Macro

Trying out the new Macro Lens. 

Not the typical Macro Lens.

It a Lens Baby Composer.

With Macro Kit

Here is a more Vintage look.

I have so many things I want to try with this lens.

Stay Tuned.

In the meantime check out their site. 

Next on my list.....Fisheye Optic

The Joy of Love

Happy February.  I am participating in a FREE 28-day lass from Willette Photography….the JOY of love!

Participants will receive daily email prompts/photo assignments with some tutorial/instruction built into the daily email lesson.  It is that easy.  She will email you every morning, and you follow the assignment/prompt if you would like.  She has created a public flickr gallery where you can share if you so choose.

It's not too late to participate.  Just click on the Joy of Love badge  in the upper left corner of my page here and it will tell you how to participate.

The photo above is my day 01: What they do.  It's a bit of a cheat since I took this picture last year. I need more people around this place to photograph.  I guess I may have to get out more this month!  I am thinking of doing all of my pictures for the class in black and white.  Let me know if you decide to participate and I will look for your photos.

Sunrise

"With each sunrise, we start anew."

This is a series of photos that I took while in Canyonlands National Park in April. Troy and I arrived before sunset. It was cold, and dark and then it was beautiful and amazing. As the sun rises the underside of the arch begins to glow. It almost looks like hot embers on a burning log. Enjoy.

Katey

ps. i love her new hair cut...so perfect for her!

Ahh!

Pause

There was a brief pause in the rain this morning. This was the View

Todays View

It's may be raining but the view is great! This is a blood orange off of our very own tree. It is soooo sweet and juicy. Yum.

Winter Getaway

Last August when I was in Peru Ken bought tickets to a Keb Mo Concert at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach. This weekend the concert was finally here. The concert was fantastic. Keb can really sing and he didn't let us down.

The plan had been to Kayak Saturday morning but the weather forecast before we left home didn't look good so the Kayak stayed home.

Instead we decided to check out Torry Pines State Park in LaJolla. Of course the day actually was warm and beautiful. This is the view from the beginning of the hike. We actually hiked out to the rock in the picture to start out with.

Here is my hiking companion and pack mule.
There were many areas where the plants were being rehabilitated. Rehabilitated from what I do not know, it all looked good to me.
The view as we hiked further out. (looking north)

The view the other direction. (looking south)
At the end of the trail. The Pacific Ocean.

Hijacked

A few Saturdays ago I got a call in the morning from my brother Troy. I asked him where he was and he said he was in a fire lookout tower where he and my SIL, Connie, had spent the night. I couldn't believe that they could get reception. We decided it was because they were so High in the sky on top of the mountain. We had a nice chat and then I was jealous that he was in such a cool place enjoying the view, reading, and relaxing. I was doing Laundry.

Well now this. He posted these beautiful pictures on facebook and I have hijacked them so you can all see what talent he has and why I was having such envy over his location at the time of the call. Check them out

Here is the fire lookout tower they rented and slept in. Deadwood lookout somewhere in Idaho.

Here they are.. the famous photographer (now that all the millions of people who view my blog have seen them) and the best SIL (sis in law) ever! (All rights to these photos belong to Troy and his sneaky sister who infringed on all his right by posting them on her blog).

Happy Earth Day!

Well really this post isn't about Earth Day.  It's about a great day I had with Natalie and Sean.  We went to the Long Beach Aquarium and hung out with the fish and sea creatures and about 50,000 grade school children ( gross exaggeration).  They have critters that you can touch like sharks and bat rays.  

We checked out every square inch of the place.  

This photo is our favorite of the day.  It is the underside but looks like a face. In fact we decided it looks a little like Patrick on Sponge Bob minus the cool shorts.

All right---I will show you what I mean.  Now you see what I mean?

This picture is great.  Look at that little girl checking out Sean.  I think she is smitten.

 

After the Aquarium we rode our bikes all around the place and down to Belmont Shores for lunch.  The weather was perfect and the company even better.  I just wished the rest of the gang could have been with us but someone has to pay for my fun! 

Snow What!

