Not much kayaking being done.

Claire

It's a girl. We are going to call her Claire Elise when she is born sometime in January.

Dragonfly

Flutterby

Another Zoo pic. Haven't been out paddling in a long while. The baby is keeping me busy.

The Toledo Zoo

Anywhere is better than being at work.

Long Overdue Update

Short list:
New baby on the way.
Just got back from vacation.
Photography is not a substitute for kayaking.
Zooomr rocks.

Details:
Yep, we have a new baby on the way. Due in January.
More details to follow as they become available. I know it is quick after the last baby, but we aren't getting any younger, we want two kids only, and might as well get through the diaper changing stage as quick as possible.

Vacation was a learning experience. We chose to rent a cottage for a week, only a couple of hours drive away, to make it as easy as possible with a little one. The cottage was a quaint little affair.Clean with lots of great amenities, short walk to the beach, access to an association swimming pool, what more could you ask for? How about air conditioning on the hottest week of the year. Temps every day were in the low 90F. This made for a very cranky baby. She did better than we expected at the pool. She didn't freak out, but was still only good for about twenty minutes tops. Probably just as well, we wouldn't want to have to deal with her getting sun-burnt.


I just got a new super-wide lens for my Canon 10D. A Sigma 10-20mm. I have been learning how to take some wide angle shots, and finding it to be a real challenge sometimes.


I did get out an paddle a little bit on vacation as well.


I think that I have made up my mind on the Zooomr vs Flickr debate. I like Zooomr a lot. I have formed a large group of contacts and some of my photos have found a little notoriety.

Zooomr is Winning

Sorry, I haven't been kayaking much. The whole family has been fighting a cold. Just photography lately. Zooomr still has some bugs, but I like the member community better than Flickr. Check out some of my latest work here.

OK, I Think Zooomr is Working Pretty Good Now

I have uploaded several photos and figured out what I have been doing wrong as well. If I rework a photo in Photoshop, I need to remember to re-save the file in the original RGB format. That should be no big deal, but the uploader was hanging up on every file that I switched to Black and White. The Zooomr team has been adding features back in a little at a time as well, so Zooomr is getting back to normal finally.

Zooomr MkIII Upload Troubles

I am still struggling with Zooomr. :(

Zooomr is Back Up

Yvette, originally uploaded by rjsteih.

Zooomr may be back up, but its kinda finicky. I have also started a Flickr account, but I have maxed out my upload for this month. So in the next few months, I plan to evaluate both services, and try to decide which I like better. I have placed a link in the column to the right. Look them over and feel free to let me know which you like better.

Zooomr is Down....Still

Zooomr is down and I am bummed. I don't know when it will be back up, and I am considering switching to Flickr. It seems like everybody with photos on the web has a Flickr account, but I like Thomas and Kris, the guys that run Zooomr. I like their photographic style, and general "coolness", but even they have Flickr acounts, which doesn't say too much for Zooomr. I guess I'm going to hold my breath for a couple more days and see what happens.

Holiday Paddle

I got out of the house finally this evening, and paddled to the east, down to the yacht club. I spent about two hours total on the water tonight. It was much more subdued on this little cottage lake than I had expected. I could hear a lot of powerboat traffic all weekend long. Must be everybody packed up and went home earlier today. It was good to get out of the house for a little while. Being a holiday weekend, my wife was scheduled to work, and the baby has been feeling a little under the weather, so I spent the last four days taking care of her, so mommy could get plenty of sleep. This is a nice picture of the small sailboats at the yacht club.