Who shoots in a cemetery while in Paradise?

Me.

We stumbled across this small old cemetery one day and initially I was drawn to all the texture on the grave markers. As I looked around more I was saddened to see how many of the graves were for infants and young children. I wonder about the sadness the family must have felt after losing their children - I can't begin to imagine the pain they must have felt. What I loved was that even after all the years had gone by since their passing, someone still takes the time to tend to the grave markers.

I played around with textures for the first time when processing these and I think I may have gone a bit overboard! You know how when you look back at your first attempts at doing PP in photoshop and you are shocked to see how little you knew back then? I think I'll do the same with these textures...LOL. Luckily these are just copies, and I do still have the originals.

For some reason, I took ALL of these with the camera tilted, don't ask me why. I must not have had enough coffee yet that morning ;)



This next one i desaturated the color a bit before using the texture, the sun had been hitting the grass behind it and it was an almost neon green. I never desaturate, what do you think? BE HONEST :D





and one without texture:



I liked this next one because whoever it was lived a very long (and hopefully full) life. Look at the exposed rebar, and how someone carefully has placed one of the broken bits back on top of the cross. I definitely went too far on the texture here, I was trying to mitigate the car in the background and was not very successful:

The Road to Hana - Part 1

The one thing we had definitely decided on before we left home was to take the drive to Hana. We had heard such wonderful things about it, and that it was absolutely beautiful. It did not disappoint! In a perfect world I would have changed two things about the day.

1. It would have rained the night before so the waterfalls would have been more impressive. Wish I had more pull with Mother Nature ;)

and

2. I would have a landscape photographer along with us to mentor me. I have little to no experience with landscape photography, and unfortunately it shows in my pics. I made a big mistake while shooting, and did not stop my lens down far enough (as I didn't want to bump up my ISO). In hindsight, I can see that I should have stopped it down to F16 or more.

If you don't know about the Road to Hana, I'll give a little background. You drive it not to get to the destination, but to enjoy the journey. It is only a 53 mile drive, however the road is very narrow and it has over 600 turns on it (many are hairpin) as well as over 50 one lane bridges. The posted speed limit is 15 mph, with areas at 10mph. My husband drove the entire thing, both coming and going as I am always uncomfortable driving rental cars. He is such a good sport and deserves something special for all that work, I'm still working out what that something should be. Anyhow, if you want to know more about it, you can google Road to Hana and/or Hana Highway and get lots of hits.

We bought the book Maui Revealed (which I highly recommend) a few days prior to the trip, so the night before we each went through the book and highlighted places we definitely wanted to be sure to stop at. We managed to stop at them all, plus some! We left at 6:45 am and got back to our hotel at about 8pm (I think) that night. If I ever have the opportunity to drive this again I'll plan on staying the night in Hana before continuing on. It looks like a really nice place to spend a night or two.

One of my favorite stops was on the Ke'anae Peninsula. It was breathtakingly gorgeous! We also stopped at a roadside stand there and picked up 3 mini loaves of banana bread. It was soooo good, and lasted us for several days. On that same note, we were tickled by how many roadside banana bread stands there were on this drive. Other than beautiful scenery, there is really nothing for that 53 miles except banana bread stands!

So, these are a few pics from that stop. I played with lab color mode and a "multiply" layer to help bring out the brilliant colors. The blue of the sky and the water against the greenery is amazing. This is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life. And yes, I know I have used the word beautiful about a bazillion times in this entry! SOOC the images looked nothing like real life, now they do.

Oh, and remember please, I never claimed to be a landscape photographer!

These signs were continuously on the road and totally cracked me up. Like this was even a remote possibility! We actually pulled over a lot just to let other cars pass so B could relax and enjoy the driving.

Shot from the car. Dontcha just love those puffy clouds?

Lastly. ANNA, IF YOU'RE READING THIS WOULD YOU DROP ME AN EMAIL PLEASE? I lost your email addy and I miss chatting with you!!! Plus, I can't seem to get to your blog after following the link when you post to mine. THANK YOU!!!

the worst part about coming home from vacation...

...is having to cook dinner again :P. Monday night I was too pooped (we got home at 7:30am after flying all night) to cook so we ordered pizza. Last night we had soup and salad. Tonight I actually have to COOK dinner after almost 2 weeks of not having to. UGH. I can't be the only one who feels this way...right?

