Just finished editing an engagement session for Amalia and Chandler.  They are here visiting family in Lincoln and decided to get a photo session  done before heading back to Washington State.  I love the picture below of Amalia, she looks just like her mom.

I was very excited to see the whole family in their matching outfits.  Chandler is in the US Navy and is heading back for a second tour in Iraq.  Can’t wait for their wedding next summer when he returns.

It was such a gorgeous day on Friday that we decided to head outside and have some fun.  We were very lucky that the weather held up for the shoot.  I was worried that it was going to be hot and humid.  To my surprise, it was perfect weather  : D

Congratulations on the engagement Amalia and Chandler.  We will see you soon.

I have never been to Ogallala and am excited not only to visit a new place, but to meet the rest of the family.  If they are anything like Clinton and Desiree, I am sure we will get along just fine.

I could tell they were very much in love.  I can’t wait to take pictures at their wedding.

We only had a couple of hours and we came back with some really nice pictures.  I can’t take all the credit with my awesome photographic skills.  They just made my job easier by being so photogenic.

Yup, we will get along swell.  : D

It didn’t seem to bother them that a strange lady was chasing them with a black box.  They just went about their business and found things to play with.

Unfortunatley the park didn’t have much of attractions for the younger kids.  Even so, Anabela and Vinny entertained themselves with other things…like dandelions and leaves.

Don’t you just love her hair clip?  Oh and her shoes were just too cute.

I didn’t even have to bribe them with candy.  They just wanted to be picked up.  And what do you get for picking them up…this.

What beautiful kids, maybe next time mom and dad will join in the fun.

I think they were hesitant at first of having me follow them around all day.  I have no idea why, they have  gazillions of pictures of themselves.

I wish I had this much energy.

I am sure the employees at the bank thought we were crazy.  We just decided to take a break for a photo opp.

They were okay with being cheesy, I like that.

Oh, I can’t forget the boyfriend.  He was there waiting for his date.  I can’t wait until the next photo shoot with these two.  We have some ideas up our sleeves so stay tuned.

Wow, what a weekend!!!  It was a very long, and exciting weekend.  James and I just got back from the USA World Wrestling Team Trials in Council Bluffs, IA.  The athletes who won in their weight class will be representing the US at the World Wrestling Championship in Herning, Denmark.

There were so many dedicated wrestlers at the event.  It was wonderful to see the effort they have put into their sport.  I enjoyed watching the wrestlers size up their opponents.  You knew as a spectator that they were calculating every move.

The shear strength it took to take down these wrestlers was evident.  Of course, anything over 50 lbs is heavy lifting, in my opinion.

This being my first wrestling event, outside of collegiate level, it took a little bit of time to orient myself.  The rules for awarding points were much more strenuous outside of high school and college.  After figuring out the order in which the matches were to take place, James and I had a plan of attack.

Lucky for us, we had at least two, sometimes three, opportunities to take pictures of the wrestlers.  They would wrestle for the best out of three matches against the same opponent in the finals.

I also was able to see women’s freestyle wrestling for the first time.  It was intense.  I would not want to be out on the mat with these ladies.

There were many great takedowns.  Sometimes even painful to watch.

Henry Cejudo, the gold medal winner, 121-pound freestyle wrestling,  in the 2009 Olympics in Beijing was at the event to receive an award.  His story was very touching and it was great to see him there.  I didn’t realize how young he was until they mentioned that he was the youngest wrestler to win a gold medal, all that in a mere 21 years.

This, I guess, is James’ signature accessory, his ASU hat.

That is a picture of the press area, and there I am, at the bottom, doing my homework…yay school.

Les Sigman, a UNO wrestler, won his 120 kg match against Ryan Tomei.  He placed 3rd at the trials.

This image was from the first day at the World Trials.  I knew Travis Paulson would put on a good match, unfortunately it wasn’t his time to win.  He lost his matches and ended in 2nd place.

Trent Paulson did not wrestle until Sunday but he was there in Travis’ corner, cheering on his brother.

It got pretty physical during Trent’s first match which had to be paused to clean up the blood from his lip.  His opponent, Jared Frayer, didn’t fair so well either.  His black eye was swelling more and more as the matches progressed.

After winning two matches in a row, Trent Paulson was named the winner and would represent the US in the 66 kg men’s freestyle.  It was bittersweet for Trent, knowing that he had made the team while his brother did not.

Before talking with the media, he had a moment with UNL wrestling coach Manning.  This was the picture that was published in the Lincoln Journal Star.  You can really see the emotions of that day sinking in.  Congratulations and good luck to all of the athletes who made the US team.  To view more pictures of the US World Trials, please visit www.huskerwrestling.com.

Well, it was another beautiful day in Lincoln!  For a minute there, I thought May was going to be cold a blustery (like the beginning of this week).  But lucky for me, the nice weather finally showed up.

I have been slacking lately on the photo posts, but not on purpose I might add.  I am currently doing my masters in elementary education full-time and I am set to finish in a year.  Yes, the program is an intense one that will have me taking classes past full-time (sometimes from 8am – 9pm).  So if I sound out of it in the near future, I have an excuse…I have lost my mind.  The nice thing is James saw the need for me to get out of the house today and see some horse racing.  Actually, I just accompanied him and read my articles the whole time while he took the pictures.  But I did make it outside which has to be a plus right?

As you can see from our pictures, we have an enthusiasm for the HDR effect.  I think it brings out a grittiness (is that a word?) in the images.

Above is the the HDR photo and below is the original.

We sometimes like to play up the effect a little…or a lot.

There were some gorgeous horses running today.  I almost won $40 but I didn’t get to the counter fast enough.

It amazed me how organized these races were.  It was also interesting to see how many families came out to see the races.

James and I will be back to take more pictures later on in the season.  As soon as we borrow a longer lens, or we buy our Nikkor 200-400 F4 (whichever comes first).

All in all it was a nice day to be at the track.

And no, I did not finish my reading or my papers for Monday.  I guess I am going to have to take some time in between matches at the World Wrestling Trails in Council Bluffs, IA tomorrow to read my articles.

And as always, thanks for checking us out!!

The one image James really wanted was one where the background was completely blurred out. I think out of 150 exposures he only kept maybe 5 I think. He is very selective when he post edits. He usually keeps about 10% of the images he shoots. This last track meet we shot almost 1700 images and we only kept 97 I think. James prefers youth sports to collegiate he says because younger athletes give him better expressions. They try harder and you almost feel their emotions they express in the images we capture.

Here are a few of our favorites. All these images were taken with a Nikon D300 and a Nikon D700. The only lenses we used were the Nikon 24-70mm 2.8 and the Nikon 70-200mm 2.8.

Also on Easter weekend we had to pleasure to visit James’ brother in-laws family in Torrington WY. They were very welcoming and a blast to photograph. Their Easter egg hunt was just a crazy as his moms. Kids were everywhere and their family is HUGE!  Thank you very much to the Castillo’s for letting us into your family for a brief moment during Easter. Here are a few shots from the day. All in all we had a wonderful weekend in Mitchell, NE. Happy Easter!!