Science, Bikes, Cajun Fest!

Royal High School recently started a mountain biking club. Currently they do not get P.E. credit for participating. However, the golfers do. What's up with that?













I took some photos of Stage Plus employees setting up for the Cajun Festival this weekend.












And I photographed the grand opening of the new science lab at University Charter Middle School in Camarillo. Lots of great shots. These were a few of my favorites.

Some catching up to do!

Recent happenings in Simi...

The freeway widening project completed Phase 1. Hooray! I love it because I live off of Kuehner. Makes the commute home so much nicer.











A side note with this photo. At the ribbon cuttings, it's inevitably the project managers and the developers that get all the recognition. But I always try to include some of the guys whose fingerprints are in the concrete, you know?








Mr. Q and Mrs. U got "married" at Phoenix Ranch elementary. Q and U are always together in the English language... get it?

"...in sickness and in health, in printing and in cursive, as long as you both speak English..."











Yes, that's a Ring Pop. Sweet.


...And the annual Arroyo cleanup pulled volunteers together from all over the community for a good cause.










(It was a water heater, and they're dragging it out using a power winch on the front of the jeep. Very cool!)

Earth Day and Volunteering

I nearly forgot to wish everyone a happy Earth Day. Calabasas hosted an earth day celebration earlier this month. I took a few shots there. The little guy above is writing "Food Counts" on his calendar coloring contest entry. The city holds the contest every year on a earth-friendly theme like composting, recycling, etc. This year's theme is the importance of properly disposing of food waste.











And then I shot a mosaic mural project at Sinaloa Middle School, where a volunteer group is working on their latest project. They have done murals all over the city and this project shows the school's mascot bursting through the wall of their amphitheater.

On the lighter side...

A mobile home park putting competition! This was so much fun, just a sweet little event at their new putting green. 

Tea Party Protests

Protesters gathered at the Simi Valley Civic Center this week for one of two TEA Parties in the city. Shooting was fine, and most people didn't mind giving their names, but I got quite a few nasty looks when I mentioned I was with "The Acorn". I finally resorted to saying "the local newspaper" or "Acorn Newspapers", then hastily explaining that we are not connected with the political organization A.C.O.R.N.
Anyway, a few photos:

Youth Soccer

Only one of these shots ran, and it was one of those happy/sad accidents.
The photo that I like the best was one that I didn't see until I returned. I pointed the camera, took the picture and thought to myself, that's not the one. And moved on. But when I looked at the shots afterward, it was one of my best images. But I had no info. So my editor held it back for a week so he could get some info on the coach and team.
Unfortunately, that meant there was less room for the photos. So only one ran, instead of the two or three that might have run. These are the situations where I am glad I have a photo blog. Here are my favorites.

More Baseball...

This was a Simi High practice a couple weeks ago. A cold, dreary day and very little time to make a good photo. However, I did end up with a few nice frames. It's always hard to make those standard practice shots interesting. I hope these images are a little more surprising and unusual.
























Even the coach got in on the practice!