John (S)

Where have you been?

2009-05-26T22:02:00.006-04:00

I know, I know, you say "John, are you ever going to post more pictures on the blog?" Well you see, things have been a bit busy around here. I won't bore you with my excuses, just know that I haven't forgotten about my blog. I've just been shamefully neglecting it while I take care of some other items...

So onto the good stuff. Norah. These shots are from various dates over the past 2 - 3 months. But the zoo pictures are from this last Memorial Day Weekend. Norah soaked up every minute of her first zoo experience!

Gimme that cake!

2009-03-15T20:02:00.005-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NORAH!!!

a BIG thanks to Grandpa Z for taking the video!

Norah's Party Day

2009-03-14T13:53:00.003-04:00

Today is Norah's 1st birthday party, and I was getting my camera stuff ready when I found some pictures on my card that never made it to the computer. Here's one of them, I'm sure there will be pictures soon from the party later today too. I know I haven't posted any pictures in a while, hopefully that will change. This picture was taken the day I had to stay home with Norah because she'd come down with Croup again. She was really warm so we stripped her down to her diaper and let her have at the diaper basket... She had a very good time as you can see.

Catching Up

2009-01-22T20:57:00.004-05:00

You know it's been a long time since you've posted pictures on your blog when it almost took you longer to remember your login information than it does to post your pictures... Here are a few pictures from Christmas and New Years of you know who. I have some pictures of other folks on New Years, that I don't think they'd appreciate. Maybe we'll save those for another time.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T10:28:00.005-05:00

It's been a mad rush to get everything done around the house before the big day tomorrow, and there've been a couple of near heart attacks from shoveling wet frozen snow this morning... How does the snow blower know to die right before the worst storms in recent history? They'll never tell.

Anyways, this last weekend I took "a few" pictures of Norah for her 9 month picture. I borrowed a few things from my Dad and we had a nice little studio set up right here at home! It was a lot of fun for me, I hope Norah enjoyed herself too. Lauri wanted to print it out before everyone came over tomorrow so I figured, since I have it, I might as well post it. So here's a sneak peak of our big girl...

And by the way, if you're still reading this, I hope you and yours are as happy as me and mine this Christmas Season (Chanukah too Ari).

God Bless.

John, Lauri, and Norah

Norah meets Santa!

2008-12-15T21:10:00.004-05:00

We took Norah to see Santa on Sunday, here are a few videos. I'd forgotten my video camera (me forget? Imagine that...) So we stopped at my parents house and grabbed my Dad's point and shoot with Video capability. You can see that Norah was a little apprehensive about that Santa fella, what the video doesn't show is captured in the picture...

She was fine after I grabbed her, and on the way home she was VERY slap happy. Check it out.

Before she realized what was happening

After...

Where does the time go?

2008-12-10T22:42:00.009-05:00

So I sat down and started typing out this blog post and it started something like this, " if time flies, it takes off at jet speed when you have kids..." Then Lauri popped in and laughed at me saying "That's exactly how you started your last post!" Of course I wouldn't believe her until I saw it with my own eyes, and as usual she was right.

So rather than repeat myself, I'll just get to the good stuff, pictures of Norah. Most of these pictures are from our Thanksgiving Dinners, but there are also some good Bribery pictures for when Norah's say 16 or 17 years old... Bath time Mohawk pictures!

We've had our christmas tree up for a little while now, Norah is absolutely infatuated!

She's quite the little rolly polly these days. Sooo close to crawling too...

Thanksgiving at Great-Grandma Decker's House

Thanksgiving Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Zabor's

Sorry Lindsey, you were the only one with your eyes closed in this one. The other shot caught a few people off gaurd...

Grandpa Z's idea of a pain killer for a teething Norah (yes there's a top on the bottle... C'mon people)

Can you tell which new Beyonce song Lauri and Norah like to dance to?

8 months

2008-11-19T22:24:00.004-05:00

I guess there's no way to realize how fast time really does fly by until you have a baby, at least for me that's been the case. I can remember when our friends would have a baby (before Norah) and then "all of a sudden" we'd be going to a 1st birthday party. Everybody would be saying "I can't believe how fast the time has gone by..." but really I think most of the people said it just because that's what everyone else was saying.

But now, I think I really get it.

I swear it was last week that we were in the hospital, and only a couple of days ago that I was waking up at 3:00 am every night to warm up a bottle and give Norah her "midnight feedings". All the work may sound like a pain to some, but to be honest I kind of miss it already. Even now whenever she has a difficult evening, all of the crying and tears get erased the second she falls asleep in our arms.

Anyways, here are a few more pictures of Norah. I know it's been a while since I last posted pictures of her, things have been busy as we're getting ready for the holidays around the house. And yes, those are two teeth in there. They aren't very easy to get a picture of...

Eric's Senior Pictures

2008-11-01T16:48:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago my Dad and I did a phot shoot for the one and only GQ magazine... Ha ha, just kidding. Actually we shot my brother-in-laws Senior photos. Eric will be graduating from Fenton High School this year. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

And what would a blog post be w/o shots of Norah. But so as not to show Eric up Norah's Halloween pictures are on my Dad's Blog.

Halloween 2008

2008-10-26T13:50:00.006-04:00

On Saturday, against my better judgement I went out with Lauri and Norah for our first subdivision Haloween Parade. I only say "against my better judgement" because I'd come down with the flu on Friday. And just as I started to feel a tiny bit better, we went out and walked around in the cold, windy, michigan weather for an hour or so... But I wouldn't have missed it for the world! Here are few pictures that I managed to grab (after ALOT of photoshop that is, I shouldn't be shooting in Manual mode when I'm feeling that sick... Lesson learned)

Some would call this child abuse...

Then it was time for Norah's first UM vs MSU game... Luckily she won't remember this one...

P.S. Eric, I promise your pictures will be done soon... Norah pulled rank this time

7 months

2008-10-19T20:37:00.005-04:00

Today was Norah's 7 month birthday! We celebrated by going out with a whole bunch of family! Well, not really. We did go out with family tonight, but it was for my Grandma's Birthday. We went to a nice Italian restaurant and we had a great time. The wait staff was excellent, and so was the food. Everyone had a great time. Hopefully my Dad will have some pictures to blog soon from that. But as for our big 7 month old, here are a few pictures from today as well.

Senior Pictures

2008-10-18T21:06:00.004-04:00

Today my Brother-in-Law came over my Parent's house (aka Jim Shields Photography Studio) to get his senior pictures taken. It was my first real shot at using the studio lights. Lots of fun. Even more still to learn. But after the formal yearbook shot (the boring part), and a few more studio shots (me getting to play with the studio lights and telling my "assistant" what I wanted to do :) ), then we headed out into the woods near my Parent's house for some outdoor shots. I was going to try and edit the files on my computer today but I'm having some technical issues that need to get sorted out, so my Dad was kind enough to pick a few and edit them quickly so we could get them online. I'm pretty happy with how they're starting to look. What do you think?

Amongst all the typical graffiti, there were actually some really cool pieces of art out there.

Family Day!

2008-10-12T22:44:00.003-04:00

Today we got to take our first family trip to the Cider mill! We took advantage of one of the few days we've had together without a wedding, and for a while we thought that Norah was going to sleep through the entire thing. Luckily she woke up and we all had a great time.

Here are a few pictures from the day (I recently got a whole bunch of new photoshop stuff to play with, so all of these pictures are experiments with some of these new techniques. I think I still need to play around with it a little more, but it was fun to try new things)

Here are a couple of shots of a new Cap, Scarf, and Mitten set that Norah got from one of my college roomates (Kelly S.) Norah absolutely LOVES them! She loves how cozy they are, how well they keep her warm, and how fuzzy they taste (I know I would've thought they tasted like Superman ice cream too...). Yup we're at the stage were we have to taste EVERYTHING. I'm not sure why she was making this face in the first picture, but it was cracking me up. Thanks again Kelly!

Time flies...

2008-09-30T10:47:00.002-04:00

Just realized it's been quite a while since my last post, and I do have some pictures to post but that won't happen today. Lauri and I are out in the Ann Arbor area at St. Joseph's while her mom goes through quite extensive back surgery. It may be up to a 12 hour surgery, so please keep her and our family in your prayers.

P.S. Kelly, I took Norah's picture with her cap, scarf, and mittens (which apparently taste better than they insulate...), and they fit great! I'll get it online as soon as possible now that the major push of wedding season is over, it'll just have to wait till we get back home.

Norah is almost 6 months old??!!

