Baby Blessing Leads to Photographic Lessons

Today was a special day for our family...our daughter had her baby blessing at church! My wifes's sister even made a beautiful blessing dress for her and we wanted to get some good pictures of her in it. (To see more pictures of our little angel in her blessing dress, please take a stroll down the recent addition on the "Wildlife of Moss Grove" trail.)

We learned some simple techniques that improved the quality of the picture.

First, we tried taking some pictures inside the house. The camera's flash can can overexpose the subject and trail a big black shadow on top of the darkened backdrop behind it and damage the quality of a photo, so we opened the curtains wide to let some of the natural light fill the room in hopes we wouldn't have to use the flash. Unfortunately it still left hard shadows and a dark subject:

Even brightening it up with software doesn't change the shadows problem.

We decided to move the picture-taking outside with the natural light hoping it would give more brightness and softer shadows.

We laid some blankets down on the grass in the shade to avoid the sun shining in our daughter's face. With a few adjustments to the camera settings to capture the light better, we compensated for the shade and got better results...softer tones, less harsh shadows.

(I did still brighten it up with software, though, I don't totally have my camera settings mastered yet.)

Even though moving the baby outsided in the natural light solved the harsh shadows problem, it almost over-compensated and left the subject a little bit flat. So we took a single sheet of white poster board and used it to reflect softer light back onto our baby which added a nice bright, almost glowing accent.

You can see a big difference. In the picture below, the poster board is positioned off camera to the top right. The shadows aren't too harsh, but the light accents the subject bringing out greater depth and texture. You can especially see added depth in her face and dress.

The lesson learned is that a simple piece of white poster board used as a light reflector, can really bring a picture to life.

Can you tell where the simple poster board reflector is on this picture?

Random Photos

I like how the focus is on the off-center flower, yet the colors balance the picture out without being symetrical.

I wish I had a stronger zoom, but I still like being able to see the craters of the moon.

The Astoria-Megler bridge from the Hammond Marina. Notice the 'fish bone' trees on the skyline--physical memories of the December wind storm.

This white moth on our white wall looks kind of angelic...

...until you see it close up. Especially with those piercing eyes and the 'hairy' look. I like how you can even see the shadow of antenae hairs on the wall.

Three Weeks Into This World

Our baby b is three weeks old today! Her due date was three days ago.

Little Hands

Little Feet

At 12-days-old, already developing her "mischief" look.

Wide-eyed @ 20 days.

Takes after daddy: happy to be in mommy's arms.

Peaceful Baby And Her Not-As-Peaceful Older Brothers

I just wanted to take a little snapshot of time regarding my children. Having another baby around the house after almost five years heightens your awareness of how much and how quickly your children change.

We've been enjoying watching home movies taken around each of the boys' births. Its amazing to see how much of their personalities haven't changed--they've just become more sophistocated in how they display their personalities.

Peaceful, sleeping baby B

C (age 5 in two weeks) not hiding his mischievous side.

K (age 6.5) trying to look 'suave' while still not hiding his 'blond' tendancies.

T (age 8): adventurous, fearless, and daring.

S (age 9.75) the brother guardian and Mom's best helper.

J (age 11) the connoisseur of obscure Nintendo trivia--and an ear for good music.

Baby B and the hand of comfort.

Fruits of Miracles

A week ago yesterday, my pregnant wife's water broke. 24 hours later, a week ago today, our first daughter was born, three weeks early, @ 6 lbs. 15.5 oz.; 19.75"

To me, birth is a miraculous thing, but reflecting back on this particular birth it seems there were additional miracles encompassing the miracle of birth itself. Why did the water break break so early? Why did we have to wait an extra day before official labor commenced? How did all of that timing coincide with the particular people who helped us?

I feel that all of those things were actual answers to prayers and fulfillment of blessings and comfort. And that’s not to mention the miracle of having a girl after a trend of five boys!

I saw God’s hand in all of this and I saw the same hero in my wife that I saw with all our babies.

After spending all day Thursday in the hospital, bored to death, while my wife was slowly drained physically and emotionally by the unproductive contractions forced on her by the Pitocin, we were pretty discouraged. The only comfort was being able to hear the baby's heartbeat on the monitor and know both she and Heather were still healthy and safe. By dinner we turned off the Pitocin, said more prayers, and tried to enjoy a relaxing evening in our hospital dungeon.

