Emmy's 4th!

With the Christmas Portrait rush now subsided, I was finally able to work on the images from Emmy's 4th Birthday, held at a really cool indoor sports facility.  The kids ran and played and generally exhausted the adults, but everyone was smiling.  Then we all headed upstairs for pizza, cake, and bounce houses!  Happy Birthday, Emmy!  Pictures can be found here, and the password is still the same until after the New Year!

Mikie's 4th Birthday.

Happy Birthday, Mikie! The parties just keep coming, and they just keep getting more fun! This weekend we all got together to help Mikie celebrate a grand 4th birthday. Pictures can be found here.

Trunk-or-Treat!

The Mom's Club hosted their annual Trunk-or-Treat party last week, and since I was on vacation, I got to crash the party. The kids and parents all had a blast... great costumes, great families, and a lot of fun. Pictures can be found here.

Lalloween '09

Many thanks to the Lally's for hosting a fantastic Halloween... umm, Lalloween Party this year. I don't think you could assemble a cuter bunch of kids, and everyone had a wonderful time. Thank you. Pictures from the pre-Trick-or-Treat festivities can be found here.

Harvest Party '09 at Trazi Farm

Wow, it has been over a month since I've posted here.

OK, for the most part, the weather cooperated, and a great crowd of friends gathered at Trazi Farm for the annual Harvest Party. Mike and Tanya did their usual fantastic job of being host and hostess, and the food and fun were all plentiful. Pictures can be found here, and a few pictures taken by Emily can be found here. Enjoy. Same password... if you need it, email me.

Having fun at Hope's Third Birthday Party

Ann throws great kid parties. I suspect there is still a lot of kid left inside her. She threw a wonderful party for Hope's third birthday, and a fun and adorable bunch of kids came out to celebrate it. The pictures can be found here.

More from the Track & Field events

Here are the images from the last week of the Kid's and Toddler's Track & Field events. Great time. These kids are just too cute for words. Images are here. Password is unchanged.

Andrew's Birthday Party

Go Carts, ATV's, waterslides, nice weather and great company were the perfect mix for another wonderful Prata family get-together this weekend, this time to celebrate Andrew's 7th Birthday. Pictures can be found here.

Davis Farmland '09

Grandpa was in town last week, and we were able to go up and visit all of the animals at Davis Farmland with him. I don't know why it seems to be 115 degrees every time we go there, but it was another scorcher. We still had a lot of fun, as usual. The pictures are here.

Kids and Toddler's Track & Field

Last week we had a great night out with Jody's Moms Club. They organized a track and field event for all of their small children and toddlers. Aside from being one of the cutest things you've ever seen, it was also a lot of fun. Pictures can be found here.

Rachel's Third Birthday

This weekend we celebrated Rachel's third birthday at the Children's Museum. Happy Birthday, Rachel! We had a wonderful time. The images can be found here.

Happy Birthday, Becky and Sarah!

On August 1st, a bunch of us got together at Mikie's to celebrate the 30th birthdays of twins Becky and Sarah. The pictures from that gathering can be found here. Happy Birthday to you both, ladies!

If you're trying to view these images tonight (August 8, 2009) give them a while. It looks like they should all be uploaded by around 11:45pm.

Haley's Four!

A fun bunch of kids and parents got together this weekend to celebrate the 4th Birthday for Haley. It was a great time with a wonderful group of people, and lots of smiling kid's faces. The pictures can be found here.

Into the Mystic

We had good, good friends up for the weekend. Though the camera wasn't out much, I did take a few pictures toward the end of our visit. We all went to Mystic Aquarium for a little sightseeing and lunch. Good stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys again soon. Sorry the ride home was endless.

The pictures are here.

The Little Gym

Here are a bunch of shots of Peanut and her friends ripping it up at The Little Gym.

Half-Pint Prints Summer 2009 Update

Summer is finally here! It took until July to get here, but now that it is, its glorious.

The password has been sent to you by email. If you didn't receive it, email me and I'll get it to you.

