Friday, March 4th - Reggie – The Best Cat

On Wednesday, we had to say goodbye to Reggie – our family cat for the last 17 years. Reggie was the best.

She arrived at our home in Indiana as a package deal – with her brother, Boomer – in 1994. We had just moved to Indiana that spring, and this brother-sister duo became the newest addition to our family. Dad immediately declared Reggie and Boomer would be setting up their beds in the backyard shed. Dad’s a sucker, and within a few months, Reggie and Boomer were sleeping under the same roof as the rest of us.

She traveled with the family for various moves across the midwest and beyond. In fact, she’s probably moved more times than the average person. She has lived in five different states. Not many people can say they once lived in Fargo, ND… but Reggie can.

She has happily accompanied the family in all of our adventures. She welcomed Maddie, our black lab puppy, to the family a few years after our move to Indiana. The two of them began their eternal struggle for the queen of the kingdom at home. She outlived her brother by over 7 years, and I think it took her quite some time to realize that no matter how much she meowed, Boomer wasn’t going to come out and play. My parent’s move down to Florida was the latest and last adventure for Reggie, but we are all happy she got to experience the Florida sun and become an even more well-traveled cat.

If I hadn’t seen her for 3 months or a year, it never mattered. As soon as I’d come home, she would instantly recognize me and begin angling for attention. Her meows won’t greet us anymore, and that welcoming sound will be missed. She was different than most cats in this regard – she seemed to care about and want to be around us as much as we cared about and wanted to be around her.

Reggie - The Best Cat

Reggie - The Best Cat

Reggie - The Best Cat

Reggie - The Best Cat

Reggie - The Best Cat

Thursday, March 3rd - February Highlights

The pictures I took in February come from complete opposite ends of the spectrum: Chicago’s 3rd largest snow storm in history versus Costa Rica; Chicago skyline versus remote Central American beaches.

Chicago - Blizzard of 2011 Blizzard of 2011 - Chicago Blizzard of 2011 - Chicago Blizzard of 2011 - Chicago Blizzard of 2011 - Chicago Blizzard of 2011 - Chicago Blizzard of 2011 - Chicago Blizzard of 2011 - Chicago Blizzard of 2011 - Chicago Blizzard of 2011 - Chicago Winter Blizzard Chicago Skyline Chicago Skyline Chicago Skyline Chicago - Blizzard of 2011 Chicago - Blizzard of 2011 Chicago - Blizzard of 2011 Chicago - Blizzard of 2011 Chicago - Blizzard of 2011 Chicago - Blizzard of 2011 Sunset Boat Tour at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica Sunset Boat Tour at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica Sunset Boat Tour at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica Sunset Boat Tour at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica Sunset Boat Tour at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica Sunset Boat Tour at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica Playa Rajada @ Recreo in Guanacaste, Costa Rica Playa Jobo @ Recreo in Guanacaste, Costa Rica Playa Jobo @ Recreo in Guanacaste, Costa Rica Playa Jobo @ Recreo in Guanacaste, Costa Rica Playa Jobo @ Recreo in Guanacaste, Costa Rica Playa Rajada @ Recreo in Guanacaste, Costa Rica Playa Rajada @ Recreo in Guanacaste, Costa Rica Villa 20 @ Recreo - Costa Rica Villa 20 @ Recreo - Costa Rica Villa 20 @ Recreo - Costa Rica Vacation Portraits Vacation Portraits Vacation Portraits Vacation Portraits Vacation Portraits Vacation Portraits Vacation Portraits Vacation Portraits Vacation Portraits View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica View from Mountain Top Cantina at Recreo - Guanacaste, Costa Rica Panorama of Chicago Skyline Panorama of Chicago Skyline Panorama of Chicago Skyline Panorama of Chicago Skyline Full Moon in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Tuesday, March 1st - More Vacation Portraits

Vacation Portraits

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Monday, February 28th - Vacation Portraits

Vacation Portraits

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Wednesday, February 9th - Submerged Photography

I’ve played around with taking photos both underwater and above – by slightly dipping the camera into the water and splitting the lens at the waterline. This provides a pretty interesting effect sometimes, but I definitely don’t do it with any old camera – Canons hate water. My favorite point-and-shoot is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2, which is waterproof and shockproof. It has been a wonderful camera for the last year, and I’m even more excited for the next generation to come out this spring – the TS3, with full HD video and hopefully improved image quality.

Submerged Camera

Submerged Camera

Tuesday, February 8th - Beach Portraits

Since it’s February in Chicago, I keep flashing back to some older beach photos – which I will probably continue to post for the rest of this week as I anxiously await Costa Rica. Below are some black & white portraits from a great Florida day back in November. For some action shots / video from that same day on the beach, click here.

Beach Portraits

Beach Portraits

Beach Portraits

Tuesday, February 1st - January Highlights

As the snow approaches Chicago, I figured I’d recap some of the photos from January – which could not be more different than a snow storm in Chicago. I spent about half the month traveling, and a good portion of that was spent in San Francisco – always great to be on the west coast in January. Other stops included Las Vegas (no pictures from this visit!), Atlanta and North Carolina. If it wasn’t for this latest snow storm, I would be kicking off February with a trip to Boston, but I have no doubt that February will have plenty of its own exciting travel. Here is a selection of January shots:

Wakeboard Surfing @ Baker Beach - San Francisco, CA Wakeboard Surfing @ Baker Beach - San Francisco, CA Marin County Coastline Marin County Coastline The Underground Light At The End Of The Tunnel San Francisco San Francisco Little Sloane Wakeboard Surfing @ Baker Beach - San Francisco, CA Little Sloane Little Sloane Little Sloane Marin County Coastline Little Sloane Little Sloane Wakeboard Surfing @ Baker Beach - San Francisco, CA Little Sloane San Francisco Portraits San Francisco Portraits South Rodeo Beach - Marin County San Francisco Portraits San Francisco Portraits San Francisco Portraits Foot Race San Francisco Portraits San Francisco Portraits South Rodeo Beach - Marin County Marin County Coastline Marin County Coastline Wakeboard Surfing @ Baker Beach - San Francisco, CA Wakeboard Surfing @ Baker Beach - San Francisco, CA Wakeboard Surfing @ Baker Beach - San Francisco, CA Wakeboard Surfing @ Baker Beach - San Francisco, CA Foot Race

Wednesday, January 26th - Little Sloane

I had the pleasure of meeting Sloane in December on her one-day birthday, and now, nearly a month later, I was able to see her this past weekend while on a quick business trip. She finally decided to open her eyes for me, squirm around a little bit and be a constant source of humor for her mom and dad.

Little Sloane

Little Sloane

Little Sloane

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Tuesday, January 25th - Some Silly San Francisco Portraits

San Francisco Portraits

San Francisco Portraits

San Francisco Portraits

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Thursday, January 6th - Little A – Crawlin’, Chillin’ & Drinkin’

Little A

Little A

Little A

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