Six Peeps

My momma didn’t raise no fool! CONGRATS MOM!

I know the timing is a little awkward, being just a couple days away from Father’s Day… but in a few, I will have a tribute to my dad, who is amazing as well

But my mom, after something like 35 or 36 years (shoot, maybe even more than that!) of teaching little rugrats in elementary schools, has FINALLY retired. And well deserved!

CONGRATS, MOM!

Now let me tell you a few things about my mom…

Growing up, things was HARD! (that’s horrible grammar, used purposefully for the sake of making us sound extra “ghetto”. I might do more of that throughout this blog post. To my potential wedding clients, please know that I am really literate.)

My parents were divorced and no, nothing against either my mom or my dad. They are both great parents. Its just that my mom was cursed with the extra responsibility of raising us kids! Actually my older sister Gina left to live with my dad at one point and I believe she packed a curse that was even greater than my little sister, Katherine and I together! haha! So my dad didn’t have it any easier – someday I will post about Gina and how she used to have parties and stole my dad’s car and smoked cigarettes while listening to Guns-n-Roses! haha!

That’s Gina on the far right. Kat, in the middle, on vocals, and that’s me on the left. At least we had style. Not pictured, are Gina’s leg warmers that she wore even in the brutal summers in Arizona. And I was a style-setter myself. Have you ever seen the top-hat, aviator glasses, Redskin’s t-shirt with maracas combo? Didn’t think so. I was a regular Derek Zoolander.

OK where was I… oh yeah. Times was hard!

My mom spent the majority of my childhood working really hard. She worked all day teaching 2nd graders, would come home, make a quick dinner for Kat and I (the routine was something like… Monday: Burritos heated in a microwave; Tuesday, Spaghetti; Wednesday, Chip beef on toast; Thursday, Chicken broccoli casserole, which I hated; Friday: Little Caesar’s Pizza; Saturday she’d bring us to Chili’s for a burger or on really special occasions, to Furr’s Cafeteria. Believe it or not, we all went CRAZY for Furrs! Usually we’d go on “payday”; and Sunday she’d cook a nice Sunday dinner for us).

Usually after dinner, she’d be off to Chili’s where she worked as a server.

Times was tough, but my mom, the hardest working woman I have EVER met, still made sure to be a good mom.

She was also a tough mom. Raised on tough love herself, she handed it down to us. But I appreciate it. I am so thankful that she never let me watch TV. If it was nice outside, I was ordered to go out and ride my bike and play. So many parents use the TV as nanny or a baby sitter.

When I would get sick, my mom always surprised me with a SUZYQ. Ever had one? They are awesome:

And my mom forced me to go out for sports. I believe that parenting move in particular changed my life right there. I started to enjoy sports and my friends were all good, healthy people. I wrestled and was on the track team and in High School started racing bikes at the local velodrome.

And all through college and now my adulthood, it is so great to know that my mom is done working.

Rumor has it that she is on facebook now. She’s golfing and playing gin with her friends and I can tell that she is having a blast.

Last weekend we celebrated. I hooked up a nice wasabi-rubbed grilled lamb dinner. And we watched UFC on pay-per view. That’s right, my mom will even watch UFC with me. haha!

So congratulations mom, I am so excited for you! Well deserved!

As a cautionary note, I want to warn all of my peeps to watch for a white Subaru Outback. Because she’s retired, it means she may be driving more now and her driving record is a little shabby. So just as a precaution, if you see a white Subaru Outback on the roads, just play it safe. Get in the furthest lane from it as possible. When passing, pass quickly and get yourself a good distance ahead and you should be OK.

I know that the family in this music video resembles my family, but no it’s not really us. Although it is a pretty close representation… (minus the “crack fiend, different daddy’s, and jail cells, perhaps…) haha! OK my life was nothing like this… But I’ll still dedicate this to my mama in perfect G-fashion!

(tupac, the legend!)

June 18, 2010 | (5) |

Little G

One of the highlights of my day happens in the early AM when I get to go running with Gary, my 107lb Doberman Pinscher!

And then again in the evening, we usually hit up the local park after a long day of working. I decided to test the low-light video feature of my new S90 and I am very happy. And I need to make more videos, they are fun to have!

June 17, 2010 | (1) |

New Family Member Arrived Today

I love CraigsList.

So let me tell you a quick story, the very abbreviated version:

June, 2009: I tragically lost my beloved Canon G7. I had had it for years and it had a lot of sentimental value. My heart broke.

