THANK YOU

I was getting a massage the other day (well a week ago now) on the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii thinking to myself just how thankful I am to have arrived at this moment in time with a beautiful wife and daughter, good health, amazing friends, and a pretty special job. And though this posting might not be so timely now that its almost two weeks after Thanksgiving, it's still important to highlight how thankful I am for what I have.

My best friend Amanda is the most amazing person in the whole world - she keeps the wheel spinning round and round, the glue that holds us also together, my rock, my angel. Without her, I wouldn't be who I am today. She's the one who leaves for work later in the morning and the one who rushes to get home early. She sacrifices more than anyone I know, and I can't thank her enough for everything. My daughter Sylvie, who is healthy, full of character and personality, smart, and ready to take on the world already at 11 months...wow! My family, who has been nothing but loving and supportive over the years, backing my hopes and dreams. And of course my friends, who I think of as family. You know who you are. Thank you for being such great and supportive friends to Amanda, Sylvie and me.

Thanksgiving was a little different this year. Amanda and I were invited to Brad Cox's daughters wedding on the Big Island of Hawaii. Brad is Amanda's boss and mentor at CBRE. The Cox family has treated us like family over the years, making the long trek to our wedding and inviting us over to their beautiful home in Marina del Rey time and time again. They are very special people. Amanda and I had the greatest time, soaking it in with bride Courtney and her charismatic groom Andrew, as well as all of his 'mates' from down under. The hotel was beautiful, the wedding devine, perfect weather, amazing food...the list goes on and on. It was wonderful to see two people so in love. More importantly it was a treat to spend time just Amanda and I. I love her.

The scenery was absolutely amazing and I was excited to bring all my camera gear. Was fun to pack a specific bag being that you can't take every lens and camera body. What I packed:

Lowepro Flipside 400 AW Backpack
Point and shoot Leica D-Lux 4
D300s body
17-55mm f/2.8
12-24mm f/4
85mm f/1.4
70-300mm f/4.5-5.6
SB-900 speed light
SD and Compact flash cards
Replacement battery and power supply

I think I got a few good shots...here are a few from the weekend.

PICK-UP TRUCK IN A CORNFIELD...LITERALLY!

In the video I posted of Sylvie last month from Ojai, you might have caught this photo for a split second if you didn't blink. Strangely enough, it's one of my favorites from the weekend. And to be honest, I got kind of lucky...the hayride was approaching this truck in the middle of a cornfield and I only had a moment to get my camera off my lap, point and shoot. I eye-balled framing it up and since I was on shutter priority at f/16, at least I'd have great depth of field. I was able to get off three frames. Anyway, i love how the truck is framed, almost like its coming out of the picture. I did some small tweaks in CS3, but for the most part, what you see is what I got. Enjoy.

STEIN FAMILY TRADITION

There has been a Stein family tradition going on for over 60 years. If you were a Stein girl in the family tree growing up in Minneapolis, at some point you were put in this cute little white dress and photographed. From Susan Dame, to Marguerite Rubin, Ashley Rubin, Erica Ashlock, Johanna Stein, Lee Gordon, Amanda Calof, Shiloh Autmn Gordon and now Sylvie Rain Calof...the list goes on and on.

Amanda has been kicking my ass for the past two months to just take the damn photo. But we all know with me, you can't just take the damn photo and be done with it. You need props, some good lighting, a white background, etc. We finally found some time last Sunday morning to get Sylvie in the dress and snap some frames. By the time we started, our little subject was already at her wits end - she was ready for a nap but we managed to get some good ones before she threw in the towel.

People keep asking me how I find time to take photos and blog on top of a 24/7 gig at Paramount. It's all about time management. But then again, I have no time, especially for me, just work, Amanda and Sylvie...and that's how life is I'm realizing. Around we go. Each week comes and goes. If we don't focus on the things we love, then what the heck are we doing. It's all about time management these days.

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