2008-09-16T12:47:00.002-04:00

This just goes to show how out of it I've been lately... This last Sunday, my Dad took some pictures of Norah for her 6 month b-day! It was the photoshoot that almost didn't happen, read more about that and check out the pictures over at his blog (CLICK HERE)

Vacation Time, and our little girl.

2008-08-24T14:19:00.006-04:00

A few weeks back now, Lauri and I went away for a night to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary. We were headed out to Tecumseh, MI to visit a winery nad have a nice dinner and along the way we passed through Saline. They were having a street fair, so we decided to stop, walk through, and have some lunch. Here are a few shots from walking around. The guy with the military uniform and awards wrote a book about his experiences while serving overseas. Lauri and I had actually seen him at a bookstore in Ann Arbor before, but it was nice to sit and talk with him for a few minutes. He told us that everybody thinks he looks like a young Nick Cage in his service photo.

Here are some shots of Norah, since it's been so long since I posted shots of her... The second from the last image was taken for Kacy, so she could see Norah in the onesie she made for her and the last picture is of Norah in her new favorite toy, although she'll have to get a little bigger before her feet reach the ground, she still loves sitting in her bouncy seat and checking things out

Blog name change?

2008-08-19T11:22:00.002-04:00

I'm starting to think I should change the name of my blog to "Norah's Blog"... But I guess it's supposed to show what we've been up to lately, and any parent can attest that all you seem to have time for outside of work is your baby. And we wouldn't have it any other way!

Anyways, Norah got a chance to spend some time with her Grandma and Papa Shields last Sunday, so what do you think they did together??? Took pictures of course!!! Head on over to my Dad's blog to check a few of them out.

CLICK HERE

More Norah

2008-08-04T23:22:00.003-04:00

I just can't help myself sometimes, She's just so darn photogenic!

4 month Dr. Appointment

2008-07-31T14:59:00.004-04:00

Our "little" girl had her 4 month doctors appointment today which means she got measured, checked out, and shot up. That's a lot for her to go through all in one doctors visit, but Lauri has informed me that she made it through with flying colors. There were some tears during the shots, but a quick bottle afterwards solved that problem.

Norah is now in the 95 percentile for both height and weight for girls at her age (16.10 pounds - 25.75" long). I guess she comes by her height honestly though.

Here's a picture Lauri sent me after their appointment, the text that went along with it was from Norah saying, "I'm ok daddy, I miss you"...

In other news,

A friend of mine from college made the paper over the past few days for a project he'd worked on. The firm he works for (Integrated Architecture) has designed a new shower facility for the state of Michigan to use in their State Parks. It's an eco-friendly design using all the latest and greatest green strategies and technologies. The project pictured in the article is at the Grand Haven State Park, and apparently they plan on building another one in a park in Gaylord, MI.

AP photo by Adam Bird

I first read about it in an email that I'm subscribed to that talks about development news in the Grand Rapids area. Their article linked to an online news source I'd never heard of. So I just figured it got some local press, still not to shabby. So I emailed him to say congrats, and he informed me that the AP picked up the story, and ran it in papers all over the US including USA Today! That's just Crazy talk!

So Congrats again Ryan.

Go Blue!

More Food!

2008-07-30T22:13:00.007-04:00

This week marked a pretty big milestone for Norah, she started eating cereal and Vegetables from a spoon! Not only is she expanding her gastronomic interests, she's sitting in her big girl high chair too! She sure does love her some green beans.

Lauri went out for dinner with some ladies she works with tonight, so it was a Daddy and Norah Night! Tonight was the first time I had a chance to feed her in her high chair and she did great! (These pictures were from the night before)

The next two pictures were just from me playing around with photoshop, experimenting with different Black and White techniques. But I figured I'd post them anyways.

4 months!

2008-07-22T22:31:00.005-04:00

Here are a few pictures from the last week or so of our big 4 month old little girl. It's absolutely amazing to me to just sit and watch her learn how to use her hands, or find her feet, and then figure out how to get her feet in her mouth!

Yesterday I had to call in to work because I've been a little under the weather for the last few days, but it must have been a blessing in disguise because I was home for the first time Norah rolled over!!! It was a pretty big day for all of us, and for a few minutes I forgot how sick I felt!

So anyways, here's a few pictures...

And yes, that's pink nail polish on my baby girls toes... Obviously I wasn't around when this all happened.

Special Dresses

2008-07-13T14:44:00.004-04:00

Norah has gotten a lot of clothes since she's been around (no... I mean a LOT) and there've been a lot of outfits that are special to us, but two of her dresses were a little extra special.

The first one, from Mr and Mrs Hart is about the girliest dress you'll ever find, It just screams "I'm the cutest little girl ever, in all of this pink ruffley splendor"!

I know you can't really see all the ruffles and stuff on the dress in this picture, but I just thought it was so darn cute.
The second dress we got from my Uncle David and Karl. It's an antique type of dress that he had cleaned up and prepared just for Norah. This dress is quite different from the first one, but equally beautiful in its simplicity. The stitching and design is really something to see. I hope to get more shots of these dresses (maybe under Papa's studio lights), but we need to make that happen pretty quickly as Norah is very close to being a 4 month old girl!!! Yikes.

Happy 4th Everybody! Thank a Vet while you're at it!

2008-07-07T22:45:00.005-04:00

Every year my Mom's family heads up to my Aunt and Uncle's cottage in Canadian Lakes, MI for a weekend of fun in the sun. Well, fun in the shade for some of us anyways. This was Norah's first time to the cottage, and boy was everyone excited to see her! What a help it is to have almost 20 people to help watch her for the weekend. And little miss nosey was loving every minute of it. She had a fussy day our first day back home, I think it was because only Lauri and I were around... She missed all of her family and the dogs being around. When we got home I realized that I hadn't taken as many pictures as I usually do, was a little pre-occupied this year. But here are a few (a couple of them were taken by my Dad with my camera). And if you're interested, I'm sure he'll have a slideshow up soon if not already from this weekend too, on his blog (CLICK HERE)

FINALLY!

2008-07-07T22:19:00.004-04:00

We got our new computer a week or so ago now, and have steadily been getting it up and running with the basics. So now we have a few different occassions to blog about so I'll do each one with it's own post. Back towards the end of June, Lauri, Norah, and I took a trip out to Cedar Springs, MI to visit with Lauri's sister (Lindsey) her Fiance (ryan) and her step-son-to-be (Braiden). Joan Conrad made the trip out with Cosmo too, so we had a full house. Here are a few snapshots from our weekend.

Oh and the biggest thing since my last blog post has been that Norah is now a big 3 month old girl. She's definitely keeping Mom and Dad on their toes.

Our little Jackie O

Thanks again for putting up with us Lindsey, Ryan, and Braiden.

Bad Daddy

2008-06-20T09:48:00.003-04:00

Well it seems that my computer has seen better days. It's taking longer and longer to put pictures on it and editing them is a nightmare, which is why there haven't been any blog updates in a while. The pictures haven't stopped, just the postings. And I'm kind of in a holding pattern on purchasing a new computer until my parents get back from vacation, as I'd like to get my Dad's input on some minimum requirements (size and speed) for the photo editing..

Norah's doing very well, we think she's starting to work on some teeth now, so there should be some fun nights ahead. Her and Mom are spending lots of time together now because Mom is home for summer vacation now. So here's a picture that Lauri had sent to me from her cell phone the other day. Norah loves to play with her jungle gym during the day with Mom.

I love getting these pictures during the day, it's like a little ray of sunshine in a crazy day at work.

Norah

2008-06-03T08:49:00.003-04:00

So while I'm putzing around trying to edit the pictures I took on Saturday (they're not even on my computer yet), from the baby shower that Lauri's Dad and Step-Mom threw for us, my Dad has posted some pictures for everyone to see over on his blog (click here). He watched Norah for us yesterday, so I'm not too surprised that there was a photoshoot. Now be very careful when viewing these pictures, when I looked at them I literally laughed out loud. So if your employer doesn't appreciate you looking at Super-Duper-Ultra-Cute Baby pictures while you're "on the clock", you may want to wait till you get home because you're probably going to get caught. :)

Thanks for the great shots Dad!

Enjoy.
John

2 Months!

2008-05-24T09:51:00.008-04:00

I've been trying to take some 2 month pictures of Norah for the last 6 days, and for one reason or another it never happened after I got home from work. Either she was fussy, or we were too busy. So to start off the holiday weekend we had a mini photo shoot this morning after her bottle. You'll see how she gets a little sleepy afterwards too, so cute.

