Sunny day

It's February, the slow time. What can I say...if only the weather would be like it is today for a couple of weeks, I might be able to schedule some shoots. For now, we're waiting.

Kian's birthday is coming up next weekend. Can't believe he's going to be 2! He's saying so many words and phrases now, it's so fun to watch his progress.

I will try to post some photos tonight. I've been laying low lately trying to get that table done. So far I've got the practice stuff done under one of the chairs. I decided to go with watercolor which actually works really well on wood, believe it or not. The woodburner is up and running and I've got a set of 18 watercolors which should be plenty. I've got a few designs drawn in pencil and the whole concept is starting to take shape. Talk about blank canvas jitters. I felt so much better when I drew the sun in the middle of the table. After that I though "I can do this!"

Happy almost (almost) spring. I know we're a month off, but hey, the crocuses are blooming and I'm starting to see more birds and buds starting on the trees. Signs of hope that this long, cold winter is on its way out.

In love

My cousin Mike and his awesome wife Selena visited from Hawaii recently. They've been married a little less than a year. We went to a park for a little BBQ and I managed to catch them in this little moment. Aren't they cute? Working my backlight as usual :) Also, I've been messing around with some Photoshop actions I got from Nichole Van. In these I used the essential color pop action but then toned it down. For some reason, blogger makes the color look a little funky. Post me a comment if you think the color looks weird and I'll see if I can fix it.

Out on the P-town

My dear friend Danielle came up to visit this weekend from San Francisco. I've known her since I was 14 (She is one year and one day younger than me.) We had a great time catching up and relaxing. Although she works as an occupational therapist, she is an amazing artist and photographer. I was lucky to have her do a couple of family portraits with my camera. It was weird being on the other side of the lens for once. We went out Sat. night and ran into my cousin Tony who drives a Pedi-Cab. He gave us a little spin around the block. Total blast. Here are a couple pics shot with Danielle's little point and shoot as well as one of me and Kian in downtown Tigard that Danielle shot with my Nikon. I loved that funky wall. I have another senior session to post tomorrow. Check back and scope out the handsome and very stylish guy I got to shoot. Ok, later.

Learning to walk uphill

That's what I feel like I'm doing these days. With starting a business, there is so much to learn and so many decisions to make. It's a challenge that I welcome right now. It's easy to cruise along in status quo mode, never deviating from the comfortable place. I have never liked the "comfortable place." I cruise it for a while and then I start getting antsy for something new. I see these traits in my son. He is constantly challenging himself to push further than his limits. I learn from him daily. Here is a picture of him learning to walk uphill (on grass, no less). Look at that huge smile, that face of delight. After they got to the top, he clapped his hands and wanted to go back down and do it again.

It's finally sunny!

Springtime in Oregon can be hard to get through. The rain tends to come down hardest in spring. Then it hails. But sometimes these gorgeous sunny days pop up and we get a little peek of summer, the most glorious season in Portland. But those of us who've lived in Portland for a long time know to be opportunistic. Just one of those days can recharge me long enough to withstand another stretch of wet days. Here are a couple of pictures from some sunny days this week. I'm still shooting with my 50mm. I ordered a new lens and I can't wait for it to come. Maybe tomorrow? It is a Nikon 55-200 zoom with their awesome VR technology. This basically eliminates the problem of camera shake when shooting at long focal lengths. It used to be almost impossible to shoot long lengths handheld. You needed a tripod to get really sharp photos. But this technology compensates for that. I will be posting many photos after I get that lens. For now, I have to be up close. As for post processing: none. Other than the watermark. These images are SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera). I love my Nikon!