Cute Little Kitty

Born December 12, 2006 this cute little Tiger Cub is getting ready to be on display at the Woodland Park Zoo. Early this morning I was allowed in for a sneak peak at her. She doesn't have a name yet, but the adult Tiger is her Dad Rakata.

New Toys!

Oh Man am I excited! After saving for a couple of months worth of stock photography sales I am finally buying a lens I have been after for a very long time. The Canon 70-200 2.8 IS. It is a sweet lens that most who own it claim is their favorite. I should have that by the end of next week. On top of that, Canon has announced the release of their new camera the 1D Mark III. 10 Frames per second, ISO 6400, dual sensors, a 3 inch screen, the list of bells and whistles goes on and on. It isn't cheap though so I still have a little bit of work to do with Lea, but I think she has seen in my eyes that this isn't a Vintage PEZ dispenser that I feel I can't live without...though it has been a while since I've bought vintage PEZ. This is a seriously nice camera and it will be available in the Spring...I cannot wait! Please send donations via Paypal to Pezheadmat@comcast.net . Just kidding about the donations....sort of ;)

See you in the funny pages!

Mat

Photographer's Challenge

Hi Everyone,

This past Sunday afternoon I hosted a competition with 20 photographers from around the Pacific Northwest. We met at the Pike Place Market and for 90 minutes walked around the city shooting what we saw. We were limited to using just one camera with a 50mm fixed lens. I am blown away by the impressive variety and quality of the photo's submitted. Check them out on my web page by clicking on the Client Proofing Gallery and entering the password: DWF

www.mathaywardphoto.com

Leave a comment with which image was your favorite would ya? The image number isn't necessarily the large number under the photo. It is the number on the bottom left corner of the photo. I'm still waiting for some photographers to submit their pics so I may be adding more.

Have a great day!

Mat

The faces of Sophie

Boy do we have our hands full...in a good way of course :) Sophie has a lot of energy and has quite the personality as captured in these photographs taken about 3 seconds apart.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love was in the air at the Zoo this week in honor of the holiday. I thought I would post a few pics for grins.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

The Lake House

Our family has had a house on Pattison Lake near Olympia, WA for around 60 years or so. My Dad has been living there for a while now and on more than one occasion he has tried to talk me into letting him sell it. I refuse to let him off the hook as a house like that you simply cannot replace no matter what the price. It's the history that has the true value in my opinion. Beyond that, the fishing is great there!

The truth of the matter is that the house has been poorly taken care of for quite a while and has been in desperate need of a remodel. Every time I visit I am overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that needs to be done. I'm so proud to announce that my Dad has taken the initiative to hire a contractor to get everything done once and for all. The plans sound great and I am very excited to see the end result and more importantly I am excited for my Dad to have a home with modern ammenities in it so he will be happy there.

In addition to the work in the house, my brother who has aspirations to start a landscaping business has been working hard on the 3/4 acres of land including building my Dad a putting green to help satiate his addiction to Golf. If anyone is thinking of building a putting green at your house, let me know and I'll send my brother over.

Anyway, I've attached a few pics of the work in progress. I'll be sure to post the end result as well.

Dad's 60th Birthday is coming up May 23. Maybe we'll have to throw him a party at his own house. Think I should ask him first?

See you in the funny pages,

Mat

A Message from Tootsie DippinHoney

My Uncle Farcus DippinDunkin sent this along to break up the routine of my day. Everyone can use a little humor in their lives every now and then. Give this a try and see if if puts a smile on your face. Be sure to post your name in the comments category so we can all laugh at you...err, I mean laugh with you :)




Here is your dose of humor...

A. Follow the instructions to find your new name.





The following is excerpted from a children's book, Captain Underpants
And the Perilous Plot Professor Poopypants, by Dave
Pilkey, in which the evil Professor forces everyone to assume new names...

So:

1. Use the third letter of your first name to
determine your New first
name:

a = snickle

b = doombah

c = goober

d = cheesey

e = crusty

f = greasy

g = dumbo

h = farcus

i = dorky

j = doofus

k = funky

l = boobie

m = sleezy

n = sloopy

o = fluffy

p = stinky

q = slimy

r = dorfus

s = snooty

t = tootsie

u = dipsy

v = sneezy

w = liver

x = skippy

y = dinky

z = zippy



2. Use the second letter of your last name to determine the first half of your new last name:


a = dippin

b = feather

c = batty

d = burger

e = chicken

f = barffy

g = lizard

h = waffle

i = farkle

j = monkey

k = flippin

l = fricken

m = bubble

n = rhino

o = potty

p = hams ter

q = buckle

r = gizzard

s = lickin

t = snickle

u = chuckle

v = pickle

w = hubble

x = dingle

y = gorilla

z = girdle







3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the second half of your new last name:



a = butt

b = boob

c = face

d = nose

e = hump

f = breath

g = pants

h = shorts

i = lips

j = honker

k = head

l = tush

m = chunks

n = dunkin

o = brains

p = biscuits

q = toes

r = doodle

s = fanny

t = sniffer

u = sprinkles

v = frack

w = squirt

x = humperdinck

y = hiney

z = juice

A good day

There are a lot of things I could write about and I have some other photo's to post. Yesterday, we had some friends over for the Superbowl. It was nice to see the Colt's win and even nicer to see the Bears lose. OK, I'm a little bitter it wasn't the Seahawks representing the NFC again, I can admit my motivation to root for the Colt's. All in all it was a great time with great friends and great food. You can see some pics Cory took on his blog by visiting www.coryparris.com and clicking the blog link.

I've been working on wedding photo's for many days in a row. Today I woke up to a very foggy day. After a couple of hours it became apparent the fog wasn't going to lift. I have been meaning to drive up to Deception Bridge for quite a while now and a foggy day seemed like just the right occassion for a road trip. Lea was volunteering at Kindergarten with Savannah today so Sophie and I loaded the car with crackers, water and gas and headed North. It really is a pretty bridge. I'd like to go again and shoot it at sunrise or sunset some day. There is a little parking area just past it so we pulled over to explore. We found a hiking trail down to a small beach under the bridge. Let me say that it was an easy hike down...going back up was a different story. Carrying two cameras, 3 lenses and a wiggling two year old up hill is some serious exercise let me tell ya. Well worth it though.

Instead of driving back I decided to keep heading into Whidbey Island to take the Ferry back home. We drove past a familiar sign and had to pull in. Poppys Place is a road named after my Grandma Poppy. The house my Grandparents owned for many years is at the bottom of the hill. They have cleared out the trees so there is a beautiful view of the water. The orchard is gone now and more houses are there. It's amazing how much smaller it looks but it sure brought back a lot of great memories.

Tomorrow after work I head to Portland, OR. My good friend Chris Bothwell has generously offered to put me up in his spare room the night before my beating...er, I mean meeting for work. If anyone is looking for a house in the Portland area, my friend Chris is the best realtor in the area so be sure to look him up.

I'll post when I get back...see you in the funny pages!

Mat

Wasco Wedding

Another shot from the Wasco Wedding...

Wasco

The Wasco Wedding is almost done. Here's a random shot for fun. Yep, just one. Such a nice day today...lot's of sun. It seems as though Spring has begun.

Yep, I'm losin it :)