I should have mixed feelings when football season rolls around. Since I’m the editor of Huskers Illustrated Magazine, it means a ton of hours. But I can’t help myself. I just love football season. It’s so short, you just want to soak it all in. The fall weather, the tradition, crazy fans, the colors, the roar of the crowd – there’s just nothing like it.

Saturday was the University of Nebraska’s season-opener against Western Kentucky, a team that had lost 20 straight games. Not exactly a great test for the Cornhuskers, but nevertheless, it was nice just to see a game. The Huskers won, 49-10. They were far from sharp, but freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez provided plenty of excitement. Hopefully his performance is an indication of his future, not the competition.

Here are my favorite shots from Saturday.

During our trip home to Seattle, we took a little time out to get some family pictures of my sister Eva, Andy and my two-year-old niece, Lucy. Isn’t she the cutest thing?!

Last week Jen and I had the chance to fly to Seattle to visit my family. With my family being spread all over the country, it’s rare when we’re all in the same place at the same time. But Aug. 4 was my Dad’s 60th birthday, so we had a special reason. We had great ambitions of doing a bunch of hiking while we were home, but we were greeted with unusually hot weather (like 95-98 degrees), which limited our activities. Plus, after going on our first hike, we were also forced to face the fact that we weren’t near as fit as we had imagined. These are some pictures on our hike past Eunice Lake on our way to Tolmie Peak. It was a 6.5 mile hike with about 1200 feet of elevation change. Half of that climb came in the last mile. Normally you could go at your own pace, stop and take a break, have a snack, etc. However, we faced deer flies as big as my head and were swarmed by blood-sucking mosquitos anytime we stopped. But we pressed on and somehow we finished. This photograph (which is actually about seven photos stitched together), made the trek worth it. Either way, it was a fun day with the family.

I’ve known Scotty since he was seven years old, so it goes without saying it’s been an eye-opener to watch him prepare for his senior year at Lincoln Southwest High School. Scott asked me over a year ago if I would shoot his senior pictures and since school started this week, we figured we had better knock this out before football season started. Scott, who is a budding photographer himself, said he wanted some graffiti backgrounds and we were able to find some awesome “urban art” in downtown Lincoln. And of course, when you’re 17, you have to have a picture of your car, right? So we found a quiet country road and waited for the perfect sunset. Mission accomplished! Good luck with your senior year – don’t forget to study.

As luck would have it, we had a little break in the heat on Thursday, which made for a great evening to shoot some new family photos for my friends Jason and Kim and their gorgeous kids, Hayden and Tommy. I can’t believe how fast these kids grow! Last November, I shot Tommy’s new-born photos (this was before my blog was up, so I’ve posted a couple of those below). Obviously, he’s grown into a little boy, while Hayden is now three going on 12. I always have an absolute blast when I hang out with her and her family! Thanks guys for a fun evening

And a flashback to last November….