Category Archives: Personal

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Competition Finalist!!

January 27, 2009 – 12:17 pm

Before I talk about anything, I have to start off by apologizing to all of our really awesome and loyal blog readers. We have not published any posts on our blog in a little while and to be honest it has really been weighing on us. We usually post far more often than this. We have been sooo busy (not that we are complaining) but we are making time right now to share something with all of you that we are very proud of.

It has long been a goal of ours to enter some national and international photography competitions. We aren’t as concerned at the outcome of the competitions as we are about actually entering. As a photographer, it is a very valunerable thing to put your work out there in the sole purpose of being judged by your peers. By doing this, we feel that it is one way that we continually learn and continually improve on our work. This way we can be better and better for all of our clients.

So that being said, I am so excited to share with you that one of my images was selected as a finalist in the Best of Weddings Competition. We will know if it makes it higher while we are out at the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) Conference in a few weeks. This image that was selected made it as a finalist in the Wedding Humor category, and hopefully you can see why. It is one of those images that makes me laugh every time. Here is the image:

I also have to give a shout-out to another great CT photographer, Sam Chinigo who also is a finalist in this competition. Congratulations Sam!

Kathleen and I also entered 11 of our prints into the WPPI 16×20 competition which we will also know how we placed while we are out in Vegas in a few weeks. Keep your fingers crossed :). We will keep you posted.

Hope everyone is having a great week!!

By Robert J. Trenske | Also posted in Contests, Education/Networking, RJT Announcements | Comments (7)

Day Trip to Sedona

January 13, 2009 – 9:36 pm

Today we decided to take a day trip out to Sedona to get away from all the craziness of the conference and enjoy the only really warm day of our trip. It was really wonderful to get to experience a completely different landscape than what we are used to at home. The mountains and valleys as well as the red rocks were simply beautiful and in most cases breathtaking. We spent a lot of time just shooting for ourselves and trying to take it all in.

Here are just some of the many photos that Kathleen and I took today.










OUR SIDE TRIP… to In-N-Out Burger!!

On our way back from Sedona I was really craving a burger so I had to stop and introduce Kathleen to the wonder that is an In-N-Out Burger. For those of you who have never been, the next time you are out west, you need to go! There are only 4 things on the menu, but totally worth going.

So good!!

We will be back late tomorrow night and back to work on Thursday. Hope everyone had a great week! Any photographers out there want to grab lunch in the next week or so? We would love to catch up. Talk to you all soon.

By Robert J. Trenske | Also posted in Rob & Kathleen, Travel | Comments (10)

Are You a Coffee Lover? - You Need To Check This Out!!

January 3, 2009 – 4:36 pm

For all of you coffee, tea and hot chocolate lovers out there, boy do I have something for you. Despite our “NO GIFT RULE” our best friend (sister really), Breheny gave us a super cool Keuring Single Cup Coffee Maker.

If you haven’t checked these out yet, you really need to. It really beats trying to make a good pot of coffee at home and it is so much better than leaving the house every day to get your caffeine fix at either Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks. Not to mention it is much cheaper, about 55 cents per cup compared to upwards of $5.00 at either of the two previous mentioned coffee venues. I couldn’t believe how many different varieties of coffee, tea and hot chocolate are available in the super convient K-Cups made especially for Keurig Coffee Makers. There are tons of flavors and from our experience they are delicious. Even Dunkin and Starbucks is said to be making their coffees available in the K-Cups soon.

I guess the best part of this incredible piece of technology is that you can’t mess it up. Simply choose your coffee, pick your size (small, medium or large) and in about 15 seconds you have a fresh-brewed cup of coffee. Talk about something you would see in one of the “Back To The Future” movies. Don’t get me wrong, once in a while I will still have an Ice Coffee from Dunkin or a Frappuccino from Starbucks but this has made our day-to-day coffee drinking so much nicer and enjoyable. Check out all of the great options at http://www.Keurig.com

By Robert J. Trenske | Also posted in Misc., Random Thoughts, Rob & Kathleen | Comments (11)

New Year’s Eve in Ireland (2005-06)

December 31, 2008 – 9:51 pm

To celebrate the New Year, we decided to post a video from our best New Year’s Eve ever.

