During her stay in Beijing Maya had an opportunity to visit the Temple of Heaven, Hongqiao Market (for pearls), a noodle buffet, the State Grand Theater, and the Forbidden City. Her group then traveled by night train to Xi’an. Here Maya met Zhao Shiting, the student whose family will host her for three nights. While in Xi’an Maya attended, taught classes, and performed songs and skits at a Chinese middle school, visited the Terra Cotta Tombs, attended a Chinese dance show, rode rented bikes around the top of the city wall, toured a jade factory, visited a Chinese art history museum, ate at a hot pot restaurant, shopped in the local bazzar, played in a water fountain park, and learned how to make dumplings with her host family.

The group spent their final two days in Shanghai where the highlight of sightseeing was an excursion to the zoo to see the Giant Pandas. Maya returned from her visit to China having thoroughly enjoyed herself. We were delighted that she was so fearless and open to new experiences. I enjoyed listening to her as she described each photo she took in something of a role reversal for us. I find myself wanting to take some time off on my next work trip to China to enjoy some of the culture which Maya was exposed to.

Maya’s adventure in China began in Beijing where on her first day she visited the Summer Palace, The Bird’s Nest, the Aquatic Center and Ming Tomb Way where she flirted with the sculptures and had fun with her camera.

Maya is traveling with a group of 20 schoolmates, five chaperones, and one guide. Day two took them on an excursion to the Great Wall, where they got great exercise climbing 30 flights of narrow stairs to reach the top. They also enjoyed what she described as a toboggan ride down from the Wall.

Of over 2000 photos I took in Mazatlan, this is one of two which includes me. It is one of my more poignant portraits and will always evoke fond memories of this adventure with Nicolai.

Today I completed posting a full set of images from both the Mexico-US soccer match and our Mazatlan adventure. During the process, I came across this photo which I thought worth posting. Immediately after the match a contingent of fans entered the locker room in pursuit of autographs from the players. Nicolai needed little encouragement to accommodate their wishes even if paper was in short supply. I think it would not be too hard for Nicolai to get accustomed to his new role as a sports hero.

I am breaking with my blog tradition by posting additional photos from last weekend since so much of the story remains untold. After the match, both teams were treated by the Mayor of Mazatlan to a huge open-air gala in their honor held in the historic Plaza Machado, one of the oldest in the city, built in the year 1837. From the stage, specially constructed for the event, we heard from local dignitaries, Bob Bennet, the founder of amputee soccer who presented the winner’s trophy, and enjoyed traditional Mexican dancing.

The celebration ended at about 11 pm but the team still had abundant energy to sample the Mazatlan nightlife. Nicolai was less than pleased that I insisted on tagging along as a chaperon. Having read about nighttime safety issues in Mexico before the trip, I was not going to relinquish my parental responsibilities to his drinking-age teammates.

Pictured here are three of four newspapers included significant coverage of the US-Mexico soccer showdown. I am planning to forward to my Spanish speaking mother for translations. The game was also televised nationally and I believe it will be rebroadcast on the internet before the end of the month. I will share particulars as they become available. It was encouraging to see the level of media interest and national pride in the Mexican team. Perhaps one day the US team will be successful in garnering a similar level of attention.

The American Amputee Soccer Association is working to build awareness for the sport and to recruit more players to the game. To that end they have invited a documentary film maker to follow the team on the road to the World Cup. This morning Nicolai was asked to be on the beach at sunrise for an interview. After he was done we took advantage of the perfect light and empty beach to make this image. The master is actually 4x larger and includes a sweeping panorama of the water in the background. Nicolai had the idea of rolling the ball in sand to create a sense of motion after he kicked the ball. I already know that this will become one of my all time favorite images. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast on the condo terrace before returning to our room to pack. As we said our goodbyes, it struck me how deeply bonded we had become to this group of people who were strangers just four days ago.

With the big match behind us, today was spent enjoying the city of Mazatlan. Nicolai joined his teammates for sightseeing and shopping while I did a solo trek of more than 10 miles focused on photography. I walked from the old city center out to the El Faro Lighthouse which sits atop a 500-foot-high hill. The climb was not too strenuous and the views from the top were well worth the effort. At sunset, I positioned myself along the Malecon (the oceanfront promenade running 4 miles from the Old City to the tourist hotel-laden Golden Zone) at the spot where local cliff divers make the death-defying plunge for tips. I only had a chance to photograph one dive but had planned how I would use a rapid-fire sequence and Photoshop to create a composite image featuring the entire dive sequence.

