Thank you for the QuiKeys love!

It's been a bit crazy around here keeping up with QuiKeys orders and updates, but it was great to be able to take some time to hang with our boyz.

We spent Easter Weekend being tourists in our own city and scoping out new shoot locations. Fun!

Nikon D700, 35mm (f2), 720ISO, f8, 1/3200

Nice to take some time to fly kites :)

If you already follow me on twitter, you already know of my adventurous travels to Boston. Four planes, four hours spent sitting on planes sitting on tarmacs, runs through airports to *just* make connecting flights, and chocolate bar suppers .... I'm glad to be going home for more than a few reasons :)

That being said, I'm going to miss Boston! From the amazing day spent with Kate and Mike, to the great live music with wonderful photographers at the Beehive, it was filled with good food and great people :)

Here's some random images from Boston and PSW made with my trusty Panny LX-3 ...

Our favorite breakfast digs: Trident Booksellers & Cafe. Who would guess a bookstore could served such a tasty all-day breakfast?

Being a former musician and all-round music-lover, it was awesome to see the many Berklee buildings dotted all around us.

Got to crash the Wacom Intuos 4 party and ran into Adobe Evangelist Russell Brown.

No: the dreads aren't real. Yes: he bears an uncanny resemblance to our very own MikeD ....

Loved walking the streets of Boston. Such an eclectic mix of old and new with gorgeous historic churches embedded within the urban terrain.

Special thanks to the Hoodman gang who were great neighbors at the PSW tradeshow. Love their cool LCD loupe which totally helps when reviewing outdoor flash images.

I want to truly thank so many great great friends who took time out of their lives to hang and help me out. Special shout out to Melissa and Rene. Rene: it gave me so much joy to have you threaten my life not once, but TWICE in the same night! I haven't felt that special in a loooong time ;) Thank you guys for being you ... you're such great friends :) So glad to be able to bug and stalk you on twitter now too (heh heh)

It was great to see great old friends Robert Mirani and Bill Holland!

Here's a self-portrait made at the Wacom party:

Bill: nice to be carded with you and thanks especially for not leaving your laptop bomb in the restaurant ;)

And super-duper special props to my buddy MikeD. What can I say that I haven't already? It was awesome exploring the streets of Boston, sharing meals and talking late into the night about world domination and life .... Thanks Mikey .... you're a rock star ... in your own mind ;) :D LOL!

Best part about traveling? Going home to my Babe and boyz .....

THANK YOU BOSTON!!

Today was setup day for our QuiKeys booth at PSW. Thankfully, with the help of my good friend MikeD, things went well and we were done with plenty of time to go galavanting around Boston.

First indulgence: finding some good cappucino. I admit it: I researched Boston to find a good shot, and was sooo happy to find Espresso Royale Caffe was only 2 blocks from our hotel.

I mistakenly ordered a double-shot espresso, but really wanted a cappuccino, but the guy pulling my shot was so nice, he gave me both!! Double-fisting java? Why not :)

After getting my fix, we had the pleasure of walking the streets of Boston. Below are some pics from my trusty Panasonic LX-3.

It was an easy 1-plane trip to London with gorgeous skies ... at least from above :)

Sunshine, toboggan, tire tube and some crazy peeps make for a really fun Sunday afternoon :)

We had 8 hours to kill before heading to the airport, and since our hotel was situated in Palermo Soho's excellent shopping district, we couldn't resist but check things out. Boy are we glad we did :)

Shops didn't open till noon, but it was great to venture into boutique shops selling the wares of up and coming designers. We were pleasantly surprised to be served in one store by the designer herself. To find out the piece that Quin had picked out was the very piece the designer was wearing was too cool.

We loved this district's street appeal. I guess this is as Christmas-y as South America gets when it's 30 above :)

We couldn't help but notice several stores that had vintage cameras on display.

The jeans store above was one such store. It was cool cuz they let us try out the cams for size too ...

Great service too: they didn't have my size in store, so they had it biked over from another location.

Anyone who knows us knows we're foodies. We didn't have time to checkout Chowhound for recommendations, so had to rely on our concierge. Thankfully, she had great taste and recommended Bar 6.

It had a great feel. Cozy, kid friendly but hip and relaxed. I love big open spaces.

Looking at the space, you can see it's a great space to chill and people watch. What you can't see is how great to food tastes.

It was only lunch, but as our last meal of in Argentina, we splurged a little :) We started with beef carpaccio, then moved onto what was the best seafood risotto I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing, and perfectly cooked lamb and smashed potatoes.

Unbelievably we were too full for dessert. Never one to pass up on such an important food group, we decided to continue shopping, then return for a proper dessert before jetting on our insane flight home. Brave, I know, but we were feeling a little crazy :)

The iced capps were delicious, and I actually ordered three more desserts (yeah: sucker for punishment for a lactose intolerant guy), but thankfully, the kitchen makes one at a time and we ran out of time after dessert #2.

Ate the desserts too fast to take pics. Sorry. I'll be sure to get it the next time we're there ;)

Ahhhh ... nothing like great shopping and a meal to match to end of our Argentina Adventure.

so Q just had to take some pics of me working at the TO airport too. Too bad we didn't have a proper table to sit at.

Glad we packed our gear and thankfully arrived in Buenos Aires on schedule!

