The first of what is sure to be many Christmas/holiday themed dinner parties has come and gone. Actually, we have already attended two separate Hanukkah parties that I failed to bring the camera to, so this is actually #3. This marked the 4th annual holiday gathering of the group comprised of the Allen’s and the Fahlsing’s (it’s a new name to us….since Cyrilla and Todd got married this year). Of the 4 years, this one marked the first that we were able to host, and once again the house proved to be a wonderful space that we were able to share with some great friends. The kids played really well together, and each shared their gifts equally well (or not so well as the specific case may have been).

There is no intention of posting every photo that I take on here….after all, this is a blog about what we do as a family, not a photography blog. However, I can justify it by saying that this is the sort of thing that happens after Ezra goes to bed – so it’s loosely connected…in the ‘life of a parent’ sort of way. Anyhow, here are some shots of downtown Castle Rock that I took last night.

Correctly Exposed Single Shot

HDR

Correctly Exposed Single Shot

HDR

Yea, I was just too intrigued at the photo possibilities. Now I just need to sell a few photos to make up for the cost of the program. Here is the refined, non-watermarked version of the Station 151 photo.

That is the question. HDR is a photography technique that I have been toying with attempting for a while (for you photography types, it’s basically a digital take on bracketing with a few more spiffy things). My hesitation has always been that poorly done HDR looks fake and cartoony….and I have never been a huge fan of tons of post-processing to the images. I saw some examples on-line the other day that got me thinking again about doing it, so I gave it a try the other night while I was at the firehouse. The biggest restraint is simply the cost of the computer program that everyone recommends….it’s $99 – so it doesn’t break the bank, but it isn’t something just to throw money at if I don’t like it. The program is available for trial, but it puts watermarks on the photos – which you will see below. There are two images…one is the correct exposure through the camera, the second is the HDR image.

I want to know…is it worth it? Talk amongst yourselves.

Original

HDR

So firefighters have to work 24-7-365….and this year was one of those times that I had to work on Thanksgiving day (and the Friday after too). It’s been a while since I had to since normally I have had enough seniority to get the weekend off of work. However this year was different…with the new baby only a few weeks away and travel is ill-advised at this point in a pregnancy we decided to stay put – and honestly, even though it was tough to not be around the WI family, it was great not to have to deal with any holiday travel.

The shift was a busy one at the station, and just like it would have been scripted for a movie, as soon as we sat down with the families for dinner, the bells rang and off we went. Luckily, we weren’t gone too long and were able to make it back to the station for the rest of dinner. Ahna and Ezra were able to come down and enjoy the dinner with us; which always makes working a holiday a little easier.

I don’t really know what to write here…..it was Saba’s birthday. We celebrated a day early since I had to work. Ezra had fun. The end.

The laundry room is done. At this moment, it appears that it was the last of the major projects to do around the house prior to the arrival of the baby. Don’t get me wrong, there are still lots of things that we would like to do….but at this point, none of them are big-time time consumers, nor are they big-time life influencers.

The laundry room was two parts: 1 – build a lift for the washer/dryer. 2 – replace the particle board shelf that came with the house with some cabinetry for better and cleaner storage options. The lift for the laundry machines was a simple framed out 2×6 box with hardwood plywood on top. We painted it black to match the machines and topped it with stick-on linoleum tiles to give it a good surface. The cabinets were off-the-shelf models from Home Depot, and to our moderate surprise, they fit like a glove. You wouldn’t know that they weren’t custom fit for the space.

The whole project took the length of the day, but it was a lot of fun working with my Dad to get it all done. The room was already put to the test last night with a couple loads of laundry…..and it performed to rave reviews.

The work bench is complete! I was able to find some plans for a basic bench – after sorting through seemingly hundreds of plans for woodworking benches complete with router drawers and built in tool storage – and built it over the course of two days…probably for a total of 4 hours of work. Total project cost was just over $100.00 for a table big enough and sturdy enough for just about any project that I am looking to do – including ski tuning.

The bench was the linchpin in completing the garage organization, which occurred yesterday afternoon. Got the bikes off the floor, tools mounted, shoes cleaned up, and all other misc stuff put in a place. It feels really good to have that project done, and there is a slight lull prior to the next one kicking off.