These are some shots I took to show how much she loves her bouncy chair, from the animals on it to the lights and music that it plays, it keeps us occupied for a while. the first shot is from a few weeks before hand to show what she's looking at in the next two. While I love the shots of her laughing, the expression on her face in the second shot is great too. It's like you can watch her learn something! P.S. I included both color and Black and White shots here because I like the Black and White but everyone else likes the color shots.

And last but certainly not least, here's Norah's first "Someone who loves went to (insert your favorite city here) and all I got was this T-shirt" T-shirt. It's from her Uncle Jim and Aunt Jen from their trip to Scottsdale, AZ. A trip that taught us all the valuable lesson of why you should never accidentally drop your cell phone in a taxi cab. Thank you Jim.

Norah's Baptism

2008-05-19T08:04:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a very big day for Norah as she was baptized, and she couldn't have made it through the day any better. We had LOTS of family and friends on hand to help us celebrate and welcome her into the christian family. I didn't take any pictures with my camera, but that's only because my Dad was there with his camera. So if there was a shot I wanted to take, I just grabbed his camera and shot away. But as a result, you'll need to go to his blog to see the slideshow that he already has up. Thanks Dad! And a big thank you to Norah's new God Parents, Jim and Lindsey. We know you'll always be there for her.

Eyes Open!

2008-05-03T17:13:00.005-04:00

I've gotten numerous requests, since my last post of Norah, for some pictures of her with her eyes OPEN! I never actually realized that most of the pictures I've taken of her are from when she's sleeping, but as you can imagine this is the easiest time to take her picture...

But today Norah was hanging out with Dad and, after she got a new dialper on, was wide awake and in a great mood, so I raced to the office, grabbed my camera, and took a few quick shots. Enjoy!

Kentucky Derby

2008-04-30T13:15:00.003-04:00

For the past couple of years it's been tradition that Lauri, her mom, stepdad, and myself have put a little cash on the Kentucky Derby (just amongst ourselves). And I'm not talking big money here, but like the "Not So Annual" Shields Family Golf Outing, it's one of those - biggest grudge matches for just a buck - type of deals.

So we each do our research the day of the race (read the newspaper, watch ESPN before the race, pretend like we know what we're talking about) and pick a horse. It's also been a good reason to get together for a drink or three. Well this year Joan and Conrad will be in Florida on the day of the race so we'll have to try and get our picks posted online here, or maybe just over the phone. I also found a website that lets me put a widget on my blog with info about the Derby in it. Check it out. And by all means, get a group of friends and family together and watch the derby. You may not care who wins, but hopefully you care about the people your watching it with.

A little bit more Norah

2008-04-18T21:37:00.004-04:00

This past week has been quite an experience, let me tell you. Poor little Norah has been really fussy most of this past week (also known as gassy in the baby world), and Lauri and I couldn't figure it out. For the most part she'd been a picture perfect baby up until then. Then Lauri decided to try a different type of bottle to feed her with, and VOILA! We have our perfect little angel back!

If Lauri and I had to pick one word to describe parenting for this past week, I think it would have to be "humbling", hands down...

I got home a little earlier today so, with the weather being as nice as it was, we headed to the new local outdoor mall and went for a family walk. Well Lauri and I walked, Norah slept. We even managed to go out for our first family dinner at a restaurant!!! Lauri and I have never been that excited to go to Max and Erma's! And wouldn't you know it, Norah slept through that too, even with a screaming toddler right next to us for half our meal.

And how fitting, this transformation came just in time for her to model a recent gift she received from one of my former college roomates. Norah would like to thank you for the personalized onesie Aunt Kacy! In fact it's so pretty she couldn't wait to try it on, even if it is a size or two too big for now. We're very thankful for all of the clothes that Norah has gotten, but I wanted to post a picture of what Kacy made for Norah.

More pictures of Norah!

2008-03-30T13:59:00.003-04:00

This weekend has been a photo-extravaganza for Norah, Lauri, and I. But mostly Norah. Yesterday we went to the studio of Robert Bruce in Royal Oak, MI. Robert was the photographer for both my wedding, and my Sister;s wedding. I'm not sure when we'll be getting copies of what he shot, but Lauri and I are both VERY excited about this. Robert is both a very accomplished photographer, and more importantly a really great person. It was a pretty eventful photo shoot too, now we know what to expect if Norah is left without a diaper for extended periods of time. We now know what Anne Geddes must go through to get her famous shots, and let me tell you , it's not glamorous.

While Lauri was out this morning to a couple of stores, Norah and I had a mini photo shoot. Mostly it was me brushing up on some stuff, playing with my camera. But here are a few shots from that. Please note that these shots couldn't hold a candle to what Robert did yesterday.

If you'd like to see a few examples of what we did yesterday, head over to my Dad's Blog as he was shooting over Robert's shoulder during the session. On top of everything else, Robert is a fantastic teacher too.

Thanks again Robert!

Norah Slideshow

2008-03-25T18:04:00.004-04:00

Wanted to get another slideshow with some COLOR pictures up... I got a few requests after the initial black and white slideshow that people want to see some color pictures of Norah, so here you go. We certainly have enough pictures to keep posting...

P.S.: OOPS!
Well it was bound to happen, I think I finally lost some information on my CF card. I may have actually re-formated the card thinking that everything was on the computer when it wasn't. Isn't it something what sleep deprivation will do... I can't seem to find the pictures I shot while my (Norah's Great) Grandma, (Norah's Great) Aunts, and (Norah's Great) Uncles where over to meet her for the first time. I'll keep looking though.

Click HERE

Two Great Blessings this Easter Season.

2008-03-22T19:45:00.003-04:00

I don't even know where to start with this blog post. As you know Lauri and I welcomed our daughter into the world on Wednesday at 11:00 am. Earlier that day, I received a phone call that I never expected to get.

As Lauri and I had just gotten into a room at St. John's Hospital in Detroit, I got a message from my parents to call them as soon as I could. It was then that my Mom let me know that her dad, my grandpa, had passed away at 1:02 am that same morning. He was at a Henry Ford Hospital/St Joseph's Macomb on the other side of town.

He had been in the hospital after having a back surgery that we'd all hoped would take some of his pain away. But he would never recover from that surgery. His heart finally stopped working, and he went home to heaven...

So this entire experience of having our first child (Some of our parents first grandchild, and some of our grandparents first great grandchild) has come with a great deal of mixed emotions. I think God gave us Norah the same day we lost my Grandpa so that we would realize all of his great blessings. From the birth of a little miracle, to the eternal life he's given us.

Today we buried my grandpa. We heard a number of people speak to his memory. They spoke about how he was a great servant - from being a highly ranking member of the Detroit Police Reserves (Adjutant Commander, the highest rank a Detroit Police Reservist can reach), to a Boy Scout pack leader, to an active member of his church and community. He lived to serve others. I know he lived to see his children and grandchildren acheive all the blessings this life has to offer. I'll never forget the look on his face when I'd give him great news. When Lauri and I got engaged. When we told him that we were expecting his first great-grandchild. He was always there to give me good advice when I needed it too.

Sorry if I've been rambling here, but I really need to get this off my chest and say how much I'm going to miss him.

Thanks.

Rest in Peace

Claude Hubert Decker

It's a....

2008-03-20T08:13:00.013-04:00

Meet Norah Grace Shields. She's perfect, Mom and Dad are tired but extremely happy!

Click here for a slideshow

10 months and counting

2008-03-15T16:06:00.003-04:00

So here we are, 10 months later and we're still waiting. Today is Baby Shields' due date and there's nothing new to report. Lauri has a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, where I think they'll begin to talk about inducing her. But I don't think they'll start that process until next Saturday (1 week after the due date). So for now, we sit here knowing that this is all in God's plan, but also very anxious to meet our little one.

That's it for now.
John

Grandma Gertie turns 90!

2008-03-05T23:21:00.004-05:00

About a week and a half ago now, Lauri's Grandma Gertie turned 90 years old! To celebrate the family went out for a nice dinner. We all met up at Lily's Seafood (and Brewery :) ) where my brother Jim is the executive chef. Needless to say the food and the company was first rate. Here's a few shots that I'd grabbed while Grandma Gertie was opening her gift. Not sure why I had the ISO set so high, but most of my shots turned out a tad grainy. I may not have had enough batteries for my SB-800 at the time... - Sidenote, I'd better make sure I'm stocked on batteries for when the baby comes!

Anyways, Happy Birthday Grandma Gertie!!!

Nothing Yet...