On to more Hawaii pics. When we were in Lahaina one day I ran across what became my absolute favorite shop we stopped at. It's called Dan's Green House. The woman who was working that morning was so warm and sweet and the shop is so much fun! They sell exotic birds, potbelly piglets, and lots of plumeria starts (no blooms) as well as other plants. If I thought for a minute I could get a plumeria to grow and bloom in Seattle I would have been all over them! As it is, I did bring home a small antherium planted on a lava rock as a thank you to my mom for taking in our cat for us while we were gone.

I had so much fun shooting the birds (even though the lighting was not the best, nor were the birds very good at "posing" for me) and poking around the shop. C even fed the pigs a bottle. They WERE absolute pigs, you'd think they hadn't eaten for DAYS they way they went after the bottle, it was hysterical! C is a little cautious by nature, and the pigs were a little wiggly (to say the least) while feeding, but we all had a good time!

There are a lot of pics below, you've been warned! I happened to have my macro lens on the camera for most of these pics, that's why so many of them are extreme close-ups.










I love that I captured him with his feathers out on this next one, I wish I had been prepared for it though and had stepped back a bit.









See, I told you he was a pig, look at all the milk dripping out of his mouth!



"Hmmm, I think I'll try holding a bird..."



"Oh, look, he's starting to climb my shirt!" Oh, and that's milk from the pigs' bottle all over the front of C's shirt.



I little love nibble. By the way, these guys bite hard....I got nailed several times on my thumb, ouch!



"Mom! Make him stop!"



Also, I just want to express my thanks to you all. It warms my heart (and C's too) to read all the nice comments you made yesterday :) I'm not ready to name the school as he is still waiting to hear back from 5 others. We also need to wait for the financial aid package to arrive (likely the beginning of April) and see what they offer him as far as scholarships go before making a decision. More than anything for him, acceptance into this particular program (which is widely considered to be among the very best) means MAJOR validation for what he is doing, and as an actor outside validation can be very important! His classmate who was also accepted went ahead and sent his deposit in today and ordered his sweatshirt already (the kids all wear their college sweatshirts to school on May 1st as it's the national decision day)! He isn't going to wait and see what other schools accept him, he is that sure about this one. I am so thrilled for him!

Not sure where to start with this one

So, I'll start with the part of the post where I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wish I had had my camera in my hand at the time.

As a parent, there is no greater joy than watching your child's goals and dreams come true! As you know, C did his college auditions in Chicago a few weeks ago. He had already auditioned and been accepted into several schools last summer, but he wanted to continue the auditioning process and went in for 6 more schools. He wasn't expecting to really start hearing back for a few more weeks, although he was hopeful he might hear sooner than that. I personally think he is madly talented and any school is very lucky to have him, but I'm his mom, you know?!? So, he waits.

This afternoon he started yelling "oh my god, oh my god" and I truly thought something was seriously wrong. I walked into the room and he was literally jumping higher than I had ever seen him, and laughing hysterically with a bright red face. He had opened his email to find an acceptance letter from one of his top 2 schools, a school he thought was really a "reach" school as they only accept 24 students in their musical theatre program and they are very highly regarded. I got some of the BEST hugs I've ever got in my life from him. He is beside himself, totally overjoyed. And I am absolutely thrilled for him :) CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!? So, this household is pretty elated tonight! Wanna know something else? Another guy that C has been in school with together since 8th grade has also been accepted to the program. What are the odds of that?!? It seems like a great fit for C, as he really wanted to go somewhere with a fantastic MT program but that is housed within a strong university (rather than a conservatory based program) so he can continue his academic studies.

Ok, on to the photo part of the blog :) Be forewarned, there will likely be a lot of posts about Hawaii to come, and they will likely be wordy. When I'm done I'm going to use the journaling here and put the pics and writing in a book for us to keep.

From the first day we were on Maui the whales were very present. The first morning we went to the beach for a few hours just to catch our breath and get our bearings. Imagine our surprise when we looked out to the water and saw whales breeching right off the beach, and many more in the distance! I knew that they are in Hawaiian waters during the winter, but I had no idea how much their presence is felt. Every time we looked out towards the water (or were on the water) we could see them. It was absolutely amazing!

I was so envious of the kayakers out in the water, the whales would get so close to them, and viewing them from right at the water level must be amazing!

We went out on a 2 hour whale watch one day through the Pacific Whale Foundation. It was fascinating! Boats are not allowed to go within 100 yards of the whales, however if you park your boat and the whales come over to explore you it's all good. That's exactly what happened that day. We sat for probably 30 minutes while 2 whales came over and kept swimming next to, and also back and forth UNDER the boat!