Dublin, December 31, 2005

We arrived in Ireland a couple of days after Christmas. For the first couple of days we explored the city. In our explorations we discovered a very cool pub. It was a three-story building along one of the cobblestone streets in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. On the first floor was a traditional bar, similar to one you’d find in New York or Boston, with a cover band playing a lot of American hits. The second floor was an adorable restaurant serving that felt like the kind of place you’d find in a country inn. The top floor was our favorite – it was a true Irish pub filled with locals and a traditional Irish band. As soon as we discovered this place we knew it was where we wanted to celebrate the New Year.

New Year’s Eve day we had dinner at the restaurant on the second floor, surrounded by people from all over Europe. It was such a cool experience – the couple next to us was from France, the group to the other side of us were from Australia. Walking through the tables you could hear several different languages being spoken but there was one common thread, everyone seemed so happy. After dinner we headed upstairs to the pub to celebrate for the couple of hours till the New Year. The band was in full force and the room was packed – so much so the floor was bouncing. Rob and I looked at each other almost in disbelief that we had found such a cool place to be for the last few hours of 2005. After hours of classic Irish songs, the band leader let us know midnight was just a few minutes away. To mark the moment, he pulled out a poem by William Butler Yeats, “The Fiddler of Dooney,” and read it to the crowd. Definitely a once in a lifetime expereince – where else in the world could you hear a poem read in a bar before the New Year? I have to say hearing them play Auld Lang Syne and giving Rob a big kiss at midnight, I think we both knew 2006 was going to be a great year. And it was.

By Robert J. Trenske | Also posted in Rob & Kathleen, Travel | Comments (2)

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

December 25, 2008 – 2:09 pm

From us to you, we hope that you all have a wonderful, safe and Happy Christmas!!

By Robert J. Trenske | Also posted in Rob & Kathleen | Comments (1)

A Christmas Memory

December 23, 2008 – 5:46 pm

1950s New Jersey

He walks down the street on his way home, his hands stained with dye from the fabric factory. It’s tedious work but it pays the bills. It’s worth it when he walks through the door and sees the happy faces of his wife, three little girls and two sons. The oldest has already shown her natural maternal instinct, even at such a young age. She helps with her siblings and takes excellent care of her dolls. She runs over to him. He smiles down at her, reaches into his pocket and presents her small bunch of remnant fabric. It’s not much but she knows exactly what to do with it. Since her grandmother has taught her how to sew, she knows these swatches of fabric would be perfect for her doll. The doll she named after her own middle name, the name she hopes to give her daughter someday…Kathleen.

1980s New Jersey

My parents always made Christmas special for my brothers and me. There are too many amazing memories to even begin to list them all. But this year something got me thinking about my grandfather. My mother has always said that he really set the tone for Christmas for her. He loved the holiday – loved giving gifts, having everyone all together. Some of her favorite memories are decorating the tree with her siblings on Christmas Eve, shopping with him for her younger siblings as she got older, and – yes, getting fabric from him to make clothes for her dolls. I’m not entirely sure he would do that at Christmas time, but the way my mother passed that tradition down to me during this time of year.

Like most little girls, I had a favorite doll. She was a Cabbage Patch Kid. I got her by an odd chance. The year they came out I was a little too young for them, so my mother wasn’t even paying attention to the craze that has begun over them. She was walking around a store with me in the cart and a saleswoman walked over to her. “You have a little girl,” she said. “You’re going to want one of these.” And she handed my mother one of the dolls. My mom might have put it back since I was too young, but she glanced at the doll. She had a adoption certificate in the box like all Cabbage Patch Kids. Her name was Mildred – the same name as my grandmother. My mom took it as a sign. Mildred was by my side from that point on.