2008-02-25T08:01:00.003-05:00

Just thought I'd post a baby update, we got a couple of phonecalls and a number of comments this weekend from people who thought Lauri was in labor because we didn't answer a phonecall. Nothing has happened yet, however Lauri is very anxious.

Update:
03.03.08 - Sorry folks, We're still in a holding pattern. Lauri went back to work today, so maybe that'll help things along. No promises though. I can say that we've been going for lots of walks lately, we're getting to know the two local malls quite well. We also - almost - got lost on a walk through the new neighborhood last week (that was fun). They don't make neighborhoods like they used to (long straight streets).

Baby Shower, part 2

2008-02-12T21:06:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I forgot to mention this, but we also had a baby shower this past weekend. This one was hosted by my Mom, Grandma, Sister, and Aunts. It was at a local restaurant called Michelles, which also has a Sweethearts Bakery inside of it. You can only imagine how difficult it was to walk through that bakery without spending the savings account.

Needless to say everything was great, the food, the service, the Cake! Lauri and I would like to thank everybody for helping out, we would be nothing without our family. Of course my Dad was there taking pictures, it's been hard for me to take pictures at our showers being busy thanking everyone and helping Lauri however I can. Thankfully my Dad has been there to document both events for us. We also have video of both events from Grandpa Z, so if you were there and did something embarassing, don't worry, we probably caught it.

Thanks again, and check out my Dad's Blog for a slideshow of the event.

Special Delivery

2008-02-10T21:12:00.000-05:00

Today, Lauri and I received a very special delivery. Lauri's Dad (check out some of his other work here)has been working very hard on hand crafting an absolutely beautiful cradle for the baby. Ever since we'd first talked with him about the design, we both knew that it was going to be beautiful. But when we saw it today for the first time, it was more than words could describe. And listening to him describe the modifications he'd made to the plans, as he'd received them, showed just how much love went into creating this cradle. Thank you again, this is going to be one photographed cradle. Probably even more so once the baby arrives...

From Left to Right: Ebony, Mahogany, Walnut, Mahogany, and Maple

The first 3 spindles in each corner have 1/8" dowels through them to add rigidity to the overall structure. I tried to get a close up shot, but it didn't turn out with my equipment, may need to borrow some of my Dad's lenses. All of the corners use dowels through the end grain of the perpindicular rails rather than screws.

Cross members are mortised into the end stands with a wedged dovetail type of joint. The wedges are made of Ebony to accent the construction.

P.S. sorry that the shots are so noisy, that's another reason I'll need to borrow some better equipment. I was really trying to use natural light so I had to bump my ISO way up. Maybe I'll use more flash next time.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Lost...

2008-02-04T13:22:00.000-05:00

I started Watching Lost a season after it started, it was that darn replay of the first season that hooked me. So I've been watching it ever since, and was very excited last thursday when it finally returned for it's next season. I was looking at a blog I frequent today, and came across this cool little video recapping the entire show up until now. Pretty cool. There's alot left out, but I think they do a pretty good job of hitting the major points. What do you think?

Catching Up, Happy B-Day again Tony!

2008-02-03T12:10:00.000-05:00

So here I am playing catch up, once again. Although this time I have my reasons (see my last post).

I forgot to mention that Saturday night we'd gone out to celebrate Tony's 30th Birthday at Bath City Bistro in Downtown Mt. Clemens to do some feather bowling (for those still wondering, Tony is my brother-in-law). Here are a few pictures from both the shower, and Tony's party. If you'd like to see more pictures from the shower, head over to my Dad's Blog where he has a slideshow of "a few" of the images he shot.
I'm not sure who picked out all the baby books that went on the tables, but this one really caught my eye as my Grandparents just had to put their old little dog, "Sparky", to sleep a few weeks ago. They'd only adopted Sparky a few years ago, but he quickly stole everyone's hearts and we thank God for the joy he brought to both of my Grandparents. I think they'll be on the lookout for another small dog to keep them company very soon, but it's going to be hard to replace Sparky.I'm sure it won't be too hard to find the outfit I picked out... Thanks again to Joan, Lindsey for throwing a great shower.Then it was off to light up Downtown Mt. Clemens, one wooden disc at a time!

What exactly was in the Birthday boy's glass?

Some were better at the feather bowling than others...
She's the some, I'm the others...

If he were to take that hat off, most of you wouldn't believe your eyes... For many years, my brother had let his hair grow out, But over the last few years the haircuts have been getting shorter and shorter. When this picture was taken, his hair was shorter than mine! We're twins again!
He really is quite shy...

Well now we know who NOT to let show our child how to get dressed... Now we know what was in the glass.

Update...

2008-01-31T13:29:00.000-05:00

The last few days have been quite a rollercoaster for us, if you hadn't already heard...

On Saturday we had a great baby shower put on by Lauri's Mom, Sister, and girlfriends. We got a lot of great gifts and had a great time. Thanks to everyone who was there. My Dad has a slideshow on his blog if you'd like to check that out.

On Sunday, Lauri asked me if we'd ever installed the Carbon Monoxide detectors in the new house. As that was one of the first things I wanted to do when we got into the new house, I'd quickly realized that I had forgotten to do that. So I immediately ran out to the nearest hardware store and picked a few up (one for upstairs, one for downstairs), and installed them as soon as I got back. Shortly thereafter both alarms (upstairs and downstairs) were going off. So, Lauri's Mom (Grandma Joan) and Sister (Aunt Lindsey) got Lauri (and Baby) out of the house while Conrad (Grandpa Z) and I waited for an HVAC contractor to check out the situation. About a half hour later it was determined that we had cracked heat exchanger and we'd need a new furnace. So we moved into Joan and Conrad's house for the following few days while we were waiting to get a new furnace installed.

We also took a precautionary measure and took Lauri into the hospital so that they could monitor the baby for a little while, just to be sure. And while we were there I felt myself getting very achey and hot. I wasn't sure if this was all a byproduct of the CO exposure, or if it were something else. When we got back to the Zabor's house I finally took my temperature... 101.something! No wonder I was so hot! So for the next few days, on top of trying to get a new furnace installed and dealing with a home warranty company who doesn't want to pay for anything, I was also working my way through whatever virus had been going around. When it rains, it pours.

The moral of the story: Don't wait, get your Carbon Monoxide Detectors, and get a flu shot every year...

Hopefully when we get caught back up at home I'll be able to post some pictures. I have a few from my brother-in-laws birthday celebration this last weekend too.

Test Slideshow

2008-01-16T22:18:00.000-05:00

I've posted a slideshow of a few of images from various wedding events on the right hand side of the page. It's under the Jim Shields Photography heading. This will probably be a constant "work in progress", so if you keep track of my blog check it out once and a while.

And if you are a frequent visitor, thanks.

Casa de Baby Shields...

2008-01-12T21:44:00.001-05:00

It was a pretty crazy day around our house today. We got alot accomplished in the baby's room, and around the house in general. Here's a picture I took of the baby's room today. Not very exciting, but it will be much more complete within the next two weeks. Next week we get the new carpet (baby's room) and duct cleaning (whole house), after that I'll be able to put all the furniture in the baby's room, which will include putting the crib together. That ought to be a fun time... I've heard a few war stories from other Dad's about putting those things together. Well anyways, until the next baby's room update...

Disclaimer: I have no idea if this blog title is "proper" spanish, I never took that class. oh well.

Advent by Candlelight '07 update

2008-01-11T22:52:00.000-05:00

I was just able to wrap up the slideshow for the Advent by Candlelight event I've previously posted about. It should be on our church's website (click here)in a couple of days. As soon as it goes online I'll update this post.

UPDATE:

Well, it's been up for a few hours now, but I just remembered to update this post. So click here for a link to the slideshow

Advent by Candlelight '07

2008-01-08T22:13:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned before, I'm going to be working on the photos I took at this year's advent by candlelight that was held at my church, St. John Lutheran, back in December. I'm a little over half way through editing them, so here's a sneak peak. This shot was taken at the table my Mom and Aunt Donna hosted, it was the gift that each of their guests received.

"Light the Night" Update

2008-01-08T13:07:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I was informed that the folks over at "Light the Night" (click here if you need a refresher on my involvement with this great event) posted all of the images I gave them on a website. So if you'd like to see a slideshow, check them out here.

It also sounds like my family may have a little bit more involvement with this fantastic organization and their annual fundraising event. My Dad's cousin Debby will be running the show, some other folks may be on a committee, and Jim Shields Photography may be one of the official sponsors (as well as photographer[s])!

I'm sure it'll be WELL publicized on this blog as well as my Dad's blog when it gets closer. So stay tuned.

