Last week I travelled up 1-80 through Wyoming and up to an historic site called Martins Cove. Martins Cove is the site where in 1856, Mormon pioneers emigrating to Salt Lake City, were caught in an early winter storm. Rescuers made their way from Salt Lake to help bring the emigrants to Salt Lake City.This picture was taken early morning as the sun began to rise using a Leica D-Lux 4. You can see the reflection on the hood of the car.
The team takes the field 
The team captains taking the field. These guys look pretty imposing. 
Malcolm Jones, one of the top 30 recruits in the country.
I had the good fortune to be invited to attend a football game at Oaks Christian in Westlake Village in California. The High School team is ranked 9th in the nation and has some recognizable names on the roster. Nick Montana, son of Joe Montana is the quarterback and his backup is Trevor Gretzky, son of Wayne Gretzky. Also on the team is Trey Smith, son of the actor Will Smith. The image above was captured with a wide angle lens of 14mm. While you can see almost everything, you cannot make out the players.We were able to roam the sidelines and capture images of the game.
Night games can be a challenge as the best shots are taken with really long lenses (200mm to 600mm) and those lenses typically don't let in a lot of light (Aperature) unless you spend a fortune.
So one way to get the job done is to set your ISO (Sensitivity) to as high as you can get and still get a nice non-grainy image. Then, in order to catch the action (reduce the amount of blur in the action) you'll need to set the camera to "S" and set the shutter speed somewhere greater than 1/250 of a second. That way you'll capture all but the fastest of action without a blur. If there is enough light, set the shutter speed higher but remember, the "wider" the aperature (lower the number) the less depth of field you'll have.
That means you have to pay attention to keeping the image in focus.
For a birthday party this involves taking a number of shots that once done, makes it easy to create a DVD Movie or Photo Book. Following are a list of shots you might want to consider when taking pictures at a birthday party:
You could easily take 40 to 50 interesting pictures during a party. That way, you'll have plenty of option for making great photo books and other cool personalized photo products that you will cherish for years and years.
Another of the families we visited in Argentina last summer showed what we're capable of when we have little in the way of personal possessions. These children were part of a three generation household where sisters, their husbands and children lived in a small house with grandma just off of a dirt road.This family was well off compared to some of the others we met. While we were there, they had a watermelon cooking on the stove top filling the room with a wonderful aroma.
Thin walls separated the families, sometimes made up of a blanket. The parents and children typically wore what we'd call "sweat suits" or "warm ups" since they keep you warm in the cold and relatively cool in the summer.
Where ever we went, houses were neat and clean as were the people. Most houses were open to the outside and it was easy for dust and dirt to be blown into the house ever time the wind blew.
What amazed me was their ability to adapt to their circumstance. The lack of possessions and the need to conserve brought families closer together. The small space caused them to interact constantly with each other by playing, reading or just enjoying mate socially.
Last week I flew to Las Vegas and then on to Los Angeles to interview a couple of candidates for an Executive Sales Position at our company. I stayed overnight in Los Angeles and then took the early morning flight out of LAX back to Salt Lake City. Usually when you fly out of LAX, the plane takes off over the ocean and then circles back as it gains altitude.