This is the Half-Pint Prints update for Spring 2009. I am thrilled to announce that for the first time in over a year, I am caught up on photographs and photography projects. This update represents the final step in completing that goal. Now for those of you that I owe things to, I will be trying to catch up on those next.

If you're on Facebook, send me a friend invite (http://www.facebook.com/sskoutas). Prefer Twitter? http://twitter.com/sskoutas.

There is so much in this update that I'm not going to bother with the usual technical updates and changes to the site. Lets go right on to the photos:

The Main Event:

• Welcome, Zoey Rose (link)
  

Birthdays:

• Peanut's Birthday (link)
• Dylan's Birthday (link)
• Molly's Birthday (link)
• Sophia's Birthday (link)
• Mackenzie's Birthday (link)
• Michael's Birthday (link)
• Mason's Birthday (link)

Weddings:

• Congratulations, Christi and Anthony (link)
• and here is their rehearsal dinner (link)

Other stuff:

• Planting day on the farm (link)
• ZQ's first haircut (link)
• 4th of July at Mike's (link)
• Peanut's Dance Class Rehearsal (link)
• Disneyland '08 (link)
• Christmas '08 (told you I was behind) (link)
• Sesame Street Live (link)
• The Little Gym (link)

And as always:

• Peanut (link)
• ZQ (link)
• Beanie (link)
• also check out the Family Album for a bunch of new stuff (link)

All updates are posted at the blog (http://blog.halfpintprints.com/) and each entry contains a link to the related galleries. The easiest way to track the updates is by subscribing to the blog feed at the bottom of any blog page or clicking here.

Lastly, and as always:

• If you don’t want to be on this distribution list, email me and you will be removed.
• If you have pictures up here that you don’t want up here, tell me and they will be removed.
• If you have any password concerns with your images, let me know.
• If you want a gallery password protected that isn’t, let me know.
• If you know someone would want to be added, tell them to email me.
• Feel free to share gallery access with others that might be interested.
• Contributions for “The Old Shoebox” and “Photographs and Memories” nostalgia galleries always welcome.

Take care, and enjoy this beautiful summer!

Sesame Street Live!

Sesame Street Live, at the Ryan Center! Images are up and can be found here.

Catching up

FINALLY, I'm actually catching up on photography. If I actually get caught up to date, I imagine I'll actually be inspired to go out and take some more pictures. We'll see.

I've recently posted images from Disneyland (October '08) and Christmas 2008. Click the links to follow through to the galleries.

Dance Class Dress Rehearsal

I'm digging out of the photo backlog, and tonight I finally got around to the pictures from Peanut's Dance Class Rehearsal. What a cute group of girls! I'm sorry to say the pictures really don't do them justice. The images can be found here.

This is likely the last upload prior to a long-overdue password change, so if you're not on the list and you want to be, email me.

Happy Birthday, Peanut!

I am continuing to try to dig out from the backlog of images that I have to process, and tonight I (finally) got around to working on the images from our oldest child's 3rd birthday party. Credit for another fun event and great crowd goes to my wife. The images can be found here, and I have to apologize... I had a setting completely wrong in camera when I started taking pictures (ISO1600, for those of you that are photography-minded), so I blew it on the first dozen or so pictures.

Christi and Anthony's Wedding

Congratulations to the newly wed Christi and Anthony. Their day was fantastic, and the couple looked wonderful. Everyone in attendance had a great time, and the pictures prove it.

You can find the pictures here.

4th of July at Mikie's on the lake

Thanks for Mike, Becky and the crew for throwing a fantastic party on the 4th. Honestly, that was a better fireworks display than I've seen in any town-sponsored fireworks show. Great time! Thank you.

To everyone we saw there, it was a pleasure to catch up with all of you. Between tonight and last night at Ken and Maeyee's, this has been a perfect weekend.

The images from the fireworks are here, but I seem to have had technical difficulties with my shots from that daylight hours. Due to a failed CF card, those shots may be lost. I will see if I can recover them. Anyway, enjoy the fireworks.

