We went to the Rodeo Friday night. Now, the rodeo is one of those things that - for me - is fun to go to about twice a year... max. Outside of that, it gets a little low on entertainment value. If you're a rodeo lover or, better yet, a rodeo clown or cowboy, don't send me hate mail. I'm just sayin', for me personally, it's a little, let's just say, not my bag of peanuts outside of the twice per year limit. But... this was our first time there this year, so I got my cowboy on and was all into it. I woulda wore my black boots and black cowboy hat, but I lost the hat in a bar fight back at Ohio State (another story for another day), and the boots? Well, let's just say that this cowboy's feet have apparently grown in the last 12 years. Also, I'm gonna share a little secret with you. My heart bleeds for animals, so everytime a cowboy got bucked off a bronco or bull, or anytime a calf got away in the calf ropin' contest, I was hee-hee'ing under my breath. My favorite part of the whole show is actually when they throw a 3-5 year old kid on a sheep, fling open the gate and watch them (the kiddos) hang on for dear life. Funniest thing. Ever. I brought my camera and coulda walked around all night photographing some killer scenes, but I only took a few on this night.

See, they just look like they know what's coming for them.

What up, Elsie?

Yee-hot.

Hey, wonder if Kylie was lookin' at this guy in that last image.

A little intermission entertainment.

Ahhh... cotton candiliscious.

So, I'm not sure how I've been in teh dark on this site for so long, but Fail Blog is one of my new favorite stops for a few minutes of nonsensical silliness each day. I had tears in my eyes laughing at the below video from yesterday.  The part that gets me the most is the reaction and laughing from the other students on the bus.  Good stuff.   [Disclaimer: I only laughed so much because no one was hurt.  If someone had been hurt, I would've only laughed a little.]

Meet Brandon.  To all the single ladies out there, especially those in the Dallas area, Brandon is not a fireman, so you won't find him in any calendars of questionable intent.  Sorry.  In fact, he is a man with a heart for God, and what could be better/hotter than that, right?  Oh, and did I mention he's single and likes to Salsa dance?  I'm just sayin'...  Don't email me askin' for his number, email address, or facebook page; I'm not running a match-making service here... not yet anyway.  If this photography thing doesn't work out, though, I'll be reconsidering. Brandon is actually in the men's group I meet with on Monday nights at church.  He's a stand up guy with a genuine concern for others, and it's been an honor getting to know him and sharing Monday nights with him.  Brandon's had people tell him he should give modeling a try.  I don't see it, but whatever.  [grin]  Clearly he's not a bad lookin' guy, right?  Long story short, we got together this past Wednesday evening to shoot a few images for a portfolio just to test the waters to see if he can bring in a little extra cash while he finishes seminary school.

I've gotta give a shout out to my assistant Jeff for this shoot.  Jeff is also in the Monday men's group with Brandon and I, and he came along to hold reflectors & lights and generally just make fun of Brandon all night.  Here's a couple SOOC (straight-out-of-camera) images showing Jeff in action and the setup for the last image in this post.  We were actually walking back to the car and I saw this chair sitting up on this apartment building balcony and told them I wanted to do"just one more shot".  With the residents peeking out the blinds trying to figure out what we were doing and at one point Jeff laying on his back holding the reflector up towards Brandon's face, it was kind of a bizarre sight.

Here's the final image.  With all the crazy temperatures of light casting different colors, I decided to just neutralize all the lights colors in post to create a more moody image.

Oh, and chill out apartment lady... we put your chair back. Oops... I lied.  One more.

Oh... and these 2.

Micro$oft users -  Listen up.  Here's your chance to retaliate for all the times you've been made fun of for using an "uncool/unfriendly/inferior/[insert other derogatory term of choice here]" machine.  My beloved Mac has apparently checked out... I woke up this morning, but my Mac hasn't, and nothing I can do seems to be able to bring it out of the technological coma it's fallen into. The doctors at Apple were not encouraging when I spoke with them on the phone this morning.  They hinted at things like hard drive failures and motherboard replacements.  If you're in to kicking people (and by people I mean Mac users, and by Mac users I mean in this case me) while they're down, let the assault begin.  I probably deserve it for all the sarcasm I've sent your way over the years, so lemme have it.  You have my permission.  Be gentle.

Take a look at Max.  At one year old, he might be short in stature, but he's huge on personality.  I got to hang out with this little guy and his mom Dallas and dad Chris at their home recently, and I'm not sure I've met a little guy with so much personality before.  He was happy, pensive, intrigued, inquisitive, affectionate, annoyed, playful, tired, intrepid, adventurous and energetic... all in the span of about 90 minutes.  We had a blast and can't wait to see Max and his mom & dad again in the fall for an outdoor session.  I need to start workin' out now so I'll be able to keep up with him. Here's a few of my favorites from our play time together. How killer are those eyes?

Daddy is a... trampoline!

This little guy's got some skills.  Stlll not sure how he gets up that high on his toes.

I love the look on his face below.

Max loves his momma...

... and his dad.

For a little change of scenery, we headed out doors into the back yard, ordered up some H20, and let Max do his thing.  I was a little hesitant going out in the mid-day sun with temps in the upper 90's, but I think we got some awesome images... some of my favorites from the afternoon.

Max loves to dance and play in the sprinklers.

This is probably one of my favorite images from the entire summer.  Can't decide whether Max reminds me more of an Olympic gymnast or Rocky in this image.

Cracks me up how he's just chillin' in the image below on the right.

This is also a serious contender for my favorite image of the summer.  I love how Max is imitating his dad, Chris, here.  This is a timeless father-son moment, and it kinda makes me think of a Norman Rockwell scene.

And finally, this series cracks me up.  I think Chris was peek-a-boo'ing, and Max was trying to see where his dad went.

Thanks, Chris, Dallas & Max for an awesome afternoon!  See you again in November!