There can be little doubt that Maya has inherited some of my mother’s artistic talent. To her, this was just a casual drawing. To me, it seems like the work of a future master (many parents suffer from a similar lack of perspective when appreciating the accomplishments of their children so I will make no excuses). As I type this entry Nicolai is teaching himself a new song on the guitar while singing to his sister. This would have made my father very happy indeed. In a conversation with Kyle on Sunday we learned that he has been taking photographs like crazy and is considering starting his own blog. Academics are valued greatly in our family but not at the expense of the arts. We are thrilled that all three kids continue to pursue opportunities for creative expression.

Last night we were joined for Easter dinner by my nephew John and Maya’s friend Allison who also spent the night while her parents were out of town. This morning I discovered Maya with flattened hair in the process of braiding Allison’s hair. Apparently all girls with curly hair prefer straight hair and all girls with straight hair prefer curly hair. This is an enigma to someone whose daily hair maintenance routine consists of waking up. My lack of understanding of female hair styling rituals did not compromise my ability to recognize a good photo opportunity. After trying some shots on the deck, I decided the sun porch would make a better setting. I addressed complaints about the cold tile floor with large insulators which did not come from the couch. My plan was to crop the photo from the waist up. In the end, I preferred this full-body view complete with foot warmers.

Pictured here is my new DIY flash bracket. It has two major advantages over all commercially available units. The flash head fires directly into the center of the umbrella. Existing designs mount from the hot shoe which results in the flash head being significantly offset causing nonuniform illumination of the umbrella. The second advantage is that the position of the flash balances the weight of the umbrella which means I can use a stand with much smaller leg spread to support the rig. Since I use these flashes exclusively for work outside of my studio, it means I can travel that much lighter. I used the new setup in this photo of Nico watching TV while rubbing Nala’s belly. I set my camera exposure for the ambient light levels in the kitchen. I used my new rig as the key (main) light positioned 45 degrees off Nico to the right and an on camera flash with a reduced power level for the fill light. Had I taken the time to rotate Nala so her more flattering end was in the photo this would have been a really nice image. Absent that refinement, I will have to settle for being pleased with the results of my lighting setup.

Maya was in action this morning as her spring soccer season opened. Her team had to settle for a tie against Belmont as they struggled to find their rhythm. The coach played her at center mid and center forward rather than her usual wing full back position. I think her game will benefit enormously from exposure to these more offensive positions.

I recently upgraded the flash units I use with my camera and spent the afternoon experimenting with new lighting ratios. Nala is a far more willing subject than other members of the family these days although she is definitely less skilled at holding a pose. Nevertheless, I was pleased with this photo which used a combination of window light and off-camera flash. During the shoot, I had an idea for a clever little invention to better position my new flash units relative to the umbrellas through which I was shooting. An hour in the workshop and I had fashioned the new widget out of fiberglass over a steel support bracket. I could not have been more pleased with the outcome and plan to use the new rig tomorrow once the epoxy has fully cured.

Photographing a muskrat is no mean feet. These aquatic rodents can swim underwater for 15 minutes at a time and generally avoid humans. Eventually, however, they get hungry and while feasting on delicious spring vegetation this one did not seem to mind as I approached to within a few feet. Save for their very rat-like tails, these little guys are actually quite cute when dry.

This one was about 24 inches long with half of that being tail. They are often mistaken for beavers but are actually much smaller. I spent about 20 minutes working for this closeup which would have been substantially better had I thought to bring my flash with me. This was an unplanned visit to Great Meadows on my commute home so I had to make due with available light and the equipment at hand.

Maya and I both had soccer practice this evening at the CCHS turf fields. Although she remains petite, she has grown a couple of inches since last season and appears noticeably stronger and faster. Here she splits two defenders during a practice drill. I picked her up at 7 PM, drove her home for a quick change, and then on to a babysitting gig, returned home and changed into my soccer gear and back to CCHS for my 8-9:30 PM practice. I enjoyed spending the rest of the evening with Maya who was content to snuggle on the couch and let me test my new camera flash system on her. Meanwhile, Jeanine and Nicolai are driving to western New York where they will visit colleges on Friday and Saturday.

