Goofy boy :)

Found this on my computer. One of Colin's friends must have taken it, it made me smile...



Both Heather and Armance tagged me. I want you both to know that I tried hard, but I just couldn't come up with 8 things about me to post, I'm sorry! I really did try!

How they might look on a wall...

I had an inquiry from someone who knew she wanted a set of 3 images, but had only settled on two, and asked for a suggestion for the third. This was a fun little exercise I did in photoshop to show her how they might look on her wall (hopefully this isn't too wide to view on a regular monitor, I use a widescreen). The middle image is the one she's unsure of:



I'm liking it, and may just do something similar in my house :)

I can be strange at times :) And some info about my website!

So the waterlilies (and the water itself) down at the lake were covered in lots and lots of little bugs. I spent probably a half hour or so cloning them out of this picture because I REALLY wanted a water lily picture. As I'm cloning along, the theme song from the TV show "Rawhide" kept running through my head. For you younger girls, you'll have NO IDEA what I'm talking about. Anyhow, instead of the words from the theme song, my words were:

Cloning, cloning cloning, keep that mouse a cloning, cloning cloning cloning....(yada, yada, yada)

Ok, enough of that :) Here is the photo:



About the website. I've had some questions via email about it. Brett and I built it mainly so I would have a web presence, just somewhere for people to get a feel for what I do.

We don't expect to do much in the art sales through the site exclusively, and for the most part, very few photographers have many sales over the web, clients typically prefer to see the images in person. Our plan is to exhibit and sell the images at arts festivals in the area beginning in the spring.

Anyhow, please know that anything you see on my blog is available if you'd like it, even if it's not on my site. Just drop me a note (my email address is over that-a-way -----> ) and we'll talk, ok?

I am also working on a greeting card line which we hope to have up and running this fall sometime. I will be hiring a sales rep (or several) to rep the cards to nurseries and gift shops. I will also sell them through my site.

As to the headshots and performance photos, they're both something I have REALLY enjoyed doing for quite a while now, so doing them professionally is just a progression of that passion!

Thanks for reading :)

Cool plant!

I went out to Pat's house yesterday to play. She lives about an hour away and has a fantastic garden, truly. She has got the most extensive collection of daylilies I've ever seen (click on her name above to see some of them on her blog)...absolutely gorgeous! It was really nice to wander about, and hear her talk about all her plants, and what she's done to her garden.

Unfortunately, it was very windy out there (she lives at the base of a mountain pass), and it was the middle of the day - full sun.

So, I literally shot 8 images of these really cool daisies that were in the shade, and called it a day as far as photography goes. Just too many environmental elements were working against me. I then handed my camera off to her. She shoots with a fancy P&S, kind of a cross between a regular P&S and a DSLR, and takes beautiful pictures! She shoots nearly every day and really enjoys it, and her husband has been bugging her to take the plunge and buy what he calls a "real" camera, but she's been resisting. I totally don't get that at all! :) I agree with him, she needs to take the plunge. So anyhow, I showed her how to use the camera, then held the diffuser for her while she shot for a bit. I'm very anxious to see her pictures! Hopefully, now that she's had a play with my camera, she'll seriously consider upgrading to a SLR.

Anyhow, I just loved these Daisies, they look like they've gone through a paper shredder! With the wind blowing, this was the best I could get, isn't it a cool plant?!?



And a couple from around here the last week:

Do you happen to know what this is?

It was the only one, in the middle of a flowerbed, so I couldn't get very close to it. It was small, maybe 2" across:



This is my first time playing with adding a texture to a photo:


I used the photo below of part of a rusted sign as a layer, lowered the opacity, then brushed certain areas back even more. I'd love to play with this technique more, I like it, though I need a more compelling photo foreground photo to try it on.


And just one more pic. I typically am not a huge fan of square crops, but I think (hope) it works on this one.

More pics from our trip to the Olympic Peninsula last week...

As I wrote on my entry the other day, that first day we got up there was hot. Really hot! So, that afternoon we drove up to Hurricane Ridge. It was probably 10 degrees cooler up there, YAY! Neither of us had been before, It is stunningly picturesque up there. You take a 17 mile drive to get there, up a narrow and very winding road dotted with wildflowers on the side of it. Lots and lots of scenic overlooks. It was one of the prettiest places I've been. Unfortunately my pictures don't express that. I'd love to go at sunrise or sunset, and capture some amazingly light on the mountains and meadows.

Anyhow, here are a couple of pictures from up there:


Brett said this view reminded him of the movie "The Sound of Music." It was like being on the top of the world.


This deer was so friendly, she came with just a few feet of us:




I had planned to go out and shoot that evening, but was too hot and tired to do so. My big regret is that I didn't, as the sunset was the most amazing pink color, and would have made beautiful light on the scenery. Live and learn. The following morning however, I got up super early and spent a while at one of the lavender farms while Brett slept in. I had asked the owners the day before if they minded if I wandered around early, and they were very gracious about letting me do so. It was overcast, so I didn't get any great sunrise light, but I did get some soft sidelighting to help show off the texture of the plants. I love the way each type of lavender is so distinctive in it's head shape, as well as color.

Hope you like lavender, cuz I'm posting quite a few of these! Can you tell me, if you were thinking about turning one or two of these into a greeting card, which one(s) would you choose?

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Today Brett mentioned....

....that I hadn't updated my blog since Monday. I didn't realize he checked it that often....I thought it was just a once in a while thing.

So....here's just one from our trip up to the Olympic Peninsula earlier this week. I've hardly looked at them, too many other things needing my attention. We spend a couple days up there. This particular day it was 93 degrees out, full sun while we visited a couple of lavender farms. Too stinking HOT! Love this white lavender though, and how BLUE the sky was that day!



