If you've followed the blog for very long, you'll remember the story of little Nate.  Yesterday I received the following email update from Nate's dad, Wes: "Praise God, for HE is merciful.  We got the results back from Nate’s MRIs, and all scans are clear…no cancer.  The doctors are very pleased, and were excited to be able to provide this news.  When chemo started last January he was given a 15% chance to make it 3 months, and he made it six months before it came back worse than ever.  When he began radiation in June and ended at the end of July, he was given six weeks to six months of borrowed time, and here he is…TO GOD BE ALL PRAISE AND GLORY.  Nate truly is a miracle from God every day he is alive.  I am not saying any of us deserve this, I am, however, saying that God had mercy on us and we will forever give HIM the glory for his healing.  We thank all the doctors and nurses who have seen us through this.  Many people have spent many hours laboring over him to help him get to this point.  We also want to thank everyone around the world for your much needed prayers and for helping us along the way.  We have been praying about larger ways to give back and help others, and we will begin on those things in the near future, using what God has done for us as a way to show HIS love to others.  Nate still needs a lot of therapy and attention to help him with his physical and cognitive abilities.  He has been making great strides with his walking and talking...and so far we see no reduction in cognitive skills.  We work with him every day on this, and he will begin new therapies soon to help him even more.  He will go back in three months for another MRI and will continue to do so for a stretch of two years and then every six months for five years.  What Nate had was very nasty and it hit him with full intensity trying to steal his life on this earth away from us, but today is a day of victory, and with each day comes new reasons to praise THE LORD even more.  God bless you all.  Spread the word about HIS mercies." Nate's story is truly a miracle, so thanks to all those who felt led to pray for him and his family.  It is without doubt his family is grateful for your petitions.

It was 11:30pm... perfect time for an impromptu photo shoot.  No people around, so I grabbed a vintage camera Kylie bought for me from my friend Robin for Christmas (I'm starting a little collection), turned on a small desk lamp, propped up a small silver reflector on a chair, cranked up the ISO on my Nikon D700 to 3200, and fired away for about 5 minutes.  For any photographer-types out there who might stumble upon this and wonder, post-processing simply involved opening the images in Photochop, running Totally Rad Actions "Pool Party" & "Lux (soft)", and cropping.  Voila... instant wall art.

I'm always perplexed how camera makers settled on such odd sets of number combinations for apertures, f-stops and ISOs.  It's a small miracle anybody ever figured out how to use one of these things.  It's no wonder so many people today just flip their cameras to "A" mode for "Awesome" photos.

One of my favorite ways to capture the story of my clients - whether it be a bride & groom, an afternoon with a family or a newborn's first year - is through a remembrance album.  These are one of a kind, handmade fine art pieces that are truly a memoir to be handed down from generation to generation. The cover material options are amazing with more than enough combinations of styles and materials to create a statement that is both stunning and uniquely you. The 1/8" thick pages with full-bleed (edge-to-edge) printing lay flat for a seamless spread that showcases your breathtaking images in a clean, modern and timeless layout.  And to top it off, your album is both protected and presented using beautiful sustainable materials like those shown below.

After shedding the presentation/protective jacket, revealed is a memoir that is as much a piece of art as it is a collection of your most precious memories.

A closeup detail of the stunning cover materials.  There are many options and combinations available to suit your design taste.

For a little naueseating fun, check out First Person Tetris. For an utterly humiliating experience, make sure to try it in "night mode", too.

From the category of dang-why-didn't-I-think-of-that, the Zomm was announced at this year's CES show, and it could quite possibly have a bigger impact on my life than electricity, the automobile, or even {gasp} the internet.  It's a wireless 'leash' for your mobile phone that sounds an alarm if you get more than a certain distance away from it.  It does a few other nifty little things, too, most notably the ability to call emergency services for you (think Help! I've fallen and I can't get up, only cooler) and can be a speaker phone for incoming calls.  But I'm mainly excited about the Hey, Chachi, you realize you're leaving your phone at the [insert any random location here] again, don't you feature.  The people that invented this are my (and my wife's) hero.  Check it out here at zomm.com. Thanks to my cousin's wife, Jeanie, for telling me about this.  You may have saved my iPhone from ever being tragically discarded in a McDonald's bag ever again.  Now, if it only worked with wallets...