Wish I had the right lens and the experience shooting on a rocking boat in the ocean to get amazing pics, but I didn't. So these will have to do:









Laying on his (or her) back:



Soooooo close:



Mom and baby:





As we left the last day we stopped at a viewpoint for one last look out at the beach and ocean. It was fitting that that day there were 5 whales hanging out as close to the shore as we had ever seen them, and many, many more a little further out. I had to refrain from grabbing my camera and shooting, instead I just stood there and enjoyed the moment.

Home from Hawaii

We got in at 6am today after flying all night and boy are we all tired! None of us can sleep on airplanes, so we took a quick nap this morning and hit the ground running today. I have got SO many photos to go through and am too pooped to edit tonight, so I just picked 2 random shots to post tonight.

The first is from the Old Lahaina Luau. It came highly recommended as one of the most authentic Luaus to go to, and after chatting with some other vacationers who had gone to other Luaus, it sounds like we made a good choice. Many were kind of "cheesy." Anyhow, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The food was varied and very good, and the show was just beautiful!

I am really sad though. I was totally looking forward to shooting this show. I have used my 85mm lens to shoot performance photos for 2 years and it has always worked fabulously on both my D50 and D200. However, this was the first time I had used it on my new camera (D300) and probably 95% or more of my Luau pics are NOT in focus. So, I need to send the lens in to have it calibrated to my camera. I wish I had thought to try the lens out on this camera prior to the trip, because who knows when I'll have the opportunity to shoot something like this again :( unfortunately most pics will have to be dumped because they are badly OOF



This second photo has a bit of a story to it. Our first full day on Maui we went into Lahaina for the afternoon and there were people selling various arts and crafts under the big Banyon Tree in the center of town. I absolutely fell in LOVE with a medium sized panoramic photo I saw of a surfboard fence, but didn't want to spend the $65 for it. I did a little "googling" that evening and was able to determine that the fence is located in Hai'ku, but not exactly WHERE it was. One day when we went sightseeing out that direction we tried to find it, to no avail. Finally we stopped and asked a woman, and of course she knew of it and was able to tell us how to find it! Yay!!!

We got there and it really is an impressive sight. I went up into the yard and asked the guy (quite a character I might add) if he'd mind if I took a few shots of it. He owns about 4 acres and has only erected this fence on one small area of his property so far. He says he has close to 400 surf and wind boards up right now. People just bring their old ones by and he adds them as he has time. I took a couple dozen pics of it and I'll share some others another day. I didn't get any shots as nice as the one I saw in Lahaina, but I am really glad I got a chance to see it in person!



It's hard to get used to having cold hands and feet again now that we're home. The weather on Maui was absolutely picture perfect the entire time, not too warm, not too humid, and just the right amount of breeze. However, I AM looking forward to a nice long sleep tonight!

ALOHA :)

I am so excited to go! I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be whining, kicking, and being an all around pain in the neck when it's time to come home. We haven't been on a family vacation for 18 months which is FAR too long.

I have been waiting to take this trip for over 7 years, I kid you not. When I was 39, B asked me what I would like for my 40th birthday. I had been wanting to go to Hawaii for many years, so that's what popped into my head and what I told him I would like. We planned, organized, and arranged the trip for about 18 months later. To make a long story short (and to avoid embarrassing an unnamed spouse any more than he has been in the past by this), a few weeks before we were to leave we found a discrepancy in our airplane tickets (or lack thereof) and we had to cancel the trip.

It's about time and I have been VERY patient, dontcha think?

I can't decide what aspect(s) of the trip I am most excited about. Having the warmth really seep into my bones sounds wonderful - I am tired of winter! The beautiful beaches and snorkeling sound amazing as well. Whale watching and boat trips, yep - looking forward to that in a big way too. And the lush, tropical scenery away from the beaches, it sounds magnificent. I hope my photos can do it all justice.

By the time I thought to photograph these this afternoon, the beach towels had already been packed at the very bottom of the suitcase and I didn't want to dig them out. Otherwise I would have tried for something artsy-fartsy with the towels and bottles :)

Oh, and these bottles are in the wrong order. I should have put the SPF 30 in front. We're all VERY pale (and I've had melanoma), so we'll start with SPF 30 and hopefully be able to graduate to SPF 15 at some point during the trip.



ALOHA!
See ya in about 10 days!

