Swingin'

My family and I went to the Colorado River last weekend and had a marvelous time! This week I've been editing all the photos I took and getting ready to put them up on the blog. As I was going through them I came across the ones of my cousin Sara on the high swing and after I completed them I knew I had to showcase them on their own. It was just way too cool to throw it into a stream of photos as a blip.


So without further jabbering here is the swing event starring Sara Rose at the Colorado River, Pirate's Cove, Needles, California.

Ok, here's Sara, she's a ham. My favorite because hams pose for pictures and I like to take pictures so it is a wonderful relationship. She's getting all strapped in and harnessed up. 
Here's what happened: We drove the boat up to shore and as we did everyone started talking about that large swing and how they should go on it. Before we all got out of the boat Sara had her wallet out and was headed up to the swing! She moved so fast it was as though we went there only to get on that swing. Well now no one else wanted to go but that wasn't going to stop her. She talked the kid working there to go with her on the swing. They could do it alone, but because of the instability of a single on the swing, and the fact that Sara suffered a near fatal head injury over a year ago, she chose to ride with a swing worker. PS She got the head injury from riding and crashing on a dirt bike... I know, she's a pistol, always has been. 

 Seriously, what could that guy be thinking? LOL

I was getting kind of nervous while editing these because I hate heights! I'm glad there are people who will do this kind of stuff, especially when I have my camera with me!

 Good Gracious! Right? No, thank you...

This is the first drop on the up swing!

And it was just a whole lotta swinging from there!

 On that first swing up I followed them up and hit the sun,

can't even tell you how happy I was when I realized it was 

there. I knew it would flare and I love me some flare!

 I love that she's looking back smiling! 

Then, it was done. It was exciting to watch and I knew I had some cool shots. As she was getting off the swing and getting de-harnessed I quick looked at my pictures and was excited I actually captured them in the air with the sun. When I called Sara over to see the ones of them in the sky she was so excited and she said she is really afraid of heights, that's why she likes to do these kinds of things! What?!! Wait, what? Seriously, I saw zero fear! The swing event was cool but the fact that I just watched this girl completely overcome something that scares her as though she was attacking it was the most amazing thing I saw all weekend. 


Way to go baby girl! Keep it up and there will be nothing you can't do! Some people go their whole lives never addressing their fears but if you keep this going you'll be unstoppable! This is what the adventure is all about.

Downtown Dagget

We just returned home from a quick weekend out at the river just off Needles, Ca. I can't wait to share all the photos and stories with you! 


First, I wanted to talk about iPhone pictures. One of the many reasons I wanted an iPhone was because I wanted to be able to edit cell phone pictures. I fell in love with Chase Jarvis' book The Best Camera is the One That's With You. It really is about the fact that we always have our phones with us and we should be able to edit the pictures from them. 


I am a photographer, I'm obsessed with taking pictures. I've been trying to figure out how to get a small camera inserted in my right eye, so I'll never miss a shot. I figure I could just slap my self on the side of my face when I want to capture an image. Well that's another blog entry so I'll get back to the cell phone story.


As we were returning home yesterday from the river, we decided we would stop along the way and take pictures if we saw an interesting place. We actually stopped in a little place called Dagget because my daughter needed to use the bathroom. We never found a bathroom but stumbled upon this little service station that has been closed down.


When I was a child I spent many hours picking through the dirt looking for treasures. I dug up shiny rocks and trinkets that I felt were very much like treasures. I love tiny details and odd things that don't "belong" where they are. I have to say this old closed down service station was like a treasure chest! 


As I was walking around looking at all the junks, I kept thinking, "I should get my camera out." Then I just kept thinking about how fun it would be to blog about how you can capture interesting and fun pictures on your cell phone. The images are just as entertaining as if I had used my SLR. I like how grainy they are because the place was very grainy in real life. It was weird and creepy.It was dry and hot and windy and I wanted the images to look like it.