Doing Something right.

2008-01-07T15:34:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd check to see if there was any change in the value of my blog, and to my surprise it went up! Although I'm still looking to see who'll pay me for it. This would help get me that new D300!!!

>

My blog is worth $3,387.24.
How much is your blog worth?

Getting closer

2008-01-07T08:58:00.000-05:00

After an action packed weekend of painting the baby's room, other odd's and ends around the house, and a couple of birthday party's - I'm getting closer to actually posting pictures again!

I was able to squeeze in a few minutes here and there of editing an event that I'd shot at our church way back in December. I feel like I've been a big slacker for not getting to these photo's but - now that I think about it - quite a bit has happened between then and now. But I hope to chip away at the lot of them this week and get this task crossed off my "little piece of paper"!

At work...

2008-01-01T21:58:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd post this shot really quick, my Dad took this of me this weekend while we were shooting Sarah and Derek's engagement pictures at the Detroit Zoo. We had a blast, what a great place for pictures! From the butterfly house to the Arctic Ring of Life - polar bear exhibit.

It was pretty cold out (hence the gloves - modified for taking pictures) but Sarah and Derek hung in there for some great shots.

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T20:41:00.000-05:00

From our house to all of yours, I hope everyone is having a happy and safe New Years eve / day this year. Lauri and I are finally able to sit down and enjoy our new home this evening, so we are very happy about that! Here's a picture that probably only a select few will know the true meaning of, but this IS new years eve for our families (the pots and pans may make an appearance later too - hint hint).

2007 has been quite a year for the Shields families, it was one that we experienced both great joy and great sorrow. In the words of one of the photographers, whose blog I follow, good bye 2007 - hello two thousand and awesome. It's going to be a big year for us with our new addition on the way, and I'm sure there will be many more things to be greatfull for. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us.

Happy New Year, and God Bless!

John

Work in Progress...

2007-12-24T08:18:00.001-05:00

So I haven't posted a blog in almost a month now, and I'm sorry to say there won't be a picture posted with this entry either. Lauri, Baby, and I have been pretty busy over the last month. That's what the picture I was going to post would have shown. We've moved into our new house and we're working on settling in now.

Let me tell you, moving is for the professionals... That will be the last time I try to move all of our belongings without hiring a moving company. We owe a HUGE thank you to our family and friends for helping us with the process (Mom and Dad Shields, Mom and Dad Zabor, Jess and Tony, Lindsey and Ryan, Matt and Chrissy, Meghan, and Jim). Especially Matt, for letting us use his trailer and doing so much work with us. If anyone out there needs an irrigation system for their house, get a hold of Matt at Michigan Irrigation , they do good work.

Lauri and the Baby will be taking it easy from now on while I do all the hard work. We had an unexpected trip to the hospital on Saturday night (which is why I didn't have time to get a picture posted yet), thankfully everything checked out ok with both Lauri and the Baby. On the bright side, we did get to take another look at the baby via ultrasound, and wow has it grown (the last time we saw an ultrasound was on Haloween)! We've also done a test run to the hospital for when the baby is ready, hopefully there won't be any police officers out on that night either :) ... Oh and sorry to all my family that was over on Saturday night for both the scare and having to cut the party short... We'll have to do it again some time.

So maybe later today I'll be able to get some pictures posted. I have a shot my Dad took of Lauri and I finally relaxing in our new house after a long move, and one of my brother's dog - Rocky - from when the two of them came over last week to help me with a few things and check out the new house.

How much is my BLOG worth?

2007-11-29T13:12:00.000-05:00

Found this today, pretty cool. Although I'm not sure where I can go to sell it for this much right now, I sure could use me a new Nikon D300!

Find out how much your blog is worth @ http://www.business-opportunities.biz/#html

My blog is worth $2,258.16.
How much is your blog worth?

Tandye + Rob's Wedding

2007-11-26T22:32:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of my shots that I got during the wedding of Tandye + Rob which I first blogged about around a week ago now. Finally squeezed in a few late nights here and there to get a few images edited and online. Let me know what you think. Thanks, and again all God's blessings to Tandye, Rob, their families, and friends.

P.S. - Check out my Dad's Blog for a slideshow of this event (click here).

2007-11-21T16:45:00.000-05:00

As promised, here are a few of the shots I got at Yates Cider mill during the engagement shoot of Aaron + Laurie.

Trying to catch up...

2007-11-20T22:25:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if anyone really follows my blog, but in case they do, have no fear I haven't forgotten about it. Things have been pretty crazy lately with both, the "home selling" and "home buying" procedures not to mention the baby and "shower registry" stuff.

I promise I've got a new post in the works from the engagement shoot I helped my Dad with two weeks ago for Aaron and Laurie. There's just a little more editing to do before it goes online. Check out my Dad's blog for a couple of pictures that he's posted from this day (click here).

I also helped my Dad with a wedding this last weekend that was planned in a 24 hour period for very personal and family reasons to Tandye and Rob (the bride and groom). I've never experienced a wedding this intimate and special before. I'd like to thank Tandye and Rob for asking Jim Shields Photography to capture the emotions of their very special day. Please check out my Dad's BLOG for a slideshow of this event as well (click here). I pray for all the best for Tandye and Rob, and their wonderful families. May the Lord bless all of you.

Hopefully I'll have some more pictures up soon.

Thanks.
John

Big Day - Part 2

2007-11-10T11:17:00.000-05:00

Here's part two of my previous post, finally. I've been taking some heat from a few unnamed sources on how I haven't gotten the pictures of the house on the blog yet. So here they are. It needs a good bit of T.L.C. throughout, but what house wouldn't. That's the "fun" part of owning a house, making it your own, or so I've heard.

Oh yeah, and this was my birthday present from Lauri, we found out our offer was accepted on my birthday. Thanks Lauri!

Street view:Backyard view:Den on the left off the foyer:Living Room on the right off the foyer:Kitchen: Dinette: Dining Room (living room in background):Living Room (family room in background):Living Room:Living Room (4 seasons room in background): 4 seasons room (deck in bacground):
Bedroom 1:

Bedroom 2: Master Bedroom: Master Bath

Big Day

2007-10-31T21:47:00.000-04:00

Today was a very big day for Lauri and I, it started with the inspection of the house we're planning on buying. My Dad joined us to check out the place, and I asked him to take a few pictures for record purposes. He took a few more than "a few" since he knew he didn't have to do any post-editing, but I'm happy he was there to check it out and give us his oppinion. Pictures on that to come later, because more importantly, today was our first ultrasound for Lauri and the Baby!

People always tell you how exciting it is to be there for this procedure, but I never really understood what they meant until today. It was so exciting to see the baby wiggling around inside of Lauri on the screen. Usually all you get to see from other people are the still images that are produced from this procedure, but today Lauri and I got to see our baby for the first time moving all over the place! I'm not sure if it just wanted some excercise, or if the ultrasound was bothering it. But anyways, here are our Baby's first pictures!!!

Crazy Days

2007-10-29T13:17:00.000-04:00

Not sure how many (or, if any) people follow my blog consistently, but if you do you've most likely noticed that I haven't had a blog post in quite a while. That's been for good reason, we've had quite a bit going on in my Shields family lately (including Lauri, Baby, and Me). A few weeks ago, the condo that we've been living in for the last 2 1/2 years (6 years for Lauri) sold! Which of course meant that it was time for Lauri and me to really start looking for a new place to live. Yesterday, after nearly 40 houses, and one failed offer on another property, our offer on a house was accepted!

We're both very excited about our new home, and even more relieved that we don't have to keep house hunting. Each time we went out it was like a marathon session of home viewing which was tiring for both Lauri and I, but especially her with the baby.

On top of all of this excitement, Sunday was my birthday! So we headed over to my Grandparents house to celebrate with our family, and even my brother was able to make it for dinner! If you don't know, I have a twin brother (who's a chef), and we were born on our Dad's Birthday. Being that my brother is usually busy on the weekends, we don't usually get to celebrate together on our actual birthday anymore. And it never feels quite right if we're not all together on that day. Head over to my Dad's Blog to check out a picture of the three of us (click here).

I've also been working on Logo ideas as my Dad's been in the process of re-branding Shields Digital Images into Jim Shields Photography (New name, same good looking staff...) I have one of my designs at the top of my blog now (as you probably have noticed) and have been playing around with some colors as well. It's still a bit of a work in process, but it's getting there. Let me know what you think.

P.S. I've got a high-five for the first person (besides Lauri) who can tell me where that picture was taken.