Congratulations Christi and Anthony

Images from Christi and Anthony's Rehearsal Dinner at the Water's Edge Restaurant in Greenville are now up. The password hasn't changed (email me if you need it) and the gallery is here.

The password will be changing once I have completed pictures from their wedding.

Congratulations to both of you!

Mason's Second Birthday

Last weekend we got together at the farm to enjoy a "construction" themed second birthday party. Congratulations to Tanya on an awesome job of decorating for the event... from Tonka Trucks full of pasta salad to hard hats to a fantastic birthday cake (kudos to Mom!) everything was well planned and quite fun.

Happy second birthday, Mason!

ZQ's first haircut

This weekend I took ZQ for his second haircut. He was furious from the second I put him in the chair until the second his feet hit the floor again. That reminded me that I had taken pictures of his first haircut as well, which for some reason, he didn't seem to mind at all.

I might be a little late getting around to posting them, but here they are. Password is unchanged... email me if you need it. Be well.

time to grow

Our kids came out this evening to assist with planting day. This is a tradition that I am looking forward to maintaining far into the future. At this age, I think they had a blast helping, but I'm not 100% sure that you're supposed to wear and eat the dirt prior to planting. Either way, we all had fun. After a quick "garden hose shower" they were as good as new.

Happy Birthday, Michael!

A great bunch of people had a wonderful time this weekend sharing little Michael's first birthday (can I get a woohoo?). Congratulations, Michael, and thank you to Bill and Beth for having us. We had a blast, and it was really nice to catch up with everyone. Images are here.

Happy Birthday!

Pure Joy

If things seem quiet here lately, there is a good reason. We are thrilled to have welcomed our newest addition to our family on April 15th. She weighed in at 8.0lbs and measured 20 1/2". She is happy, healthy, and beautiful. Mommy is doing great too. Her older sister and brother seem to love having her in the family.

Mackenzie's Birthday!

I am very pleased to post the pictures from Mackenzie's First Birthday tonight. The images can be found here, and with any luck, I'll have everything completed before lights out this evening.

Maeyee and Ken, thanks for a wonderful time and congratulations on your beautiful daughter and wonderful new home. Speaking of home, it is good to have you both home now too. Welcome back!

Happy Birthday Sophia!

I jumped out of order tonight to get to a few important birthdays. First off, Sophia turned 2 and I posted images from that party tonight. They can be found here. Happy Birthday, Sophia! As you can see, everyone really enjoyed celebrating with you.

My next photography project is Mackenzie. She turned one this weekend and we celebrated her Birthday in her new home. Big crowd, great people, and a wonderful time. I hope to finish those photos this week.

Molly's First Birthday!

Here are the images from Molly's First Birthday Party. Congratulations to you, Molly, and thank you to Mom and Dad for throwing such a fun party! As you can see, the kids all seemed to enjoy themselves quite a bit. Us adults did too. Thanks for having us.

Dylan's TWO!

Images are now posted from Dylan's Second Birthday at the Little Gym! The password changed last night, so if you didn't receive it, email me and I will get it to you. Otherwise, go here to see the birthday images.

Half-Pint Prints Spring 2009 Update

Must be spring, right? We only got a foot of snow this week!

Anyway, here is the update for Spring 2009. Our site is now supported by two professional-level print labs. This is a recent change, and the quality is excellent. I've ordered a few prints of our kids two weeks ago and I love the results. The new "metallic" prints are very cool indeed, and unlike any print I've ever seen. Our site also now supports true hi-def video, but I honestly haven't uploaded anything yet to take advantage of it. Oh, we've got a new logo too.

You may also notice images are watermarked now. That copyright notice will not appear on any prints that you order.

The new password has been sent out to everyone by email. If you did not receive it, let me know and I'll get it to you.