If I learned anything in school, it was that it's not about the camera you use but how you use it. The correct camera and lens are the ones that make your images the way you need them to look to fit the story you are telling. I think in this case the story I'm telling you is perfectly told with my cell phone.


Some of the images were edited in Instagram and others were loaded into photoshop and edited there. So many possibilities!! Enjoy!

I love the train that flew through the center of

 town.

 The Station

 The back of the station...

I can't help wonder what is going on inside.

 A weird place for gourds to grow.

What a weird word: gourd.

 The side window.

What? Someone's bear?  

 A little camo spray paint...while you have a smoke...

 What even is this???

 Is it weird that there is a shoe here

or that the shoe has a weird hole in it?

 Why do I keep finding single gloves?

 hmmm...

I like that I'm in this one, nice posing. 

Uhm, a bag of hamburger buns? 

 This one made the most sense to me, just saying. 

Good bye Dagget, it was nice meeting you! On we drove to Barstow to find a bathroom.

Family Photos

Yesterday was family photo shoot day. It was the first Saturday in a long time that we were all going to be home at the same time. My husband and I set up the backdrop and all my lights. All the girls in the house were primping and curling so we could be in a million fabulous photos together.


Well, in the true form of how my family rolls, it wasn't long before things began to fall apart. My oldest daughter didn't show up and when I texted her she told me she was working later then what she originally said. Now she wasn't going to be there. So the family picture was out of the plan. 


Why waste the set up? I started shooting anyway and everything was going fine until a couple of my lights started to fail. Then no matter what I did I couldn't get the lights to pop. I tried using a sync cord and it failed too.


The shoot just spiraled down hill from there. It's so odd to me how so many things can go right and in the next shoot everything can go wrong. This is where I believe, my background in law enforcement and maybe just having three daughters pays off. I just don't stress about it. I noticed the nice light coming in the dinning room window and if I opened the blinds it was even better. I changed up the settings on my camera and turned off all the lights. Low and behold we redeemed the photo shoot.


Here are a few images from yesterdays shoot. Close to what I wanted but we'll be revisiting this soon so I can get all of us in the pictures.

 Too cool for this photo shoot.

 Love this!

 Sisters

 Amanda

 I love this image of Emma. It's

just so her. I love that I'll have this

 when she's a grown woman. 

How could I B&W an image that has a red 

balloon in it?

 We moved outside as the shoot

became too boring for everyone.

Thanks for coming by, hopefully we'll have some new family photos full of more people in the near future. Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Mt. Vernon

So I recently went to Photoshop World in Washington DC. My girlfriend, Kim and I went together and as usual, we had a fabulous time together. 
So, here is a quickie post of our first day there. We had one day to spend sight-seeing and we chose to spend it at Mt. Vernon. This is George Washington's homestead. His family built the home and lived in it for years. It was the place he lived and died and his body is still there.


Enjoy the tour, through my eyes. I've had amazing memories of this place, and was thrilled to be back even for just a day!

 Cherry blossoms!

 Kim, doing her thing!

Pictures of the family! I just captured them the way I would on 

a family shoot. lol

 An amazing stained glass window in the information center.

 The house! 

And us!

 The kitchen. Now I've been here in the summer and it makes

perfect sense to me to have the kitchen out of the house, especially

before the days of air conditioning.

 The trees and shrubs, and flowers here were 

ridiculous and gorgeous!

 Waiting to go in the house. No Pictures allowed! 

 Stables

The smoke house! Yummm! Awesome smell!

I love all the tress, fences, gates, walkways, and all the other fabulous

details here that remind me of how long it's been here.

 Overlooking the Potomac River.

Sheeps, and more sheeps!

 It's not easy to take a picture of a moving ant.

 A clulck cluck.

So in love with the grounds, and all the gardens!

 Caught Kimmie sneaking the shot!

 Even the moss and fungus were beautiful.

 How amazing is the texture of this tree!

The docks at the Potomac.

 At the Potomac

I was loving all the old

 It was a wonderful day and three hours just flew by as we got lost in the history and beauty of this marvelous place! I hope you enjoyed the photos!