Colorado

I just returned from Louisville Colorado, and boy is it good to be home! Colorado is home to the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), and that's where I've been working my butt off for the past week. NITA has a pretty intensive litigation program, and I picked up a lot of good trial tips. However, they had me working from about 6am to 10pm every day of the trip. Sadly, that meant I didn't get out much to take photos. :(

Another thing that caught me off guard was how different Colorado is from what I envisioned it as being. I kind of assumed there would be... you know... mountains and trees there. In reality, it's flat as far as you can see and consists mostly of dead grassy plains. Caught me totally off guard. It's how I envisioned Montana would look. Maybe I should go to Montana now, and see if it looks like how I envisioned Colorado.

This is Colorado!

Denver International Airport

Long SuperShuttle Ride from DIA to Louisville

I Stayed at the Omni Interlocken

Flags in the Battleground State

Front of the Hotel

Nice Lobby Sitting Room

Hotel Pool & Golf Course

My Room!

One Last Look at CO Before Leaving...

Last Camp of the Season

Just returned from taking advantage of the last good camping weather of the season. Paul, Sheenae, Jason and myself spent the night out in the backwoods right on the edge of the Mogollon Rim (pronounced 'mug-E-on'). Despite a foreboding weather report, the weather on the rim was actually pretty nice!

We Found a Nice Secluded Spot with Good Tree Cover

Yes, there are Trees in Arizona

Weatherman Lies! No Storms Here

Paul!

And Sheenae!

She Secured our Campsite by Murdering the Previous Campers

Fail Catch

I tried my hand at star photography for the first time this trip. It didn't turn out all that great, but I learned a few things. 1. Ambient light will really show up in the exposures. The trees are all red from our small campfire that was about 20 yards behind the camera. 2. The exposures need to be long. This exposure was an hour and fifteen minutes, but wasn't nearly long enough. And 3. Watch the moon. It actually crept in the left side of my picture at the end creating a bright streak. Hopefully I can get some better results on my second attempt.

1hr 15min Sky Exposure

Fire GOOD

Who is Raul and What is He Doing With My Flashlight?

Until Next Time, Keep Your Feet Warm!

Zombie Hunting

Scott was in town visiting, so we stopped by the gun club and killed a few zombies. Shot a bunch of different firearms, and the MAC-10 even worked pretty well. It didn't explode or kill anyone! Yay!

Scott Shoots a Silenced HK USP Tactical CT

I Think He Likes the M4!

Ana and Mike's Wedding

Just got back from a trip to Toronto, Canada. This time we were up in the great north for a family wedding. Specifically, Ana and Mike's wedding.

Our trip was great, and the wedding was very nice. I'm particularly happy that it was planned for the summertime, as my last trip to Canada in December was a little rough. Canadian winter is a bit too cold for my continued survival. Visiting in the summer is definitely the way to go.

Another cool thing about this trip is that I used High Dynamic Range photography (HDR) for some of my shots. Combining multiple exposures gives you more detail, and hopefully I will get better at it with some more practice.

We flew in a SMALL aircraft. Yes, the Cockpit Door is Open

Flying over Chicago!

You Can Rest Easy Knowing Jetway Technology Remains Solidly OUT of Canadian Hands

So That's Why My Luggage Never Arrives...

I Don't Think We're In Kansas Anymore...

Home is Ouest

Castle Balen (in HDR)

The Entryway to The House is Cool (in HDR)

After my last trip to Canada, I got a lot of grief from everyone in Arizona about not taking photos of the inside of the new house. So this time I took a few to keep everyone pacified.

Inside the Front Door (in HDR)

The Main Stairway (in HDR)

My Arch Nemesis... The Sun Room!

Family Room

Kitchen

Sprawling Back Yard (in HDR)

Rambo Pulls Guard Duty

More Rambo

Gas is $1.36 a liter. That's $5.24 a gallon in America-Speak. (Note They Had to Paste a '1' to the Gas Station Sign Since It Doesn't Go That High.)

