After our race on Sunday morning, Reagan and I had a very long and relaxing visit with Piper. For some reason, all of the photos that I took, came out looking like Piper was groggy and sad. She probably was groggy. She definitely wasn’t sad though. Just the same, I thought that if she could talk, she probably wouldn’t want me posting those shots of her, not looking like her normal princess self.

After our visit with Piper, we met up with some friends of ours (John and Kat), who are visiting from SC. Reagan knows John from HS. We spend the evening palling around lower Manhattan, since it was so nice out.

Highlights included a jumping contest on the benches at the Battery Park City Promenade.

^–Reagan’s Jump

^—John’s Jump

^—My Jump (shot by Reagan)

Kat also had a pretty impressive jump. But the lighting was throwing off the AF, so it came out all blurry. I’m retarded.  More photos of this outing are here.

Our new running club had it’s first club points race, last weekend. Our friend Zach Tolbert came out and shot the race for us. It was perfect weather and a lot of fun. Becca was totally on the ball, with getting our jerseys made and delivered before the race.

It was a bit chilly, before the race, but the sun was out, and it was perfect temperature, for running. Our team did very well. Additionally, we had a mystery person sign up as an NYRC affiliate, who beat everyone else on the team, by almost a minute. Jessica (whoever you are) if that is your way of trying out, you passed. Hahaha.

When Reagan and I were in Salt Lake, I had the great privilege of photographing my grandparents, at their house. When I was very small, I lived next door to these grandparents. When I was younger, I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to have known all of my grandparents. Living so far away from them now, I certainly appreciate the time that I have to visit with them, a lot more.

^—This is my grandfather’s infamous work room. Many a fine piece of steel jewelry was crafted on the bench grinder.

^— I really liked this shot, because I feel like it captures what happy people they are.

^—–This is my cute grandma, showing us her canning storage. The majority, if not all of the items contained in those jars, were grown right in their own garden.

If you get grossed out by people kissing, ignore this post. Here are a couple of more shots from our little shoot in Sandy, UT.

^–Reagan, dancing around in excitement over her new (second hand) glasses.

^—About to get a room, hehe.

Tuesday evening, Reagan’s parents drove us to Kolob Canyon, which is in the northern end of Zion’s National Park. It is only about 20 minutes from where they live. It would be a spectacular sight under any circumstances. But, the way it was lit up in the evening, with the patchy clouds, and contrasting trees/snow, made it absolutely gorgeous.

^—Reagan’s hair dancing around in the wind.

^—Photo by Joe Baker

More photos of Kolob here.

Nothing caps off a mini-family reunion like family photos. It was a pretty miraculous ordeal, considering all of the logistics. Highlights included, watching a huddle of moms try to position all of the grandkids:

Kelton’s awesome face, during the huddle:

And last but not least, my brother Pete bribing my autistic sister Laura to be in the group photo. After everyone had tried their hand at coaxing and pep-talks, cash money spoke the loudest. Genius move, Pete.

I met some pretty cool guys, this weekend. They are the guys behind the brand Only New York, a local street wear brand. I am going to be doing a SoJones piece on them, and was able to do a quick shoot on Sunday afternoon. They are definitely cool guys. You should definitely check out their stuff. More on Shotbyjake.com

Last night was a Karen Sabag runway show at the Altman Building in Chelsea. The venue was awesome. The ceiling in their event space is made of paver brick, which I loved. I was able to shoot the backstage, as well as the runway show. No CF card malfunctions Wednesday night. But there was a problem with the lights. Which was a bummer, because in contrast to the iFashion show, Tuesday night, Sabag, was actually properly lit. Luckily, they resolved it, after a few minutes. I was freaking out digging for my flash, for a sec. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Catch more coverage from the Sabag show on shotbyjake.com.

I shot all of these on my way out of work last night.

^—–Ice flowing out to the harbor.

^——WFC Water Taxi Terminal

^——Random Police Barricade, recently installed next to 7 WTC

^——Looking at Jersey City from North Cove Marina

It was so cold, last weekend. Some of our friends ran a race in CP, that I was going to go shoot for Examiner, and I totally bailed on it, because it was so cold (I then want back to bed and slept in until after1 pm, hehe). It is still freezing outside (check out the ice flow in the Hudson, above).

I guess that I can’t really complain though. Check out the photo below from Maggie (or Ben), of Georgetown last weekend.

Despite the freezing temperatures, I’m am getting excited for Fashion Week, which begins on Thursday. Plus one of my old HS homies will be in town visiting. We are going to link up for dinner or something.