the high school 10 miles away for Gabrielle's jazz and tap portraits and rehearsal.  It was a lot more "hurry up and wait", but we filled up the time goofing around and shooting some fun photos of Gabrielle in her costumes.  The day was finally over when we got home around 9 pm.

Here are some shots from the evening of jazz and tap.

Nine Lives (Jazz):   Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 Lens at f/1.4, 1/60 sec, ISO 200.  (This one is fuzzy, I should have used a higher ISO and smaller f-stop, but I still love it.)

In The Spotlight:  Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 Lens at f/3.5, 1/180 sec, ISO 200
Strobist:  Vivitar 258HV at 1/8 low and camera left. 

Star Stuff:  Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4, 1/180 sec, ISO 200

Zoot Suit Riot (Tap):  Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4, 1/750 sec, ISO 800

For more dance photos, check out my "Dance" set on flickr. 

I have recently been given the honor of shooting engagement portraits for my friend's daughter.  Both the bride and groom are very easy on the eyes, which made my job super easy and a lot of fun.  We shot in the canyon on Friday evening until after dark and then got up REALLY early on Saturday to catch some of dawn's early light at the farm where the bride-to-be works as a horse trainer.  

After the sun went down and we were finishing up the canyon shoot on Friday, I noticed the way the light in this pavilion highlighted the gorgeous cathedral-like architecture, so I got the idea to set up a long 8 second exposure.  The pavilion lights are an icky fluorescent, and since they were mounted on the ceiling, they cast harsh shadows across their faces.  My low budget wireless triggers don't have near enough range to fire a strobe in the pavilion when my camera was sitting a good 25 yards away, so after a bit of trial and error, we hatched the idea of having the mother of the bride (my friend) hide behind one of the pillars on the far left and pop the strobe on my cue.   The flash head wasn't quite hidden from the camera's line of site, so you can see a little glint of light on the far left.  I can easily clone it out, but for the purposes of this post, I thought it was kind of cool that you can see exactly where the strobe was placed.  

Pentax K100D, 50 mm f/1.4 lens at f/22, 8 sec, ISO 1600

Here are some of my other favorites from the shoots.  Like I said before, they are a beautiful couple.

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2, 1/180 sec, ISO 200

Strobist:  Vivitar 285HV with shoot through umbrella from camera right. 

The next morning, we got up early and headed for the farm to catch some of those gorgeous golden morning rays of light as the sun was just coming up over the mountain.  It was well worth the few hours of sleep we sacrificed because the light was warm and wonderful.  In this one, I love the way the sunlight sets off the red in her hair.  Add to that the epic background we captured when the first sunlight hit the tip of snow-capped Mt. Nebo and I think this one is my favorite shot of all.

Pentax K100D, 50 mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200

For the final shots, she wanted something that she could use to show her ring to her far away friends.  This is what we came up with.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE my 50mm lens?

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4, 1/1500 sec, ISO 800 

To the happy couple...  Congratulations, you two!  I hope you love these shots so you can check another thing off of your mile long "To Do Before the Wedding in August"  list.   : )

With three birthdays within 4 days at the end of May, sometimes we streamline the festivities and have a group party.  This year we opened presents and did the cakes at Grandma and Grandpa's house (Scott's Mom and Dad).

Pentax K100D, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 38mm f/6.7, 1/180 sec, ISO 200

Still, we try and grant some individual birthday wishes.  Gabrielle's request for a birthday dinner was fettuccine alfredo, and Scott was craving the Olive Garden for his birthday meal, so we were lucky enough to combine those wishes into one evening.  Olive Garden is one of the few restaurants that everyone in our family loves, but we don't go very often because with a family of 6 it gets expensive fast.

Gabrielle was so excited waiting to dig into her fettuccine, I thought she might burst.  I can't blame her, it's my favorite, too. 

Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4, 1/15 sec, ISO 200

I don't think Alex liked the way I was eying his pepperoni.

 Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/1.4, 1/20 sec, ISO 200

After dinner we fulfilled Gabrielle's last birthday wish with a trip to the local Fun Center to ride the go-carts. The first race was an epic face-off between father and son with our innocent little Gwyneth caught in the middle.  She looks a little nervous in this shot, but after they started moving, she had the time of her life.

 Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO 200

Next up were Andrea and me against Gabrielle.  It was back and forth the whole way, but in the end, she beat me with a photo finish.

 Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO 200  (Photo by Alex)

After the races, we went for around of mini-golf, but I was so busy chasing Andrea around and keeping her out of the water hazards, that I forgot to set my ISO for a faster speed, so all the photos ended up blurry.  Oh well.  Nobody's perfect.  For all you paying customers, don't worry, my kids won't be coming along to distract me during your photo shoots.  : )

Andrea has had an adventurous streak come out since she turned two.  Every time to take our eyes of of her for a split second, she makes a break for it at a full run and heads for something she knows she's not supposed to be into.  The only shot we got of her all night is this one of her headed for the Olive Garden parking lot and Gwyneth following her over there to drag her back.  

 Pentax K100D, 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2.8, 1/2000 sec, ISO 200  (Photo by Alex)