Enough of the housekeeping notices. This is a larger-than-usual update with over 1,200 new pictures added since winter:
Weddings:

• Cindy Lou and Rob
• Jerry and Donna
• Marla and Josh

Friends

• Fireman Mikie's archives (these are not my pictures)
• Andrew's Birthday, Hope's Birthday, & Trazi's Harvest Party

Family

• lots of new pictures of Emily, Zachary, and Skooter III
• a great trip to Los Angeles to celebrate Grandpa Mike's 70th Birthday
• Zachary's 1st Birthday
• Addison's Christening
• Some new additions to "The Old Shoebox" including some horrific pictures from my elementary school.
• Day-trips to Six Flags, Davis Farm, Disney on Ice, and the Brooklyn Fair

The easiest way to track the updates is by following the blog. You can subscribe to the blog feed at the bottom of any blog page.

Disney on Ice '08

Here are a few images from ZQ's birthday weekend. This event in particular was Disney on Ice at the Dunk. Not much to see here for most of you, but if this stuff interests you, have at it! Images can be found here.

Images from September are now officially complete. I'm well into October, but still almost 5 months behind. It is almost time for a password change too. That will probably occur later this week.

Trazi Harvest Party '08

Hi all... I finished and posted a few images from the annual Harvest Party at Trazi Farm tonight. They can be found here. The password hasn't changed (but will shortly). Enjoy, and be well.

site work

All truly photography related endeavours are currently on hold as I do a lot of behind-the-scenes tinkering with the website. Most changes are geared toward protection of the galleries from unwanted guests and protection of the images and their copyright. The only change you are likely to notice as a visitor to the galleries is the addition of a watermark in the lower right corner of most images. These watermarks do not appear on prints ordered from the website.

Another huge bit of behind-the-scenes upgrading is the way images are printed. My host company (SmugMug) has paired up with two professional labs to make your prints look stellar. They are now using EZ Prints and Bay Photo for the actual production of prints. I expect beautiful results. I have some samples on order now, and I can't wait to receive them.

Back to the photography by this weekend, I hope.

Playing with light

One of my two favorite models joined me this evening for one of my first attempts at controlled "studio-style" lighting. I'm quite please with the results. 5 new images are posted on the first page of peanut's gallery. Enjoy! Here is my favorite:

ZQ's first birthday

Though I had previously posted the images from ZQ's first birthday party, tonight I got around to the pictures from his actual birthday a couple of days earlier. Have a look at one handsome one year old! The first 14 pictures are the new ones.

Addison's Christening

Tonight the images from Addison's Christening were posted. Those images can be found here.

Congratulations, Addie, Sheana, and Billy. Here is one of my favorites from that day.

Hope's Birthday Party

Tonight I posted the images from Hope's Second Birthday Party. They can be found here. What a collection of cute kids! I hope you enjoy the pictures.

New Videos up!

Although I won't be linking them here in the blog, there are two new videos up in the "moving pictures" gallery. The first is from this summer at Davis Farm. It is our daughter enjoying a pony ride (her second, actually... she's a pro now). The second is from Christmas morning.

Happy Friday!

Dance Class

I've posted a few images from Peanut's dance class... they appear in two different galleries. A few are in her gallery, and a few in the family album. I did this because her gallery is dedicated to images of her only, and other people were in a few of the images.

Here are a couple of my favorites.

Andrew's 6th Birthday

Tonight I posted the few images I was able to capture at my God Son's 6th Birthday Party. See that water slide? Cool, huh? Just remember, if you have to rush to the top to rescue your 2 year old daughter, don't forget to take your brand new iPhone out of your pocket before you do. Doh!

So, as you may have guessed, our stay was cut a little short at this event. We did have a great time while it lasted, however. Andrew always knows how to throw a kid's party. Images can be found here.

Onward! I'm now moving into images from September '08. I'm not even going to mention catching up again.

half pint prints

check out the nifty new logo.

Davis Farm

I'm continuing to catch up on this summer's pictures and hope to be up to date by the end of this winter! We'll see.