March, 2010: Still somewhat in denial, and with a glimmer of hope that I would find my G7, as a “temporary solution”, I bought a Canon SD1200 Elph, as I would need SOMETHING to teach the 500 new SNAPshop students that I got from Groupon.

June, 2010: While golfing with LK, I found my beloved G7! In my golf bag!

I was elated! I was taking photos with the G7 and it was taking beautiful photos! I took this one of Gary

Two weeks later: After putting a charged battery into my G7, it still would not start. It died in its sleep. My heart sank.

Yesterday: With upcoming SNAPshops, I needed to act quick. I gave LK my Elph, and she would have given it back but that’s just not cool. Plus, as a Point and Shoot instructor, I believe I deserve a nicer tool for instructing! I spent a good amount of time. These P/S cameras are not things I intend on buying over and over again like a pair of socks. I want to find a new camera that I can bond with and grow with and share special moments in my life with! May sound silly to you, but the purchase of a Point and Shoot camera is a big deal to me! I looked at the top models from each major company: Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Samsung, Panasonic, Leica, and others. I narrowed it down to three, and finally decided that the camera for me, even aside from my bias towards Canon, is still the CANON Powershot SD90! $430 bucks. Not spare change by my bank accounts standards by any means!

I had B&H.com open and was about to click “add to cart”, when I thought, “hmmmm maybe I will just check Craigslist.com real quick”. To my disbelief (the S90 is not a popular camera, most people go with the G11 which looks way cooler), there was one in Denver: “Lightly Used, Never Dropped, 5 months old, in Perfect condition with all packaging. $320obo”. I love it when it says OBO.

So I offered $280, thinking I’d get reamed for “low-balling” him. Instead, I get an email, “OK, that sounds good”. And now, after a quick meeting in a parking lot, I own my own Canon PowerShot S90!!!!

I know what you are thinking, “That’s it?”. I actually appreciate the understated design. The camera is loaded though: f/2.0 lens! full manual functionality and a cool aperture ring at the barrel of the lens, RAW imaging, and so much more. This camera is solid and I see a bright future ahead with my new partner!

So far, because today is like a race against the clock, my first photo is pretty appropriate: my daily agenda sheet. eughhh… But what a nice, crisp image!

Welcome S90, I am so happy to have you in my life!

June 15, 2010 | (0) |

Meet Mitchell

I originally had plans to be in Orange County the weekend of June 24, but plans got changed and now I am off to Idaho where I will get to hang with my older sister, Gina!

I have to be honest, I wasn’t very excited that I would, by default be joining her as an Urban Challenge contestant. I have seen these Urban Challenges pass through Denver and they look like glorified scavenger hunts. And I HATE scavenger hunts or anything that puts me into public places doing silly things. ugh.

But after a whole bunch of begging by my sister, I decided that I would do it.

Today, I got an email and everything has changed. I didn’t realize that we’re competing to raise money for the Make-a-Wish foundation (one of my FAVORITE charities) and our team is competing to raise money for this kid, Mitchell. Meet Mitch:

This is a real kid: no he’s not make believe or anything. A real kid in Boise, Idaho diagnosed with Lymphoma. I can guarantee you that he has been through a LOT. While other kids are out playing merrily in the sun, Mitch has to spend a lot of time in hospitals, being poked and prodded, scanned and tested, with a cloud of anxiety always hovering over him and his family.

Mitch is a huge fan of the Green Bay Packers. His dream is to play football for them someday. And Make-a-Wish foundation is raising money to fly him out to Green Bay to fulfill part of his fantasy. He is going to meet the coach, lots of the players, practice with the team, and then watch a game from the sidelines. Imagine that. Kick-ass! THAT is why I love Make-a-Wish – while other charities support science and medicine towards trying to cure illnesses that may or may not ever be cured, Make-a-Wish hooks up the people who have been stricken with these things, while they wait for these cures.

In the past few months, two people who I have met have lost their lives to cancer. And I also thought I had it myself for a brief moment when I spent my time at the hospital, and I can tell you it’s a scary, sobering experience. When I left the hospital, I felt like a prisoner out of jail. And I felt incredibly grateful, that I wanted to do something for other people who are less fortunate. Suddenly this opportunity has come up and I want to do some fund-raising for a really good cause.

Make-a-Wish isn’t a bank. They don’t just have all of this cash to do these things. Here’s a link to where you can make a donation. My blog gets about 300 hits per day. If all 300 of those visitors could donate even $5 bucks, when multiplied by numbers, it makes a huge difference. So please take a couple minutes now and click the link below. You will see it’s the page for Gina Radovcich, who is my sister – but I am competing with her on her team.