Light the Night Slideshow

2007-10-04T20:27:00.000-04:00

As promised, here's is the slideshow. If you don't get to see an image you really liked for as long as you wanted to, don't worry. When the show is over, thumbnails of all the images will appear and you can view individual images for as long as you'd like. Let me know what you think, leave a comment. And as always if you don't have a google account you can leave a comment as "anonymous", just make sure to leave your name so I know who you are. Also if you'd like to let others know about the slideshow, there's an icon that looks like an envelope at the bottom of the post (next to the comments link) that you can use to easily forward a copy of the show on to your friends and family.

Thanks.
John

Light the Night Slideshow Update

2007-10-04T08:08:00.000-04:00

So I finished editing the images late last night and immediately started putting a slideshow together, which I'm expecting to post within a day or so. It's been alot of fun going back through the shots I'd taken, you can see it in the faces of the people that were there how much this charity means to them.

Special thanks again to Debby Vasallo for all of your hard work and for asking Shields Digital Images to get involved, not to mention everyone else involved in bringing it all together.

So check back either later this evening, or tomorrow for that slideshow. And leave a comment when you stop by to let everyone know how much Light the Night means to you, and how much you enjoyed yourself so the people that put on the show can hear it too.

Thanks.
John

Light the Night - 9.28.07

2007-09-30T19:31:00.000-04:00

Friday night our family was involved with an important fund raising event, put on by the local chapter of the Leukemia + Lymphoma Society , Light the Night. Click here to check out the Michigan Chapter's website.

Not only was I there to take pictures, but to show my support for two of my family members who are survivors. My Wife and Sister walked for my Brother-in-law (sister's new husband), and my Mom walked for one of my Dad's Cousins.

Here are a few of the images I captured that evening. There's more to come once they're all edited, but I wanted to get a few up as soon as I could.

Apple Orchard '07

2007-09-23T11:57:00.000-04:00

Feels like it's been a while since I lasted posted, so here's a few shots of our trip to Blake's Apple Orchard this weekend.

Lauri gets pretty excited at the first sign of cooler weather to head up to the apple orchard's. And not just any orchard will do here, it's got to be the "real" apple orchard where you pick your own apples. I like to give her a hard time about that becuase I think we pass at least 2 other orchards on the way to the "real" one. Even though I wouldn 't want to go the one's where you can't pick your own apples either, but shhhhh don't tell her that...

One of the best parts of the Apple Orchard to me, is the doughnuts and Cider. Who could turn down one of those Cinammon + Sugar covered pieces of heaven? Not me.
The other thing we love about Blake's, is the Sweet Corn. You can buy it ready, just waiting to be buttered and topped off with a little salt and pepper. This always reminds me of the roadside corn shack my family used to stop at on our way home from my Grandparents old farm in Leamington, Ontario.
Lauri enjoying the first doughnut of the season, not to mention the Baby's first doughnut EVER!
Lauri spotted a bunch of good looking apples, but they were just a little out of her reach. So she made me put the camera and bag of apples down, and go get them.
Hopefully there'll be many more trips to the various Cider Mill's in the area this season. And if you haven't gone yet, what are you waiting for? Get on out there and support your local farmers. And don't be shy to stop at the roadside farmer's stands selling their freshest produce. You'll be amazed at how much better fresh - local produce tastes! Click HERE for a link to michigan's list of "Pick your own" farm's.

Technorati Link

2007-09-20T22:50:00.000-04:00

Technorati Profile

Jess and Tony's Wedding

2007-09-20T09:53:00.000-04:00

Just a teaser of Jess and Tony's wedding pictures from my Dad. Be sure to keep checking his BLOG regularly as he should be posting a slideshow any day now. He's getting alot of pressure to get that up and running.

I also got word that Robert Bruce's images are proving to have turned out really well also, no surprise there though.

Tony and Jessica's Wedding

2007-09-17T09:13:00.000-04:00

So the big day has come and gone, Jess and Tony had a beautiful day to celebrate their wedding vows to each other. Everyone had a great time, the reception and ceremony were beautiful thanks in large part to Mr. and Mrs. Hart who put together all of the decorations and floral arrangements. Thank you again Mr and Mrs Hart, our family is truly blessed to have you in our lives.

So I got home that evening, put down my camera bag, and realized that I hadn't taken a single picture with my own camera... My Dad had all of his equipment with him, and it was always set and ready to go. So instead of putting his lenses on my camera I just shot with his equipment all night long. So be sure to check his blog regularly to see some great pictures from the big day.

Not to mention the amazing Robert Bruce, who was the photographer of record for the event. Lauri and I used Robert for our wedding also, so Jess and Tony knew they were in for some great pictures. Can't wait to see what he got too. It's always alot of fun to talk and shoot with Robert, he's a wealth of knowledge and great ideas. That's all for now. Take care, and congrats again to Jess and Tony.

Dinner at Lily's

2007-09-13T23:14:00.000-04:00

Tonight we went to Lily's for dinner, where my brother is the executive chef. We all had a great time, except for Jim. I could see him running like crazy back in the kitchen. Thanks Jim, we really appreciated all of your hard work. My Dad took almost all of these shots.

Kelly's Wedding - Part 2

2007-09-11T20:43:00.000-04:00

Just a couple more pictures from Todd and Kelly's Wedding.

Those two were dancing fools, they obviously had a blast on their wedding day.

p.s. a number of these pics from Kelly's wedding are from my point and shoot camera.

Congratulations on the biggest day of your life, thus far. Here's a diorama. Ha ha, leave it to those crazy IHP'ers.

Paolo showed us what hard time in the time out corner was like in the Romano House.

Santini Wedding

2007-09-10T23:00:00.000-04:00

A few weeks back now, Lauri and I made it out to "Little Germany" - also known as Frankenmuth, MI. I know what you're thinking, "But John, it's not nearly cold enough for ice carving season yet!!??". And you would be correct. No, this time we made the trip for the 816 wedding of the year for Kelly (Birchmeier) and Todd Santini.

Now I must admit, it was a little strange for me to be in Frankenmuth while you could walk down the street with ease wearing shorts and a t-shirt. But we still had a great time. There's never a dull moment whenever you get that many IHPer's together. Here are a few of the images I got while we were there. Congrats and God Bless again to Todd and Kelly.

Disclaimer: these images are no where near in order. More to come.

2007 AKA Dinner Dance

2007-09-09T15:22:00.000-04:00

One of the cool things about working for an architecture firm with such a rich history, is being able to visit some of the local projects that our firm has been involved with over the years. Saturday was our annual Dinner Dance, held at the Edsel Ford House in Grosse Pointe. Albert Kahn was the architect who did this house for the Ford's, and the office was also involved with the Activities Center on the site back in the 90's. I brought my camera along with me hoping to be able to document a little bit of this piece of local history, but pictures in the house were not allowed and we weren't outside to see the gardens much at all. I highly recommend this tour if you're ever in the area.

Here's one of the roses in Mrs. Ford's many gardens.

Ken avoiding the paparazzi Turned Ken loose with my camera for a minute.

He's really very shy.

2007-09-03T13:28:00.000-04:00

This post is from back in late August, when my Dad and I participated in the local PUG's photo-shootout. It was alot of fun, and exciting to shoot with a bunch of new people and exciting to learn new things from Joel and the rest of the group. I look forward to making it to the next meeting. So here are a couple of the images I got from that night, which was a lesson in lighting. First we tried to use reflected light (which wasn't terribly successful due to the cloudy Michigan skies), a video light setup was used (lots of fun, and a great lesson), and finally an off camera flash set up (need to play with this more, so much fun). I had a hard time using only available light, as I don't have a terribly steady hand (need to work on that) so alot of my images were a little on the blurry side, so I had to do alot of touching up. But let me know which one you like the best.

Thanks. -John

Uncle Chet's Birthday

2007-09-01T15:45:00.000-04:00

So as you can tell from the previous post, I'm playing catch up with my BLOG posts, sorry about that. Guess I need to buy a faster computer so I can post-process quicker!

These images are from Lauri's Great-Uncle's 89th birthday party (or as Uncle Chet would say, he's now piano keys +1 years old - that's 88+1) about two weeks ago now.

It ended up being a mini - Zabor family reunion as both Conrad's Brother and Sister-in-Law, and his Sister were in town.

Not to leave anyone out, Lindsey and Ryan, and CZ, Amanda, Ryan, and Ted were also there to celebrate Uncle Chet's Birthday!