Getting Ready for the Wedding

Mike is Getting Ready Too

It's a Groom!

And He has a Posse

The Croatian Church

Inside the Church

The Bride and Her Parents

Ceremony in Progress

Time to Make It Official

This is My New Friend, Boris (On the Right).
Boris Is a Dentist in Slovenia

Sweet Ride!

The Reception Was In a Cool Old Train Station

It Was Pretty Neat Inside

The Old Tracks Ran Under the Grand Ballroom

M.C. Mary Strikes Her Best Hillary Pose

The Ladies Celebrate

And So Do The Guys

Well, that's it for this trip. Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Fresh Mountain Air!

We finally broke in our camping gear this weekend on our first camping trip of the year. Loaded up the truck and headed north into the woods north-east of Payson. Mary, Jason, Paul, Shay, Seth and myself found a nice backwoods site right on the edge of the Mogollon Rim (pronounced 'mug-E-on'). Awesome views, windy nights.

Yep, It's a Campsite!

The Awesome View Over the Rim from our Campsite

Mary Attack!!!

Whachya' Doin'? Whittlin'.

It Takes a Real Man to Chop Down a Tree... and Gloat Over Its Remains

Paul and Shay Enjoy their Luxury Accommodations

King... of the Mountain!

Taaaall Dead Tree

F150. The ONLY way to Travel

Fire GOOD

Mary is Enjoying Her First Camping Trip

Jason Checks to make sure the Rim is Still There. Yep, It's Still There.

Group Photo on the Edge

NOBC Bel-Air

Spent the week in sunny California attending the NOBC (National Organization of Bar Counsel) Conference.

The Conference was good, and I picked up some good caselaw that should come in handy responding to motions. It was also interesting seeing how other states, and even other countries, handle their lawyer discipline programs.

We stayed at the fancy Luxe hotel in Bel-Air. It was nice, but very secluded. We ended up taking cabs to go out and find food. The pizza delivery guy was also our good friend this trip. (Dominoes that is, Pizza Hut refused to deliver to us!)

Matt is so Happy to be back in LA!!!

Too bad the Super Shuttles won't stop for us

Fancy

I call this one, "Fruit... and Apples"

My Room was Fancy too.

Rusty is so Stoned...

Amy and Maret posing

The Less-Than-Reliable Hotel Shuttle. It was only 45 Minutes late when I took this Picture

Time to go to Class

You can almost See the Learning taking place

Did some good Drinking in Westwood Village. These are Crazy One Screen Movie Theaters on each Corner

Fatburger! Best Food of the Trip!

Shooting Holiday

Took advantage of the long weekend and drove out north of town to do a little shooting. I don't normally shoot off of Table Mesa Road, so it was interesting to visit a part of the desert I don't see often... and destroy it.

Had several friends join me, as well as our intern from Germany. I don't think they get to do very much shooting over there, so it should have been a good time for him to try out various weapons.

Daniel the Intern Fires an AR-15

And tries some Full-Auto Action with the MAC-10

Jason Killing an old Computer

Don't have These back Home!

Love Paul's AK-47. Caught the Casing Ejecting

More AR-15 Action

That would make a Good Drivers License Photo

Daniel Catches on Pretty Quickly

More Posing for the Camera

The Voices Tell Me to stay at Home and Clean my Weapons...

Silencers for Everyone!

Grand Canyon!

Took some time and made the drive up to visit our local natural wonder, the Grand Canyon. You know, I've lived in Arizona most of my life and never really get around to visiting the Canyon. I think I recall going once as a kid, but that's it.

Canon was having one of their Photography in the Parks workshops on the South Rim, so I figured I would go check it out and maybe get a few photography tips at the same time. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had another plan and the Canon people bugged out when the lightning starting coming after them.

