Shortleaf » Daily Grind

Photo of the Week #13: Dead Tree

Ryan — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:24:58 +0000

Saturday I took Eily hiking at a nearby conservation area. While it certainly did not compare to the area I visited last weekend it was still nice to get out and enjoy the spring, especially since I had my baby girl in tow this time!

This photo is a massive tree that apparently died and fell over (or perhaps the other way around?). From the looks of it I’d say it’s been down for many years. I liked the way the dead tree is cushioned by all the bright green spring grass, or maybe they are weeds, who knows. Either way it was a fun time hiking around in the woods while Eily took a snooze in the backpack.

Bike Riding

Ryan — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 02:48:42 +0000

Since spring appears to have come early, we took Eily for her first bike ride this weekend. We rode the nice paved Turkey Creek Trail in Joplin until it intersected the Frisco Trail, then we rode that trail for a bit. It wasn’t a super long ride but we all had a great time. Glad to see that my little Eily-Beth enjoys being on a bicycle!

If you are curious, the type of bike seat I got is a “Wee-Ride” kangaroo. She sits in between me and the handlebar, that way I can see her and she can see where we are going! Good fun!

Roaring River

Ryan — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:50:15 +0000

For as long as I can remember I’ve had fond memories of Roaring River. My parents took us there regularly, either for the afternoon or for a weekend of camping. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but something about this state park always makes me feel good and relaxed…it’s just a nice place. This past weekend we took the girls for a fun afternoon with their cousins.

We walked up to the big spring and admired the large trout and cold clear water.

It’s unknown how deep the spring is. Divers have explored back as far as 200-300 feet I believe but never any further. I love the clear blue water!

The girls taking a shoulder ride!

We decided to try and do a trail… everyone had a great time!

Eily-Beth went for her first swing ride! As you can see, she loved it!

Emma’s First Bears Game

Ryan — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:07:23 +0000

Tuesday night was a much anticipated night, for me at least. I took Emma to her first bears game. I think she mainly went because I promised to buy her some mint ice cream, but nevertheless it was fun to see her dressed in her bear-wear (even though I forgot to put mine on amidst the excitement).

Emma got to see the bears defeat the Salukis of Southern Illinois and from pretty good seats I might add! We met up with my friends Bridget and Andy, who are also loyal bears fans.

Show-Me Bowl 2011

Ryan — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:01:59 +0000

Thanksgiving weekend marked my former high school Webb City’s 12th appearance at the Class 4 Missouri State Football Championship, cleverly named the “Show-Me Bowl”. We decided to make the long trek to St. Louis to catch the game and see a few sights in Missouri’s most populous metropolitan area.

The game was among the most exciting I’ve seen ever. The cardinals played MICDS, a private school in St. Louis, and neither team was capable of stopping the other’s offense. Webb City scored on every possession except the first and when the clock ran out at the half. MICDS scored on every possession except for 2, both in the second half and both teams successfully pulled off on-side kicks to attempt to steal an extra possession, since it seemed the only way to win this game was to have an extra possession. For most of the game, the score was tied or one team had a temporary 1 score advantage.

In the end a total of 98 points were put on the board, which was a Show-Me-Bowl record for all classes. With Lamar and Rogersville also bringing home titles, it was a good showing for Southwest Missouri at the dome.

A 60ish yard score that sealed the win.

Eily hangin’ around with Grandad.

The next day we visited the arch and enjoyed the fairly nice fall morning in the park!

A Year of Greatness

Ryan — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 02:24:24 +0000

This weekend marked one year since Steph and I took our vows. What a great year the past 12 months have been! More than I could have ever dreamed!

Over the last several weeks there have been tons of photoshoots here at the farm taking advantage of our “Sugar Maple Alley” and various backdrops. It has been fun to compare what all the photographers use, the locations and angles they select, and just the different style each has.

It dawned on me that if everyone else takes photos out here, maybe I should take a stab at photoing my loved ones (minus Emma, she was at the zoo with Nonna and Papa)! So here is my attempt, you can click on the image for a larger version…

For those of you interested in how I did this shot, here are the settings I used:

35mm @ f/1.4
1/1000 sec
ISO 100
Circular Polarizer Filter

Most of the shots I’ve seen done here were more of a longer perspective looking down the row of trees, but since I had a wide angle lens on the camera, I opted to do more of a side angle. I think it worked pretty nice!