Tonight I am posting a few images from a mid-summer trip to Davis Farm. If you haven't been, I would have to say this is a worthwhile trip. The pictures tell the story... there's nothing too fancy, no roller coasters and carnival games. It's just a good farm with healthy and happy looking animals and a friendly staff. We really enjoyed it and certainly intend to return in 2009.

The images are here.

Congratulations, Jerry and Donna!

The images from Donna and Jerry's wedding are finished and now posted! Congratulations to both of you! Everyone had a wonderful time sharing in your special day. Images can be found here, and the password is the same as the last update.

Thanks again for letting us share your day with you, and best of love, health, and happiness to both of you and your family.

Congratulations, Cindy and Rob

Tonight I completed and posted the images from Cindy and Rob's romantic wedding on December 20, 2008. The setting was warm and quaint, the lighting was beautifully arranged, and the mood was relaxed and joyful. The images can be found here.


Next on deck, Jerry and Donna's wedding.

Blurb book is ordered

I ordered our Blurb book tonight. They said to expect it to ship in 5-6 business days. We ordered the book with premium paper, printed cover, and 112 total pages for about 65% of the cost of the iPhoto book (68 pages, no paper options, no printed cover option, only a slip jacket).

So, all said and done, if the quality is comparable on both books, Blurb looks like the much better deal. I've got high hopes for Apple quality though.

Tomorrow night its back to photography and on to Cindy Lou and Rob's Wedding.

iPhoto book has shipped

I received an email from Apple today. The book that we created via iPhoto has already shipped. I'm impressed with the production time. The order was placed on the 12th at night and shipped on the 15th in the morning? 68 pages?

I hope the quality is on par with the service, but like I mentioned earlier, Apple makes you pay a premium for their books. With what this book cost, I expect excellent quality.

What's going on?

The silence is temporary... I'm creating books right now so I've got nothing new to post at the moment.

Book number 1 is ordered. It is Grandpa Mike's 70th Birthday, and I created and ordered it through Apple's iPhoto Application in iLife '08. I pre-ordered iLife '09 today as well and it should arrive on February 6th. iPhoto '09 features face detection and automatic tagging of known faces. I'm pretty excited about that feature. iMovie '09 (also part of iLife '09) features incredible "jitter" stabilization that removes hand shake from video. Again, I'm quite excited about this as well. First impressions on creating and buying books from Apple through iPhoto? Easy but expensive. I'm really looking forward to seeing the quality.

Book number 2 is in process. It is a "best of" our kids photo book (2006-2008) and I am creating it through a recommended photo service named blurb. The kind community over at FredMiranda.com recommended it to me. It is 115 pages so far, but the customization level is nice and the pricing looks much better than Apple iPhoto. Curious to see who delivers the better quality.

Book number three will follow, and it will be by another repeatedly recommended service named MyPublisher.com. More on that later.

After my little burst of hardcopy publishing is over, it's on to Cindy Lou & Rob's wedding. I'm excited to start working on these pictures. Beautiful couple, beautiful setting, beautiful light. Should be interesting.

Cruiser's First Birthday!

I finally got around to our son's first birthday pictures from late September. The images can be found here. Thanks so much to all who attended. It sure looks like everyone had a good time.

Next on deck are a couple of recent weddings, and then back to July to continue to work on things chronologically.

Six Flags, Summer 2008

I posted a few images from Six Flags from this past summer... still using that forward momentum to my advantage. The images can be found here.

Ahhh... August!

I've got a forward motion working in my favor now, and I have finally completed all images from July and I'm into August. ZQ has been the star of the show tonight... most of the images posted are his. There are a couple of his darling little sister as well, however.

By the way, she (at age 2 1/2) warned me this evening that it would be best for me not to close the bathroom door because it was very, very cold out and the pipes could freeze. She, of course, was absolutely correct.

Here's a classic ZQ. The boy likes his Italian food.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009 everyone! I used the day off today to complete pictures from Mike's 70th Birthday Party in Los Angeles from October. It was a great time indeed... well done Ellie, and we were happy to celebrate your day, Mike.