In answer to our prayers, with no more help than some previous cervix softening medications, my wife started contracting on her own around 1am. I was unaware of her contractions until 2am when I recognized that she was in true labor. I folded up my bed and geared-up for the part I hate the most-- watching helplessly as she suffers inconceivable pain and agony.

After a few hours of intense torture, my wife was only at 3cm. Laboring so painfully long, so early in the morning (after a full day of forced contractions), with very little progress overwhelmed us and we decided to try our first-ever epidural.

I've always been nervous about it and had reservations about epidurals partially because my wife is generally sensitive to medication. When the anesthesiologist came moments later he resolved most of my concerns and started preparing for the epidural.

Suddenly I noticed a different reaction during the next contraction--my wife was pushing! In just about 20 minutes, my wife went from a 3 to an 8! This prompted the anesthesiologist to move faster, but almost in a blink, my wife was pushing again and the head crowned.


The anesthesiologist ended up delivering the baby about 10 minutes before our doctor arrived at the hospital. The whole labor was about four hours. As surprised and somewhat unprepared for the baby to come three weeks early as we were, if we weren't already in the hospital when the labor started, its possible we might not have made it to the hospital in time--let alone to get settled and prepared.

Although we had competent nurses helping, if we hadn't asked for an epidural, there would have been no doctor to deliver the baby...and we still didn't have to go through with the epidural. [Note: I say 'we' knowing full-well that it really means Heather.] We found out later that the anesthesiologist who delivered our baby used to teach OB classes--what are the odds.

This was a unique experience for us, but the whole process was a witness to me that God is mindful of our needs and, although He allows us to learn through some difficult challenges, He is always nearby to offer comfort and support. I know God loves His Children.

My youngest son's expression is a good representation of how all my boys feel about their new baby sister.

Our New World of Photography

We've always dreamed of having a decent camera to satiate our appetite for developing our photography skills. Thanks to Uncle Sam, we received our Economic Stimulus gift and that dream came true. I can't guarantee our skills will improve, but the pictures will certainly improve over those of past camera's we've owned.

We didn't get the fanciest, highest featured camera, but we got one that seems to be just right for our amateur needs. We bought a Nikkon D40 6.1 mega pixel, Digital SLR Camera with a bonus zoom lens with vibration reduction for under $600 from Costco.com. It has more features and options than any camera we've ever owned.

So the past few days we've been experimenting with the camera. Although I still do some post-shoot editing, most of it is cropping and a little brightening in some cases. Anyway, here are a few results from our new camera (click on picture to see detail better):

Spring is the perfect time for testing colors and close-ups. I love the depth of field this new camera provides. And it has some nice vivid pictures...its not washed out like the point-and-shoot tended to be. And the focus is tons clearer than our point and shoot.

How about moving targets? I was stunned when I saw how clear this seagull turned out in mid-flight. On top of that the blurred background makes it stand out.

Friday night the beach had an eerie orange haze as the sun set giving a fitting backdrop to the skeletal remains of Peter Iredale.

One of the best tests is the moon. I was quite pleased with how well the zoom lens took shots of the moon. This picture was cropped and still has a lot of detail without the grain--a testimonial to the value of increasing mega pixels.

This is one of my favorites. Not only does this cropped shot say a lot about the capability of the camera, I was also fascinated with the unique opportunity of snapping wild life in action in my own backyard. I was fascinated at the scope of this scene. It's like a single snapshot of this mortal life: start of new life (the specks of pollen came out so clear I was surprised), our reliance on each other, and death completes the circle.

More Spring in the NW 2008

Tall Order for the Columbia River

On Wednesday, I heard on the radio that an over sized ship carrying an unusually large cargo was anchored in Hammond, OR waiting to resume its journey to the Port of Portland (OR) until Thursday morning when the tide was low enough for its 185 ft. tall cargo to clear the nearly 200 ft-high Astoria-Megler Bridge. We decided to take a look:

The giant 490ft wide crane sits firm on its Post-Panamax (too big to fit through the Panama Canal) carrier and rests briefly after a month-long journey from China.

Before sunrise Thursday morning, when the tide was low, the Columbia Bar Pilots quickly outran the fog that was rolling in from Young's Bay and slipped the Zhen Hua 17 under the Astoria-Megler bridge with four feet of clearance. (Daily Astorian)

It's hard to see just how giant this structure is with the massive mouth of the Columbia River. But you can get a little reference if you look at the little dots (windows) on the sides of the ships and consider that each row of windows is about one story high.

