On Monday, I was out playing football with Brandon. He was loving me throwing the ball straight up in the air, and then catching it. At one point, I threw the ball up and my wedding ring came flying off. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, but then I became preoccupied with the ball coming down and hitting me on my head, so I missed where the ring landed. I should have taken the hit. For almost two days I was out in the yard, looking under plants and bushes, and using a child’s metal detector that I picked up. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I did tests with quarters which showed the ring going behind me, which was backwards from where I thought it would have gone.

Yesterday evening, I was getting desperate so I tracked down some people from the Austin Metal Detectors Club. Yes, there is actually a club for that! This morning, Larry and Lee came over with their gear and started searching. Within 8 minutes they found the ring right where it should be! There were probably 3 or 4 people searching that exact area in the last 2 days.

I offered them money, and they refused! After additional poking and prodding, they finally accepted it and promised to use it for their club. If you ever lose something, these are the people to call! And don’t forget to pray to St. Anthony, who is the patron saint of all things lost. He and I have become good friends.

In case you have been living under a photographic rock these days, the new Canon 5D Mark 2 looks downright awesome. In addition to taking incredible pictures, it includes a video mode for making high-def movies. Now, I don’t think people will be replacing their camcorders and Flips for this (because it would still be a bulky/awkward solution), but the footage I found online below really shows off its power.

If you want to see the best quality version of this, click the HD button on the right side of the video when you hit the play button.

Check it out - what do you think? Is it great or what?

If you are like the legions of people around the world that woke up to a new camera on Christmas morning, congratulations! You are probably filled with a mix of excitement, confusion, and more as you flip through the 23 accessories and plastic baggies that came with your new toy.

I thought I would write this article to give you some tips on how to get the most out of your new camera over the coming days and weeks. Whether you are completely new to photography or have been shooting for a while, new gear is always fun and exciting. Here are some tips to get started:

1. Don’t throw away anything. Put all of the packaging inside the original box, and store it somewhere, at least for the first few months. New cameras today rarely have problems, but when they do it’s good to have all the original packaging to exchange it or return it. Some stores/online sites will require that packaging as well.

2. Start with the Green Box setting on the camera. It’s the fully-automatic mode, and it will make all the harsh, cruel decisions for you that you might have to make otherwise. While you are shooting in this mode, don’t judge the image quality too harshly. This is because the camera is making its best guess for you as to what’s important in the picture. Eventually (if you learn about the different camera modes), you can get better results by changing these settings yourself.

3. After you’ve played with the green box mode for awhile, figure out how to turn off the flash (if your camera has one), and keep taking pictures. Direct-from-the-camera flash shots hardly ever look good, and you can get great results without using it (depending on your camera and the lighting situation). Eventually you’ll discover that flash has its place, and you’ll learn when it will work best.

4. Don’t keep everything. It’s easy to feel like you need to keep every picture you take. Become critical of your work. Shoot a ton of images, and keep the very best.

5. Keep a list of your favorite photographers bookmarked in your browser, including their blogs (if they have one). My list rotates often, but here’s my current list of favs. 

6. Backup your work. Once you start to take a lot of pictures, you’ll need to either burn copies on dvd, copy them off to an external hard drive, or (preferably) both. Don’t keep your images on one computer. Every hard-drive and dvd will eventually fail, so it’s a good idea to start developing your ‘backup mindset’ now! 

7. Realize that it’s not the camera that takes great pictures, but you. While there are definitely reasons to lust after the latest gear, what you have in your hands today is much better than the pros had a few years ago. Learn the ins and outs of your camera, but also search out photographers online and study their work. Look at shot angles, lighting/time of day, expressions, shapes, etc. Pick aspects that you like of other photographers and combine them with your own to create something unique!

Give these tips a try, and above all - enjoy your new toy and take some great pictures!!

2008 is coming to a close, and I always take the time every year to pull out some of my very favorite images and put together a little slideshow.

A big thanks to all the clients, family, friends, coordinators, photographers and more that have helped make ‘08 truly memorable! Rock on in ‘09!

Christmas this year was wonderful - we absolutely had a great time all day long! Now that Brandon is 3, he was starting to understand a little about Santa Claus before the big day. I am pretty sure that next year he will be flying down the stairs at 5 in the morning to see what loot is waiting for him. Trevor had no problems adjusting to the great toys and great food!

First up, a different take on a decoration from the yard.

Festivities started on the 24th with dinner after church (which itself was filled with people inside and out the door).

The wine was provided by the fine folks at D’Vine Wine of Austin, complete with our own custom label featuring our ‘08 Christmas card.

This Advent calendar was made by Lisa’s mother, and has been used every year in our house. I’ll leave it to you to find the perverted ornament interpretation done on this calendar by yours truly.

Lisa has the cooking under control.

Lasagna-faced Trevor: “You feelin’ lucky, punk? Then get that camera out of my face.”

One of Brandon’s big gifts was this cool Disney monorail, which rode around a track and reminded people to stay away from the doors and to not smoke while on the way to the Walt Disney World Resort.

“Once I’m free of this stocking, Joker, your mine!!”

Grandpa scores with his own BBQ plate featuring handprints of the boys.

Grandma gets a cool bracelet that has pictures of all the grandkids in it.

Lisa got me this new Flip Mino HD, and had it customized with one of my favorite shots of all time!

“Arrhh.. There be un-eaten gummy bears over thar!”

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and that you have an even-better 2009!!!

The blog has been updated to match the design of the new site! There are some new features as well, including a recent posts and a tag cloud on the right sidebar.

There are still a couple of more changes to make, but it was a good time to roll out the latest version!

2008 marks the 5th year of a small but fun family Christmas tradition. Every December 24th, I head up to the Cheescake Factory to pick up a couple of slices of cheesecake that will serve as dessert after dinner. The first year, it was just me and our dog, Queso. Since then, I’ve included Brandon and Trevor. Lisa takes the picture before we leave, and you can really see the progression of the kids as they get older!

Here are the shots, starting with 2008 and heading back to 2003:

That’s how we living, you know?

One week to go! Are you done with your shopping? Everything shipped out? I am afraid to know the answer. Today is the day when I will do a purchase review, making sure everyone is covered and everything is ready to go. Ok, to be fair, Lisa has handled 95% of the shopping. In fact, pretty much all of the shopping, except for the Lisa-shopping. That’s my job. Don’t tell her, but I am almost done picking out all of the X-Box 360 titles she wanted. It was tough to track some of them down, but she will be oh so happy.

But don’t tell her.

And for you “Nightmare Before Christmas” fans out there, here’s a new profile pic for Facebook. I was obsessed with finding that mug at Disney earlier this year.