Shower for Baby Natalie

I had an opportunity to spend a couple hours at the beautiful Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace this weekend on the occasion of a baby shower thrown for friends MyLinh and Jeremiah Joson. My-Ann, Linh's sister, put together a fantastic party, including great food & desserts, activities for all ages, and an opportunity for friends and family to shower MyLinh and Jeremiah with gifts for their daughter, Natalie (coming soon!).


Not an exact likeness, but very cute nonetheless.



Activities for kids included onesie decorating at the Kids Kraft Korner.



Jeremiah, goofing around with mom.



Linh, getting some practice time



Linh and Jeremiah received many gifts from loved ones and had a wonderful time

More photos can be seen over at facebook.

And the Winner is...

Saturday has arrived, and so has the end of the debut photo contest between Rico Molden and myself. The competition was fierce, the perspectives similar yet unique, but in the end, the judges would have the final say. Thanks to everyone that participated and voted for your favorites! We hope you enjoyed being a part of this contest, and that you'll come back to more of these in the future.

I had hoped to have better news to report for myself, but I'm afraid I must be a good sport and announce that the clear winner in every category was Rico Molden! Congratulations, my friend.


Here, again, are his winning images in each category:


Perspective of a Window



Between



Landscape



Portrait



Close up
(This one was a shut-out)


There you have it! Rico has bested me in the first round, but I'll be looking forward to swirling around some water in my mouth, spitting it into a bucket, and coming out swinging in the next one. That is, after I shamefully hang one of Rico's pics in my home.

The Competition

Rico Molden is a friend, bandmate, and fellow photographer. He and I spend much of our downtime talking about the various photographic adventures we've been on separately. It was inevitable that we would decide to stage a friendly little competition, and put each other's skills to the test. Walking together, we took pictures in a vacant home and then throughout Claremont’s Downtown district (the Village). After hours of selecting and editing…the entries are in and the voting polls are now open! You are invited to help judge this competition, by choosing your favorite photo in each of the five categories: Perspective of a Window, Between, Landscape, Portrait, and Close-up. The images are presented below, with the copyright identity masked by a random and annonymous presentation. Suffice to say, one photo from each category belongs to Rico, and the other belongs to Jason.


Category #1 - Perspective of a Window


Perspective of a Window (A)



Perspective of a Window (B)



Category #2 - "Between"


Between (A)



Between (B)



Category #3 - Landscape


Landscape (A)



Landscape (B)



Category #4 - Portrait


Portrait (A)



Portrait (B)



Category #5 - Close-up


Close-up (A)



Close-up (B)

Hope you enjoy playing photographic judge for a day! Remember to make your selections by leaving a comment below (simply type the category and choose "A" or "B" for each). Remember, it's all in fun, so try not to over-think it. Thanks for playing! Please post your comments by Friday, January 8th; winner will be posted on Saturday the 9th. By the way - the photog with the most overall "wins" will have his best photograph proudly on printed display in the "losers" home for a month. How's that for a reward?

I Have My Own Built-in Sweater, Thank You.

What happens when you decide it would be a fun idea to dress your labradoodle up in a red sweater for a family Christmas card photo? Well, for one possible outcome, take a look at what Bev and Bry recently experienced with their wooly companion, Max. For them, it started out well enough. We managed to get a few good shots to choose from, and Max seemed relatively agreeable.







For this shot, Max even appears to smile a little. Clearly, he fancies his new attire.



Thinking we might get some fun candids of a playful Max romping around in his new digs, we turned him loose to run around a bit. We figured we'd get him, and his owners, in a more playful spirit, and that the best images would emerge as a result.







After only a couple laps, Max decided he was through with his new wardrobe, and took great delight in tearing it away from his body in a very fussy and growly sort of way.



Once rid of his red nemesis, Max was once again quite obedient, and acted as though the incident never happened. Lesson learned: dogs of this size and shape will not appreciate the gesture of a pretty new sweater, so it's truly best to get all the formals done up front.

My thanks to Bev, Bry, and Max for their good humor.