Happy New Year!

December is a crazy month at my house, with two birthdays, Christmas and the New Year beginning in such rapid succession. I've taken so many family photos lately that I'll have to sort through them before posting any of them here.

For now, stay safe, have fun and see you on the other side!

A tree-mendous climber

Here are a few shots of my son climbing a tree at his great-grandmother's house on Thanksgiving. He is growing up too fast!

My youngest son turns 2

Here are just a few photos from my son's birthday party with family on Saturday. We were all tired by the end of the day!

Endeavor rides piggyback to Florida

I was able to get some shots of the Space Shuttle Endeavor riding piggyback to Florida today after takeoff from the Joint Reserve Base/Naval Air Station. It was a rare sight, and only by luck the shuttle stopped over in Fort Worth (bad weather in Florida derailed its plans to keep going, apparently). It was an awesome, awesome sight.

Now I just need to convince my wife that we need to trek to Florida for the next shuttle launch!

Let it snow!

This is one of the photos I took on the job last Friday at a holiday event. One of the features was a snow hill for sledding ... seemed like it was cold enough for it to really snow!

Getting the boot!

I took this at Dry Gulch USA while we were visiting family in Oklahoma during Thanksgiving. We rode "The Christmas Train," which was pretty cool.

Turkeys for dessert

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mooooooooove it! Steer clear!

I drove around a little at lunchtime and saw this field of longhorn cattle. It was a beautiful day, so I figured, why not? Take some photos. Well, most of them didn't seem to mind me there with my camera, but one guy in particular took notice and, I imagine, wanted to protect his herd. The third photo is him charging the fence toward me. Thank goodness for barbed-wire! Wonder if he knew I'd had a hamburger for lunch ...

Cold play

Saturday morning was about 40 degrees, but the windchill made it feel like it was in the 20s. I photographed a girls U14 soccer team that morning, kicking myself that the timing hadn't been better. The previous week was about perfect for being outdoors ... 70s and sunny. Either way, the girls on the team (blue jerseys) played really hard and didn't let the cool air stop them. The other team won, but they had to fight to get the victory.

These girls are tough. I sure don't remember soccer being as aggressive, but maybe because I stopped playing at age 12.

Honoring our veterans

These are just some of the photos I took on Saturday at a Veterans Ceremony at the Keller Veterans Memorial Park. Not only were veterans honored at the event, but a new sculpture, "Protector of Freedom," was unveiled to the public. Quite a stunning symbol!

The park, first dedicated on Memorial Day 2006, is located on the northeast corner of U.S. 377 and FM 1709 in Keller.

Veterans Day is tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 11). If you know someone who has served in the military to protect our country's freedoms, thank them for their service.

To protect and to swerve

I stopped by a Police Motorcycle Rodeo on Saturday, Nov. 8, in Keller, to take a few shots. It was cool to watch, but looked like anything but a weekend cruise in the park. Lots of hard work and skills on display!

My little monkey

I'm home with my youngest son today as his sitter is taking a vacation day. It's a real blessing to have a flexible schedule, but he is wearing me out. He is healthy, active, curious and into EVERYTHING. It's a good thing he's cute, too.

Susana & Kristian

I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing Susana and Kristian on Sunday at Fair Park in Dallas. They recently got engaged during the State Fair of Texas, while riding the Texas Star Ferris wheel. This is one of the last shots we took at the park after capturing several images during the day for their engagement photo session. In their hands (after some creative Photoshopping) is a photo of them right after they got engaged. They are very sweet together!

This place is a zoo!

Today I helped chaperone my son's kindergarten class during a field trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was a blast, but I'm blasted! My assignment, other than taking photos to document the trip (mostly of the kids, including mine above), I was also in charge of three boys (one being my son). Nobody said there would be so much running involved!


This jaguar doesn't look anything like the ones parked at the mall!


One of the gorillas posed for photos, but then he demanded loose change and Cheetos.


The zebra was more interested in a lunch of lawn than onlookers.


The lion cubs seemed to be among the favorite exhibits (besides the penguins and white tiger).


I also got a few shots of the cubs with their mama, but she looked pretty tired. She asked that I not post photos of her on the Internet because she figured the folks at TMZ would start hassling her. The price of fame these days!

If you get a chance, a trip to the FW Zoo is definitely worth it, especially now that the weather isn't as hot. Wear comfortable shoes, take a bottle of water or two per person (it's available from vending machines but – ca-ching! – it's pricey). If you want to get good photos of the wildlife, I recommend a telephoto lens in the neighborhood of 200 to 300 mm, because many of the exhibits are far away. If you are more concerned with shots of any pint-sized wildlife you take with you, as I was, a regular or wide-angle lens would work just fine, too.