We got out to Pictured Rocks with the Klefstad's this morning. The weather was perfect, and we all had a great time. We took all four kids, and they all had a chance to pull, too.

Here's a shot of Erik leading on the Mild Iowa wall. I am really proud of him for having the salt to try to lead. It shows that he's at least willing to push it. Here's to you, bro!

Can't wait to get back!

     Kari and I took the boys for a walk tonight. We've been making it a definite point to get outside with them almost every night before it gets too hot. We really are trying to "instill" in our boys the value of being outside. Even if it is in town, the outdoors are still amazing. This time we went around the swamplands that are by the north shore trail entrance. It was beautiful and we took our time. I was able to snap off a few "trick" shots of the boys as they rode by on their scooters. Owen isn't quite as adventurous as Isaac, but they both love to ride. Enjoy!

    As much as I love a good movie, or clicking the keys on my Mac, there is nothing like spending a fourth of my day outside. Hope you value it as much as I do! Cheers.

I thought I would try my hand at HDR photography with a shot I took today. For those that don't know, high dynamic range photography is hard to explain, but I'll try. Here goes:

When we look at a scene, our eyes and brain see it differently than what a camera can actually capture. This is because our eyes see over several stops of light. What this means is that when we look into the shadows of a scene, we see what's in there, whether it be a dark alley, a shadow of a tree, or etc....whatever-because our eyes adjust to the darkness via our pupil dilating larger and smaller to allow more or less light in, just like the aperture of a camera. When we look into the sky, or a bright scene, our eyes also adjust to it to allow us to see definition and color and etc. This is the shot "as captured" by the camera. It's alright, but it isn't really how I remember the scene.

High dynamic range programs use several algorithms to "mesh" these different highs and lows, or brights and darks, to make a scene much closer to the way our brain remembers it. Some HDR shots, in my opinion, are really bad. Some look really good, it just depends on what the "shooter" saw when they took the picture. It really doesn't show much integrity as a photographer to say what is good or bad, just "not my style".

Here is the shot "post-processed" with HDR as my main focus.

In this second shot, I did what is called "dodging and burning"-that's making the darks a bit darker, and making the brights a bit brighter, as well as some color correction and layer masking. All of this is sometimes done in an HDR  program, but I use the simple Photoshop Elements 2 that came with my first camera. 

What I really like about photography is the "subjectiveness" of it, if I can use that word. You may like the first shot better, others may like the second. It really is up to you and me to decide.  Have a good day and get your rear outside, it just keeps getting bigger! (the outside, not your rear....I'll shut up).

Cheers!

Some of you have met my brother, Mike and his wife, Kim. However, as busy as they are, you may not have met my nephews, Steve and Nick. They are both about as active as you can get-skateboarding, bmx, climbing, working out, etc. Its really cool to have them for role models for my kids, cuz, even though they make mistakes (as we all do) you can tell they really care. 

We went to my dad and moms to celebrate mothers day and I decided to shoot Nick doing flips and stuff. Him and Steve are both strong, talented, and coordinated kids and its cool to see them grow up. Anyway, here are the shots of Nick doing his "thing". Enjoy!

Thanks, Nick, for being a good sport!

Cheers.

I've been trying to work on my studio product photos lately. Having lights and flashes really helps you get most of the shot in-camera, without the need for much photoshop stuff. Anyway, being a climber I have some cool gear and its pretty fun to shoot. 

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This is the setup in the lower bedroom. The locker is hanging from fishing line and the whole setup, except for the flash on the right, is all home-made. Pretty fun! It's good to know how to do these things in case there is ever a product shooter needed in the area. 'Till next time, 

Cheers

Isaac has joined a local baseball team and they will be having his first game this Friday. I thought I should get some shots of him before he gets his outfit scroungy. He's got a great arm and he's also accurate. I'm sure his team is glad he's there.

His "get real, ump" face

Hope he catches better than that for real

"Pop-fly"

I will have a post about his first game over the weekend, and maybe some in-between. Have fun and get outside! Cheers!

On one of our trips to the Red River Gorge, Kentucky, we bought a six pack of the infamous Ale8 soda. We have one left. It isn't very tasty, kinda like a more lemony 7up, but it is very rare to have one. I thought I'd set up my studio and shoot some product shots today, so here they are. Enjoy!

As many of you know, we have a rather large climbing wall in our garage. It has been the subject of many parties, some talk on the town, and has even appeared in Climbing magazine and Urban Climber. We are now faced with our fate of down-sizing our home. The home we are looking at (and have signed papers on) has a garage that would hold most of what you see here, but not all. It really depends on how much of it we would need for other stuff. (Leave it all outside in the rain is what I say)

I have the huge task ahead of me of taking this behemoth down and moving it in pieces to the other place, pending we get it. It is, after all, eleven sheets of 3/4" plywood, with over 200 holds, not to mention the 2x6 lumber to hold it all together.

I wanted to take a few pics this morning of the wall with my new flash kit and so I had to "pose" to get a sense of size for all of you that haven't seen it before.

Lately I haven't had the desire to "pull plastic" much and have really been wanting to get outside and climb alot more. I'm not sure, but it seems I'm "burnt out" on climbing in my garage. 

Anyway, we might be moving soon, but there are still a lot of formalities we need to filter out with this house and the other one. I will keep you posted. In the meantime, Cheers.