Our son Jon has a way of getting work that allows him to get paid to do things that others might do just for the fun of it. This summer he is in Sitka, Alaska, taking tourists on thrilling (and occasionally bone-jarring) rides in the waters around Sitka. The boat is a high-performance Zodiac-like vessel that Jon says will do 60 mph on smooth water.
In this photo Jon is giving us our instructions before we board the boat. Reassuringly, he tells his passengers that the orange suits they are wearing will keep them afloat if they should fall overboard. No one fell off - not even my 70+ mother-in-law. (And NO, I wasn't wishing she would. I love my mother-in-law. :-) )
Several years ago our oldest son Brian gave a concert and part of his Senior Project at the University of South Dakota. As I was looking for photos to post to this blog, I came across the pictures I had taken for Brian. There wasn't much light in the room other than that lighting the stage. This photo has a gritty look to it - in part because of the black and white process I applied but also because I was shooting at high ISO.
This is what I look like when I travel. I think this is a flattering view! Behind me is the little grocery store that was just down the road from the hotel my wife and stayed at while visiting Corfu, Greece, in 2006. The store had a little bit of everything but was so small that three or four customers would have challenged its aisle space. But the store owner was friendly and thought big: on the awning the store proudly announces itself as a "Super Market" (in English)!
Forgive the self-portrait, but since I posted my cat Mac yesterday, I thought I owed it to my dog Polly's memory to post one of her.
Here's another one with high sentimental value. I was asked by my recently-engaged son, Brian, to take engagement photos of him and his fiancée, Katie. Of course I said, "Yes." But I was nervous - partly because I hadn't done any studio portraiture in months and partly because I had never done any real formal portraiture of my own family. But both subjects were relaxed and easy to work with. And they were photogenic. (How could a father and future father-in-law say anything else?!)