That's okay though. I still got to take a lot of photos, do some light hiking, and enjoy several hours out of the normal scorching temperature of the desert. I can learn about the histogram function on my camera another day...

Looking out into the Canyon from the South Rim

That Squirrel is Flaunting the Park Rules!

Yes, He's Real. And not Afraid of Anyone!

Uh-oh, Storm is Moving in over El Tovar

Spooky Tree Clawing at the Storm

Wait, why is Paul taking Telephoto Photos facing away from the Canyon? Must be the Local Wildlife...

Is that what I look like when I take People's Photos?

And we begin our Descent into the Canyon...

...but not too Far!

Who's Toes can those be?

Heather's of Course!

A panoramic shot of the Canyon from the South Rim. Sorry, didn't use my Exposure Lock, so you have to deal with color-changing sky.
(Click Image for Large Panorama)

Knotts Berry Farm / Disneyalnd -=VIDEO=-

Jason, Mary and I took a weekend trip out to Knotts and Disneyland to celebrate MLK day. We had a great time, and I hope to recover from the bruises Ghostrider left on me in the near future...

Another Visit to the Happiest Place on Earth!

I've been making good use of my Annual Pass to Disneyland this year! Decided to take a trip down to the theme parks along with my wife, Mary. Added bonus, our friend Jeff was there this weekend too and we were able to all hang out together.

Weather was great, I managed to get some good photos, and Mary almost died on the Challenge Trail. Good times for everyone! ;)

A panoramic shot of the entry to California Adventure. Can you guess if I had to be there really early, or really late to get this photo? ;)
(Click Image for Large Panorama)

We're finally here!!!

What happened to the railroad push cart?

The fruit cart is tempting me... Nah, I'll get a sticky-bun!

Mary is happy white space mountain is back!

Observatron sits motionless, wishing it could send cool laser and music messages to other planets...

I for one, welcome our new robotic overlords

If you look in the deep, dark corners of Frontierland, you can still see the remains of the Mine Train through Nature's Wonderland

You know what that means... we must be in DCA!

And there's Grizzly Peak in all its majesty

I really like this angle of Grizzly Rapids

Jeff and I on the Challenge Trail!

Mary REALLY wishes she didn't get up here...

The one, the only... Tower of Terror!

The evil increases as you approach

The boiler is laughing at you

Room for one more...

Time to go!

We had an excellent time as usual this trip. Good food, good friends, and good fun make for the perfect vacation. Thanks for coming along!

My Wedding!!!

Well, it finally happened! After years of waiting, planning, and navigating the horrors of the immigration system, I'm finally married to my beautiful wife!

Mary and I tied the knot today at the most perfect of locations, Walt Disney World! We've been staying at the Grand Floridian (DEFINITELY recommend) and had the ceremony at Disney's Wedding Pavilion.

The folks at Disney really make these kinds of events special and everything went off without a hitch. Where else in the world can you get wedding photos like the one with us in front of the castle? Perfect memories.

Posing on the beach between the Grand Floridian and the Wedding Chapel

Better get back or we'll miss the reception!

Castle in the Sky. Best tasting cake... EVER

Yes, she smashed it into my face

The obligatory night time castle portrait

Oooh... now I'm standing further back

Looking to Cinderella's Castle

We have the Magic Kingdom all to ourselves!

Must pose in front of the Mansion. No, she didn't jump off of the roof

There's my beautiful bride!

Posing on the steps of the Grand

Let me get some of that stairway action!

Who's that handsome man?

First dance

Uncle George dances the night away

Jamie and Scott enjoying themselves

Grandma steals the groom!

Judy and Jimmy dancing

Can it be a Carla sighting?!

Party animals

Parents of the Bride

Mike and Amy came to my wedding even though I missed theirs!

Prosecutors in love

Kara looking fabulous

The ultimate party table!

We had quite the turnout for a wedding in Florida!

Making things official in the chapel

This place really is beautiful

You may kiss the bride

Parents of the Groom

Time to depart in our carriage!

