Took some time off and spent a week in sunny Florida with my family. My typical vacation setup is a D300 with the 17-55mm, however this year I tried something different. I shot everything with a D700 (removed battery grip) 50mm f/1.4. This setup is small and compact, but forced me to look more creatively for shots since I was shooting with a prime lens.

The picture below is a 2011 | 2012 shot from the bench I proposed to my wife 7 years ago. The image on the left was shot with a 17-55mm and the shot on the right with the 50mm. Both images where shot by an amateur (after I set all the settings). But you can see the 50mm is sharper, and also appears less distorted.

We had our first significant snow fall of the year on Saturday. What fun it was to see my three year old enjoy the snow. My son, who is only 18 months, was not a fan. Kate enjoyed getting pulled around in the snow on the sled, but then wanted to pull the sled instead.

She piled the sled full of snow and sticks and towed it around the yard.

This is probably one of my all time favorite pictures of Kate. I used a special trick to create the utmost cooperation in my model, hot chocolate! Yep, I promised her hot chocolate, instant perfect model! So cute, even at 3 she’s a sucker for chocolate. The hat was designed by By Jackie Lee.

With 1 week left until Christmas, we want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks for a great 2011!

I’ve been so busy over the last several weeks, so sorry I haven’t posted anything. The extended family spent the Saturday after Thanksgiving up at Sunset Lake Farm. It was perfect weather and we had a great time eating food, playing football, shooting guns and hanging out around the campfire. I’m currently in the middle of a web design project for Sunset Lake Farm and while I was up their wanted to capture another image or two for the website.

I was so busy with enjoying the day, I didn’t even get a camera out until the very end of the day. These girls were having a great time together enjoying good hot dogs by the fire (my daughter is in the middle). I love how candid the last three images are. These girls would be my daughter’s 2nd cousins, and they were having fun playing with their dad down by the pond. I was actually shooting the first image above right before they came down to the pond. It’s so wonderful to share Thanksgiving with family.

Rejects is probably a little harsh of a word. Saturday morning after an amazing breakfast my wife made, we all piled into our bed for a quick photo session. Probably the best time we’ve had creating our Christmas card picture. These pictures are a sampling of some of the shots we took. The final images that were selected for our Christmas card are not present, they’ll be revealed after Thanksgiving!