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!

Half Moon Back Dock

Here's a fun shot I took while walking around the docks at Half Moon Bay a couple of weeks ago! There was so much to see from the viewfinder that I was pretty overwhelmed! Hope you like it!

Snow has settled in nicely!

Our newest member of the family has settled in quite nicely! Snow loves to play and run around the house! He even has a buddy the bite & wrestle with, a little stuffed sea lion! The funny thing is, the sea lion is white also! Snow loves to try to get out, which he has a few times. However, we're really not in the mood to lose a cat or chase him all over the court! He's eating well, pooping in the cat box, and sleeping like a log when needed! He's been a fun addition to the family indeed!

Pacifica Sunset!

During the course of the three days I managed to get in a few cool shoots and I still have not looked thru all of them in close detail! Kinda behind! But I will need to get my butt on target for this weekend! I also did a GREAT shoot last night and will need to be ready for the mud run next sunday!

http://www.downanddirtymudrun.com/

There's the link! Its a whole crazy family fun day! Bobby and Chris will run the 5k, Brady and Sean will will a 1K, Drew and Ainsley will run a 100 mud dash, Melis, Ryley, Gabe and Val will run a 10K....me? I will be shooting the muddy people and watching Mila! Should be a total BLAST!

Happy Birthday weekend in SF!

I swear I am the luckiest idiot on the planet! We attempted a 5 day cruise, then a 3 day...and finally we ended up in Pacifica for the weekend! This was a Birthday celebration of sorts for me and Gabe(turns 40 next week, I turned 12!). We enjoyed wine on the coast, great meals, walks, a run(yes, I went too and missed my bike), hung out at Golden Gate Park(where's the wine!?!?), an amazing dinner, more food, a lighthouse and 628 pictures!
We geeked out with the camera on the tripod and here's one of many! Too many actually! Thank you Melissa, Va & Gabe! Awesome! AWESOME!!!!!!

What a weekend folks!

Holy cow! What a loaded weekend! Ready?!?! Friday we headed over the Val & Gabe's to catch up since we missed each other last weekend and to finish up brakes on one of their cars! Val threw an Indian dish together for dinner and that rocked, plus some awesome Heringer Wine! The kids watched a movie for a bit but that got old quickly because they seemed too excited to play with shadows from the projector! BEDTIME!

The morning quickly arrived with mowing the front and edging of course! In the meantime a picnic was being prepared by the girls while the boys worked! We watched Ainsley's soccer game and we then enjoyed the yummy sandwiches before round two at the house! More mowing and we took the pool down, see ya next summer pool! Gabe loaded up the truck for a dump run with Brady while Melis, Drew and I drove home! Drew, Val, Ainsley and Mila all napped!

Got in a great call from my Dad tii, 'brigado Pai!

We later met Gabe, Mila and Brady at the Heringer Winery for an owl release party, something we had planned for a while and our first wine club event! Val and Ainsley attended a birthday party and met us in West Sac after the activities. The movie projetor was set up in the backyard with speakers for the kids to watch Madagascar 2. This time they all chilled and watched the movie out in the dark! Brady had a mini meltdown and wasn't feeling too hot! He worked his tail off, that's why! Adults and kids could not get to bed soon enough!

Sunday was another busy day! Melissa got brakes this weekend too! Gabe, Brady and Melissa fixed the screen door and Brady's window! Val got a nap(Rough night and not feeling it!) and a run. While Derek got a Blu-Ray player, Gabe got a run in also, a long one too! The afternoon consisted of setting up the Blu-Ray player and cleaning the gutters plus mowing(that was Brady of course!). Val & Gabe tried to find tiles for their laundry room, but ended up at the Nugget and brought us all dinner! Sara and Cora joined us for dinner...totally yummy, no left overs at all!

Not sure we've had such a fun and productive weekend! But if we have more of these we'll most likely build a ship!

The Novaes Kitten, Snow!

After months of not having a pet and years of having cats, Pepper, Minka and Forrest, we finally decided
to return to the world of pets, well...sorta!

Last week a student at school, who loves animals, told me she had kittens and wondered if I had any interest! I kinda did at first, I later discussed the idea with Melissa. The conversation lasted about 3 minutes and it never came to any decision.

On Monday Brady was sick and did not attend school. But I still had to go in and get some work so I didn't feel like I had wasted a day! I walk in with Brady and guess who is waiting for me with 5 kittens?! Yup, it seemed like a set up! Brady sits down to play with the kittens and out pops this cute lil dude! How the heck could I say no?! I might act like a tough guy, but put a kitten in my son's arms...and it's over!

Snow, as we decided to call him, has a great personality and is such a lil ball of fun! Welcome to the family buddy! Be ready for a fun ride!

Clarksburg Truck - HDR

If you havent noticed, I have been digging deep into HDR Photography! I love it! The technique adds such depth to every shot!

This shot was taken near a town called Clarksburg, just a few minutes south of West Sacramento. The truck is on a property where I was shooting a Cyclocross race! The old look with bushes growing around seemed to beg for an HDR Shot!

There are a few others at the link below! Enjoy and dont steal it...thieves!

http://imagesbydereknovaes.smugmug.com/

Family Day on the bike trail!

Its been a long time since we did a family bike ride, June last year to be exact! The opportunity came this weekend to hit the bike trail due to some scheduling changes, so off we went! We started at the Sac State Aquatic Center and rode clockwise around Lake Natoma to avoid the "hills." While going thru Folsom, we rode by Chris Horner! Who's Chris? The winner of the 2010 Tour of California and a potential 2010 Tour de France winner had he not crashed a week into the Tour! We stopped for a picnic lunch, saw loads of cool scenery, the kids rode like champs(11.5 miles)! What a dream for me, an awesome family sharing my passion for cycling! Does it get much better?!?!?

After the ride we hit up Jamba Juice and later surprised Nana & Papa for a follow up visit. Papa is rocking it pretty much! He might even head out of the house next weekend! AWESOME!