Tony's Bachelor Party

2007-08-30T21:09:00.000-04:00

So this slideshow is a couple of weeks in the making, there were some technical difficulties in getting this slideshow posted, and although I didn't quite figure out how to upload the actual slideshow here, clicking on the picture will take you to the slideshow on the shieldsdigitalimages.com website. Congrats to Tony again, hope you had a good time, and we can't wait until the wedding.

p.s. most all of these images were taken by my Dad, Jim Sr.

Lisa's Wedding Part 2

2007-08-13T20:19:00.000-04:00

Here are a few more of my pics from Lisa and Rick's wedding. Congratulations again Lisa and Rick!
Keep checking my Dad's BLOG for some of his images. And hopefully they will showcase some Ninja moves I was showing off that evening! (Thanks to Mike Colon for showing me that one!) I'm still just a young ninja grasshopper, must keep studying the ways of the ninja to perfect these moves... (disclaimer: these secret skills are not for the weak or faint of heart). Ha ha ha.

Mom and Jess.
Hey Lisa, you paid someone to do that remember!
Lauri on the dance floor havin' some fun. This is the "Miami Vice" wedding we crashed on our way out. Note the white feather palm tree table centerpieces. The color for the wedding was Hot Pink... Nice...
Raymond knows his way around a dance floor. Look at those "Hustle" skills!
Dad and Uncle Ray.

Jen was warming up at the table before she headed out to the dance floor.

Lisa's Wedding

2007-08-12T20:44:00.000-04:00

here's a sneak peak of our weekend.

Saturday night our family went to the wedding of Lisa Assessor and her new husband Rick. We've known the Assessor family since we were kids, we consider them to be part of our family.

Anyways, the reception was quite the party... Here's a shot of Jim on our way out. He'll love me for this.

More to come...

Canadian Lakes - 2007

2007-08-02T23:28:00.000-04:00

We spent last weekend at my Aunt and Uncle's cottage at Canadian Lakes. It's an annual trip that my family looks forward to every year. Most of my Mom's brother's and sisters (and families) make the trip to party for a long weekend.

Water sports have been getting more and more popular since my Aunt and Uncle purchased a boat a few years ago. We started out with tubing, then the next year brought out the water ski's, and this year the wake board made a brief appearance (and I do mean brief). Unfortunately I don't have any images of the watersports this year as I was busy trying to conquer the wakeboard (unsuccessfully) and being a good spotter. This year I brought up a box of fireworks too, which was the highlight of Saturday's evening entertainment. For pictures of all of these things, check out my Dad's Blog. where he's got a slideshow posted with some awesome shots. He really pushed the envelope with those fireworks shots, with as close as he had to get to the action with a fish eye lens.

Lauri and I had a great time with everyone, it's always great to be able to relax and spend quality time with family. Always makes us feel very blessed. Here are a few I managed to grab though.

My Dad brought the new fly rod he got last year for his birthday.Lauri's catching some rays and looking hot!Nathan needed a little pick me up, cinnabuns and ice pops hit the spot dockside. Here's Jessica testing out the "flat as a board, hard as a rock" theory??? Nathan and Alex playing with the Wii. For those that haven't tried this gaming system yet, what are you waiting for??!!

Grandma hitching a ride.

Sadie really misses Uncle Curt when he's out on the boat without her.
Lauri taking a power nap in the shade.

Leah Campbell Barbash

2007-07-25T21:32:00.000-04:00

This last Sunday, my sister had her wedding shower (click here to see a slideshow my Dad put together) at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club (thank you Mrs. Spencer!). I wasn't actually invited to the shower, but I was asked to show my Great-Uncle Roy Campbell around town for the afternoon while my Great-Aunt Lily enjoyed the shower. Aunt Lily and Uncle Roy are from my Canadian side of the family, so we don't get to see them as often as we'd like. It's always a great time when we're able to see them, they're full of stories.

So we headed out to Royal Oak to visit Jim at Lily's Seafood. I try to take advantage of my brother's cooking as much as I possibly can (whether it's at his house or the restaurant). It always amazes me when I read the specials on his menu's, he's really, really talented. And not only do the recipes sound good, they taste amazing! I highly recomend stopping by and saying "Hi" if you're ever in the Royal Oak area. Try the Crab Cakes and Eggs if you're around for brunch on the weekends... Now I know you may be thinking, "Well isn't he more than a little biased?!". Maybe... But trust me, I know good food...

I had a great time with Uncle Roy (my Dad's uncle). He's a pretty interesting guy. He's got quite a history behind him. When I heard about all the things he'd done in his life, and what a hard worker he is it made me feel like a lazy bum! I can only hope to accomplish half of what he's done. I hope he had as much fun as I did, and I also hope that we get many more chances to spend time with him and Aunt Lily.

We were also able to stop by my cousin Heather's house to see her new baby (click here to see my Dad's slideshow of Leah). Her husband, Kevin, was home while she was at the shower. So Uncle Roy and I were introduced to Leah Campbell Barbash. Here's a couple of pictures from our visit. I'd say she's a keeper... Congratulations again Kevin and Heather!

Harbor Beach, MI

2007-07-21T17:51:00.000-04:00

Last weekend the zabor family made our 2nd annual trek up to Harbor Beach, MI with family friend, Arleen. It's a great chance to relax, and regroup on the shores of Lake Huron.

Here's a few shots from a car show in town, and an International Jet Ski Race that was in town the same weekend. I didn't have a long range lens with me, so I didn't get many race shots. But managed to get a few as the racers came back in to shore.
A beautiful MG

A self Portrait, with one of the classics.

Hart's House

2007-07-17T23:59:00.001-04:00

Tonight was a rare occasion in the Shields Family. All 8 of us (Mom+Dad, Jim+Jen, Me+Lauri, Jess+Tony) were able to get together for dinner. And what made it even more special was that it was at the Hart's House! It was an evening filled to the brim with fun, food, and fellowship. Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Hart for a fantastic evening.

Not only was the entire Shields' family present, but so were John and Michelle Bopp (Hart's Daughter) with both Emily and J.P. as well as Michael (Hart's Son). So this was quite a reunion!

Here's a few shots from the evening. Some of which were taken by my Dad (as noted).

The Bopp Family dog, Hanna
One of Mrs. Hart's other "children's" baby Melina... (sorry if I got the spelling wrong, but what a cute little girl, Congrats Amy)

Flower's from the Hart Garden

Dad's shot of Jess Dad's shot of Jim
Dad's shot of Jen
One of the many Hart Bird Hotel's

Some people just don't appreciate a good photo of them.... Michele

Emily sure has gotten big since some of us have seen her last.

Dad's shot of their backyard set up, for our evening.

More of Ari's Wedding

2007-07-08T13:26:00.001-04:00

So here are the rest of the images from my friend Ari's wedding. It's taken me a few days between now and my last post for a number of reasons. We were out of town for the holiday, and we had some other things going on that's going to keep us busy for a long time to come. More on that later though. For now, enjoy the pictures.

One of my old classmates new baby.

Lauri during cocktail hour. She hates when I just sit there and keep taking her picture and ask her to "just act natural". Ha ha, I guess my brother, sister, and I are the only ones that think having a camera right infront of you is "natural"So we're in a sea of very formaly/conservatively dressed people, and in walks another one of my old classmates. Everybody was saying to us all night, "oh you must be Ari's friends from U of M..." I wonder what gave it away...I like this image, it starts to show you how much excitement and activity surrounded this event.Jodi looked pretty nervous up there.Jodi and Ari where so happy all day long, it was cool to see them interact after not seeing each other for a while.Then the crowd began to entertain them.Not sure why, but many props were involved. This is Ari's younger brother

I kept wondering what the Hotel staff was thinking about this when all these guys grabbed this tablecloth. Not sure what happened to this collage I made, obviously I used a wrong file format. I'll try to fix it later.There was a nice couple that we asked to take our picture. Not sure who you were, but thanks!My complimentary Yamikah.It was a long trip and we had a great time, but it's always nice to come home.

Ari's Wedding

2007-07-02T21:25:00.000-04:00

Well it's taken me longer than I thought, but here are finally some pictures from my friend Ari and his new wife Jodi's wedding in Scottsdale, AZ. Hopefully they begin to portray the excitement that surrounded this event. I'm going to have to post this in a few installements, as I started working up a list of images to post, the number grew and grew.