There we go!

A HUGE thanks to all of our friends and family that came and made this moment special for the both of us. This is one trip we'll never forget!

Bachelor Party!!!

In just a few months I'll be entering the scary world of holy matrimony. But before then, it's time for a bachelor party with my buddies in Vegas!!!

Had a GREAT time in Vegas with Paul, Paul, and Mike! Of course we behaved ourselves completely, as this carefully censored and doctored set of photographs will evidence...

We begin our debauchery on the south end of the strip - MGM Grand!

The escalator ride!!!

New York, New York, what a wonderful town!

If you didn't hate the Japanese before, Manhattan Express will make you hate them now. Most... painful... coaster... EVAR.

Paris... PASS

View of the strip from the Stratosphere. Sorry about the camera shake, but those tools confiscated my tripod before I went up.

And that's it! Yep. Nothing else to share about on this trip. Ho-hum. How uneventful. Nothing to see here... move along. Until next time!

South and Camelback Mountains

With the large number of storms we've had lately, the skies above Phoenix have been unusually clear, offering fantastic views of the valley. I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to lug my equipment to high ground and get some haze-free shots of the valley and surrounding mountains.

First, I took some photos from the top of South Mountain, located on the south side of Phoenix. (Hence the name.) The great thing about South Mountian is that you can drive all the way to the top, allowing for great photos with minimal strain on the body. Camelback mountain on the other hand, is a far different story. If you've ever seen Mission Impossible 2 where he's climbing the vertical rock wall, you've pretty much seen what Camelback Mountain is like. It is a serious hike/climb with several near-vertical sections. It took me an hour and a half of grueling work to get to the top. (Read: don't expect more Camelback shots for a while.)

Luckilly Paul was around again to help carry the tripod and equipment up the mountain. I most definately would have plummeted to my death off of some rock wall or something without him.

The sun nestles into the western landscape, ending another beautiful day

Blowing dust creates a brilliant sunset over the desert

Nothing is left but an orange glow after the sun has gone

And a purple sky marks the transition to night

Scaling one of the cliff-faces. Notice the tiny people and buildings in the background

Paul fights the high winds to brace and set up a tripod

Time for a brief glamour shot with the McDowell Mountains in the background

Looking north towards Squaw Peak and the homes nestled at its base

Paul precariously perches on a small peak

Just happy to have survived the climb!

Thanks for looking through my photos! Perhaps someday when my hands, feet, and lungs have healed, I'll be willing to climb Camelback again for some more photos. Until then, take care and I'll see you on my next trip!

Hayden Butte

As I do regularly, I took the time to hike up Hayden Butte and take some photos from high above the valley. Not only does the Butte offer some spectacular views, but it provides me with that exercise one rarely gets in law school.

Hayden Butte is located next to downtown Tempe and is an easy to moderate hike. It is often called 'A' Mountain due to the large 'A' (for Arizona State University) located on it. My friends Mike and Paul proved excellent hiking buddies and even allowed me to rest briefly on the way up. I really need to exercise more often.




An F-16 streaks across the golden afternoon sky

A passenger jet passing close by to land at Sky Harbor International

Another jet passes over the broadcast antenna on top of the Butte

A panoramic shot of the early evening sky
(Click Image for Large Panorama)

The sun creates a pastel sky on a cloudless evening...

...and stunning hues on a cloud-filled one

The sunset creates a dramatic burning hill effect

And a wider shot shows the deep blue sky lurking above

South Mountain looks ominous as it grows dark

A panoramic of the horizon
(Click Image for Large Panorama)

Mike poses for a shot with the cityscape

'M' is for Mike. Always bring a flashlight when night hiking. ;)

Paul with a stormy night behind him

Sparadic storm clouds roam the night horizon
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One final late night panorama before the hike back down to civilization
(Click Image for Large Panorama)

Thanks for looking through my photos!