The Crunch behind the lens...

Hey all... I hope this fair weather we are enjoying finds everyone doing well. North Texas isn't so bad in the winter. Its 80 degrees today for crying out loud. Of course as soon as I say that, a cold front will start building out west and I will immediately regret this.

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So its spring. OK, well not quite but its almost spring and thoughts have turned to outside for a lot of us. Spotted a billboard for FC Dallas soccer open practice a while back and decided that it would be a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. No one wanted to attend with me except Karah (really daddy's girl lately) so she and I made our way over to Pizza Hut Park in Frisco. Its a chance to see the new team before the season starts and its also a drive to sell season ticket packages. It is kind of fun to sit in different sections of the stadium and see what your vantage point would be for the rest of the season. We checked out both sides of the stadium and then settled into a section (that we could afford) to watch the FC Dallas MLS team play itself in a scrimmage. Lots of young guys this season and they looked pretty good in terms of creative play and scoring opportunities. Should be a fun season.

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So I brought my camera (naturally) and had planned on trying to get a couple of shots knowing that from the distance we are sitting, good shots are going to be tough with the lenses I have. There is a reason it seems like every photographer on the sidelines of any sporting event you see have this massive grey lens in front of them... they need that focal length to fill the frame because of the distance they are from the action. Some of those lenses cost what a small car does. Yikes.

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So Karah can barely stand it and no sooner than I have unzipped the camera bag, she is begging me to take some pictures. What the heck... when you are shooting digital, film is cheap so I handed her the camera. It is heavy she tells me and what goes through my head instantly is that line in Jurassic Park where the wise guy attorney tells the kids... "its heavy and that means its expensive". No worries, that thing is built like a brick and weighs what a couple of bricks do. She is a quick study and figures out how to focus and immediately starts clicking away. I had put the camera in program mode so that she didn't have to worry about aperture and shutter speed, really its something I do a lot myself. The camera is pretty smart in terms of choosing exposure settings when you give it a chance. I am kind of having fun watching her shoot pictures of anything and everything...

Its a bird, its a plane... no, its just a soccer ball that held her fascination...

Its a bird, its a plane... wait a minute, it is actually a bird. And a ball. I will say this, she is focused on the action.

What is that old saying... cant see the forest for the trees? Still, she remains focused. Maybe she thought this guy should be behind bars for his play.

Now she has the hang of it... good shot Crunchie. I like this one.

This one is good too. She definitely has the hang of things now.

Nice work and a completely fun way to spend a crisp Saturday morning with one of my very favorite girls. Both she and I had a lot of fun just hanging out sharing an experience. I actually enjoyed just letting her go with the camera. Thankfully she didn't shoot any of me. Even Photoshop has its limits. She assures me that she will be up for attending a game or two this season and I am really looking forward to it. Might have to buy her a camera if she keeps showing interest.

Catch up with you all soon. Next time I promise to update everyone on my own soccer season which started a couple of weeks ago. The team name is FC Chernobyl... yes, you read that right. Like the nuclear accident site. More soon.

bb

-Oh, I also wanted to say that I am thinking about my Mom and Scrappy a lot lately. They recently lost their dog Sam. He had a disease that the vet assured her was essentially untreatable. Very sad. Brian and I had given Sam to her as a puppy and while I know there was a couple of moments where she was ready to ring our necks for bringing her this dog, he was a loving and much loved companion for his 6 or 7 years with her and Scrappy.

:[ bb