After clearing the Astoria-Megler bridge just ahead of the fog, the Columbia River Bar Pilots turned the ship over to the Columbia River Pilots for its more difficult challenge: the 195ft Lewis and Clark Bridge at Longview, Washington...

A Few Pictures of Recent Trips to Lacamas Lake

Here are a few pictures from some of our trips to Lacamas Lake in Camas, WA.:

All kinds of vegetation: Trees, flowers, moss,....(The picture used for the blog title also came from Lacamas Lake Park.

One of the waterfalls in the "pot holes" section below the dam.

My son spotted this 'alligator' as we were walking down the northwest inlet of Lacamas Lake.

This picture was taken on one of the snowy mornings. The weather was weird that day with a mix of snow, rain, sun off and on all day. I really like the contrast of the branches with the pure blue backdrop with a hint of white clouds in this picture.

I love my youngest son's expression in this picture. He demanded I take a picture of the plant. I like how this picture turned out with the plant standing out in focus in fulfillment of his request, while the subject I wanted (my son) fills the background with just a slight blur. Everyone once in a while our little cheap, reconditioned 4.1 mega pixel point-and-shoot takes some better-than-usual pictures.

Lacamas Lake, Camas, WA

Camas, Washington is where I grew up (at least through my social years of middle school and high school.) I have a ton of good memories of that city.

I get quite depressed whenever I visit, though. It has changed a lot from its former, small-town culture. Most of the homes are expensive homes and the whole characteristic of the town is different. The forested areas and fields I used to play in are now crammed with expensive homes with no yards. The tree-lined roads and beautiful natural creeks and forest oasis' in the middle of the neighborhoods are traded for money and replaced with gigantic homes that stomp out all of Camas' raw beauty. It's like going to the movie theater that you've gone to forever, sitting in your favorite seat and then all of a sudden a super large person plops down right in front of you, blocking your view every time. Makes me feel like those who took over Camas don't appreciate the value of what was originally there. I suppose that's the typical story of community growth--or maybe I'm just jealous that they live there now...and that they can afford such nice houses.

However, regardless of all those changes, there are some constants that have been preserved for which I am grateful.

One of them is Lacamas Lake and Round Lake up the hill to the North almost out of town. The Lakes themselves are pretty cool, but the awesome stuff is the below the dam in what we called the 'Pot Holes.' Who would have thought hidden away in this small town was some of the prettiest natural carved rock features and waterfalls. As the water tumbled over these rock beds, they would dig deep pits and create several waterfalls. This was my playground for several years of cross country (we had the best course in the division), track, and school field trips. My brother even did his trail improvement Eagle Scout Project at the park.

Here you can see Lacamas Lake which is connected at the south to Round Lake (not labeled, but obvious). At the southern-most end of Round Lake is the dam and the myriad of trails taking you through some beautiful forests with creeks, and water falls, and plant life and a ton of interesting things to soak up. In the bottom right corner (in the dark green vegetation just east-northeast to my High School Football stadium (the high school has since relocated) is a little white patch...that is the long, cascading falls. Comparing it to the stadium, you can get a feel for how long it is.

The other constant is the place of the world's best french fries, Top Burger. Every time we visit Camas we get an order of fries...and sometimes we splurge and order a malt too. The food is still as good as I remember it. I think another reason why I like eating there is because of the many times I would go there with friends.

Top Burger is the building on the corner of 15th and Everett. The clue is all the cars in the parking lot! I used to live about six blocks to the west on 15th st. My High School is (was) a block to the east.

So this Spring Break we took a trip to Camas for a nice walk and some good fries! And I reminisced the good 'ol days.

Wintry Spring Day

Spring has officially begun! Spring is my favorite season--the weather warms up, flowers start shining bright colors all over, the sun stays out to play longer and longer. Everything is new and fresh and waking up.



Today started out as a normal day of rain, rain, rain, here on the north Oregon coast--quenching the grass and flowers' winter thirst (OK, so they drink almost daily, year-round here).

The flowers have already started stretching out in the warmer weather and longer sun. The grass also has been reaching towards the sky taunting the lawn mower.

However, as the day progressed another wonderful surprise sprinkled this spring day: SNOW!!! Giant, quiet flakes of whipped ice peacefully floating from the sky and gently lighting down, in contrast, on the dark evergreens and bright green grass.

Enough snow to magnify the excitement of Spring Break as the boys capture the opportunity to play in this rare treat to the North Oregon Coast.

Although shaken a bit by the surprise, the spring flowers remained bright and warm in counterpoint.