First signs of spring

I worked out in the yard yesterday pruning roses and just doing general clean up. It was almost 50 degrees and NOT raining. Woo hoo! Things are just beginning to start poking out of the ground, and nothing is starting to flower yet except this one teeny, tiny bulb (I can't recall what it is) in a planter by the front door. Shooting this made me VERY excited for spring. I miss wandering around and looking for posies to photograph.



Hope you all had a Happy Valentines Day!!!

So many books, so little time!

The stack of books on my nightstand is too stinking HIGH right now! And they're all things I need/want to read NOW.



Starting at the top:

Maui Revealed. I just got this 2 days ago. We leave for Maui on Saturday, yikes! I know I'll be reading it non-stop on the plane ride! You'd never know we have had this trip planned for a year considering the almost complete lack of preparation we've done for it.

The Innocent Man. I didn't bring enough reading material on my trip to Chicago (didn't anticipate just how much sitting around I'd be doing during C's auditions), so I bought it for the plane ride home. So far I am underwhelmed with it.

Close-up Shooting. I got on a tear a few weeks ago and reserved a bunch of photography books through our library's website, sight unseen. Of course they all came in at the same time. I haven't even opened this one yet :(

A Thousand Splendid Suns. My sister loaned this to me a while back. I started it, then hadn't picked it up for a few weeks. I finished it in Chicago and HIGHLY recommend it! Thanks Teri :)

Nikon Creative Lighting System. Out of the blue one day it arrived on my doorstep in an Amazon box. Ends up one of my most favorite people in the world sent it to me just because. Is that sweet or what?!? I have not read much of it yet though :(

The next two photography books are also library books. I need to get to them soon as they're due back while we're in Hawaii. I'll probably end up returning them and checking them out again later on.

Lastly, a Rachel Ray cooking magazine. I've never purchased her magazines or books before. I actually found several recipes in it that I have dog-eared to try soon!

What's on YOUR nightstand?

Last of the Chicago pics

These things cracked me up. They are HUGE and appear to be made of glass block. Inside of them pictures are projected, and the facial expressions change. Every now and again the face itself changes as well. If you look closely at the mouth there is a round gray spot. I've been told that during the summer months water is randomly squirted out of the mouths. Is that too fun or what? Can you imagine all the kids (and adults) playing in these when it's 90 degrees out?







Thanks so much for the nice comments the last few days, I really appreciate it! The detail shots I've posted yesterday were not taken with my macro, I used my Nikon 28-70 (I only brought the one lens with me). I love this lens in a big way, and it really worked well for me this trip.

Salvaged architectural "stuff" from the Art Institute

More salvaged pieces of buildings and iron gates/fences, etc. There were so many beautiful things to see, and so little time. I wish I could have photographed it all!

I played a bit with black and whites, I think they work well for these pics. This one shows it's age, there are several pieces broken off:



Is this not the most "space age" fence you've ever seen? It was soooo cool in person!



Love the pattern on this, it looks almost Celtic to me:



These are just plain amazing:



A detail in copper:



This fish is what the detail directly above is from, it is so gorgeous! I would love to have it hanging somewhere in my home.



So ornate:



Last one....I seriously could have stood in the atrium and shot details of these bits for HOURS, there are so many I didn't get to. Can you image the artistry it takes to make these things, and the amount of time necessary?!? I am so glad people thought to save these little bits of architectural history.

The Art Institute of Chicago

I really wish I had had more time here (and I'm not even a big museum goer)! There were some lovely pieces of art here, and we only had enough time to barely scratch the surface as C and I went for only a couple of hours the morning we headed home :( I should have gone over there while he was busy with auditions earlier in the trip, but I didn't want to go alone. Stupid me.



One of the pieces of art he really wanted to see (and wanted me to photograph) is the painting called "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat which inspired a musical called "Sunday in the Park with George." There was a docent working with a school group, so this is the best I got.



I love Claude Monet's paintings, the colors are always so saturated and the themes so relaxing. Plus, it doesn't take a a lot of "thinking" to figure out. Sometimes I think I am too pedestrian to appreciate a lot of art. Anyhow, there were two Monet paintings which really caught my eye (it's kind of weird to take a picture of a painting, but I did):





The things that really took my breath away were remnants of old buildings, gates, fences and the like which were displayed in the atrium. I adore the detailing in old Arts and Crafts era architecture. I am very "ordered" girl and the repetition of pattern and use of organic shapes really attracts my eye. I didn't get near as much time as I would have liked looking at these things, but I did take a few pics. Here are a couple of an old gate, tomorrow I'll post some others.