Last week the mountains were covered with snow and I wanted to take my girls to do some pictures. On Tuesday after work I told them to glamorize and load up some lip gloss and a chair so we could go to Wrightwood. Our trusty driver Cap'n Ken drove us up and I got a few shots off the side of the road. Here are my Girls looking cute as ever.


I told them to toss some snow


Cap'n Ken thought meant he was suppose to throw snow also.

This is what happened when he realized he wasn't suppose to throw snow.

There wasn't much sun when we got there so Ken thought we should chase the sun. We drove through Wrightwood and down past the Girls camp to Jackson Lake (which is really a pond). When we got there this lovely lady and her dog were there. She had gotten locked out of her car. I took pictures and Ken tried to get her car open with a hanger. It was getting very cold and starting to get dark as well. She had walked to a nearby cabin and used their phone to call her husband. She just got the message machine. Her dog had the most beautiful eyes. She had the most lovely French accent.

We tried to talk her in to coming with us into town where we could get cell phone reception until she made contact with her husband. She wouldn't budge she was sure she would be fine. She mentioned the picture taking and said she dabbled in photography of horses. She mentioned she posts her photos on her website. I got the URL . OK if that is dabbling then I shouldn't even get out my camera .We drove into town and tried tirelessly to get in touch with her husband. Then we called AAA to come unlock the door for her. They said they needed at least and hour and a half to get there and then they kept calling us because they couldn't figure out where we were. We stopped at the store for munchies while we were waiting.


Finally we decided to go back to the lake just to see if she was OK since it was dark and cold. She was gone. When we got home Ken contacted her through her website to make sure she was OK.

Now I didn't mention that in the midst of all this we shoveled snow into the back of the truck so that Dani could leave it on Cameron's front yard as part of her invitation to Backwards.

Pictures taken - check
New friend rescued - check
Tasty Snacks - Check
Backwards invitation - Check
Beautiful snow and sunset - Check
A few hours of out of the ordinary family time - Check

This just in: a link to the photo's from Christine that she took of her dog that same day before we arrived. Almost enough to make me want a dog.

Moonstruck

"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie thats Amore" Wow the moon was hitting my eye big time tonight. Thanks to my friend Lori who called to tell me, I got an eyeful. She also gave me some tips on getting a photo. I tried them and this is what I got. Not bad considering the wind was gusting at 50 mph.

So this also makes me think of one of my favorite movies ever. Yup, Moonstruck. Maybe I should watch it in honor of that big bright moon. It is Cher at her best. She isn't my favorite but she is beautiful in this film. And as for Nicholas Cage as Ronny, what can I say, I love his character, his lines, his missing hand. His romantic lines like this one:

(the following lines are rated PG-13)

Ronny Cammareri: Everything seems like nothing to me now, 'cause I want you in my bed. I don't care if I burn in hell. I don't care if you burn in hell. The past and the future is a joke to me now. I see that they're nothing. I see they ain't here. The only thing that's here is you - and me.

Or how about this one - (also rated PG-13)

Ronny Cammareri: Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know this either, but love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and *die*. The storybooks are *bullshit*. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and *get* in my bed!

Wow I guess he wanted her in his bed. Anyways a great love story. And just once in my life I would love to have long black beautiful hair like Cher does in the flick.

OK so now that the few of you who have access to my private blog have read this entry you are probably never coming back again. I am sorry if it has been to weird, or in anyway offensive. What can I say.....When the moon hits your eye! And with all that I am off to ruin myself on love and spend some time with my man.

Snow

Here in California , or at least where I live, we don't get snow. Unless of course you count the time we had some freak storm and it snowed and the snow lasted about an hour and you could still see all the green through it anyways. The only way we are going to enjoy the snow is to take a drive up into the local mountains at exactly the right moment or to look at it in a movie or better yet a book.

Let me recommend Stranger in the Woods by Carl R. Sams II & Jean Stoick. This is indeed , as printed on the cover, a photographic fantasy. Since I love children's books and Photography this book is a double delight. I have shared it with children who are ages 3-5 and they love this book. The photos are beautiful. The book is full of animals from the forest as well as a stranger who has a wonderful surprise and of course lots of snow.

Sparkle