Lucy and Emma - Pet Portraits

Lucy and Emma are my parents' dogs.  Lucy follows my mom around, and, when she's not following Lucy, Emma hangs out with my dad.  They both completely ignore my parents when my little sister visits from college.  Somehow, they just know Andrea is a dog person, and they parade around after her like the Fourth of July.  While visiting my folks for the holiday weekend, I took a few minutes to get some quick portraits of the barking duo.

Happy Wednesday, folks!

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!

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!

New fine art photography website!

Back in December, I announced Wedded Bliss Images, my new wedding, engagement, family and pet portrait site.  And today, it's with great pleasure that I'm announcing the official launch of my new fine art and travel photography site, Twisted Rock Photography!

I'll be adding new albums to the site, so check the "recently updated" section often!  It's a surefire cure for your case of the "Mundays!"

Psychological suspense meets suburban noir

I recently discovered that a friend of mine writes psychological thriller fiction.  Cathryn Grant's stories are about the situations and circumstances that can push an otherwise normal person to madness.  She's been published in several magazines, and is preparing to publish her first book!  A number of Cathryn's short stories and "flash fiction" pieces are posted on her website, www.cathryngrant.com, and, if you like suspense, I highly recommend them for a quick read when you need a break from the every day grind!

And, because every post is better with a picture, here's a teaser from tomorrow's post about Scotty's Castle!

Happy Thursday, folks!

We're moving!

You may have noticed a few changes here on the blog. Since we got married back in October, and I'm no longer Erin Lang, I'm now doing all the paperwork and account updating to change everything to my new name, Erin Filliater.  It's not all set up yet, but starting very soon, I'll have separate sites for weddings and fine art photography, and my blog is moving to http://www.erinfilliater.blogspot.com.

In the meantime, check out my new wedding site, Wedded Bliss Images:

Happy Wednesday!

Sunflowers

Sunflowers are quite possibly my favorite flower-- bright, colorful, big and pretty darn tough, they grow on the side of many a road in California.  The weather's cooling down, so think warm, sunny thoughts and enjoy!

Sunset near Del Valle

The road up to Lake Del Valle Regional Park in Livermore has some great vantage points for shooting across the Tri-Valley area, especially at sunrise and sunset. I headed over the other night to try to catch the harvest moon, but was thwarted by a low, thick cloud cover. By the time the moon rose above the clouds, the intense colors I was hoping to capture were gone. Maybe next time around.... All was not lost, though-- the clouds made for an especially interesting sunset among the hills and oak trees.


Mount Diablo rises up from the valley in the distance.
Have a terrific Tuesday!

Altamont Cruisers Nostalgia Day Car Show - Part 2

As promised, here are more photos from last weekend's show... Enjoy!

I love classic Chevys.

Yet more flames!

Shiny chrome and beautiful paint jobs were definitely the order of the day.

Have a fantastic weekend, folks! I'll be nailing down those last pesky wedding details-- only 22 days!

Altamont Cruisers Nostalgia Day Car Show

Each year, the Altamont Cruisers Car Club holds their Nostalgia Day Car Show in downtown Livermore, and donates the proceeds to local organizations benefiting the Tri-Valley youth. Their motto is "Cruisers Against Drugs", and they've helped fund programs such as D.A.R.E. for the past 20 years. About 700 or so classic cars invaded the streets of downtown, making for some fantastic photo ops, if you didn't melt first (it was 103 degrees out!).

Classic cars are a lot of fun to photograph-- they have strong curves and lines, elaborate hood ornaments and trim, lots of shiny chrome, and fantastically bright, bold colors. I spent about three hours shooting, and ended up with a lot of photos I really liked, so we'll have a couple car posts this week.

Now, without further ado, here's the reason you're really reading this blog!

This is one mean-looking grill. Who knew orange could be so intimidating?

The lineup down Second Street.


1955 Chevy sedan hood ornament.
The Chevy fuel injection emblem.

Classic wood steering wheel and dashboard.

As with most classic car shows, there were flames of all colors everywhere!

1960s Ford Mustang 289 emblem, with flames, of course.

And, last but not least for today, Sarah, this one's for you. Congrats on the new Camaro!

Wedding Invitations

As the date of our wedding draws near, we're starting to tie up all the loose ends and get everything finalized. Every time I look at the to-do list, though, it seems to get longer! My brother, who got hitched last summer, tells me that the final details are never-ending, so I guess it's par for the course.

Along those lines, we're sending out our invitations this week. Since we're a little less than conventional, I designed them myself, and had them printed on a linen paper. I couldn't be happier with the results-- they're very "us!"

Flowers

Each year, my totally awesome grandma sends me flowers on my birthday (she lives in Michigan, and I'm half a continent away in California), so, naturally, I have a great time photographing the blooms! Here's this year's crop....


Thanks, Grandma! :)