I shot this today for the newspaper. I was over on the northeast side of Tacoma for another thing and went for a drive afterword. We’ve had a lot of rain the last few days and the sky cleared up for a few hours this morning so I went looking for some light that didn’t suck. I spotted this little tug heading out of the waterway and waited for it to get some separation from the cluttered shore.

In other news…I edited the time-lapse I shot at the Sounders Playoff match into a tight, one-minute video that is posted here. Let me know what you think.

Sunday I shot the Seahawks as they beat Detroit. Sam came along to help me with gear. It was a good game mostly because we stayed dry…and they won.
Here are some game action photos.

Ingrid has also been busy with work and school. She spent a day a the Yakima Training Center documenting soldiers training with missiles. And, she got to shoot a .50-caliber machine gun!!

Ingrid’s also been making audio-slide shows. The field burning one and the weight lifting are both fun to watch.

We are heading out to Boise this weekend to celebrate my birthday with Sean, Michelle, Zoe and Aiden. Look for some pics from that trip.
JB

This image is of my co-worker Janet Jensen and I figuring out who got which shooting position at the Seattle Sounders first playoff match at Qwest Field in Seattle, last Thursday. The Sounders played the Dynamo to a 0-0 tie. The match will head to Houston next week for the second game.
It was my first chance to shoot the Sounders and it was a lot of fun. More than 35,000 fans were in the house and they were loud.

See the gallery that Jeremy, Janet and I made here and a short little time-lapse video of the evening here.
Enjoy!
JB

We had some friends over the other night and got to try several bottles of wine from our wine rack. Many of them were very tasty, and I have placed photos of the bottles I liked the best here, but I got to thinking about the wine rack in it’s new state…and got sad. No wine rack should have one bottle in it for long, so tonight we will go shopping…it just makes the rest of the house look empty. Maybe we’ll do a wine and cheese gathering at the house Saturday. I’ll keep you posted.

Oh, by the way, we have to thank Wendy and Robert for introducing us to the Inama Vin Soave. The first time we tried it was at How to Cook a Wolf in Seattle with Wendy and Robert. The wine was just as good this time, but we missed our friends from Yakima.
Have a great day!

The Seahawks played the Arizona Cardinals yesterday and it felt like family day down on the field for me. My nephew Nathan was chosen to be the Tee Hawk for the day and got to run out on the field and collect the tee after the Seahawks kicked off. So, I ran in to Byron, my brother, and Nathan before the game on the sidelines. See my game gallery here.

Ingrid was my assistant for the day so she was down there, too. She made great pics, but she’ll have to post them since they are on her computer. You can see her Husky pics from last week’s game at her blog.

Between work, the house and Ingrid starting school again, life has been moving along quickly.
I am about halfway finished with painting and hanging all the doors in the house and hope to get them all done in the next week or so.
We had the the front of the house repointed and the brick is looking great. The next big project will be getting a new roof on the garage, but that we will have to wait a few weeks. We got the all-clear to use the fireplace this week, so I ordered a bunch of wood and we have been enjoying the evening fires.

I’ve been shooting a bunch of football for work this season, too. Ingrid and I got to cover the UW vs. Arizona game last week and had a blast.

See the full gallery from that game here.

And then on Sunday I took Hans up to the Seahawks game as my assistant. He got stuck lugging my big lens around when I wasn’t using it. I think he had a good time, and I know the help was appreciated.

and from the game…

See the full gallery from that game here.

JB

Sean and Michelle came by last night and we had a great time. I think this was the first sit-down dinner since we got all of our stuff moved in last week. Everything was great. We haven’t seen them for a while, so it was fun to catch up. Looks like we might be headed to Boise next month to hang with them for a long weekend at their place. They actually live in Meridian, but I’m told it is close by. Should be fun.
These are the wines we had last night. They were all very good.

I got to shoot some baseball last night. The local Triple-A team is in the playoffs.

So we bought the house and disappeared!!

My dad called tonight and reminded me that we haven’t posted any photos from the house in a while. To be honest, it just slipped my mind. We have been sharing photos with friends on facebook because they go straight from our phones to the web site, but we haven’t taken the time to add any here. Sorry about that.
Here’s what we haven’t told you about yet.
Ingrid’s brother Hans came by a few weeks ago and helped us take out the wall that separates the living/dining room from the kitchen. We added a big beam and the wall is now a bar. We took out the half-wall the stove was on and opened up the kitchen. Hans built us new cabinets and an island for the kitchen. We had the plumbing and electrical completely revamped and then we had to learn how to do sheet rock. It turns out we had to patch up holes in about every room and then of course we had to paint.
The end is in sight now. Hans was back last weekend and is now almost finished with the structural part of the kitchen remodel. Counter tops are on and the bar-top is attached.
Ingrid and I have been cleaning for a day or two now and hope to be dust-free enough to paint the trim this weekend. Then the electricians and plumbers are coming back to finish installing all the fixtures. Then we can finish painting the kitchen, hang some bead-board and do paint touch up in a week or two. We think we should be able to move in 2-3 weeks.

In other news, Ingrid started her new job at The Northwest Guardian this week. We are both pretty excited about it. Ingrid ended her fellowship with the EPA and the internship with King County early so she could take the job. Looks like she will graduate pretty much on time even though she will have to take classes at night and online.

Enjoy the photos, and hope you are all well.

JB

I’m living a new life.

Gone are the days of calling photo editors pining after assignments that never materialize. Gone is the feeling of failure as a person and photographer. And after two challenging years, gone is the hurt from the layoffs.

I’m no longer just a photojournalist. I’m now a student, public servant, and social media fiend. Two days into my EPA fellowship and I feel this new life breathed into my lungs. The mood around the office is happy. No one’s lurching behind their desk waiting for the axe to fall. They have goals, purpose, and an incredible team spirit. I feel like I belong.

I’ve been wanting to make pictures like I used to before I ever became a professional. Images fueled not by deadlines, but by my desire to see things differently. I’ve not had access to my trusty Nikon for hobby work for the better part of three months now. I could experiment with film again – or, I could get a BlackBerry. I chose the latter – and have been putting the little 3.1 megapixel technological marvel to work.

Welcome to my new life.

IB

We are most of the way through the buying process, so we thought we could tell everyone now. We are waiting on final word from the seller, but everything is looking good for now. If all continues to go as planned then we hope to close by the end of the month!

the house is 2 bed, 1 bath and has room to grow. The yard is big, but not so big that I have o give up golf to maintain it. The two-car garage has a shop and pot belly stove!

More soon.