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION

It says the goal is $100 or something. That’s stupid. I think we can do more like $1000. So please if you can drop a few bucks in the pot, that would be awesome. This is not just supporting Mitchell here, but there are a gazillion other people out there stuck in very unfortunate positions that your donation will help fund. Thanks!

June 14, 2010 | (1) |

Take THAT, young man! (part II)

Like anyone cares, but I am excited to blog about my Garden of the God’s 10-Mile race. Per yesterday’s post (see below), I am proud to say that I crushed my Personal Record time on the course that I set in 2002, when I was 25 years old! And I beat it by over 4 minutes and over a 5 minute improvement from last year! I just got 9 years younger! At the 5 mile point, I realized I was on a record pace, and from that point on, slowing down was not an option!

I just got the free photos they send after races! haha Here I am, somewhere, in Garden of the Gods

And LK even ran it! I love that she’ll tackle anything, even a tough course like this one on a whim:

The 2nd place runner was the same guy who won the Vail Pass Half Marathon that I ran last weekend. He was flying, it was fun to watch him zoom by. Amazing!

June 13, 2010 | (1) |

You’re mine, young man.

My friend Dan and I always joke about how “Facebook makes you hate the people you like”. You know, people post very annoying status updates and then you finally get sick of them and block the said friend from your account. I always post about my trail running. It’s kind of my personal obsession. I am sure that people have blocked me for this reason. But I continue to rave about this passion in my life…

Tomorrow is my next race, the Garden of the Gods 10-Mile. Each year that I run this race, I have one objective in mind: To beat my Personal Best that I ran in 2002.

It’s a beautiful course, lots of hills. A pretty brutal 10 mile course. But check out the scenery:

My record in 2002, wen I was a young, springy 25 year old was 1:27:48. It’s not anything crazy. I have always been a 190-200lb runner. This is me, running towards the summit of the Pike’s Peak Ascent in 2001

And here I am at the turnaround point in 2002 at the Pike’s Peak Marathon, same year that I ran my PR time at the Garden of the Gods 10-Mile.

But for me, it’s been hard to touch. Last year I ran 1:28:48. Argh! I felt like I ran it pretty strong, too. But this year could be different. Last winter was the first winter that I ran throughout the course of the season. Usually I ski a lot, which really doesn’t do much for my running.

So tomorrow AM I’m gonna go for it again. We’ll see what I can do. I’m an old man now. 33 years old! There’s only one challenge that I think could be problematic: I have a toenail that wants to fall off, that I got from last weekend’s Vail Pass Half Marathon… and I am running in a BRAND NEW pair of shoes. Usually not a good idea.

If I beat my time, you can expect another blog post about it. If I don’t expect some other non-related blog post! haha!

June 12, 2010 | (1) |

What’s the car of YOUR dreams?

A Porsche? (is it pronounced, “porsh” or “porsha”?), a Ferrari? Range Rover? Aston Martin?

The car of my dreams is nothing like that. My dream car is simple, an Early Bronco. That’s the only material item that I dream about. I could care less about fancy watches, designer clothes, and other surrogate indicators of “status”.

The car of my dreams is right here: http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/1782087691.html

I remember when I was a kid I used to go over to the neighbor’s house and peek into their garage. They had an early Bronco just like the one listed above. I used to peek into their garage all the time and just dream about riding in that car. And all my life, it’s been an obsession of mine.

In high school I was extremely fortunate as my dad and I went shopping for my first car. Of course I started shopping for Early Broncos. I found the most beautiful Bronco – it was yellow, and had been extremely well cared for by a really nice man, who didn’t seem to mind that I would come over several times in the course of the week. He even told me he’d take payments for the car, I think because he knew how much I loved his Bronco. So then the big day came when I got to bring my dad to see the rig. My dad was impressed – I could tell. Then the big question: “what’s the gas mileage like”?. I cringed. I hoped the guy would lie on my behalf, but he didn’t. 13 Miles to the gallon. Ouch. My dad, a wise person, knew that wouldn’t be practical. I don’t mean to sound like I am complaining, I got an awesome black ford ranger pick up, that I was very proud of. But my obsession with the Early Bronco has never faded.

I still dream about driving an old Bronco into the Colorado Wilderness, top down, LK in the passenger seat and Gary in the back seat with the wind blowing right in his face, and a cooler full of PBR in the back. That, to me, would be the perfect day.

