State Championship Picture - "The Wall"

Brentsville District High School places a team photograph of every state champion squad inside the school in the hallway leading to the gymnasium. This is known the students as "the wall". The wall is the ultimate goal of all the varsity teams. Trophies, medals, and patches are nice, but the wall provides the highest honor known to all teenagers; public recognition of your superiority for all to see for years to come.

Although Kellie's competition cheer team won the title last November, the team photograph was only recently mounted. Kellie came home and said that the photograph looked very good and that it was one that I had taken.

Tonight, after the completion of the driver's ed parent orientation, I took a stroll to the end of the hallway to take a gander at the picture, and I can report that the photograph was taken by yours truly.

It seems that this happened as follows. After the team won, the coach issued a call for any and all photographs taken at the finals. I dutifully turned over all the pictures that I had taken, after I had tuned the best ones using my editing software of course. It seems that my photographs were the best she got, because they ended up in the newspaper, on the school's web site and now on permanent display in the school.

I gave the picture a long critical look and two things were immediately apparent. One, the photograph is very good. Technically, I think it is the best photograph in the school. The clarity of the image is striking. Remember that we are taking about a picture blown up to 3 by 4 feet. Second, although the image was taken by a 6MP entry level Nikon DLSR, don't let that fool you. When I bought my camera, I did not buy into the hype that more megapixels are better. A 6MP camera can take a professional grade picture. I have proof.

Nikon's latest flagship model is a 12 MP camera. Despite the apparent disadvantage to Canon's 21MP flagship model, the Nikon produces images that have the Canon camp shaking their heads in amazement. If you have a D40, D50, a D100, or D2 and you are looking with envy to the D80, D200, D40x, or D60 take heart. Your camera kicks ass.

One final note, the picture that was selected to put on "the wall" was NOT taken in automatic mode. All the time I have spent shooting with my own settings is paying off.

Driver's Education

I just had an uncomfortable experience this evening. I attended the mandatory driver's education parent information meeting. This is a prerequisite for all student who plan to enter the Virginia Schools driver education course. Kellie is not due to attend this class until next semester in the fall, but the time for my orientation was tonight.

This entire experience brings a single thought to mind. How is the hell did I arrive at this time in my life this fast? One day I am taking young Kellie to her first preschool class and the next I am facing a life altering event in the very near future. This event, of course, is the act of handing over the keys to one of my vehicles to one of my kids. Time is a cruel mistress.

Times have changed with regard to driver's ed. For example, the state of Virginia has a driving curfew for all drivers under the age of 18. They are restricted from carrying more than one person under the age of eighteen in the vehicle who is not a immediate family member. They cannot operate a motor vehicle while using a cell phone, regardless of whether they are using a headset. The state will issue the driver's license to the parents, who will retain the right and ability to legally revoke the license until their child turns 18. This is just what I can remember.

Needless to say, I found the entire affair somewhat disconcerting.

High School Letter

Two days ago, Kellie received her letter for Competition Cheer that she will have sewn onto her letter jacket. She also received a Class AA State Championship patch that also goes somewhere on the jacket. We are having all of this put on this week, so she should be able to proudly display it the next time you see her.