Trip to Oklahoma

Traveled down to Oklahoma a couple of weekends ago to visit my old law school study partner and great friend Jay. He and his wife Michelle are in the process of adopting two boys, David and Matt. The boys are generally cute, hilariously funny, and will run you right into the ground and wonder why you seem so tired all the time.

David at the video arcade. No flash, I got him to hold still for me for a minute. F4.0, 1/40 shutter speed.


Matt playing ski-ball. Flash enabled, again F4.0 and 1/60 shutter speed.


David and ski-ball. F4.0, 1/60 again. I like catching the ski-balls in the air, it made using the flash more worthwhile.


Matt excitedly awaits the tickets to be dispensed out of a video game machine. Matt does most things excitedly, come to think of it.


Matt ponders which game to play next while David whacks sharks. F4.0, 1/50 shutter to catch some of the movement of David's arm.


"Uncle Mike" showing Matt how to ride virtual motorcycles. Wearing green vampire teeth makes you go faster.



At a Tulsa area Air & Space museum (F3.5, 1/30 shutter):


The boys try out the cockpit of a trainer. Bringing a toy shark into the cockpit isn't required, but it does help! I wish I didn't have to use the flash up close like this, but it wasn't a situation where the kids would hold still and the lighting in the old hanger was very dim.



The boys pose under the wing of the F14. Staff at the museum were very nice and didn't mind all the clambering at all.


Of course I couldn't help but get all artsy-fartsy with a restored biplane. I want a biplane one day when I'm a grown up. F3.5, 1/25 shutter (obviously no flash):


F5.6, 1/60 shutter:


Same aircraft, F3.5, 1/20 shutter speed and me holding very still. Color balance much better than using the flash.


Back at home, time to play some PS3 video games. Matt in his natural habitat, bouncing up and down madly while mashing buttons. F7.1, 1/10 shutter speed, flash enabled and set to second curtain (flash fires as the shutter is closing):


For some reason I didn't set the white balance correctly for these pics. I think I had it set for ambient light and then switched to using the flash and the result is a very blue hue to everything. Still learning the ins and outs of the camera I suppose. F11, 1/2 second shutter:


Later we took the kids swimming. Despite my fears of getting the camera wet I braved some flash photo pics. Again,the indoor lighting at the swimming pool area of the motel was orange and dim, perfect for action shots right? Heh. So out came the flash once again.

David isn't old enough to remember the "Nestea Plunge" but that didn't stop him from doing a few. F5.6, 1/60 and flash:


Swimming in almost a whole meter of water can be scary when you're 5 years old. So, you know, green vampire teeth help and stuff.


Eventually Matt got brave enough to show us his shark imitation. The kids were just TOO funny!


The adoption should go through pretty soon. Its going to be alot of fun watching these kids grow up (and having no responsibility to raise them ourselves!)