I actually like old things. Things with character. I don’t mind dings and other imperfections. In fact I like them. I enjoy taking old things and with care, pride and love… bringing them back to life.

My dad once told me a story about this beautiful guitar that his father bought him. One day, after one too many Manhattans, my dad let the guitar slip out of his hands, and upon impact and to his heartbreak, that shiny new guitar was scarred with a horrific ding to the wood. My grandfather could practically hear my dad’s heart break, but reassured him, “Don’t worry about it! Every time you see that scratch, you will remember this great time that we are having, drinking Manhattans and playing our guitars”.

I love that story.

Recently my great friend Kent posted something on his Facebook Wall that I truly enjoyed as well:

If you have time, and even if you don’t (I think you should MAKE time)… click here and read

June 11, 2010 | (0) |

100% Mark Cafiero

I was just reading through SmartMoney magazine and on the back cover I saw this ad:

This might as well be an ad for Cafiero Photo. There are a lot of photographers out there who I respect a lot, but when I am shooting, it’s always my own style and my promise to each customer is that I will try to take the best photos of my career at your event: whether your event is a big expensive wedding, or a quick 30 minute local family photo shoot.

From me to you: 100% Cafiero Photo and nothing else!

June 9, 2010 | (1) |

Teva Mountain Games! Vail, Colorado

Last weekend was a great weekend. I was supposed to have been running the San Diego Half Marathon, but things didn’t work out. So I figured I would just find a half marathon to run in Colorado. There were two, but one in particular that seemed perfect.

Ever since my ITP drama, I have been on treatment for that, and for comfort, I found an online forum for ITP people. It was such a bummer. Everyone who seems to post on the forum are these total Debbie Downers, who obsess constantly about how ITP has just made their lives miserable. They can’t do anything. The treatment makes them weak and gain weight. They become complacent and just feel sorry for themselves. Not really my style.

Really, I just hate hate HATE pessimists. I was over the forum. I went out and hit the trails. Nothing has changed for me. I am finally done with my ITP treatment indefinitely, am back to normal and now I can seem to just move on with my life! Not like I ever really stopped though!

So I registered for the race that starts in Vail Village and in 13.78 miles climbs over 2000 vertical feet to the summit of Vail Pass. And I was able to recruit a friend who also recruited another friend. Good thing, too because the field was incredibly competitive. I needed some “normal” runners to keep me company!

So we headed out to the Teva Mountain Games and what an awesome idea that was. I will go every year. I just loved it.

My favorite competition was the Dock Dogs event. Next year Gary is going to compete. He may not win, but I guarantee he will win some style points!

I favored black and white photography for this event.

Meet this year’s competitors:

Some dogs were really aggressive…

Some were not so aggressive….

“HELP!!!! I can’t see, I can’t see, I’m blind!!!!”

Some dogs were incredibly graceful!

And some just refused to go at all… But they were still incredibly cute!

There were all sorts of awesome events. I missed out on the kayaking events. But there were running events, fly fishing, road racing (cycling), and mountain biking…

And these guys who were selling these balancing ropes. LK was infatuated with them, so I took some pics of these guys…

DJ Sideburns was cuttin up some funky beats.

The BIG event was the World Cup Bouldering Championships. Here is our hometown hero, Daniel Woods, from Boulder, Colorado, representing the US. He won the event, and I think it may have been the first time an American has one ever… or at least in a really long time! Here he is, planning his route before the competition.

And finally, the Vail Pass half marathon. It was a great run. I don’t know why I love cranking up mountains, but it feels great to me. I never get any cool shots of me. Oh well. Here’s a shot of us before the race. I’m in the middle and that’s Eamon to the left, who is Kieran’s friend (on my right). Kieran, who I know from ski patrol, is a great guy and we run together a lot out in Morrison.

He doesn’t know it yet, but I am going to make sure that he runs the Pike’s Peak Ascent with me next year. Since my previous Ascent partners have all seemed to retire from trail running.

The guy behind us to the right (in the teeny tiny shorts) is what a typical runner looks like. I am not a typical runner! But I still love it! And that’s Gary, begging me for more pats on the head. Gary did not run.

June 8, 2010 | (0) |

Jason & Jen: Engagement Photos at Red Rocks, Morrison, Colorado!

Just over a week ago I had a great Engagement session out at Red Rocks. Jason and Jen were a ton of fun to work with, and it’s too bad I have already been reserved on their Vail wedding date, otherwise I’d be able to say that I can’t wait to shoot their wedding, too!

Thanks for still choosing me as your engagement photographer!