Susan and Kelly - Portraits

A couple weeks ago, I met my good friend Susan in downtown Palo Alto for a quick portrait session.  In a short time, we borrowed a staircase, a courtyard, and a very surprised man's dog, all in the name of creative photography.  Susan is a dog person.  Her dog, Kelly, was a rescue dog, and Susan regularly volunteers at the San Jose Animal Shelter.  Kelly passed on to Doggy Heaven about a year ago, but we did a pet portrait session late in the fall of 2008 on Stanford University's grounds.  Here's a mish-mash of photos from both shoots.

This was one of my favorite photos from our Palo Alto shoot--  it just captures Susan's Susan-ness!

I grew up in Michigan, and though the fall foliage isn't quite as impressive in California, we had some great colors to shoot with Kelly.

Being the star of a photo shoot is exhausting....

Yosemite - Rafferty Peak, The Long Way Around

I'm pretty much in a constant battle to keep up with my photo catalogs.  It's not that I don't process my photos right away, because I do, at least nowadays.  The problem is that I didn't way back in the day.  A word of caution to those who who take lots photos-- don't download them and then just think to yourself, "I'll go through those later."  I apparently said that to myself in 2007.  A lot.

In any event, I've been going through my Yosemite catalog, and found a whole bunch of photos that got downloaded and forgotten.  Today's installment is from a cross-country route we took from Tuolumne Meadows over the pass above Elizabeth Lake, down the Echo Creek canyon, then up to Nelson and Reymann Lakes, a quick summit of Rafferty Peak, then down the northeast drainage back to the Rafferty Creek trail.  It was a fantastic hike-- lots of solitude, gorgeous views, and fun and exciting route-finding.

Mountain Biking and Cows

A few weeks ago, we spent a day cleaning and tuning up our mountain bikes.  Since then, we've been taking them around to the East Bay Regional Parks in our area as much as possible.  The only drawback I've found to the parks is grazing-- most of the parks are located in oak woodlands, which is apparently the good life for the Bay Area's cattle (remember those "Good cheese comes from happy cows.  Happy cows come from California" commercials?  Yeah.).  When it rains, those cows really like to use the same dirt roads and trails that bikers and hikers do, and the cattle herds turn the trails into veritable swampland, which then dries up to become a massive study of bovine hoofwear.

Usually, I'm perfectly happy to rumble over the dried hoofprints, but yesterday we managed to find a still-mucky area, with one little dry path through it on one side.  Josh lead the way through, emerged on the other side unscathed and continued to plow on up the hill at hand.  I, on the other hand, somehow managed to hit a hidden fresh cow pie.  I never even saw it.  It churned up under my wheels and bits and pieces went flying all over.  And landed on my knee.  GROSS.  I stopped to try to wipe as much of it off as possible in the grass, and it quickly became apparent that my knee wasn't the only victim of the cows-- my shiny white bike now had smelly greenish-brown spots with grass sticking out of them all over.... Yuck.

Needless to say, my bike and I both got hosed down after the ride, and I'm definitely not the bovine population's biggest fan.  They are, however, fun to chase around with a camera....

Have a hopefully clean and dry Wednesday, folks!

Upcoming Events - Wedding Faires

I recently made the potentially questionable decision to appoint my devoted and driven-to-success husband to the role of "Director of Business Development" for my photography business.  (He calls it a hostile takeover...)  This is not to say that he's going to do a bad job, not in the least.  In fact, he's likely to outperform every other business development team the photography world's ever known.  You see, my husband is what I like to call a Man of Action.  Once he gets it into his head to do something, he's going to get it done.  Like right NOW, and nothing's going to get in his way.  Our free time is definitely on the run.

So, with both wedding and art festival seasons upon us, Josh went ahead and started getting us signed up for every event he could find within 50 miles.  So far, in a week, we've gone from zero to three events, with two more applications pending, and a host of others in the "when my head bobs back up above the waterline" category.  Needless to say, we'll be making a lot of public appearances this spring and summer!

To help everyone keep track of where we'll be and when, I've added the "Upcoming Events" section to the sidebar of my blog.  Check there for dates, times and locations for our busy schedule!

On the wedding side of business, we've got two wedding fairs planned in March and April.  The first is in Concord on March 28, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, and the second April 18 in Pleasanton at the Pleasanton Marriott.  Both shows run from 11am to 4pm, and you can pre-register for a trip to Las Vegas and other giveaways at Brocade Weddings' website.  Tickets are $10 at the door.  If you're engaged, or know someone who is, wedding shows are a great way to meet a lot of local vendors in one place, and to get a feel for some of the amazing weddings you can plan!

San Francisco Zoo - Birds

Flamingos never cease to amaze me-- they're a whole lot of bright pink bird impossibly balanced on tall, spindly legs.  The flock at the zoo stares you down like no lawn ornament ever could....

Peacocks are another of natures great displays of bright colors, and they wander around the walkways right next to you at the San Francisco Zoo!

A waldrapp ibis perched high above in the African aviary.  These birds were held sacred in ancient Egypt, but are now critically endangered.

Happy Thursday!

San Francisco Zoo - Giraffes and Polar Bears

Giraffes have always been one of my favorite animals.  I don't know why, but they always seemed like a friendly, gently sort of animal, and the ones at the San Francisco Zoo didn't disappoint.

Polar bears, and bears in general, have somehow grown near and dear to us.  We've only seen one truly wild black bear in the wild (and he was in a BIG hurry to get away from us), but we're always on the lookout when we're up in the Sierra.

Happy Tuesday!

San Francisco Zoo - Patas Monkeys and Chimpanzees

The Patas monkeys and chimpanzees were two favorites from our trip to the San Francisco Zoo last weekend.  We ended up visiting the ground-dwelling Patas monkeys a few times throughout the day, and loved their antics every time.

The chimpanzees were lounging in the warm sun when we came by.  I can't blame them-- it was a gorgeous day in the middle of what seems like weeks and weeks of rain!

San Francisco Zoo - Western Lowland Gorillas

Last Sunday, we went to the zoo for the first time in a long time.  I had been to the San Francisco Zoo once before, when we first moved to California and my brother (who loves animals and wildlife) and his now-wife visited.  I still can't quite get over the peacocks wandering around freely, but it's a nice little zoo, and I was pleased to find that they've been busy upgrading the animals' environments and exhibits since my last visit.  As always, my camera was by my side, and I came home with a wealth of "captive" wildlife shots.

I loved photographing the lowland gorillas-- like most primates, they're incredibly expressive, and you can almost tell what they're thinking....

My husband Josh calls this one "The Modern Thinker".

One gorilla was lunching in a tree, and this photo makes me smile every time-- perhaps the grass needed a little hot sauce or some ketchup...

Have a great weekend, folks!

Alden Lane Nursery, Part 2

I had so many photos I loved from our trip over to Alden Lane Nursery, I just couldn't resist posting a few more!  Welcome back, Spring!

 

Alden Lane Nursery

Spring has sprung in the East Bay!  Located in Livermore, Alden Lane Nursery is a charming, mostly outdoor nursery under large oak trees.  I visited a few weeks ago with some friends from the Livermore Art Association, and we photographed the early spring blooms.

 

 

Happy Monday, folks!