Sunday, September 23, 2012

Property - Gayfeather life cycle

 GAYFEATHER: BEFORE (taken in July)


GAYFEATHER: DURING THE FINCH ATTACK (taken in August) (note the finch on the left Gayfeather going to town, he's blurry cause he was moving so much, while the finch on the right is coming in for a landing to feed).


GAYFEATHER:  AFTER THE FINCH ATTACK (taken in September)


These stalks will die back, I'll cut them off & then some of them are moving into our newer front yard planter. I didn't know that finches would go after the Gayfeather when it went to seed (or that it would even go to seed, haha), now that we know it, we are going to buy more Gayfeathers in the Spring for the backyard. Our front porch was covered with seed after the attack. It'll be interesting to see if we get any come up next summer, we planted a bulb, not seed, so not sure how that works. Can't wait to get these planted & see them bloom next summer in their new home.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The "B" Family - Redding CA Photographer


I had a nice day out with the B family several weeks ago, I sure love this family!!
PERSONAL NOTE:  I was telling Jon the other day, that since watching an online workshop on CreativeLive, I see my photos in a completely different way, seeing things I didn't see before. It made me want to critique my own work & see the flaws along with what I love. (I don't have thick skin so I'm taking baby steps here.) There's a million things I want to change about the lighting in the photos but I still love them cause I love the family. Lighting is the biggest frustration for me & being limited with my gear & not having an assistant 98% of the time, I knew these would be hard photos to light but I still liked the basic sorta posey moment so it was a keeper to me. Every idea has to start somewhere. Now I just need to tweek it a little here & there, keep shooting the pose adding light, to eventually make it my best ;) I want to do it straight from the camera, not fix it in photoshop but that's just who I am, don't judge.

And since I LOVE happiness, I had to post the moment too, I just love her face! Don't you love that special someone that makes you laugh so much your face hurts....I DO!  & I know what that happiness feels like.

Even with the photo above, I see it differently since taking it, like now, not having him look into her eyes this close but I do still love it, it makes me smile...a lot; that's the most important part. I'll do better next time. The look on his face (not shown, duh), made her react this way & made the image completely worth keeping. BEST feeling EVER!!!

"Push, Fail, Learn, Evolve" - Roberto Valenzuela Photography
(the workshop instructor I watched on CreativeLive)

Thursday, September 6, 2012



I went to my nieces wedding in North Shore Lake Tahoe the end of August. It was such a sweet ceremony & we all just bawled when her little brother gave her a hug at the end of the ceremony (last photo). I went as a guest so I only took photos during the ceremony & from my seat, it was so relaxing & free of pressure. What a great day!

 Congratulations to John & Kayla!!!! 

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Sadie Senior portraits - Matson Vineyards - Redding, CA


Had a great time with Sadie at Matson Vineyards, taking her senior portraits. She is so cute & has the most amazing eyes.





I absolutely LOVE these!!!

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