Kids and Melissa having a blast!

Killer Kids!

Its been a looooong time!

Now that things have begun to settle some, its now time to get back to the blog and posting pics away! Sorry for the delays! Anyways, here is a rare group shot of the Orick-Novaes and Adamson families together! This particular night we had a fun night together before Dani headed down to Maceio in early February! More to come as time comes!

GO Niners!

So you should all know that the 49ers lost this past weekend! What a great season! Way to Jim Harbaugh(The Comeback Kid) and Alex Smith! Thanks for the ride! We enjoyed watching games with The Orick's on many occasions and a great glass of wine to top it all off! Lets hope for a Super Bowl next year!

LIVEStrong - Davis

In a few months I will take part in the LIVEStrong Fundraiser Ride in Davis, along with several of my Rio Strada teammates! If you would like to join us or make a donation, please check the link below and have at it! Thanks a million in advance!

http://laf.livestrong.org/site/TR/Challenge/General?pg=team&fr_id=1181&team_id=1840

Cool shot, and guess what?!?!

Guess what? I didn't take it! Valerie did! Pretty fun shot in my opinion! As you might have remembered, we all headed down to San Francisco for the day last month and had a total blast! Just had to share this one moment! You go girl!

And Still Going Strong!

Like his Daddy, seems like Brady has found his love! Hannah is still hangin' around and all seems well! last weekend Hannah helped Brady make apple sauce! They worked so well together! we LIKE Hannah!

A great moment with Papa and Brady.

This past July we headed to Dillon Beach as usual and one day the three boys went out shooting pictures! I saw Papa and Brady hanging out while I was doing my own thing, so I took the opportunity to capture the moment! I did cheat and ask them to look at each other...so here it is!

The Apple Family

Sunrise in West Sacramento

By far, my favorite time of the day, morning!

Snow and Storm

And here are our new additions to the family: Snow and Storm. You've already met Snow, but Storm came a few weeks later when we found out that Storm was headed to the pound. How could let Snow's brother go to the pound! Its been the best decision to bring Storm into our home! For one, Snow is super happy to have his buddy back and a play friend as well!

Brady hits up Savage Sprints @ Hot Italian

Check out Brady tearing it up at the Hot Italian Savage Sprints last night, in his Waste Management Cycling jersey!

Brady was pretty excited to be here supporting the Sacramento Velodrome program!

Not only did Brady have a good time, he also got a cool T-shirt, candy cane, pizza and even some gellato! Great weekend for him that's for sure!

Old School Brady, circa 1924.

Check this cool guy out! Brady loves this hat and has such a cute little look to him doesn't he? He looks like a little boy in the 20's who sells newspapers on the corner of some street in San Francisco! Awesome!

West Sacramento on a chilly Monday morning!

By far, my favorite moment of the day is early morning, nothing like the thought of a fresh day, with questions to come regarding the day: whats to come, what will happen, who will I share this day with, why will things happen today?!

San Francisco Photography Getaway Part 2

I have never realized how many bikes were in San Francisco: people riding them, locked up, on buses, people carrying them, on the BART etc. So maybe next time I head into town, I will focus solely on bikes and shoot bikes in San Francisco. Not like I needed a reason to go in again! The above shot was taken near Union Square, I loved how in the mist of thousands of shoppers, there set a lonely bike, yet it totally caught my attention.

This bike was locked up in the Mission District, 24th Street to be exact. Again, she just was by herself, so I thought she needed some attention, hope you like it "bike!"

San Francisco Photography Getaway Part 1

This past weekend I took a trip to San Francisco to play with my camera and experience the beauty and the photographic experience of the city. It was a partial birthday weekend gift from Melissa, Valerie and Gabe, I will explain... Valerie purchased a Groupon from a photographer named John Ater. John gave a seminar for beginning and aspiring photographers. Huh!?, you may ask, why would Derek need that? Well, it was something that Val bought for her, but wanted to drag me along. Yes it was basic for me, but what John did was to push my envelope and encouraged me to push myself and my limits! Having a good ass kicking is healthy, trust me!

This sign caught my attention immediately. What did it mean? Who put it there? I have no idea! I liked it, shot it and here it is!

While walking around Val found this wall and I knew I had to use it! Plus having a kick butt drop dead gorgeous "model" hanging around helps ALOT! I LOVE the urban feel to this wall, plus Val's red hair and look really added to the vibe of the pic! Thanks Val for dropping your camera for a few minutes!

Before I continue, I must thank Melissa and Gabe for hanging back withe kids and pulling duty so we could click-away, while away! Thanks Valerie for bringing me along your experience and of course, John Ater for pushing the limits a bit further!

MUCH more to come, trust me, much more!

Shot of Nugget

Ok, so why in the heck would I take a shot of the entry way to a Nugget Grocery store? First off, look at the killer lighting, the architecture, colors?! How could I not pass this shot up? I like it! Plus it was take with a pretty wide angle lens that I am testing out, would you buy this shot for $900 so I can buy this lens?

Its Fall, so that only means one thing, LEAVES!!!

Aisnley and Mila got in on the fun of the leaves pictures! The sun was beaming thru the trees a little, as Mila can attest! Sorry about that girlfriend!

Of course we had to get all of kids together in the leaves, we seem to get a ton of shots of the kids in pairs, but few with all of them, so enjoy it and make the best of it!

These shots would not have occurred had Brady not helped me for about 15 minutes gathering all the leaves in the middle of the backyard! The guy is simply amazing! With Brady's support and Drew's awesome smile along with Ainsley's silliness, and Mila's "patience," we got it done baby!

The family does a Mud Run!

What?! So the family did a Mud Run last weekend, 30 Oct. There were different categories and distances, here's the breakdown: Drew and Ainsley did the 100 yard dash, Brady and Sean did the Mile, Bob and Chris did the 5K and Melissa, Val, Gabe and Ryley did the 10K, while Derek and Mila took pics or slept in the backpack! They all ran thru obstacles, water, hills, and finally the mud pit at the very end! This run was a huge accomplishment for each runner so we're all very proud each other! Way to go! Time to start preparing for 2012!

The link below will guide you the rest of the pictures!

http://imagesbydereknovaes.smugmug.com/Sports/2011MudRun/19957476_d5LbFZ#1571610397_TQLLtmp

In case you were wondering...

Brady is still looking to manage Waste Management someday in the future! Look at that smile folks, its 7:45am and he is ready to work! Brady has taken chores to a new level around the house! If it has anything to do with lawn, leaves, mowing, pruning trees, racking up the yard...the little man is on it immediately! Wish I could get him to like reading as much as he likes to work, but I can teach that, I can't teach work ethics! Very proud of you buddy!