Grandpa Dean

Friends of Win,

Jared and I have been a little behind in getting you your daily requirement of Winfield pictures. I photographed a wedding this weekend, which makes for a very busy week for both of us.

Win's Grandpa and Grandma Dean came for a mid-week visit to see Win before the baby girl is born. Grandpa brought Win a bunch of books that have pictures of dogs (euwww, euwwws to Win). Clifford and the puppies was clearly his favorite. He likes to point out the puppies and other animals in the book.

Win loves to identify pictures in books. In his favorite book of all time--Doggies, by Sandra Boynton--he has chosen to call the largest, mean looking dog,"mama." Naturally, this is so funny that Jared and others encourage his identifying large mean things in this way.

My parents brought their camera to the park tonight. As soon as I get those pictures from them I'll put some up.

Fantasy Genius

I just thought I'd share that all the teams in my fantasy league were rated according to the draft values on NFL.com, and yours truly came out on with the highest ranked team. I am officially a fantasy guru, and my team, Bad Newz Kennelz, is now the team to beat in my league, the #1 seed (if there were such a thing in fantasy football). Let the carnage begin.

A few corrections from my last post: I actually drafted Jeff Wilkens as my Kicker, not Shayne Graham (he was taken), and the player I couldn't remember was Jericho Cotchery, WR, New York Jets.

I'd also like to apologize to everyone for the name of my fantasy team. It was, you know, a mistake, and immature. And, you know, I want to personally apologize to Roger Goodell and my friend Lindsay Post who works for PETA. But, you know, most of all I want to apologize to all the kids out there that I let down.

Stay tuned for some sort of cute post about Win and an adorable picture. We've been a little busy the last few days - Rachel shot a wedding on Saturday and I've been editing it, and now Rachel's parents are in town for a few days.

Same Day, Same Place, Same Camera, Same Family, Different ISO

As you know we'd been vacationing with Jared's family in Detroit last week. As I was going through the pictures I noticed a couple that were a perfect demonstration of ISO and it's relationship to digital noise.

We were on a pontoon boat in the middle of the day. My father-in-law's camera was accidentally set so that the ISO was at 1600, which is way too high for the amount of light available on a boat in the daytime. A couple of images were taken before the setting was changed. Both of these pictures were taken with the same camera, on the same day, very close to the same time. Do you see the difference in the quality of the images? Click on the images to see a much larger view of them. Look closely at the skin tones.

ISO 1600 (too high for the situation)

ISO 100 (lowest available ISO, which is great for bright situations)
The little baby is Willow. Click on the image to open a larger version of it and look closely at her face. Now do the same to the picture of her brother Ezra. Do you see how Willow looks like she has some sort of blue and magenta skin disorder but her brother looks fine. That blotchy, colorful grain is called digital noise. It happens when the ISO it turned up too high.

ISO is measured in numbers like 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 etc... It's the same as those numbers that were on the boxes of film that we used to buy. Do you remember film? ISO is very similar with digital. ISO is a measurement of how sensitive your digital film is. The more light that is available the lower you can set your ISO. If you are inside or it is late evening you'd have to bump the ISO higher to make sure that you image didn't turn out really blurry. If your ISO is set too high you lose quality by introducing a lot of unnecessary noise, like on Willow's face. If your ISO is set too low then you will get a really blurry picture, one of those images where someone is moving their arm and it looks like a see-through moving ghost.

Basically, you want to have your ISO set to the lowest possible setting for the given situation. Since there was plenty of light on that boat the ISO was changed to 100 (the lowest) for the picture of Ezra. Do you see how great his skin looks? The quality of the picture changes significantly.

It's important to understand this because settings in digital cameras can be daunting. There are so many menus. Once they are demystified your camera will more fun to use.

Don't worry, I'm not telling you that you have to start thinking about ISO when you are trying to get your kids to keep doing the cute thing that they just stopped doing once you got your camera out. Thankfully camera companies do the work for us. In almost every camera I've ever seen there is a setting in the ISO setting list called auto. You guessed it, it automatically sets the lowest reasonable ISO for the situation. Amazing! Even the fanciest film cameras couldn't do that. Digital is fabulous.

Check your camera. Make sure that it is set to auto ISO. If you notice that even with it set to auto you are getting noisy images try setting it to 100 whenever you are outside.