Maple Leaf Weekend 2011

Ryan — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:55:31 +0000

This weekend was Maple Leaf, a time when fall is celebrated in Jasper County. Friday night was the big Carthage / Webb City football game, which is always fun. Then of course on Saturday was the parade and associated festivities…

The big game. The first half was pretty close but then WC ran away with it towards the end. As you can see, Webb City has quite a sizable crowd on hand, I would say it well surpasses many D-II college attendance figures.

Carthage almost re-took the lead here. The Tigers, in spite of typically being a noteworthy team, have the curse of sharing a district with Webb City. Were it not for this fact, I imagine they would routinely be a playoff contender.

Eily was enjoying herself, cheering on my former high school. Of course one of these days she will be wearing Tiger Blue. Maybe by that time Webb City's glory days will have faded...ha.

At the parade the girls had a good time playing in the street.

Steph and Eily enjoying the nice morning.

Emma lookin' cool in her shades.

The Maple Leaf Festival is centered around the Jasper County Courthouse. I always thought it was a cool building.

Sunday afternoon we packed Eily in this little papoose thing and introduced her to the creek. She was more interested in sleeping. I was surprised at how comfy she made herself in there!

Center Creek was nice and peaceful with the falling leaves and rippling water.

I propped the camera up on a tree branch and managed to get a pretty decent shot of us, aside from violating one of my biggest photography peaves...cutting someone off at the ankles!

The Great Pumpkin

Ryan — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:22:26 +0000

For some reason pumpkins have always kind of creeped me out. In fact I used to have dreams that I was trapped inside a gigantic pumpkin (???) … anyways… Sunday we took the kiddos to a nice little pumpkin patch in Carl Junction to pickout some pumpkins and go for a hayride.

As with many people, fall is my favorite time of year. It’s when we generally experience the best weather of the year, the trees start turning colors, and there is just a nice feeling in the air. Fall is also the time of year when we have football games. Come to think of it, there are lots of reasons I like fall.

Here are the girls in the little area they had setup for people to take photos like this. Though I can't imagine many others got a shot as cute as this one.

Jaylee hangin' onto little bro while the ride on the wagon.

I think it's funny to watch Levi interact with his older sister and cousin. He can't quite keep up with them but sure likes to be a part of the fun!

Among the Wildflowers

Ryan — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:27:15 +0000

I keep finding patches of wildflowers and envisioning some great photos of wee-Emma amongst them. I’ve managed to get a few decent ones here and there but still not the shot I am after. Last night I took a few as the light was waning. I can’t help but get Tom Petty’s song stuck in my head as I look through these shots.

Papa may not have realized that when I joined the fam that he was agreeing to be regularly featured on my photo blog.

One of the better smiles I managed to get away with.

I was fighting massive amounts of flare this late in the day. A hood would have helped a bit, but I don't have one for this lens. A flash would have also improved some of these shots.

This probably would have been a great one if she were looking at the camera, or at least making one of her signature mischievous faces looking off camera!

Technically speaking, this isn't a stellar photo, but I like the moment it captured.

Eily Outside

Ryan — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:55:50 +0000

Something I have really struggled with is photographing our newborn. Most of the time she’s asleep or eating and it’s been challenging to find any good angles. Today while Steph and Emma were at dance class I decided to take Eily outside and try some new tactics. I also felt it was time Eily start getting familiarized with nature.

At first I really struggled to get anything other than junk. But the more I experimented, the more I figured out what worked and what didn’t. Most of the time I was using my 35mm lens, which is probably a bit unconventional to use on a newborn, but I like some of the shots and the effect.

Eily playing in the grass. About time she spent some time out in nature.

Here is a shot with a more conventional portraiture focal length (100mm).

I think she likes being outside!

The 35mm lens has such nice background blur...very bubbly, just like my subject!

And last but not least, my lovely wife and daughter. Also with the 100mm.