12-29-08___Ah, The Joys Of Photography
We just got back from spending a few days with the family in Rocky Mount over our break. The days seemed short and many nights were spent watching movies, playing Mexican train dominos (our new favorite board game) and just hanging with the Fam! On the 26th, The O'Connor's threw a nice suoire for Emily and Patrick, the newely engaged couple in the family. Being the first large gathering at the O'Connor's new house, there was plenty of food and beverages, with many opportunites for group photos and grab shots. We will be hosting the photo album for the young love birds, so give them a look.

12-25-08___Merry Christmas!
We had a wonderful Christmas this year and made our usual rounds this year. We went to Cary and Rocky Mount and were blessed to visit with most of the family! Kristi and I took a long break from work and can hopefully relax the rest of our vacation (who am I kidding, I've got to finish construction on the nursery!) There is some more progress on the nursery (see Baby Mitchell update) Santa was again good to us this year, though next year the baby will probably get most of the spoils! What a warm holiday season once again, as there wasn't a hint of ice or snow - darn! Christmas morning was a mix of emotions this year, as we found out what Baby Mitchell is....see here!

12-22-08___Construction In Progress
After a month of scouring for color combinations and bedding, the deliberation is finished. Kristi and I found the modern, simplistic look we were going for to fit the nursery. Our former guest room is now a construction zone, with paint and sawdust flying. There is molding going up, a ceiling fan installed, and fresh bold paint on the walls. We finally received our 3rd piece of furniture for the room. We now have the crib assembled, the combo (changing) table and the tall dresser. Kristi has been absent for most of the construction (we don't want Baby M inhaling fumes now do we?), so the room has been my hangout the last few of days. Next will be the closet (whoopee!) and that will painted to complement the nursery. I plan to rip out the cheap wire shelf in there now and construct real shelving with hanging and cubby storage. My goal...to have the construction and big stuff in place by New Years'. We'll see....
Here's a sneak peek at the nursery -

12-08-08___Hey Now, Hey Now, D40's Back!
After almost a month and the Nikon repair facility in Melville, NY, our D40 arrived in pristine condition with the wireless remote sensor fixed! I put the camera in quick-response remote mode and popped off a few shots to make sure everything was working as expected. We also purchased a new accessory for our Nikon setup - the SB-800 Strobe (external flash). This thing packs a punch and can be dialed in from 1/128th to 1/1 full power, depending on lighting needs. For bouncing light and the ability to remotely command other similar Nikon strobes, this setup is hard to beat. It would be nice to have a home studio one day with dedicated 300-500W strobes, but for now this will allow me plenty of power and creativity. Nikon calls this the "Creative Lighting System" and many different indoor and outdoor shots are possible now, unlike with the puny pop-up flash. When Baby M comes along, it will be nice to make indoor shots using our large, vaulted living-room ceiling as a giant soft box. Stewie has been my test subject of late, but for now, Mr. Grinch will have to do!

Ceiling-bounced SB-800, F/4 at 1/60, ISO200

12-04-08___Oh Nikon, where art thou?
I've been deliberating on purchasing a compact point-and-shoot for a while now, and finally pulled the trigger on the Canon A590IS. The A-series has been around for years now, while delivering great images at a low price point. Out of the box, it allows an easy "photography for dummies" mode all the way up to full manual control. I tested many cameras in this price range, and the 590 really stood above the rest for the features I value the most. If you are in the market for a nice feature-rich point-and-shoot that won't seize the wallet, I highly recommend this camera, even after only a couple hundred shots. I mean come on, those sleek, metal-bodied, half deck of cards compacts are snazzy and all - but $300-400 - man, that almost buys a D40 nowadays! With our D40 at the Melville repair center (wireless remote sensor never worked) I was going to be without some glass for about 2-3 weeks, during which we were going to be on our mountain trip. Since I found a great deal on this little gem, it was time to click "buy". By the way, all the pictures on our site posted recently were made with the A590.

A590IS self-portrait, bathroom mirror, image flipped in PS, macro focus

12-01-08___Thanksgiving in the Mountains
Kristi and I were fortunate enough to get away for 4 days over the Thanksgiving holiday with some of the family. We stayed in a large, but cozy chalet towering over the town of Wilkesboro, seated at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We endured some warm and cold weather and were able to take a wine tour to several vineyards in the area. The weather was not cold enough, nor was there enough snow in the Boone area for the boys and I to ski. We did go to Boone and hang out downtown one day while the girls shopped. This is the time of year to really be thankful for the blessings of family, friends and our jobs. The picture below of the Raffaldini Vineyards tasting room was actually taken from a moving vehicle. It just goes to show how mistakes (slow shutter) can sometimes make cool pictures! Sort of an impressionist thing going on here..

11-19-08___New Baby!
That's right - the secret is now out! We are pregnant with a new generation Mitchell! 12 weeks this Monday - We have added a new tab at the top for the beanie baby! Mommy is holding up very well with no sickness so far. We will be updating the baby page in a blog-like fashion, and maybe mommy will even be doing some of the postings. Our excitement has been hard to contain, but now we are letting the world know! Come share the joy as we embark on the journey of parenthood!

11-01-08___Carolina Hurricanes
Our sporting event streak continued this weekend, as we ran into some free tickets (on the glass, center-ice!) to the Canes vs. Oilers game on Saturday. This was the first game we attended this season and was great up until the 3rd period, when the Canes gave up 2 goals the last 4 minutes. We got to see some rather lethargic action on the part of the Canes, who didn't get one goal off their many power plays. Still, we had a great time with friends and I got to shoot some close up action with the D40 and 55-200 VR again! Being right behind the 'canes bench and center ice, there was some great action to be had. I had to shoot at 800 ISO and bumped the exposure to +0.3. I finally got the white balance right around the beginning of the 3rd period (took a measurement off my buddy's white stripe on his jacket). Check out the shots!

10-23-08___New design
I have been working on this new design in bits and pieces for a while, so here it is. Since I am still using Dreamweaver MX, some of my options are limited for newer web technology implementation, but it is still a great program. I try real hard to keep IE and Firefox happy, although my heart will always reside with Firefox (love version 3 with the Foxmarks plug-in!) This isn't the only new thing we are working on - stay tuned...

10-14-08___Carolina Panthers Game
Through a family members' hook-up (thanks Kevin), we were invited to attend the matchup between the Carolina Panthers and the Kansas City Chiefs in Charlotte! We went on Saturday and stayed at the cushy Westin hotel, just a couple blocks from Bank of America Stadium! The party was on that night and the downtown area was hopping with nightlife, young and old! We were in a corporate box, 50-yard line, so the view was great! The game proved to be a walk in the park for Carolina, as they strolled over KC 34-0! I was finally able to use our new Nikon 55-200mm VR telephoto lens on the D40 - shooting on shutter priority proved to be a challenge up in the box, trying to freeze the action but not underexpose the images - Click on the panther to see the action!