I know some professional photographers are going to be angry about the content of this blog post, but hopefully not too many of them bother to read my little blog. Yes, I gave away an image to a publication for free. Obviously this lights a fire under pros who think they should be compensated for every shutter press. Ehhh… sorry? When it’s your kid and a magazine with a circulation of one million, I think you’d opt for the bragging rights.

Back in July the kids and I visited a very cool indoor play area in Chicago — Dayfrog! If you’re ever in Chicago, check it out with your kids. We enjoyed it so much that we spent two days of our visit there. While I was there I took some snapshots of the kids (shocking!).

The images weren’t great quality, just family snaps in low light, but I had a couple that were OK. A while back the owner e-mailed and asked if I would send him something for an upcoming article. Of course!

Here’s a photo of Brandon that accompanies their article in the December issue of Midwest Living Magazine! How cool is that? I’m supposed to receive a copy of the magazine soon. Brandon is trying not to let it go to his head.

Click the photo to see the whole page.

… and I’m getting ready. I liked winter so much more before I had kids, especially toddlers. Slush, mud, snow, and puddles are coming — for the next 6 months. I’ve built a simple portable studio to keep me busy this winter.

I’ve tried it out with both kids and I can already see that some big powerful lights need to be on my agenda. Right now I’m working with 2 speedlights, an umbrella and a tiny softbox. I have 3 paper colors so far, but I can see that paper will become addictive.

Here are a few shots from my very first try. I’m pretty excited about the possibilities! I just need to get a little more creative.

If I could will the world to learn something (I won’t say one thing because there are a lot of things I want the world to learn), it would be that there is a difference between what is RIGHT and what is legally acceptable. That ethics, morality, and right and wrong are not dictated by the laws of this land.

In so many cases, I hear people excuse behavior with the “it’s perfectly legal” clause and I see people whose actions demonstrate this without words. I see people returning items to stores that they admit having used for almost a year just because the store policy allows for it. I see people who lie shameless to get what they want because it is so rare for honesty or compassion to flow freely that they feel they have to in order to get what they need or want.

I like to believe that there was a time in this country, maybe not so long ago, when people still truly believed that right and wrong were completely separate concepts from what their government allowed. I believe there was a time when customer service wasn’t dead and when people gladly waved you into traffic. I believe there was a time when generosity was common and people truly helped one another — and not just in the midst of a crisis or natural disaster.

These are things I want to believe. I need to believe that this spirit might still be alive somewhere — because we might need it someday.

We hosted a very small family party for Brandon’s birthday today. My sad little attempt to get a family picture was mostly thwarted by the wind and the fact that Bailey’s resolve to run away into the street was surprisingly strong. The lack of a tripod made it even more of an adventure.

Stu managed to get one shot with my setup before Bailey ran away again… all subsequent attempts were completely unusable (unless Miss. Bailey Angry Face is a good look for a family portrait). I snapped a few of Tabitha and Brandon, too — these turned out better than the group shot.

Click the images for slightly larger versions on my flickr.

These were my first real shots using my complete off camera lighting setup. I am loving the results of adding off camera flash. I think it really has the potential cause a bit of an addiction to buying lighting gear!

I do have to mention that back in the end of July, after a particularly heated conversation with GM’s insurer, a shiny new 2009 Cadillac SRX was delivered to me through Enterprise. After driving that minivan for more than 3 weeks, I was over the novelty. I was pleasantly surprised that she was willing to see it my way and help me get a comparable rental while they continued their investigation into my car fire. It really hurts to write out a check for a car payment when that car is sitting in a dealer’s parking lot.

It has now been another month (making the entire process 2 1/2 months so far) and I have finally heard from GM. Surprisingly… they are going to fix my car. No kidding! I have to laugh when I think about this entire process and how much easier it would have been had they simply agreed to do the right thing way back in June.

I can only imagine the money that they’ve spent on 8 weeks of rentals, investigators, engineers, attorneys, and insurance adjusters just to come to a conclusion that was absolutely inevitable. No, I did not set my car on fire and yes, they really need to pay to fix it.

The dealer says I may have my car back as early as the end of next week!