Weekend Party

There was a release party for the New Moon movie which came out before the weekend. I was asked to help a photographer with the workload and in exchange, I got 2 tickets to the event and the midnight showing of the movie. I'm going to start off by saying that I'm too old for midnight showings. I'm a morning person and I get sleepy around 10pm, BUT they were free tickets so I couldn't let them go to waste :) Plus, the opportunity to take pictures of the "crazies" was too good to pass up. We only live once, right?

The fans were interesting. Some had a little too much to drink and others were so into Twilight that it was a bit nauseating. I'm a fan of the books and the movies were pretty good too, but that's as far as I go. I'm not collecting memorabilia, dressing up as a vampire/wolf for the movie or yelling things like "take off your shirt" when Jacob enters the scene at the movies. I laughed it all off. The best part about the night and the only thing that made it fun was having my friend, Heidi, along for good company.

This event was organized to benefit The Edith Bishel Center for the blind. I would say that it did very well, there were a lot of people. Some local actors were cast to play the characters from the movie and a couple of them looked like the real thing. Here's my attempt at recreating one of the poses from the New Moon poster of Jacob and Bella.....



And here is the cast, they were a lot of fun and so good at putting up with the "twihards" wanting certain poses with them. It was REALLY hard to keep a straight face at times.

Jared won 1st place!!

'Beauty' was the theme of this years Reflections Contest, a national art appreciation program. Jared entered this photo.....



He used my spare camera and I walked with him around the yard while he took pictures of things that caught his attention. I explained a few basic ideas about composition and let him be creative. I also allowed him to pick 2 flowers so he could arrange them the way he wanted. He took his favorite flower and put it between the slats of the bench that sits in front of our house. Once we got all of the pictures onto the computer, I took a few of his photos and walked him through the editing process. I showed him some very basic things and then let him play with it. He did some wild and crazy things at first, but then got serious. I pulled up a few of the best ones and he processed them himself. I was so proud!

Here is a short video of the award ceremony. The 1st place winner got a Toys-R-Us gift card, a certificate and really nice blue ribbon. His entry will move on to a regional contest so we're wishing him luck!



And if the night couldn't be more perfect for Jared, he lost a tooth so he'll get a visit from the tooth fairy. :)

New trick

I met an older guy named Bob Davis at a photo club meeting in September. After I gave a short presentation to the club, he came up to me and handed me a slip of paper with "Harris Shutter Effect" written on it. He assured me that I would like this technique and to research it. Naturally I was curious so I did. It's a way to combine 3 different color channels in photoshop to create a colorful image. It's best for moving things like smoke, water, trains, cars. This morning I was bored so I finally tried it with water, here is the end result.....





This time I used smoke - even more fun!


I don't know what I'll do with this technique, but it was fun to try a new thing.

Another foggy morning

I was planning to crash after the kids went off to school because I was super tired and didn't sleep well. However, I could see fog out over the city and that woke me right up. What a treat! I drove to several locations around the area's bridges and found my two favorites.

I love the Cable Bridge! It's a great subject to photograph in almost any weather and at any time of the day/night, I really enjoyed the fog around it this morning and the clouds in the background.



I could barely see the Blue Bridge through the fog, but I kind of liked the effect.

Savvy Moms Save

I thought I'd pass along this neat blog. Crystal, a friend of mine, has the neatest website for ladies who like to save money. You get tips, coupons, how-to's and she has giveaways (now who doesn't like those??). Click here to visit her blog (http://savvymomsaves.blogspot.com).

A new shirt

The boys visited their grandparents last night and grandpa gave them a new shirt. He was in Brazil on business for a week and the shirts he bought were from a famous soccer team. I thought I would snap a couple of pictures before they left for school. If I had let him, David would have slept in his new shirt, but I insisted he wait until after their shower in the morning. It's amazing what a new shirt (and not just any new shirt, a shirt from another country representing a famous soccer team) can do to the boys. When they are wearing their new soccer shirts, they are not just superman.... they are soccer players.

More from my Sumpter trip

I've had some extra time to play in photoshop lately so I'm posting some more from my Sumpter trip. I think steam engines are a new favorite subject! I REALLY loved shooting this one.



Sometimes I can't decide whether I like the color better or the old fashion tone, but it just seems to fit better for an antique steam engine.





I hopped across a little stream and was wet up to my knee for the rest of the trip to get these shots. It was worth it to me, I really liked what the little stream added to the image. Only 2 other photographers were as crazy as I was, the rest stayed dry.....their loss :)




I wanted a close up of this tree that changed colors in the fall, it was so pretty mixed in with the evergreens up in the mountains.


This was a normal experience in Sumpter, lots of close encounters with wildlife. Larry and I at a cafe next to our cabin and we heard about an injured elk who came every night around 6pm for his free handout of leftover food.


This is another antique item found on the ranch we visited in Baker, OR.

A disturbance

Every morning I wake up and look out the window to see what the day looks like. I always keep my fingers crossed for fog so I can run out and play with my camera. This morning, I was partially rewarded. While the fog didn't stretch over the whole of my city, it did hover over the river long enough for me to get the shots I wanted.

I was sitting by the waters edge watching a flock of geese (or so they look from a distance) just floating in the water peacefully. Out of nowhere, they freaked out and flew off. Now I know I didn't put my makeup on this morning, but their reaction was a bit extreme. Sheesh.



On another note, Jared is finished with soccer for the season and he was able to play his last game. He sprained his ankle a couple of weeks ago jumping off a tall haystack and it is still tender, but he was able to run and kick the ball. I got the boys together for team pictures during their last practice, here is the funny one.



The boys made out like bandits this Halloween. Their candy should last us a whole year if I ration it correctly. Last years candy did make it a full year, I threw it away before they went trick-or-treating. We don't eat a lot of candy around here, the boys have enough 'crazy' in their system without adding to it. This year, Jared was a fireman and David was a ninja.



Larry and I were dressed the same as last year (Jack and Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas) and as you can see.... Larry is as excited as ever!


Seriously, am I the only one smiling?