Happy snapshots!

Rachel

Fantasy Breakdown

This year, after much peer pressure from my friends, I caved in and joined a fantasy football league. Last night we drafted, and I thought you all might be a captive audience with which to share my sweet team. It was a auction-style draft where you spend 100 fake dollars bidding on all the players to fill your roster. Alright, here goes.

First of all, my team name and logo can't be beat: Bad Newz Kennelz. In poor taste? Probably. And for those of you that know her, check out the strange resemblence between that poodle and my niece Eden.


My draft choices:

1. Shaun Alexander, runningback, Seattle, $26. First guy I drafted, spent a decent amount on him (not as much as my friend Dave who blew $51 on LT), but I felt like I was getting a good value for a top-ten back. In my 15 minutes of pre-draft research, everyone said getting good runningbacks was by far the most important thing. Besides, I like Mike Holmgren.

2. Cedric Benson, runningback, Chicago, $16. I can't believe I drafted a Bear. But, everyone was overspending, it seemed, and this seemed like a good value for a feature back on a team that emphasizes the run game and has the worst quarterback in the history of the universe.

3. Marvin Harrison, wide receiver, Indianapolis, $22. This might have been a little bet of a stretch moneywise, but c'mon, its Marvin Harrison. I knew I wanted to have at least one Colt, and Joseph Addai and Peyton Manning had already been purchased for massive amounts.

4. Baltimore Ravens Defense, $8. I think this was a solid value.

5. Jon Kitna, quarterback, Detroit, $9. I was pretty pleased with this pickup. Having never entertained hopes of paying enough to draft Peyton, I was secretly hoping to pick up either Marc Bulger or Jon Kitna. My head said Bulger but my heart said Kitna. I predict Kitna and the Lions offense will put up some gaudy numbers this year.

6. Jamal Lewis, runningback, Baltimore, $2. In case Cedric Benson or Shaun Alexander aren't getting it done.

7. Jeremy Shockey, tight end, New York Giants, $5. This dude has sweet hair. And, I confess, I am secretly fascinated with the Giants and the tribulations of Peyton's kid brother Eli.

8. Andre Johnson, wide receiver, Houston, $4. Did I actually draft someone who plays for the Texans? Flame on. Truth be told, I've never even heard of this dude, but he was the highest ranked wide-out left at the time.

9. J. P. Losman, quarterback, Buffalo, $1. Backup for Jon Kitna, as if I'd need one. I think he has a mustache sometimes.

10. Joey Galloway, wide receiver, Miami, $1. My third wideout. Never really heard of him either.

*** at this point in the draft I thought I'd quietly pick up Michael Turner from San Diego for a song, but Dave woke up from his Charger daydream and bid more than I could afford. Dang. I figured if LT was accidentally clubbed in the knee by Tonya Harding I would be golden. Then, I tried a similar move to pick up Adrian Peterson, and was outbid again.

11. Shayne Graham, kicker, Cincinnati, $1. Best kicker left at this point.

12. Brian Griese, quarterback, Chicago, $0.25. I think I did this just so I could say I told you so to my friend Josh when the Bears bench Rexxy after two weeks and 134 fumbled snaps. Plus, I have fond memories of watching Griese win the 1998 Rose Bowl in the flesh (thanks Dad). Go Blue!

13. I know I drafted somebody else, but I forgot who it was.

All in all, I feel like it was a strong showing. What do you think? Do I have a chance?

Video Time

I don't know why but I've been inspired to take a bunch of videos lately.
Yesterday Win took all of the cushions off the couch and laid them on the floor. He then repeatedly jumped off the couch onto the cushions. Today I guess he decided that cushions were for babies because he moved the cushions out of the way and began jumping onto the floor. Don't worry, this is probably the 20th time that he did this little trick. He's pretty good at managing a loud, clumsy landing.
Nothing quite like 30 year old carpet padding.

Gift from Jamie, Sarah, Jordan and Stella

Yesterday Win received a special gift in the mail from his uncle, aunt and cousins. Win has developed the contagious habit of barking (euwww, euwww) at all dogs, and anything that he thinks is interesting. Over vacation his barking was so infectious that by the end of the week aunts and uncles could be heard saying, "euwww, euwww" whenever something of interest happened. In honor of his love for dogs, and his love for barking at most things, he got this book in the mail.

