The Power Of The Strut

 

 

At the very end of the second part of the Weishoff Family shoot on Sunday morning, we were heading back home to finish getting ready for my wife’s birthday party.  If you look closely, we can see the Ennismore street sign in the top right hand corner. This means we are almost home.  This corner is a known location for some entrepreneur’s lemonade stands and bake sales.  

My oldest daughter and photo assistant/model Sophia led the charge up the hill back home.  It was mom’s birthday and we needed to help with the party finishing touches.  Sophie’s brisk and purposeful pace reflects this past weekend in the Jackle household.  If she has some goal in her mind, she will figure out a way to achieve it.  At the time this shot was taken, the goal was getting home to help mom on her birthday.  Nothing was going to stop her from achieving her goal not even her slow dad, uncle, aunt and cousins.

Last night, we went to her school for the annual teacher meet and greet session. Jackie and Sophia had gathered all the school supplies and put them in a bag for Sophie to carry.  They may not have been needed yesterday,  but Sophia would be ready just in case.  As soon as Sophie met her teacher and found her desk, she was hard at work organizing her pencils, pens, erasers, binders, and papers.  She was the only child in the class that we saw organizing and prepping for the start of school next week.  It was obvious that she was excited about returning to school next Tuesday and was ready to do some work.

I think the above image represents my daughter’s confidence, independence, heart, focus and will.  These are some of the many qualities that make proud to be her father.

Face Painting, Bouncy House and a Cake

  Well, some of you have heard the song “Girls just want to have fun!” by Cyndi Lauper.  I could have sworn that I was hearing that song in my head during Jackie’s birthday party and well into the night this past Sunday.
  

Face Painting

Like most of our parties, the Setzer face painting brigade was in full force assisting happy party-goers!  Thanks Beverly and Alicia!!

 

I must say that this looks a little like Peter Criss makeup.  Naw! can’t be!  No KISS for Jackie!   Only Sophie, Savannah, and I want to rock n’ roll all nite and party everyday!!   The approval from her oldest child!

Bouncy House

Several weeks back when Jackie was thinking about having an actual party on her birthday, she booked a Bouncy house from our friends at Linda Craft Realty for the weekend.  I thought her main purpose in this decision was to have something for the kids to do while she and the other moms enjoyed their favorite adult(or child) beverage.  Well here is some proof that bouncy houses are not just for kids!

Not real sure exactly what is going on with her hand.  Anyway, have you ever tried to hold a camera still in a bouncy house? 

Cake

“With a little help from the Kids!” Jackie would not have it any other way. 
 

I will be adding a gallery shortly on trianglephotoprints.com so stay tuned for more.

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Cleaning Windows

When I hear the expression “Cleaning windows”, I can not help but recall a song by one of the greatest songwriters in recent history named Van Morrison. In this case, it is a little different.  I came home Monday night from work.  I heard earlier through the family grapevine that another Lemonade sale was performed by Sophie and Savannah.  Recently, Sophia spent all her earned money on a Lego set. This Lego set is currently in the hands of UPS and in transit to us in the next few days.  With all her money spent, Sophia had the lemonade and bake sale also.  Jackie mentioned that the Windows needed cleaning.  She only had to say this once to Sophie. This quickly turned into turned into another financial opportunity for Sophia.  She is always looking for ways to work around the house to make a quick buck.

 

Here is Sophie at work.

She is making her dad proud by using Windex which is made S.C. Johnson in my original hometown.  I like the reflections in these images as it adds some depth  and pizzazz to both of them.

   A closer look at her efforts.

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Put On Your Game Face!

Tonight,  I was perusing the wedding photographic society forum.  A comment was made to another forum participant that he needed to add an avatar to his profile so people could associate a face with a forum post at our bi-monthly meetings.  This is something that I have not done yet either.

So I grabbed one of my favorite models and photography assistants named Sophie Jackle.  She was so thrilled that  I was going to actually allow her to touch my camera.  This is something that she is typically not allowed to do.  One would think that this because of my concern that she may accidentally damage my gear.  Actually, I may also be afraid that she would show me up with better and more creative photography.

Anyway, I sent up my 580EX flash unit with a 28 inch umbrella soft box as a key light.  I sent my 430 EX II with a grid spot for a rim light.  The intention here was to make a simple casual head shot for the forum.   I put my 50mm F1.8 lens on my camera and installed it on my tripod.  Nothing fancy.  Just trying to take a simple head shot for the forum.  The tripod would help make it easier for Sophie and me less nervous. 

H

ere is the headshot we ended up with for the forum.  I merely demonstrating what a game face was to my daughter Sophie using a souvenir I bought at one of my trips to Lambeau Field.   Here is the shot she took.  See I told you I should have some concern about her showing me up.  Great job Sophie!!!

Remember in previous posts,  I mentioned that we had to keep things even in our house between our two daughters. This works between fathers and daughters also.  Here are a few examples of  Sophie’s game face.

