Work In Progress

Category: Family & Friends

Icke Family Portraits 2010

A couple of weekends ago I got together with the Myra and Pete Icke, along with their girls Alyssa and Karina to take some family pictures. Myra and Pete wanted some pictures of the family and also a shot or two of the girls in their princess themed Halloween costumes. We decided to meet in Tempe Town Lake Park in Tempe, Arizona.

The weather on this sunny “Fall” Saturday late morning turned out very nicely. The lake park is such a nice spot. Pete suggested including the Bridge in the family picture “In order to represent where we live”. Since there wasn’t a cactus or a tumbleweed to be seen anywhere in the park, I agreed that was a great idea.

I half jokingly asked Pete if he had any back issues. Hey, you never know. I wanted to get a shot of him holding the girls. It’s probably not going to be too long before the girls will outgrow this opportunity so Pete gave it a shot. I believe this is him faking strain.

Pete pulled it off and here is his reward.

Myra wisely chooses to take a different approach. This is one of my favorites.

After family pictures were done the girls changed into their costumes. I believe Karina is dressed as a Fairy Princess and Alyssa as a Dainty Queen Fairy God Mother? The girls told me but things like that just don’t stick in my mind. Ehh, close enough, right?

It was a really fun time. Pete even picked up the tab for lunch! Thanks, Ickes. Hope you’ll enjoy these pictures for many years.

October 29, 2010
Beach & Countryside

Linda and I have been back home from our visit to Sweden for almost three weeks now. Things have settled back into their normal routine; or at least as much as they can during a month where the temperature in the morning at ten o’clock is 100 and keeps rising and rising until it hits 110+ around seven o’clock in the evening. I have just this one last set of pictures I wanted to share from our trip before I get back to writing and posting pictures about “normal” life.

This set is one that I like especially. They tells a story about the landscape. I am anxious to see what folks from the area think. Do my pictures match how you see the place where you live? I also think these pictures tell a story. In fact, I’m not going to tell the story in words. I’m going to just lay them out here and let you enjoy them without me interrupting. See if you can “read” the story these pictures are trying to tell you and comment below.

I appreciate all of you who dropped by to read this series. I am already looking forward to out next trip to Sweden. It may not be next summer but the next time we’re out there it will definitely (if I have anything to say about it) be summer!

Happy Thursday!

P.S. Check out the set on Flickr here > http://www.flickr.com/photos/owenwbrown/sets/72157624371811827/

July 15, 2010
On the Docks – Smyge, Sweden

One mid afternoon during our recent trip to Sweden, Linda, her dad, and myself piled into the Volvo and headed to the southernmost tip of Sweden to have lunch with Linda’s uncle Lars and nephew Sixten. The town is just east of Trelleborg (think “Swedish Long Beach”). Smygehuk itself is flat, sandy, and surrounded by rocky beaches. It is supposed to be “impossibile to stand any further south in Sweden and still keep your feet dry”.

I read that Uma Thurman’s grandmother posed for this Axel Ebbe statue named Famntaget (The Embrace) which stands in the harbor. Linda also poses alongside.

I didn’t think to take a picture of the grub but just imagine ordering a herring burger and the smoked or pan fried herring just came off a shipping boat earlier that day. You get the picture?

  This sign marks the exact position, 55 degrees 20 minutes 3 seconds, and the distance to various locations around the world.

Happy Wednesday!

P.S. Check out the entire Sweden (2010) Smyge Picture Set by clicking here.

July 7, 2010
Tour of Malmö – A Slideshow

I mentioned in my last past that the ladies, Linda and Johanna, where doing hair and makeup (downtown Malmo) for Andreas and Johanna’s wedding later that afternoon. That gave Rickard and me some time to tour downtown. I’ll have more on the wedding later; however, in the process of putting together their wedding slideshow I had the opportunity to experiment with some new software, and in so doing, decided put this little slideshow together for you. Enjoy!

Happy Wednesday!

June 30, 2010
Malmö in the Afternoon

Linda and I left Phoenix Thursday, June 17 at 2:00 PM, and after a short layover in Chicago, flew out on the long haul leg of our journey, an eight our flight to Copenhagen, Denmark. On the off chance you’ve never done it, let me tell you, flying west to east is tough. Major league tough; especially if you lose nine hours in the process. We arrived in Copenhagen as was always seem to do, happy to see family, but groggy from the trip.

After as good a night’s sleep as one can reasonably expect to get with so much messing with the timezones, we woke up about 9:00 AM. Waiting for us was breakfast. I always forget how great those are out there. Super dark bread and the most fresh smoked salmon you’ve ever tasted. Dark bread in Sweden makes our whole wheat bread look like Wonder Bread. Their smoked salmon makes ours taste like its been sitting on a shelf for months (and perhaps it has).

After breakfast, Linda and her sister Johanna, their dad Rickard and myself, drove downtown Malmo for hair and makeup. To clarify, Linda and Johanna did hair and makeup. Rickard and I went for a tour of downtown. This is a shot of a tribute to Victoria, the Swedish Crown Princess. Turns out she was also getting married that day to the newly minted Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland. Now that’s a lot of roses!

It is amazing what you see when you take the time to look. I mean, not to get all profound on you, but Linda’s dad has lived and worked in or at least close to that part of Malmo for much of his life and mentioned several times that he hadn’t seen this or that before. We came up with the phrase “Wasting Quality Time”. I think that was it at least. We meant it in a good way.

Hope you enjoy. Happy Tuesday!

June 30, 2010