Now I'm not going to say that these are my most technically sound or creative images, but they are the most culturally informative pictures that I've ever taken. It was like a wild ride, I was just trying to hold on and snap a few pictures along the way. I was trying my best to listen to what was happening, as the english translations came along, as well as take some pictures. Talk about a balancing act! I wish I could go back! The other problem (as a photographer) I had was that I wasn't sure just how involved I was allowed to get because this was such a formal Jewish wedding. We met other people at the wedding that told us that they were Jewish themselves, and had never been to an event this formal, or religeiously strict. So it sounds like it was a learning experience for more than just the handful of Christians in the room. Again, a HUGE thank you to Ari and Jodi for inviting us and letting us share in their day!

Here's a link to a guide to a Jewish wedding for a better understanding

Here the men are prior to the wedding ceremony, eating and drinking. There was a lot of singing going on during this part of the ceremony. I couldn't tell you what was going on in the woman's room, no men allowed.

Here is the ceremonious breaking of the plate by the mother's of the bride and groom.Now this is where things really picked up, all the guys that were in the room processed Ari to the woman's ballroom where Ari saw Jodi for the first time in a week, and placed the veil over her face. There was a LOT of singing and dancing from here on out.

The women were also dancing and singing for Jodi when we got there, and that continued once the men left

This is the only picture I was able to grab from the wedding ceremony itself, lighting wasn't very conducive to nice pictures (huge spotlight pointing up from underneath everybody), and I wasn't going to find out the hard way how everybody felt about me using my big flash.

The next pictures I post will be of the celebration after the wedding ceremony, a LOT of dancing pictures. Until then, take care.

More Vacation Pics

2007-06-23T19:39:00.001-04:00

It's taking quite a bit of time to go through and edit all of the pictures I'd taken while we were on vacation because of some dust specs I had on my camera's sensor....

Mental note to self: "always get the camera cleaned before you go and shoot 600 pictures!"

Anyways, here are some more pictures from Puerto Vallarta. Some of the pictures are from the day we took a guided tour of the city. The tour also included the location they shot the film "Night of the Iguana", and a Tequila Distillery. Obviously I didn't take this one... Thanks ConradWasn't too difficult to walk out and see this every morning...This guy was working hard to try and convince me that the pink cowgirl hat was a men's hat...All of their vendors worked endlessly to sell you whatever they had. Oops, looks like I forgot to fix the dust specs on this one... No more lens changes on the beach.This was Mario, our tour guide. He said that the English language was really hard to be funny in, I don't think he had any problems though. Thanks for the tip on the "Puerto Vallarta Resort Chicken". He said it has four legs and a tail..... Iguana. He was joking. I hope.I have NO idea what this was all about, but those are people up there swinging around in circles UPSIDE DOWN, and playing little instruments... Now that's a hard way to earn a buck.This is what happens when you get so famous, they make a statue out of you... Looks like Being famous isn't all it's cracked up to be.The cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a major attraction in Puerto Vallarta. Apparantly they're working on making the top crown out of bronze. Mario told us that we had to come back for the dedication ceremony. Beautiful metal work. I really wanted to get this mexican wrestlers mask to wear to a U of M football game...
The plant that they make "Mexican Viagra" from.That's right. Tequila...I never knew that they make Flavored Tequila's. While I didn't pick up a bottle of Orange flavored Tequila, I did grab a bottle of the Repaisado. So Uncle Dennis, next time you're in town, come and check it out so you can give your expert oppinion.

This is the location that they shot "Night of the Iguana".

BED JUMPING!!!!

2007-06-19T22:31:00.000-04:00

Yep, here it is! My long awaited first post of Bed Jumping! Ever since I saw this website, I've wanted to do this for myself.

Now I admit, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. my pics may not be as creative as the ones on the websites homepage, but they were definitely a lot of fun for us to create! It took quite a bit of energy out of me too, this seemed much easier when I was 7. Maybe it was all the cerveza that took it out of me, these pictures are from our trip to Mexico last week at the Royal Decameron resort. Hopefully these will be the first of many bed jumping posts in my future!

I think there's an added danger in this for me too now. I didn't used to be 6'-6" tall, so there never used to be the danger of slamming my head into the ceiling... Guess I have to look for hotels with really tall ceilings. Next time...

Even Lauri got in on the action! She had a whole lot of fun doing this too! It really seems to bring out the little kid in you!

2007-06-18T18:33:00.000-04:00

So we just returned from our vacation today... It's great to be able to visit new places and get away, but I'm always happy to return home. And once I got back, I just had to put at least one picture from the trip up. So I figured that this one sums up 90% of our trip. Many more to come!

Mexico

2007-06-09T15:17:00.001-04:00

So we're almost ready to get out of here! Tonight we're off to Joan and Conrads, where we'll spend the night so that we can all head out to the airport first thing in the morning. Now you'll have to forgive me if my pictures from Mexico don't turn out as beautiful as I want them too. You know what they say about Mexico, "Don't drink the water"..... Well I have to drink something so I guess it'll have to be the cerveza! And since it's all-inclusive, I'd better get my money's worth!

Lauri's B-Day Dinner

2007-06-07T21:06:00.000-04:00

Tonight we met Joan and Conrad for dinner on the night before Lauri's Birthday. It's always great to get together with family, and as usual I made a fool of myself... I managed to spill a large glass of a certain fermented beverage all over the place. Lucky for the restaurant, Conrad's pants managed to soak up most of the mess. Conrad owe's me one, maybe he'll spill a drink on me when we're sitting at the poolside bar next week in mexico!!! Lucky for me I'm their favorite (by default because I'm the only) son-in-law... Ha ha. Hopefully I'll be able to get one more post before we leave. Then after that will hopefully be some AMAZING images from both Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as well as Scottsdale, Arizona!

Untill then, take care, and God Bless! And a VERY happy Birthday to my beautiful wife!!! Love you!

Baby Eva

2007-06-06T20:58:00.000-04:00

I took some pictures for some friends of ours, of their newborn daughter Eva. I was hoping to be able to do it on a weekend when I would be able to relax and take my time (I've found being flexible with your schedule is a must for photographing babies). Unfortunately, for one reason or another, I had to get the shots after work one night. That means I was in a race against time, to get there before I lost what little natural lighting was left of the day. Not to mention it was super cloudy, and pouring rain that night. All things considered I think they turned out well.
What do you think?

One of the things I'm still working on is making sure things look as natural as possible. Usually pictures like this, for me, are just friends children. And I think they're always expecting to have to pose for their pictures and "say cheese". I need to work on making people more comfortable, and helping them to relax and just enjoy that time with their children. Instead of worrying if what they're doing is going to look good in a picture.

That's another reason I like to have a little extra time during a shoot like this, not only do you have to work with the kids but the amount of work you have to put into the parents can take just as long.

What I really like about shooting little babies, is trying to find their personalities. I'm not sure I was effective at portraying Eva's personality in these images, due to the lack of time, but I had fun trying. This shoot was also a learning experience for me, I "grew up" in photography shooting with an Olympus OM-2. This camera was an Aperture Priority camera, and because of this I've always been a little intimidated of shooting in any other mode. This shoot was done entirely in Manual mode with my Nikon D-70 (with an SB-800 speedflash).

Some were exposed properly, alot weren't. I'm still working on it. I still fall back on Aperture priority when all else fails. All I can say for now is "Thank God for Photoshop"! Which is funny because I never used to like altering my images. Then my Dad showed me how much more dramatic your images can be with a little bit of "touching up". I have to try and not depend so much on this though, and really aim for proper exposures. That's were I'm at right now with my pictures. I'm constantly wishing that I could spend more time taking pictures, and studying these things, instead of going to my real job...

Well, thanks for the time Nikki, Joe, and Eva. Hope you like the shots. Next week we're heading to Mexico for a little R & R, and I'm looking forward to taking alot of pictures of Lauri, and maybe some other stuff. I've never done a photo shoot with her. And after Mexico, we're making a stop in Scottsdale, AZ for a friends wedding. This will be my first Jewish wedding! I'm looking forward to getting some shots!

Well until next time, take care and God bless.

John

Making the move.

2007-06-06T14:05:00.000-04:00

I'm actually going to make the move, from my old blog to this site. I like the extra's that this site offers. If you've visited both sites, let me know what you think too!

first post on bLOGSPOT

2007-06-05T14:23:00.000-04:00

Just posting some random images on a new blog site. Testing them out for ease of use and access. All are my images.

Here's Lauri having our Breakfast Tea on a recent ski trip in Northern Michigan

Took this on the stern of one of the tour boats during a tour of the Soo Locks in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Here's an old advertisement on the side of a building in Detroit. I'd seen it quite a few times on my drive home from work and always wanted to get a shot of it. I finally worked up enough courage to actually stop and take a few very quick images and was on my way.