So next thing we knew, we heard footsteps. Apparently, our game face growls sparked this sweet and innocent little girl’s curiosity.

 

She is so cute and innocent.  I had to share another one also.

 

Remember that keep it even stuff.  Well, here are some shots of  Savannah’s game faces.

 

For good measure, one  rather loud one without the  helmet.  Apparently, she wanted to make sure you knew who was giving you the  game face !!


Now we had to pull out another one of my helmets for this “brown helmet” game face variation. 

 

Finally and last but not least,  a game face duet with a little Gene Simmons mixed in for good measure.

Did I tell you that both of my girls are requesting to dress up as Gene Simmons for Halloween this year?  Well, of course I had nothing to do with that request.  Do not believe my wife Jackie if she tells you otherwise.  Do you see my Mr. Simmons figurine perched on the shelf proudly watching Sophia doing her Gene Simmons imitation?

Till next time.  See ya soon!!

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Grayson Highlights

The last few posts to this blog have centered around my recent family trip to the Grayson Highlands State Park. My sister-in-law Lori Lipkin and brother-in-law Craig Setzer arranged the whole thing and I was glad that we were able to participate in the festivities.  We had a blast especially with the bike ride on the VA Creeper trail.   I like the discussions we are having about making this trip an annual event.  It is only about a 4 hour drive from Raleigh to the state park.  I must say this state park has the cleanest bath houses I have ever seen in any camp ground. 

I finally had a chance to put all the images from the trip on the trianglephotoprints.com web site.   

This slideshow below showcases my favorite images from the trip.  Please place your mouse over the slideshow to see it’s added features like the thumbnail option, gallery link to the images, and full screen display.  

This slideshow requires the Adobe flash player.

If you are having issues viewing the above  Steve Picks slide show,  please try this link directly from the trianglephotoprints.com web site.   Do not just take my word for it,  please feel free to browse all the galleries from this trip.   Let me know what you think.  Did I pick the highlights or did you find some images that need to be included in this slideshow?

Thanks for stopping by!!  See ya soon!

Carole’s beauty shop and breakfast grill

On the way back from the camping trip, we spent the night at my mother-in-law Carole’s home.   The plan was to drop off Sophia for a few days with her grandma while she was still out of school.  As tradition as Carole’s house, we woke to a very nice breakfast meal.  It was no different this time.   Carole prepared  a dish called “SOS” which according to Carole has some sort of military origin.   Since this is a family-rated blog, I will suffice to say we had hamburger milk gravy over biscuits.

Anyway, after breakfast and three days of camping, it was bath time for the girls.  It was quite obvious from looking at the bath tub that  Carole used it for other purposes than taking baths.  So to work off my full belly,  I decided to scour out the bath tub so my little darlings can get cleaned up.  Each turn in the tub was followed up by beauty session at Carole’s beauty shop. 

Here are few shots from the styling session.

     

Both kids were happy as a lark … Then the bill came…..

Wild Ponies couldn’t drag me away!

Over this past weekend, we went camping at the western Virginia  Grayson Highlands State Park.   It had been several years since Jackie and I had gone camping.  This was the first time we took the girls camping.   My sister-in-law Lori booked all of us the group camp site in the campground that resides in this beautiful piece of mountain heaven.  We are already discussing making camping at this park an annual event.

About a mile from campground in the park is Massie Gap.  Wild ponies are known hang out there.   Here are just a few shots of the ponies while I go through the rest of the images this week.   I am sure these will not be the only images from the Grayson Highlands trip that you will see on this blog.   So stay tuned!

This flexible pony took care of an itch.

This pony was  helping out his friend by cleaning his/her mane.  

I love this shot of my baby holding a baby and fearlessly petting one of the wild ponies.

Sophia is having her turn.

Mommy pony and three babies: one pony, one human, and one plastic. Good thing the baby did not think the plastic one was food.  It sure does look like he is eyeing it though.

Again, things need to be kept even.  Sophia is taking her turn.

Through the Triangle

I was messing around with one of my favorite “live in” models today.  I was playing around with making a triangle with my hands as I shot Sophia using a tripod.   I was trying to get a “frame within a frame” type of composition.  Well, I am going to do some more work on this concept.  I have a bunch of ideas for this.

I  find these two images very interesting.  I call them through the triangle.

Remember when you are a father, one of the most important things when working with your children is to try to keep it even.  Dad, as you can see, I get what you preached to all of us kids when we were growing up.  Here is a shot with BOTH of my favorite “live in” models that are under the age of 30 something.  Or was it 29… I can’t remember.  :)

Hope your enjoy these !!!  Talk to you soon!

Independence Day – Freedom and a Lemonade Stand

The July 4th weekend means celebration for many Americans.   In North Carolina,  many folks in our area head to the beach for the weekend.  This weekend is the busiest weekend for the North Carolina beaches.   Some celebrate by grilling hot dogs and hamburgers in the backyard and shooting off their own firework displays.  Others head to their local municipal firework location and hang with their fellow citizens. The point is that people have various ways of celebrating the July 4th weekend.