We arrived on December 28th: our 10th Anniversary :) Q surprised me by booking a swanky hotel, and giving me a gorgeous ring from Tiffany's. It's a torque ring carved out of Ebony wood. What a sweetie!

She's also confessed to booking supper at the best restaurant in Buenos Aires (whos name she won't reveal) where apparently all the celebrities eat, but that will have to wait until we return from the vineyards. After one night's stay, it was time to hop on yet another plane to head north to Salta: far off the beaten path and known as "The Tuscany" of Argentina.

Thankfully it was a short flight, but then we had to bus it for 3 more hours to the remote vineyard hidden in the valley.

In total, it would take over 30 hours to arrive at our destination. At least we weren't traveling like these guys :)

Buenos Aires is suprisingly first world and reminds us of many other bustling big cities in North America. Salta is, in stark contrast, *very* different. Below are some scenes caught from our bus trip.

We were headed from Salta to Cafayate, wine-lovers country :)

We were surprised by the quickly changing tundra of the gorgeous landscapes. Sections were reminiscent of Panama, Moab, Sedona, hoodoos of Alberta and even the Valley of Fire, and changed surprisingly quickly.

Signs you're not in Buenos Aires anymore: Lama Anyone?

It was unmistakably wine country by the end of the trip.

Sure glad our clients have GREAT taste .... our winery at which we'd be staying ...

Just outside our room was this courtyard ...

Can definitely see why they wanted to come back to get married here.

Time to catch some zzzz's. It'll be a couple more days of shooting, but we can't complain: it's gorgeous here and the entire crew of people are wonderful :)

Tough job, but somebody's gotta do it ;)

Stay warm and hug the ones you love!

Almost forgot to share this: when driving home the next morning, we saw this guy dancing on the corner waiting for the light to change.

Yes: we're from Edmonton and PROUD OF IT!!

GO OILERS!! :D

When our good friends hired us to shoot their newborn baby, we just had to make the trek up to E-Town on Tuesday to see them.

Well, I used to be known as a bit of a reckless driver in high school, but that was a looooong time ago. I drive like an old man now ;)

Anyways ... what's usually a 3 hour drive turned into 5. Winter driving conditions and -30 C weather with blowing snow and record snowfall slowed travel to a crawl. Never seen so many jackknived rigs in my life!

Do I look a little tense driving? Don't answer that ;)

Ended up staying the night in E-Town but at least all was not lost: we got a deal at Fantasy Land Hotel and did some Christmas shopping at WEM :) Funny: lived in Edmonton for most of my life, but never stayed there. Was pleasantly surprised by the hotel's accommodations and will definitely have to head back with the boyz for some fun in the water park!

Safe travels to you all this favorite of holiday seasons!! :)

We were privileged to have Lisa Rohrick stay with us this past weekend. She's a missionary who works in Niger, Africa and was in town speaking at several churches about her work there.

It's hard to believe it was only 10 months ago that we were walking through the villages where she's made many friends, teaching about health and spiritual wellness, and distributing much-needed mosquito nets.

So what's our Africa connection? You can find out more here.

One of the perks of working from home and having a great cappuccino machine around is being able to indulge in my favorite drink several times a day (now you know why I talk so fast ;)).

But you didn't think just *any* espresso machine would do, did you?

My geekiness doesn't stop with QuiKeys; it's a sickness that runs deep in all I do. Just ask Quin.

Camera: Canon G9 (RAW)
Software: Lightroom 2.1
Hardware: QuiKeys RAW and Album Modules (RAW conversion and montage)

Did I research which machine to buy? Seek far and wide for the best grinder, beans and tamper to invest in?

But of course.

I even Frankensteined our espresso machine and placed a thermometer in the group head with surgical precision to ensure we're pulling shots at just the right temp (too high a temp: espresso gets bitter. too low: sour).

I soaked up everything I could find out about everything espresso from water filtration, packing the puck to pouring latte art.

Yes folks: I'm a Geek with a capital G and proud of it!

But this is my confession: after doing all that research, and even being the one who initially taught Quin the proper rules and techniques, Quin is still ultimately a better barista than I.

*sigh*

Her shots are rich and thick with chocolaty and nutty overtones. Just look at that espresso falling into that cup! Amazing shot technique.

And did I mention her latte art prowess?

My 6-year old likes to look at our latte art right after we pour and always finds something encouraging to say. When he saw my last one he excitedly said, "Wow! Looks like a caterpillar and his poo!"

This is kinda like QuiKeys too: even though I'm waaay geekier and develop much of the hardware and software, she's a faster retouching artist than I, averaging over 100 images an hour!!

*SIGH*

Thankfully, she loves me and makes me a capp pretty much anytime I ask :) Am I blessed or what?

Quiz time: Extra Espresso Geek points for those that can match the term to the corresponding pic above:

1. Naked portafilter (get your mind outta the gutter)
2. Macap
3. E61
4. Stretching
5. P.I.D.
6. Pulling

Many of you know what a great photographer Quin is. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see she's not only talented, but gorgeous too. Did I mention she's a straight 9 business grad AND a great Mommy to our boyz?

What can I say? I married up ... BIGtime ;)

But wait: There's more!

Little known fact #532: She's also a GREAT barista.

We were having our our good friends Parm and Manj over when I decided to crack out our Canon G9 and taped her barista skills in action.

Can she pull it off under pressure?? Watch the video and find out!