I only parted with her once a year – on Christmas Eve. My mother told me that if I left her for Santa, Mrs. Claus would clean and mend her. Since I was the kind of little girl that loved making mud pies and running around in the yard (I have three older brothers – I had to keep up) - my doll was desperately in need of repair come December.

Christmas morning it was like I got a brand new doll - with neat hair, a clean face… and the very best part – a brand new outfit. The first year of this tradition, my mother and I were going to wear matching outfits for Christmas (very cute when I’m 5 – today not so much). So when I came downstairs that morning there was Mildred – dressed in the very same outfit. I was mystified – how did Mrs. Claus know? My favorite year was when my mom made a whole trunk full of new clothes for Mildred. And of course there was a matching trunk (normal size) filled with dress-up clothes for me. And they were all the same for every costume there was for me, there was a matching one for my doll.

My grandfather was there on Christmas day every time my Mom did one of those gifts. And even though he’s no longer with us, I know he’d be happy to know that the simple act of bringing home fabric swatches launched a tradition and special memories for both his daughter and granddaughter.

Merry Christmas Mom & Dad – we love you and can’t wait to see you.

Kathleen & Rob

On the left, my mother and I when I was about 4. On the right, me and my Poppy, her father.

Mildred and I in matching outfits - photography was something quite different back then, so please excuse the image quality.

By Kathleen | Also posted in Rob & Kathleen | Comments (2)

Song of Solomon - The 11 Year Old Goldfish

October 7, 2008 – 5:01 pm

We wanted to start sharing some more personal things with all of you so you can get to know us a little better. One way we thought we would do that is for both of us to share little stories that make us who we are. Here is one of Kathleen’s…

When I was 13 years old, my Uncle Ray got me a couple of goldfish for my birthday.  I had wanted one for a while.  (In my favorite books when I was younger, the Anastasia series, Anastasia had a goldfish named Frank that she used to talk to all the time.

So when we went to the pet store that day, I was so excited.  We got a 10-gallon tank, some rocks for the bottom, some little tank decorations (might have even had one of those scuba diver things that make the bubbles), and 3 fish.  I wish I could remember their names.  I would stare at that tank for hours, usually listening to Pearl Jam’s Vs., and thinking I was SO deep and introspective.  (It was the 90’s, everyone thought they were deep and introspective, or just moody.  What can I say, Angela Chase was my hero).

Needless to say, those fish didn’t last very long.   They are goldfish after all.  When they died though – I was devastated.  I got more fish after that but they were not the same.  Until Solomon.

I got Solomon in high school – about 1997, I’m not sure which.  Back then he was tiny, like your normal $.25 fish.  He grew a bit, but he never got too big.  Except for one part of him.  He has a large, strange growth on one side.  I have no idea what it is or what caused it.  It has gotten gradually bigger over time and has taken over more and more of his left side.  I have talked to pet store owners, vet techs, etc., to find out if there is anything that can be done about it.  They usually respond with something like, wait – a goldfish?  You can’t do anything for a goldfish!

So here he is – 11 years later, still plugging away.  Yes – 11 years.  He is an 11-year-old goldfish.  (Friends and family – feel free to comment to back me up on this one.)  

He lives simpler now – in a bowl instead of a tank, with just one piece of decoration – a castle that he loves to swim through.  He’s not quite as fast a swimmer anymore, but I do firmly believe that he responds to the sound of my voice.  Which makes sense - we’ve had quite a while to get to know each other.  Over the years, we have lived in at least 5 different locations. We traveled back and forth from CT to NJ (where I’m originally from) at least 6 times, with Solomon in a container on the passenger side floor of my Toyota.    

For any of you who don’t believe it’s possible for a goldfish to last this long – here he is.  I clearly couldn’t replace him because he is quite distinctive looking.  No other fish could look like this. That’s because there is no other fish like Solomon.  And there never will be.

By Kathleen | Comments (5)