“Why do we celebrate July 4th?” asked our very inquisitive older daughter Sophia.  Our first response was that “we celebrate our freedom.”   “Freedom from what?” chimed Sophia.   My wife Jackie explained that back on July 4, 1776 our forefathers of our country declared our country’s  independence from the England.  Anticipating the next question,  I explained that “a forefather is not like your father or grandfather where they are related to us but rather they are the fathers of our country.”   Not sure if she fully understand this exchange, but it appeared to end any of her further inquiries.  So hopefully, we answered her questions.

This exchange got me thinking about the significance of  July 4th and what are we really celebrating on this weekend.  I think our first response was pretty accurate.  We celebrate our freedom.  Personally,  I believe it is much more that a celebration of the anniversary the signing of the Declaration of Independence document in 1776 even though this event was a very significant catalyst in the evolution of our freedom that we enjoy in our country.  One freedom I am currently enjoying is the ability to write this blog post without any interference or censorship from anyone.  People in other countries may not have this privilege.  I realize that this is a pretty shallow example of freedom but when you think about all the various freedoms we enjoy like this one,  it all adds up. 

I find myself reflecting  on our freedom evolution by recalling various events in our history like the following:  War of Independence, writing/signing of the constitution,  Emancipation Proclamation,  Women’s suffrage/rights movement,  civil rights movement, and the civil and world wars.   This list is not at all inclusive.   Our freedom did not come without a cost.  I am very grateful to all the people(civilians, politicians,  and military) that have fought and/or gave their lives for all the freedom that we all enjoy.  This is a celebration of our freedoms and their triumphs.  Thank you.  They are reminders that we too need to protect and fight for our freedoms.

Sporting the Red, White and Blue

Here are couple of shots of my dear Savannah sporting the red,white and blue.

 

The Lemonade Stand

Sophie is all into making the dollar.  In celebration of our American entrepreneurial freedom, we decided to setup a good old all-American neighborhood lemonade stand.   You may be thinking who will be in the neighborhood on July 4th that would enjoy some lemonade.  To be honest, we were a little concerned about this also especially since Sophia would have to reimburse us of the startup costs of the stand.  Well, this concern did not curb our enthusiasm.  We crossed our fingers and purged ahead.

Here is the creation of the all important  sign.  

The discussion of the lemonade selling strategy.

Lunch break at the lemonade stand.

The girls were startled by their first customer.   How can you resist buying some lemonade from these faces?  I guess I am a little bit biased. :)

Here is our first customer.  I had been watching our neighbor mowing his lawn. What better to enjoy than a cold glass of lemonade after mowing your lawn in summer heat ?  I find it even more fitting that he is proudly and appropriately wearing his “Army” t-shirt on Independence day.

Now for the finishing touches on the first sale. 

In the end, due to a last minute rush, Sophie was able to show a profit.  Thanks everyone!

The Show

Last week, my wife had a well deserved Girls night out(GNO) with her friends.  This provided me with the opportunity to spend a little time with my girls.  Well, my girls told me that I needed to stay downstairs and wait for “The Show” at 7 PM. 

In the meantime, I heard a little music coming from the closed door of their bedroom coupled with some whispers and shuffling of some feet.  I knew I needed to stay patient or I was going to ruin their surprise.  Nothing seems to make my kids happier than surprising people.

Finally, 7 pm arrived and I was ushered into the bedroom and told sit on their bed as “The Show” was about to begin.  Within minutes, both of the girls strutted out of the “dressing room”(adjacent playroom)  in their dance/gymnastics outfits. Sophie made a beeline for the clock radio/CD player and started a CD.  Savannah and Sophie got in position pausing for the music to begin.  The show was under way.  It was definitely the best choreographed  dance set I ever seen that developed by a  7 year big sister and very independent three year old.  I could not help but smile in pride. 

This past Sunday, grandpa Dennis(my dad) and grandma Ginger arrived on their way from Florida as they headed to southern Indiana to visit Great Grandma Jackle.   The plan was to have lunch together.  As soon as they arrived, the girls wanted to give them “The Show” that I was privileged enough to enjoy a few days earlier.

Here are some shots from “The Show” 

 

 

Now for a few shots of the audience:

Jackie and Ginger sharing an entertaining laugh together from the best seats in the house.

Grandpa Dennis is completely mesmerized by his grandchildren’s dance routines.

In the spirit of other great entertainers like Don Ho, Savannah provided a lei to her grandfather in appreciation for his attendance of the show. 

Apparently, Dad could not contain his excitement and affection for this present.  I am not sure exactly what this look means but I am sure it is probably good. :)

Here is a slideshow of the entire mini-gallery.  Tip: Slide your mouse over slideshow to see toolbars to control the show.