Nicolai and Maya were kind enough to pose for me this morning. Despite the 5 years which separate them, they get along very well. In some ways, it appears that Kyle’s absence has brought them closer together. I hope they will cherish this last year they have together before Nicolai leaves for college.

An evening view of an isolated pear tree from yesterday’s entry. In theory the heavy lifting from the work I have been involved with over the past month is behind me. In practice there is still much to do and I found myself leaving the office at 8pm with no photo for the day. Kyle has expressed some interest in starting his own blog and has agree to let me cross post here. I am not sure when his school schedule will permit him to start but look forward to the possibility of getting glimpses into his life at college.

Each morning as I arrive at iRobot, I am greeted by this tree lined entrance to the parking area. During the spring and autumn the scene is particularly magnificent as these pear(?) trees are in bloom or showing fall colors. After work I joined Jeanine and Maya at a dinner party where we had a chance to mingle with the other families whose children are part of the student exchange program to China set to depart next week.

Meet William Steven Skinner, my niece’s new son. He was born on Friday in Louisville, Kentucky to parents Erica and Nick. Some of you may recall that I was the photographer at their wedding in October of 2010.

My spring soccer season opened today with a match in Newton against the Jacques Paoli Football Club. Our preseason preparation paid off and we cruised to a 5-0 victory. I played well and despite a major collision with the opposing goalie stepped off the pitch uninjured.

My day started and ended with great food. Maya offered to prepare french toast for me and added some theatrics to the preparation. The family enjoyed dinner together at Za’s in Arlington where we celebrated Jeanine’s birthday before Kyle’s return to Santa Clara tomorrow. The middle of the day was entirely distasteful, spent preparing our income tax filings. If I thought that our state and federal government was operating with even a modicum of efficiency it would depress me less to turn over 32 cents of every dollar I earned. The tax code itself is a perfect example of something that has been made so insanely complex that it leaves my head throbbing after trying to comprehend the special provisions of the alternative minimum tax. RANT ON: I would vote for any politician who could deliver a progressive tax system with zero loop holes. I’d offer to write the instructions myself (multiply your income and earnings by X% and pay this amount). Did you know that 23% of the taxes we pay is spent to comply with the federal tax code which contains over 10 million words. No kidding. My system requires just 11 words and would save $384 billion dollars a year by eliminating 90% of the IRS. RANT OFF

Today marked the end of a 31-day sprint during which my team and I completed the integration of iRobot’s former divisions into a unified engineering organization. As part of this effort, we formed a Transition Advisory Group (TAG) to help develop recommendations for the structure of the merged teams. To celebrate their accomplishments, I invited the group of 11 to join our new program and engineering management team for a casual dinner at Maximillian’s, a nice pool hall and bar located in Tyngsboro. The venue was particularly well suited to encouraging dialog among team members who will be working together for the first time. I am expecting my insane work pace over the last month to begin tapering off having reached this critical milestone.

I have had little time to enjoy my new camera since it arrived last week. One of the most exciting new capabilities is the ability to shoot in very low light. It produces the same image quality in one-quarter of the light as my previous camera. This image was made with an ISO setting of 12,800 and shows almost no signs of noise which can be expected when shooting at this “film” speed (amplifier gain). Viewed another way it increases the versatility of my entire collection of lenses which can now be used in low-light settings which would have previously resulted in image blur due to slow shutter speeds.

Jeanine and Maya snuggle on the couch while watching TV. The current demands of work have me arriving home very late each night long after the family has had dinner. This period of intense effort, however, should come to an end by Friday when I am scheduled to make an all-hands presentation to my newly merged engineering team. At that time, I will roll out our new organizational design, new leadership team, new employee placements, and new titles. I am looking forward to finishing this phase of the integration.