The battle of the bulge!

My favorite red head cousin from Washington came into town for a coed baby shower. Uncle Ted and Aunt Sharon hosted a barbecue for the family to celebrate the upcoming baby Louis. While i was there, we were able to have Laura and Marcie battle it out for who had the bigger baby belly. Laura won, but she was about 8 weeks more pregnant. After a wonderful dinner, Marcie opened up her baby gifts. she was blessed with a hand made quilt from grandma and hand painted art by Kate for the baby room. The rest of the big stuff was mailed to her home near Seattle. After the gifts, the cake was cut and we started catching up, while looking at Marcie's baby pictures, conveniently placed on the coffee table. we had a blast as stayed a while having fun chit chatting. Laura even stayed up late with us and enjoyed every one's company. I has tons of fun talking with everybody.

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A Gift for Brad's mom; family photos!

A while back by buddy Brad called and asked if i could take some family pictures for him. we wanted to put these pics on a digital frame and give it to his mom for her birthday. We set up a day and a time early in the morning for some good light and cooler weather. Erin and got there and we scoped the area out and found a great spot for photos in the back yard under some trees. We started with the basic family photos, then the fun started. Since the pictures were to be in a slide show, Brad suggested it would be cool to each consecutive picture add in the next person added into the family. We would start with the whole family and remove a member one by one in reverse order they were added to the family. We did this so when the order was reversed in the slide show, members were added in order. then the goofy pictures started and with all the creative minds, we got some good ones. The kids had fun playing around and hanging in trees. The guys had fun giving trouble to their mates. The whole Schaefer family had fun and as a result, the pictures turned out wonderful! After all the posing, i brought in the camera and gave them a preliminary slide show of what the pictures looked like and they all liked them and were excited. Erin and i wrapped it up with lunch with brad and mari at bandannas. thanks for the fun time and great pics Brad!

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Camping 2008

Another summer has come , and you know what means; camping! Erin and I ventured to a different camp site, the Bass river resort. We chose that location because we would be able to use rafts on the deeper waters and thus greatly reduce the time we were dragging as compared to canoes. Jeff and I packed up the suburban all day on Friday and when Erin got off at work at three, we jumped in the sub; and left. After a seemingly quick drive, Jeff, Erin and I unpacked and set up our tents.

Then Shortly after, rad and Mari arrived. They (Brad) unloaded and set up. Soon after we started drinking the drink of the trip; lemonade and blue raspberry vodka. It was a great drink. Then Jeff, Brad & I started in on he rum & coke and screwdrivers. Brad quickly reached the goofy drunk stage and the laughter wouldn't stop. We had a good time hanging out around the fire. then late that night, we called it a night.

The next morning, Eric, Kayla and Joe joined us to float. Then we went to float. We used rafts for the first time this year. I thought it was fun, but at some spots we would move and it got a little tedious. We talked and relaxed for the six hour float. we got back to the tents with an appetite and cooked up our dinner of hamburgers and potatoes. They turned out great. We ate up and had a great time. Everyone drank that night but Brad because he was still recovering from the night before. We all crashed early that night. The next morning we went to the front house for breakfast. Afterwards, Eric & I played in the water, making our annual dam. When our dam was complete, we dried off and ate around the fire. Shortly after, Brad and Mari left. Jeff and i decided to make a huge fire and see what was flammable. When our consumables for the fire were out the rest of us packed our the suburban and went on our merry way. We had tons of fun, thanks everyone who attended.

For pics click here.

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My first time with a model

In march, the photography group i belong to in Flicker had a meet up, where we would learn and practice with models. the models were gathered by an ad in Craigslist and would work for the CD of their pictures. But the ace up my sleeve was the fact that i 'hired' and brought my own personal models: Erin and Bradie.

I got there about 15 minutes late and walked into a room full of strangers. But luckily i was met with smiling faces. We dove into the learning discussion. then we started talking about posing and positioning. Then i started taking photos of my super models. I played with the lights a lot to get them just right. And then bang! the awesome pics started. I started with Erin by a window and then moved to a back drop. I moved my models in and around and played with their position.

During my playing with the girls, i realized that the corded method of triggering my flashes sucked with my Canon brand items. They were not made to do such 'tricks'. Then after some frustration, i went to plan 'B': i used the wireless built in flash system in my flashes. This worked soooooo much better. to i set it up this way. i am totally eyeballing some pocket wizards or gadget infinity triggers.

Then the girls, took a quick break. I was then struck by a great bolt of luck. Kendrick walked in the door looking for a photographer. I quickly swept him up and in came the nervousness. While we talked, i learned how much of a nice guy Kendrick was and how fun he is to work with. I put a color filter on the flash to match his clothing and off we went. i tried to incorporate his flair into the pics by using poses that i saw him use while preparing. we had tons of fun. I moved him and tried cool stuff with his accessories. He seemed to like it also, because he complemented me on how i work and my style. we exchanged info and i told him that i would show him the pics after i loaded it onto my computer before i left.

Then we all gathered for our group pic - which took waaaaaay too long. Then i put the pics on my laptop and showed Kendrick. He was ecstatic. he loved them. He was excited because he normally doesn't like pics of himself but this time he liked all of them.

It was a great experience and i will attend the next meeting. I am glad i ran into Kendrick and i will track him down next time i need a model.

for my pics click here.