This was our first time leaving Colin at home alone overnight, and he sailed through it with flying colors. House was as clean as it was when we left, the next-door neighbor said he was out weeding in the front one morning. He did good. Don't quite know what we did to deserve him...as I was not that good when my dad left me at home alone as a teenager! Shhhh......don't tell :)

A face only a mother could love....

Our pair of Stellar's Jays is now a family of 5. I've got to say, the young ones are kinda homely looking (in an oh-so-cute way)! And it's pretty funny to watch them fly, they are not very graceful yet!

This little guy was quite the squawker this morning:



So Mom (or was it Dad?) finally got sick of it and took off for a nearby tree, leaving him to rethink his attitude. He looks kind of contrite (for a bird) to me:



And Mom (or Dad) out hunting for breakfast:



And on the website front. The other day I was hopeful that Brett had made a breakthrough. Unfortunately, I spoke too soon. We finally decided to give up on the idea of him building it from scratch, he just kept running into obstacle after obstacle, and could not figure it out. SOOOOO, we bought a template this afternoon. Please keep your fingers crossed that this goes a little more smoothly for him. He needs LOTS of positive thoughts!

7/07/07 - the luckiest day of the year?

I think it is for me. First off, the three of us actually had dinner together tonight, First time in 2 full weeks. That's nuts, we're usually all about having dinner together, but between Colin's week in Nebraska, and his nightly rehearsals, it hasn't worked out.

Second, I actually won at croquet. I NEVER win that game, ever. But I did tonight :)

Lastly, I think Brett finally has handle on the website stuff. We bought the site over a month ago, and it has been a huge struggle, but I think (knock on wood) that he finally turned a corner with it today. Yay! Yep, it's a lucky day!

I pulled out the tripod today so I could play with a narrow aperture. Haven't done that in a while, I need to more often it's nice to have a deeper DOF for a change!

My latest fixation:

Echinacea. I don't know what it is, but this year they really appeal to me. I bought 6 different kinds for my garden recently.



Love the color on this one. It's called "Sundown." It's a little slower to start blooming than the others...



I'll save some of the others for another day.

I debated whether to post what is to follow or not, as I'm afraid it's going to come off as bragging. It's not meant to, I am just absolutely over the moon excited for Colin and I really would like to share.

He is a straight A student, has done well on all his pre-college testing, great community service record, lots of interesting things he has been involved in, etc etc etc.

Last week he was in Nebraska for the International Thespian Conference. While there, he had the opportunity to do some college auditioning. This was the chance to really get his feet wet outside of the local theatre community, and see if he truly might be able to pursue stage acting as a profession. It is his love, and the dream of his lifetime. The big college auditions will be in Chicago this coming February. Anyhow, out of the approximately 30 or so schools there holding auditions, he was called back to 25 of them. Amazing in and of itself, I was (and am) thrilled for him.

He came home from the conference feeling like he had been courted by 3 or 4 of the best (in his eyes) theatre schools, and that college offers might be coming his way. Which to me is weird, because he hasn't even done any college applications yet (they're not due until December 15).

Anyhow, today in the mail he got an offer from one of the schools. It was on his short-list of dream schools. Besides offering him one of only 10 spots in the theatre program, they have offered him a 75% scholarship, with the possibility of more $$$ depending on whether he ends up a National Merit finalist.

Can you believe it?!? He's in one of his dream schools without even applying!

So, he can go into the college application process this fall with a whole different outlook. First, he doesn't need to apply to any of the "safe" schools any longer. He can concentrate on the schools he really wants to go to, all the time knowing that even if they don't pan out, he is golden. Plus, he can use the $$$ offer this school made as leverage to get the other schools that accept him to offer more $$$. It certainly takes a lot of pressure off Brett and me, as the tuition at some of these schools is pretty darned scary.

As a parent, it is SO gratifying to see that all his hard work and focus all these years is being recognized.

Thanks so much for letting me share!

Sunlight....

So the other night the sun was setting, and reflecting off the window of a house that is kitty-corner behind our house. It cast this perfect, warm, diffused light on my lilies on the back porch.

Amazing how I am finally seeing the light, literally.

Not inspired...

All my creative energy seems to be being expended in designing the website. Thank goodness I have Brett to actually build the thing, there is no way I could have! It's slow going, as he's never built a site before. It looks like the most difficult part is now behind him (the shopping cart system was giving him fits) so fingers crossed that he's able to get it live by the end of the weekend. That would be so great! Meanwhile I've been getting the paperwork in order, and researching the heck out of the other aspects of selling my stuff besides online. It's going to be a long, hard road, but I am really looking forward to the challenge! It's nice to have something like this to really sink my teeth into.

Anyhow, here are a few recent shots:













I hope everyone has a "safe and sane" Independence Day!

Intense and disturbing....at least to me

Let me say off the bat, this is not one of my photos. It is a publicity photo for a show Colin is in (called Sweeney Todd) that opens on the 20th of this month (at the Village Theatre in Issaquah if anyone from this area is interested in seeing it), and it is ok to post it. I saw this photo, and as a mom, I immediately got that deep, to the pit of my stomach, accutely uncomfortable feeling. My child, in a straitjacket, not something I ever imagined. Scary stuff, even if it is just acting.

On the other hand, I'm excited to see how he pulls off crazy, he's never played a role like this before. I've not seen the show, as I've always found the premise of the show more than mildly disturbing, so it will be interesting to see it for the first time with my kid in it, KWIM?

From a photographer's viewpoint, I am loving the lighting on this. It's very effective.