Nicolai proudly took the field today as a member of the US National Amputee Soccer Team in a match against Team Zorros de Sinaola. Kick-off was at 6PM in Mazatlan’s Estadio Teodoro Mariscal stadium in front of a crowd of over a thousand mostly Mexican fans. The match was televised on national television, filmed by two documentary crews, and photographed by at least four newspapers not to mention this proud father. It would be nice to see this level of interest in the US and I believe Nicolai will have a role in making that happen. The Mexican team left the locker room highly inspired after learning that one of their teammates had fallen into a coma the night before. He had practiced with the team 10 days earlier but the bone cancer which took his leg was now threatening his life. The Mexican team struck first at the ten minute mark bringing the crowd to a frenzy and capturing the early momentum. Sixty seconds later, Nicolai, the youngest member of the squad, dowsed that momentum when he scored a beautiful header off a corner kick. Shortly before the end of the first half, Dan Broome, the oldest member of the US team and World Cup veteran, scored on a direct kick making the score USA 2 – Mexico 1. This proved to be the final result despite several near goals for each team during the second half. Nicolai played exceptional soccer and will clearly be one of the team’s standouts. More importantly he was the consummate ambassador for his country and his family displaying great courage and competitive spirit tempered with compassion and humility. I could not have been more proud of him. After the game we learned that the Mexican team had nick named him “correcaminos” which means the roadrunner (a bird which can run at 20 mph). Nicolai said it was nice to be the fastest player on the field instead of the slowest, referring to his experience facing two-legged opponents for his entire soccer career.

Opportunities to practice as a team are rare with members of the US team living across the country, no two residing in the same state. Newly signed coach, Roy Howell, took advantage of the gathering to run three practice sessions today, a light early morning kick around on the beach followed by a one hour skill building session and finally a full field two hour practice at a local university. The one legged soccer playing gringos drew quite an audience wherever they went and managed to recruit a dozen or so USA fans to offset the hundreds of Mexican fans expected at the match.

I enjoyed photography on both ends of the day. First with a six mile sunrise walk near our condo and then with a 5 mile sunset walk after a joint US-Mexican team dinner held downtown.

At Logan airport early on this morning of Jeanine’s 49th birthday the Calabria clan could be found boarding aircraft for three separate destinations. Maya is headed to China where she will spend the next ten days travelling with classmates on a student exchange program. Jeanine is headed to Louisville, Kentucky where she will visit with her niece Erica who just gave birth to her first child and her sister Lauren. Meanwhile, Nicolai and I are headed for Mazatlan, Mexico where he will be competing as a member of the US National Amputee Soccer team. We first made contact with the American Amputee Soccer Association when Nico was 9 hoping that one day he would have an opportunity to play for the US team. When he was offered a provisional spot on the squad a few months ago it was like a dream come true for him. We arrived at about 1PM and met several other players at the airport before being shuttled to the condos that would serve as our base of operations for the next 5 days. Nico wasted little time before touring the beach and relaxing by the pool. We met the coach and other members of the team at an ocean-side restaurant a short walk up the beach and enjoyed fireworks from our balcony before collapsing into our beds totally exhausted.

Gorgeous weather this week has had many of us out walking over the lunch hour including my boss, pictured here. Jeff was recently promoted to the role of Chief Operating Officer after three years as the President of the Home Robots Division. Under his leadership, division revenues and profits have soared in what can only be described as a dramatic turnaround. It has been very satisfying to be a part of his team and to see him receive the recognition and expanded scope of responsibility he has earned. What a contrast to my last boss who was equally brilliant but did not have a clue as to how to empower and motivate the team around him.

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.

I drive past this telephone poll of questionable integrity on the way to work every day. It appears poised to snap at any moment and I am left to wonder, month after month, how much worse it will need to get before someone in the town of Bedford decides to address the issue. I am considering sending this photo to the local paper to help motivate preemptive repairs. It is simply a matter of time before the smaller pole snaps completely and comes down on a random motorist. I hold my breath every time I drive under it.

Love is in the air at this time of year. I spotted this pair of turkeys off in the distance and had to walk quite a distance from the road for this shot. They seemed more interested in each other than me so I was able to get fairly close. I wasn’t invisible, however, and when my last step caused them to start for the woods I had to settle for this retreating view.

It is overcast with intermittent rain today. Fortunately, the temperature was not too bad at 8:30 am for my final friendly match before official league play starts next weekend. We faced Acton Boxboro’s division 1 team (including some over 40s ringers) and played much better soccer than last week. We lost 1-2 but it was one of those matches that could have easily tipped the other way. Most importantly no one was injured which was actually the higher priority. I only had one shot on goal but it was well stuck from 25 yards out and only slightly too high. Jeanine completed her last day of volunteering at the church and the rest of us joined her for lunch at the Main Street Cafe. I squeezed in 30 minutes of photography on a local walk about despite the unfavorable light. My best effort is shown above.

My nephew John stopped by the house today to visit with Kyle and to help with the design of his new Yard Dogs website. We are fortunate that he is so close by and enjoy it immensely when he drops in.

I needed a break from the insane pace of my life over the last month and relaxed for a good potion of the day by organizing my photography gear. I also assisted Kyle as he searched for suitable photos to use for marketing purposes.

Several weeks ago I sold my 3 year old primary camera and flash days before their replacements were announced (timing is everything in the used market so my online research proved most beneficial). Nothing could have been more satisfying after another long work week than to receive my new camera today. I spent the better part of 2 hours learning the new features and programming user settings to my taste. Although the new model has dozens of improvements the most compelling are a highly improved auto focus system and significantly improved low light performance. The latter is the more valuable as it effectively makes all of my current lenses “faster” allowing me to shoot at four times the shutter speed under similar lighting conditions.