Halloween - Photoshop

I took one of the photos and cropped out the background, including my mothers arm hold up Tigger.

I used gradients for the background. I am not overly impressed with the background.

Hopefully over time I will improve on my background creation skills. 

Halloween

My two nephews all dressed up for Halloween!

Capitol - Photoshop

I used this photo I took back in early September for multi-raw processing in Photoshop. By using multi-raw processing I was able to make everything but the capitol brighter. This photo did not turn out too well, as you can see the graininess in the photo where I really increased the brightness. One thing I really like about this photo is that you can clearly see the light beams of the spot lights that are lighting up the capitol. Below is the photo with unmodified exposure. 

My Condo

All of the below photos were taken with my new wide angle lens.

My Kitchen

Kitchen again, showing my wine fermentation jug

My Bedroom

Graiden's 2nd Birthday!

Uncle Ryan and Graiden start opening presents.

Little brother Sullivan helps Graiden get his presents open.

Sullivan crawling around while Graiden tries on his new Aaron Rogers.

Graiden is very excited about his new kitchen all all of the accessories.

Graiden's party theme was Elmo

Yum, it was delicious cake!

Lindsay & Matt's Wedding

My cousin Matt just got married to Lindsay on September 18th.

The reception was at Miller Park

 

Here my father and Andrea are playing bags.

It was nice that my brother Aaron and his wife Emily

were able to fly in from Washington D.C. for our cousin's wedding

[an excellent excuse to see both of them!]

My brother Andrew and Amanda - playing a little ladder golf 

tailgating in the parking lot prior to the reception

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Once again, another one of my brothers, Ryan and Nicole

If my memory serves me correctly Nicole and Andrea beat my dad and Ryan

Of course that was right after the girls beat Ryan and I

Looks like the guys need to set up our game!

Sailboat - Rock Lake

Wakeboarding Rock Lake - III

Andrew again, flying into the sky with the setting sun.

Wakeboarding Rock Lake - II

Andrew again, doing a sweet grab as he sails across the wake.

Wakeboarding Rock Lake - I

My little brother Andrew, tearing up the calm lake. Andrew has the ability to pop, and when he does - he just flies over the wake!

Winter Break ~ Jan 2010 - Mexico

In January a couple friends and I traveled down to the Riviera Maya of Mexico. There we spent seven days at the Palladium Grand Resort and Spa. If you are looking for a luxurious vacation spot this is it. The resort is actually a complication of five resorts: Riviera, White Sands, Colonial, Kantenah, and the Royal Suites. The resort has quite a few restaurants, thirteen bars, and five swimming pools.

We spent our days laying by the beach or pool and hanging out at the swim up pool bars. We also played bags and a few too many game of flippy cup. There was also quite a lot to do at night, from browsing the shop, listening to live music, grabbing a snack on the beach, to dancing the night away in the disco. I would highly recommend visiting the Palladium for your next vacation. Although the food was just ok, I was very impressed with the overall cleanliness and friendliness of the staff.

Although this photo was taken several months ago, I was inspired to post it as we are beginning to plan our Winter Break Trip 2011. We are currently exploring different options the mainland Mexico.

*Above is a picture of us at one of the swim up bars in the pool. You can see the antiquated bridge going over the center of the pool with palm trees and columns surrounding the pool creating a peaceful setting in paradise.

State Capitol, Madison WI

This is a picture of the State Capitol dome in Madison, WI. I just stepped out my front door and snap this picture.

Skyline - NYC

Friends Fountain - Central Park NYC

Here my brother Ryan and father are playing in the fountain seen on 'Friends'. Thankfully there was no water in the fountain at the time this photo was take, it was about fifty degrees Fahrenheit that day.

Time Square - NYC

Time Square, located in Manhattan NYC. Digital advertisements overwhelm visitors with their vivid colors. At the bottom of the Coca Cola sign you can see bleachers glowing red. People wait in line on the bleachers to purchase tickets to the Broadway shows.

Guggenheim Museum - NYC

A photo of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum located in NYC. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Strawberry Fields - Central Park, NYC

A picture of my brother Ryan at Strawberry Fields in Central Park, NYC from our trip out east this past spring. Strawberry Fields is a tribute to John Lennon. John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono lived adjacent to this park, where the late Beatle, John Lennon was murdered December 8, 1980. "Imagine" was the name of one the songs by John Lennon. The mosaic was designed by a group of artists from Naples.

Wakesurfing Rock Lake

A photo of me wake surfing Rock Lake, in Legendary Lake Mills, WI. Wake surfing has to be one of my favorite summer pass times. Having a large wake is essential to follow the boat without a tow rope. My brother Ryan is ready with the rope in hand just in case I drift too far behind the boat. Interesting note, according to one of the lake cops on Rock Lake, you do not need to wear a personal flotation device [PFD] while doing water sports as long as you are attached to a vessel [the boat] that has a PFD on board. The catch is that once you release the tow rope you are no longer connected to the boat and the surf board becomes your vessel. At that point, you do not need to wear a PFD, but need to be hanging onto one or have one stored on the surf board.

Our setup: we are running a Malibu Wakesetter with a Hyperlite Broadcast Wake Surf Board

Skyline - Madison

This glass sculpture, Skyline of Madison, was created by Greg Dinauer. The piece was created from a photograph taken by Greg while on John Nolen Avenue. Other work created by Greg can be viewed on his web site. The sculpture is placed just off my kitchen. I am very happy with the sculpture, only slightly disappointed that my condo building did not make it in the skyline.

Greg Dinauer is truly a passionate artist. How he captured the detail of the isthmus skyline is just astonishing. However his passion did not stop there. Greg swung by my condo himself to do the install. After getting the drywall hangars in place we proceeded to hang the sculpture on my wall...easier said than done. Finally the hangars caught. Stepping back to view the sculpture Greg noticed one the pieces was not hanging as snugly to the other as he would like, so we proceeded to take the sculpture down, adjust the hangars and rehang. I truly appreciated this attention to detail and am thrilled to tell everyone about this experience. It is a beautiful conversation piece enjoyed by all my guests.