Wedding Shoot

A neighbor down the street has a side photography business and every once in a while we swap photo op stories. I offered to ride shotgun and be a second camera if he ever needed one and right away he invited me along to an upcoming wedding shoot. I took off half the day and enjoyed to opportunity to try to improve my skills. I think I was able to get a few decent shots. I liked the fact that my pictures were not do-or-die shots. A paycheck was not dependent on whether or not the pictures turned out. Here are my favorites and the rest of the wedding pictures.

Free Day at the Track

Several Fridays ago Jill had convinced me to work from home for part of the day so we could work in garage for the other part. Sorting through all of my old boxes that have been stored in my parent's garage for the last 5 years was not my idea of fun. As we were going through all the stuff (and throwing a ton of things away) we heard on the radio that is was a big car race weekend out at the Miller Sportspark and that there was no charge for admission today. I love how Jill is so flexible and how quickly plans can change. Besides, she was hoping to get a glimpse of Patrick Dempsey who was racing two Mazda cars (#29 and #40) and a Mustang (#54). We worked for another hour then packed up and headed West. The weather was threatening to rain. We stopped and grabbed some lunch thinking that maybe the dark clouds would pass by. I think they did, but more clouds came right behind them. It only rained on us for a few minutes which actually increased the excitement level. We found a good spot to park the car very close to the track by a section called 'The Attitudes'. This section rises to a quick left, right, left turn as it descends again. We saw a few spin-outs here when the track got wet. I spoke to one of the professional photographers briefly about the settings he was using to take his photos. I felt pretty good after that. Other than the difference in our camera gear (by a factor of a several thousand dollars) I was using very similar techniques and settings. All I need now is a lot more practice - and maybe some more expensive camera gear! There was only one race that day (the rest were practice sessions). It was the Mustang race at the end of the day and it got pretty exciting. The Third place car battled it out for several laps trying to pass the Second place car. Lap after lap we saw him attempt passes but could never pull it off. Sorry Jill, unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Patrick's #29 MX-5 car or his #54 Mustang, but I did get a few of his #40 RX-8. I guess it would have helped to actually know his numbers before hand! Here are the rest of the 300+ racing pictures.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, No it's A BOY

So, we wanted to share the exciting news that the stork will deliver a little baby BOY! We had the ultrasound last Wednesday and that was so much fun. I picked up Maya early from school so she could join us and the three of us had so much fun watching this little boy move around in my tummy. The nurse was great and answered all of our (particulary Maya's) questions. She was very impressed with Maya's questions about weight, due date, fluids, etc. as most siblings just want to know the sex. I laughed when Maya wanted the nurse to show us the baby's ears. And luckily she found them. Baby Boy Burk was not shy is showing us he was a boy and I hate to admit it but that part was one of the only body parts I could actually tell what it was. His head is very low and his face is turned towards my spine so there aren't too many good profile pictures. But I am glad to know he is in the right direction. We are happy to say that he has all the needed parts and is right on track to be born on Feb. 22nd. His heart beat is great and he is growing strong. It was really fun to come home on Thursday and have all of Corey's family over (visiting because Matt and Cami were in town). I walked in the door and they were all dying to hear the gender news. Corey is excited to have a son and Maya (although she stated on the way there that she would be very upset if it was a boy) is excited too. I have started to feel him move around which is fun. The heartburn can stop at anytime. This week I learned my lesson not to lift anything heavy as i tore a muscle in my upper stomach and have been miserable. Lesson 1 don't carry t.v.s when your prego.