A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances. ~Robert Baden-Powell

My good friend and neighbor, Darin Furnell, “roped” me into taking photos at the University of Scouting event that was held yesterday up at the LDS Institute building on the University of Utah campus. I’m not much of a [...]]]>

A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances. ~Robert Baden-Powell

My good friend and neighbor, Darin Furnell, “roped” me into taking photos at the University of Scouting event that was held yesterday up at the LDS Institute building on the University of Utah campus. I’m not much of a Scouter but this was a great event. Darin tells me there were around 600 to 700 people in attendance. I even ran into my sister-in-law, Sylvia.

The highlight of the opening ceremony was an emotional presentation of the U.S. flag that flew over the USS Utah in Pearl Harbor when it was sunk on 7 December 1941. It was fun to be so close to an important piece of history. The remainder of the day the attendees went to classes and workshops on various Scouting-related skills and topics. My two favorites were probably the dutch oven cooking and knot tying classes.

Taking photos was fun and challenging. The fluorescent lighting was pretty poor most of the time. I found myself wanting some nice fast zoom lenses sometimes but it worked pretty well to use my 35 mm and 105 mm prime lenses on two camera bodies. Using two bodies was a lot better than trying to swap lenses out all the time.

One note: I am trying out a new photo gallery viewer in this blog post. Click on any of the images above to see a larger version of the photo.

Copper Hills 4th Ward 2011 Christmas Party

Nikon D7000 18.0-105.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens @ 42 mm 1/200 sec @ f/4.8, ISO 800

You better watch out You better not cry Better not pout I’m telling you why Santa Claus is coming to town

I recently [...]]]>

Copper Hills 4th Ward 2011 Christmas Party

Nikon D7000
18.0-105.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens @ 42 mm
1/200 sec @ f/4.8, ISO 800

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

I recently had the fun opportunity to take photos of Santa and the children at our annual 4th Ward Christmas party. Mr. and Mrs. Claus were great. The kids (young and old)  really enjoyed themselves. I picked a few photos to post as this week’s photo gallery.  Just click on the image above to see them.

Nikon D7000 105.0 mm f/2.8 lens @ 105 mm 1/200 sec @ f/4, ISO 2000

Dancing faces you towards Heaven, whichever direction you turn.  ~Terri Guillemets

As we approach Christmas it is that time of year again for recitals and performances. This series of images are [...]]]>

Nikon D7000
105.0 mm f/2.8 lens @ 105 mm
1/200 sec @ f/4, ISO 2000

Dancing faces you towards Heaven, whichever direction you turn.  ~Terri Guillemets

As we approach Christmas it is that time of year again for recitals and performances. This series of images are from Courtney’s recent Christmas Dance programs. She’s grown up a lot from when she first started dancing. Click on the image above to see the photo gallery of Courtney and her friends bringing in the holiday season.

Nikon D90 35.0 mm f/1.8 lens @ 35 mm 1/200 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800

O Tanenbaum O Tanenbaum

On December 1st we performed our regular tradition of putting up the Christmas tree on my birthday. This year was special because it could be one of [...]]]>

Nikon D90
35.0 mm f/1.8 lens @ 35 mm
1/200 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800

O Tanenbaum O Tanenbaum

On December 1st we performed our regular tradition of putting up the Christmas tree on my birthday. This year was special because it could be one of Christopher’s last Christmases at home, if not the last. To commemorate the occasion we had him install the final decoration on top of the tree. Click on the image above to see the gallery of photos from this year’s tree raising.

Spring Commencement 2011, Southern Utah University

Friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine. ~ Thomas Jefferson

This is my wife, Kellie (right) and her good friend Gae [...]]]>

Spring Commencement 2011, Southern Utah University

Friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life,
and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.
~ Thomas Jefferson

This is my wife, Kellie (right) and her good friend Gae in May of this year. Gae lost her battle with cancer on November 10. We will miss her.

Worm Creek Opera House

Nikon D7000 105.0 mm f/2.8 lens @ 105 mm 1/20 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600

“It’s lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up [...]]]>

Worm Creek Opera House

Nikon D7000
105.0 mm f/2.8 lens @ 105 mm
1/20 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 1600

“It’s lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there,
all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them,
and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened.”
~ The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

We went to Preston this weekend to see Kellie’s father perform in Big River. It is always fun to see the shows put on by the Work Creek Opera House. They do pretty well for a small town production.  Some of the actors and actresses could barely carry a tune but that added to the fun. Given Preston is a small town in southeast Idaho they were unable find any African Americans for parts like Big Jim.  Despite this, the actors did a good.  This musical is a great retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The story is funny, but the subject matter is frequently very serious.  The music is great.  Click on the image above to see a gallery of photos from Saturday night’s performance.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Pioneer children sang as they walked ~Children’s Songbook

Saturday morning Nathan marched in the Days of ’47 Children’s parade. Click on the photo above to see a gallery of images, faces, floats, and fun.

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. ~Abraham Lincoln

Here is a gallery of photos from our family get-together on the 4th of [...]]]> July 4, 2011

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.
I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.
~Abraham Lincoln

Here is a gallery of photos from our family get-together on the 4th of July. Click on the image above to launch the gallery.

Spring Commencement 2011, Southern Utah University

At commencement you wear your square-shaped mortarboards. My hope is that from time to time you will let your minds be bold, and wear sombreros. ~Paul Freund

This gallery is a little larger than usual. It contains the remainder of my [...]]]>

Spring Commencement 2011, Southern Utah University

At commencement you wear your square-shaped mortarboards.
My hope is that from time to time you will let your minds be bold, and wear sombreros.
~Paul Freund

This gallery is a little larger than usual. It contains the remainder of my photos from Kellie’s Commencement exercises at SUU.  The others can be found here on Facebook. Way to go Kellie! Click on the photo above to see the entire gallery.

Still cute (mostly)

Nikon D7000 85.0 mm f/1.8 lens @ 85 mm 1/500 sec @ f/4, ISO 100 Click on the image above to see the entire gallery.

Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there. ~Clarence W. Hall

Even after [...]]]>

Still cute (mostly)

Nikon D7000
85.0 mm f/1.8 lens @ 85 mm
1/500 sec @ f/4, ISO 100
Click on the image above to see the entire gallery.

Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.
~Clarence W. Hall

Even after all these years the kids like to hunt for Easter eggs, and they (the kids) are still pretty cute (mostly.)  I especially like how Christopher started out with a basket but quickly abandoned it after Kellie and I made fun of him.