For the sake of translation, clapping means 'more' or 'I like it.' Listen for his trademark, "euwww, euwww" He does it first on the 4-dogs page. And be careful, you might catch yourself doing it.

Thank You Aaron

Win would like to say thank you to tropical storm Aaron. He now has plenty of puddles to splash in.
It's been raining, no pouring, for the last 3 days. It's kind of fun.

More Park Pictures

Here's a few more pictures from a visit to our nearby park. Going to the park is a big part of Win's life. He often goes 4-5 times or more a week, and absolutely loves it. Usually we roll him there in his Radio Flyer, although lately he's been occasionally walking the whole way himself (it's only about three blocks away). He pretty much climbs all over the playground equipment, swings on the swings, tries desperately to use the drinking fountain, and socializes with neighborhood kids. When he's real lucky he might get a visit from an ooh-oooh (read: dog).

New Skills-Always

I'm now realizing what I think every parent already knows. Kids NEVER stop learning. It seems like Win just learned to walk. Now he can't stop climbing. He tries to climb everything, stable or not. It's not my favorite trick of his. I much preferred it when he learned to say, "ma ma" and "da dee." He can't crack his head open doing that. Yesterday he discovered our little aluminum ladder. It is light and easy for him to carry around. He moves it around the house and climbs up on it. I figure that it is a relatively safe way for him to get out his climbing needs. Here he in in out one and only closet (the don't build houses like they used to, and it's a good thing!)

Anniversary Surprise

Jared told me a couple of weeks ago that he had a "little surprise" planned for our anniversary. I love surprises, especially when I know that one is coming. That way I can get excited about it. I never investigate, because I don't want to spoil it. He totally surprised me with a fantastic evening.

He drove me down to the shipyard and walked me out on a pier. Then he pointed to a boat and said, "that's the one we're taking." We then got into this sailboat and motored it through the channel onto Lake Michigan. It was really beautiful. We spent about 2 hours on the boat before taking it back and going out to eat at a restaurant on the water. After that we drove back to the boat and spent the night in it. Jared had packed everything that I needed. It was so much fun! I'd never been on a boat like that before.

Thanks Ken and Robin for the use of your boat. We had such a perfect anniversary.

Pre-Digital Marriage

Eight years ago today Jared and I got married. All of our wedding pictures are prints in an album so here are a couple from our 5 year anniversary. We celebrated in San Francisco before my brother's wedding.
We've been married for 8 years and I can honestly say that I wouldn't trade this year for any other. We get better and better each year at knowing each other and how to be married. I was reading a book last night that was describing life in a wonderful marriage and I felt like it was describing an interaction between Jared and I. Not that we don't have difficulties to get through, but we get through them and I always know that Jared loves me, believes in me and is trying to understand me.
Happy anniversary to us! 8 years goes so fast.

The Gang's All Here

Here's a better, and more cooperative, shot of the Henderson cousins. Pretty cute, huh?

Lessons

Jared was teaching Win how to put his face in the water. Win caught on really fast.

Day at the Lake

We're still in Bloomfield Hills, hanging out with the Henderson clan. Today we spent most of the day at a friend of my dad's, lounging by Watkins lake and boating around. Win played in the sand, helped grandpa goose steer the pontoon boat, went tubing briefly, and generally looked cool in his shades.

Family Picture

We're 2.5 days into our Henderson family reunion/vacation, and we just finished taking our family pictures. Here's the whole clan of us, 20 strong (if you count Rachel's belly), in my parents back yard. We also tried to do another cousin line-up, but had tons of drama. Win was crying constantly and trying to run away during the picture.

Arin's Senior Pictures

Last night we finished editing Rachel's most recent photo shoot - some senior pictures for our friend Arin Heinz. Last year, Arin trained with us and ran the Detroit Marathon as a 16-year old! She is an awesome girl, and she and Rachel had a blast shooting some pretty creative pictures. Here are a few of the shots. To see more, check out the complete slideshow. Rachel also recently did some amazing senior photos for our friend Caroline, but I just haven't gotten around to giving her any blog love yet. I will in a few days after some more cute pictures of Win.