Shortleaf » Daily Grind

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.

Fun in the Yard

Ryan — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:01:07 +0000

Today was a beautiful day so we enjoyed the evening outside and I took the opportunity to do some shooting. All of these shots were with a 100mm lens @ f/2.8.

Eily was enjoying the nice weather.

Steph's flowers up close.

Emma wanted Papa to push her "fast" in the swing!

Jaylee made a surprise visit to the farm. Emma took her to play on the swing set.

Jaylee getting ready to go down the slide.

I like the branches of this spruce tree in my yard.

The Bright Side

Ryan — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:34:50 +0000

My setup at 2011 Cider Days.

I’ve been complaining about the lack of rain for months now, so it is only fitting that it ~~rains~~ pours all weekend for Cider Days. Saturday it started raining at the precise time the show opened and didn’t let up until around 5, when the show ended. Sunday we started with 45 min of nice weather, then then HEAVY rain and LIGHTNING for much of the remainder of the day. I’m really not sure I could have designed a worse weather pattern for an outdoor festival.

Nonetheless, I had a good time! I got to spend some time with friends and did manage to sell a few pics, so the weekend was certainly not a total loss. Though as I look out the window and see that it’s currently 72 degrees and sunny and has been all day… I can’t help but feel the weather is mocking me!

Cider Days 2011

Ryan — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:54:24 +0000

After taking a year long break from shows and festivals, I am ready to get back on the saddle! Bridget (Springpatch Jewelry) and I will once again be gracing Cider Days with our presence.

I am particularly excited about this event because I am very proud of some of my ‘never before seen’ work. I have some great new fall themed photos as well as my “Images of Ireland” that have not been to a show before. It’s a lot of work (and $$) getting ready for a show, but it’s also a lot of fun because it gives me an excuse to make prints of my photos. For many of my newer photos, this is the first time I’ve seen them printed!

The festival is next weekend, Sep 17-18 along historic Walnut Street in Springfield, MO. The festival is open from 10am – 5pm both Saturday and Sunday. I haven’t looked at the forecast yet, but considering how the first year it rained the whole time, and last year it was scorching hot… maybe this year we’ll have beautiful fall weather!

Hope to see you there!