I don’t know what it is about my son, sometimes he kills it in front of the camera, and other times he refuses to even let me snap a pic.

Yesterday, he was on top of his game. We were on our way out the door to do some grocery shopping, and he asked me to take his picture in my Jackass hat. Of course, I obliged, so I stuck him in front of our wall (where there happened to be great light) and snapped away. You can see Max sporting his deer in the headlights look, his tough guy, and his peek-a-boo. Max is a natural, as I gave him very little in the way of instructions for this series.

All you grooms out there take note, this is how you do it!

I have way too many lenses, and Jenny is making me get rid of some of them. Feel free to e-mail me at josh@joshsolarphoto.com if you have any questions about any of them.

Here they are, buyer pays shipping:

Nikon 28-70mm f2.8 – $1000
Lens was bought about 1 year ago, no physical damage at all, the the rubber grip used to zoom slips off, probably can be easily glued. Item includes front and back lens caps, lens hood, no box

Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 – $950
Lens was bought about 4 months ago, still in perfect condition, includes front and back lens caps, lens hood, no box

Nikon 18-35mm f3.5-4.5 – $225
I have had this lens for about 4 years now, stopped using it around 2 years ago, and decided to finally sell it. No physical damage, glass is nice as well, includes front and back lens caps, lens hood, no box

Nikon 24-120mm VR f3.5-5.6 – $200
My first wedding lens, it’s been dropped once along with my old D100. The only visible damage is a ding on the edge of the lens. You can see it a little bit in the pictures on the top left, and a crack in the plastic around the glass. The lens itself still takes great pictures with no focusing issues. Item includes front and back lens caps, lens hood, no box

While I was out in California for my workshop, we spent some time visiting my grandparents. I’d like to share some of my favorite stories of a man that I greatly admire.

My Grandpa Larry loves airplanes, boxing, and my Grandma. He Joined the military in 1941 and became an engineer/gunner in a B24 liberator in World War II where he flew missions in the South Pacific. He tells of a time when a man asked him to switch missions so he could get home to his wife one day earlier, my Grandpa did, that plane crashed and left no survivors.

He met Nicolas Cage at the boxing ring he used to go to watch all the young kids box. I remember when I was younger he would always give me drills and boxing exercises to do to get me in shape, stick and move.

It’s funny how I don’t remember much of my childhood, but I do remember flying to some little cafe with my Grandpa in a tiny little plane that sat maybe 4 people. That’s quite an experience for a little 7 year old boy.

He’s such a nice guy. He’ll talk to anyone, anytime. Just walk with him for a few minutes, he’ll stop and talk to at least one random person. He’s currently an active member in the Civil Air Patrol out in Southern California. I could go on and on about why I love this man so much, but I’d like to share some portraits I took of him while the kids were napping one afternoon. Enjoy!

You can see some pictures of both my grandparents here (these were pre-logo, pre-big pics, but I love them anyway).  Aren’t my grandparents so sweet?

I’ve been in California for a week and a half, and while it was nice to get out of the cold for a while and relax, the real reason I’m out here was for the Shootshop put on by Nate & Jaclyn of The Image is Found. This opportunity was definitely a life-changing experience for me. They held nothing back as they let 16 complete strangers into their world. I definitely walked away from this with a new perspective on how I create an image, how I show an image, and some new things to think about from a business standpoint. Jenny and I have a lot to talk about to decide how we can take our business to a whole new level. Be ready for some cool new stuff popping up around here:)

I snapped this nice portrait of Nate during one of his lessons

Nate gets very up close and personal with his clients

Here is all of us looking on in amazement as Nate explains how he does what he does. There were some awesome photographers in the crowd as well. I met another one of my favorites, Jasmine Star, as well as 14 other photographers from all over the country.

Board games, board games. Every time we come to California, we always end up playing tons of board games. We always end up playing Taboo, though. It’s always the dudes vs. the chicas, and the chicas always destroy us! I mean, it’s not even close, they murder us. This trip, I knew something was different. On Friday night, we started out with some new game, Would You Rather? (the dudes won), then we played Mad Gab (the dudes won). The girls were pretty pissed by now (sore losers:), so they wanted to play some Taboo. Like I said before, this time I felt something was different, so I decided to pull out my camera and snap some pictures of the heated game. Here’s what transpired.

Brian let one loose to warm up for the big game. The smell lingered for a while, and I think it threw the girls off for a little bit.

I have no idea what happened that made Peter make this face

Jenny gets really, really, really into Taboo

Here’s Brad making sure Dawn isn’t saying any forbidden words. Congrats to Brad & Dawn on their new baby due next July.

It’s a well known fact that during Brad’s turn there is a ton of uhhh huh huh’s, which causes all the dudes to make faces like this

The timer is key to Taboo

I told you Jenny gets really into Taboo

Taboo brings out random funny faces

Jen & Peter recently got engaged and will be married next August. Be on the lookout for their engagement pictures in the next few days

Here’s a wonderful shot of Brian & Val

The dudes love, love, love messing with Jenny. She can only take so much, then she starts hitting folks.

It’s always a blast when you get to buzz someone for saying the wrong word.

Buzz!

Buzz!

Here’s Dawn re-enacting Brad’s Tarzan clue. High comedy:)

Here’s one of Brian’s cats, Jager. His other cat, Meister, was being shy.

Here’s a sweet shot of Jenny in deep concentration

And finally, Val was pissed because…

she saw this:)