Red River Gorge

I got back yesterday from a camping trip with a good friend of mine - this year we hiked and camped in the Red River Gorge in southeastern Kentucky. Even though I lived just a couple hours away from there many years ago, I never made it there - which is too bad, because it is gorgeous.

Our first day there, it rained from sun up to sun down, but thankfully stopped shortly before it got completely dark, so we could get our hammocks set up. We did touristy-drive around the park-stuff that Monday, so while we definitely got wet, it would have been soaked had we backpacked that first day.

The next morning we got up, let the gear dry, and then hit the trail for some hiking.

We stumbled across a beautiful place to camp, so we hung our hammocks and enjoyed the no rain.

The next morning, we watched the sun rise over the gorge, which was spectacular. So much so, that we went back the following morning (we just day hiked for the day and camped in the same spot). We got up early enough to see the stars - we had clear skies, but that meant cold temps.

Jason took a bunch of time-lapse photos with his iPhone that inspired the above photo - mine is only 8 or 12 photos strung together. I love how dynamic the fog is.

I am sure more photos will follow. Have a great day,

Marc

Ian's turn

I had a bit of free time today, so I set up the "studio" and sat Ian in front of the camera.

So glad I did - because with Nancy's help, I got an elusive (authentic) smile from Ian. That is what he looks like when he is genuinely happy, not forcing a grin for the camera.

And of course, a more pensive look. Unfortunately, I missed the focus on this. We were playing around with the camera tethered to the computer, and either Ian moved, or I just got the wrong focus for this particular series of photos. Oh well.

Have a great day!

Marc

Happy birthday Catherine!

Happy birthday Catherine!

Under the pretense of celebrating Catherine's birthday, we loaded up the van and took a mini road trip yesterday - it was really just a good excuse to get out and explore our little corner of Maryland, but we had a good time celebrating, too.

We had to pick up Leah from a girl scout camping event, and we hit the road right after that. Catherine found a nice place to have lunch, and then we made our way to Mt. Airy to start the Old Main Street scenic byway drive.

Because we had a bit of a late start - and to give the kids plenty of time to do a bit of homework and unwind - we only hit the Mt. Airy to Winchester leg of the journey.

At Winchester, we stopped for an ice cream cone (delicious) at Hoffman's, and then drove up the road to the Carroll County Farm Museum, where we got the last tour before the place closed...and almost crashed a wedding held on the grounds.

The photo of Leah, below, is from right outside the former Almshouse (think working farm as a precursor to modern day welfare system).

We got home in time to catch some football, and I used the setting sun to get a couple of photos of Catherine. The one below is from our front porch.

This one is from the back deck - going for the strong back lighting like I did with Ian the other day.

Have a great day - and happiest birthday wishes to Catherine!

Marc

Playing with my flash

I have been wanting to get some photos of Ian and Leah around the property, but we have been rained out lately. One night the rain was apocalyptic - and once that storm passed, it felt like it just continued to rain somewhere between steady and hard for the rest of the week.

So when the sun came out this morning, it was a great relief.

We have had only a few clouds every now and then - it has been a pretty glorious day, all in all.

Have a great day!

Marc

Family visit

Nancy has been here for a couple of weeks, helping out with Catherine as she recovers from her knee surgery. Christina came up last weekend to visit for the week.

Before church this morning, I thought I'd grab an extended family photo. Everyone wanted a photo of just the three generations of Berenguer/Barnes/Skinner ladies...so here you go.

Have a great week!

Marc

Back to School!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

The kids are headed back to school this week, so I figured I'd dress them up in their Hogwarts best, with each kid wearing their house colors (from vacation bible school).

I think the kids had fun with this photoshoot - though this could be Ian's last half-kiddy-fun photo, he's looking like quite the young man.

Have a great Labor Day everyone!

Marc

SCUBA part 3

I thought it'd be fun for Ian's birthday if we drove down to Key West to get in a dive there. I had originally planned on Dry Tortugas National Park, but waited too long to schedule to the ferry trip. So SCUBA dive it was. Nancy was kind enough to tag along on the ride with us, which made for a nice dinner once we were done.

Here is a nice photo of a bunch of fish - I thin they were blue tangs.

For whatever reason, Ian loved to hang out upside down in the water!

We got in two dives, maybe ten minutes apart from each other, but the second dive was much nicer - mostly because the terrain was much larger and easier to navigate on this dive.

We saw a big barracuda who came out of hiding to check us out, and a fairly large grouper, though the dive master said there is a giant grouper on that part of the reef (which we didn't see).

As a last parting random photo, I thought this brain coral was pretty cool.

Cheers,

Marc