Studio 30

Every Friday night, Studio 30 hosts a play date where a bunch of photographers get together and let their cameras play. Sweet huh? Last Friday, we had some models and an old motorcycle. Add a fan, some awesome lighting equipment and a DJ.... well you get the picture. It's just pure awesomeness.

If you watch this video, you'll see what happens when the models all go home and we have to resort to shooting one another. Kevin did the video and this really awesome 360 view of what it looked like earlier when we were shooting, you'll have to click here to see the panorama.



Some of my spoils from the evening......

February 1, 1924 - March 5, 2010

Sometime before the holidays, my grandfather went into a nursing home because he had brain atrophy. After spending a few months there and suffering minor strokes, he died. He was a farmer and welder by trade who lived in Ashton, Idaho for most for his life. He was also a WWII veteran who served in the US Navy and was in Samar during the Christmas Mutany of 1945 (an interesting story we all grew up hearing about). As a young child, I was scared of him because he was a very gruff person and he looked scary to me. However, I eventually figured out that his bark was worse than his bite and I learned to see the humor in his words. One of my favorite things about him to photograph were his hands. They tell such a story to me. In fact, a poem was read at his funeral called "These Hands" by Eddie Noack which seems to fit one of the last photos of his hands that I took (and I've taken a few over the years).



Originally, I wasn't planning to go to the funeral, but I woke up Sunday morning feeling that I needed to go. I'm glad I did, I knew I would never regret going. My grandma is one of my favorite people in the whole world and spending time with her is a real treat. I've never met a sweeter person in my life.



The Honor Guard was there to pay their respects to a veteran, they did such a good job of honoring my grandpa. I was touched by their serious dedication and attention to details.









The morning after the funeral, I went snowmobiling with my dad. The snow was a couple of feet deep and really crisp so the conditions were perfect. My mom snapped a couple of pictures on my way out. I had a huge puffy snowsuit on and my camera bag on my back. At one point, we were going more than 70 mph so the wind really bit my face, but the photos I got of the old cabins were totally worth it. My dad enjoyed going over a couple of bumps which made me fly up out of my seat on one occasion.... it's a good thing I was holding on.








My dad showed me this piece of farm equipment which was used on their farm years ago, it has retired here in this spot for many years.


Some of these others were taken while I was driving around the countryside. There are so many beautiful things to see in Ashton, it's where I would like to retire to someday.

Mischievous David

We were getting the boys ready for bed and just before we had our nightly prayers, Jared asked me to scratch his back. So I obliged, he got a good back-scratching. When I was done, David came over to me and whispered "Scratch harder." That made me laugh!

Pure Talent

It's hard to describe in words how proud I am of my boys and after watching this short video loaded with 1st class talent, you'll see why.......



While I'm on the subject of being a proud momma, Jared surprised me yesterday morning by getting himself breakfast, showering and getting ready for school before I woke up. Needless to say, he's been praised through the roof for his independence. And because David can't be outdone, he followed his older brother's example and did the same thing this morning. I've been waiting years for this, let's hope it sticks.

Wild West

Larry and I headed to The Dalles with the photo club for a little wild west adventure. We stayed overnight at the Balch Hotel which was built in 1907, it was an authentic experience which we enjoyed. On Saturday we followed a caravan of photographers through Dufur and the surrounding area.

Mt. Hood was gorgeous! These were taken first thing in the morning near the hotel.





We visited a homestead with tons of old stuff scattered around, a kind older woman let us have our playtime. This was one of my favorite shots from her property...



After lunch, we went to an old Victorian house. I had to mark it on my GPS because I'd like to go back when the light is different. I did enjoy the clouds, I was able to position myself so that it looked like smoke was coming out of the chimney.





This one was taken through the viewfinder of my old Kodak Duaflex





We visited an old Catholic cemetery where I got this one just as the sun was beginning to go down.



The highlight of the trip (for me) was the wild horses. I'm sure they aren't true wild horses like the kind that roam the prairie of Wyoming, but they were unbroken and they have miles upon miles of land to roam. Apparently it's a real treat when they come close enough to the road to photograph. I got this one against the rising moon......



These other ones were standing in the distance, I really liked how the light fell on just the area where the horses were. At this time, the sun was setting.



This was the last photo of the evening, we visited an old school house out in the middle of nowhere. The moon was coming up and a few of us scrambled to get this shot of it through the bell tower. Timing was important!

Water Prank

I got an idea for a new prank from a friend over the weekend and had to try it out on my boys. They are such good sports!

Interview with David

Me: What do you want to do when you grow up?
D: A firefighter
Me: What are you most scared of?
D: bears and cheetas
Me: What is the funniest thing that's ever happened to you?
D: We went to see some clowns at the circus
Me: What does your daddy do for a living?
D: he does a safety job
Me: What does your mom say?
D: "Clean your room!"
Me: What does your dad say?
D: "Go brush your teeth!"
Me: What are your talents?
D: Riding a 2-wheeler bike
Me: Who are your friends?
D: All of the neighbors
Me: What makes a good friend?
D: Be nice
Me: What's your favorite cereal?
D: Cocoa pops with marshmallows and milk
Me: What's your favorite food?
D: Noodles
Me: Who loves you?
D: Mommy & Daddy
Me: If you were a crayon, what color would you be and why?
D: Blue because it's my favorite color
Me: If you could be an animal for a day, which one would you be and why?
D: A cat because I could run faster than humans

Interview with Jared

It's been awhile since I last interviewed my boys, I love to hear their answers. So I pulled Jared aside first and started asking him some random questions.....

Me: What do you want to do when you grow up?

J: A spy
Me: What are you most scared of?

J: high school
Me: What is the funniest thing that's ever happened to you?

J: getting tickled
Me: What does your daddy do for a living?

J: He makes french fries

Me: What does your mom say?

J: "Clean your room!"
Me: What does your dad say?

J: "Go to bed!"

Me: What are your talents?

J: riding bikes
Me: Who are your friends?

J: Ryan, Andrew, Dylan, Swar, Emily, Nick, Nathan
Me: What makes a good friend?

J: They say nice things
Me: What's your favorite cereal?

J: Lucky Charms
Me: What's your favorite food?

J: strawberries and grapes
Me: Who loves you?

J: Mommy & Daddy

Me: If you were a crayon, what color would you be and why?
J: dark blue because it's my favorite color.
Me: If you could be an animal for a day, which one would you be and why?
J: A cat because they can climb everything

Saturday Amusement

I got up really early this morning to go with a couple of friends on a little shooting adventure. Our first stop was a little horse farm in a neighboring town. Every morning at 7:30, this man lets his horses out to run in the pasture and have their breakfast. We thought it would be fun to photograph them running. Unfortunately, I had the wrong lens for good running images, but I got some great close-ups. The great news is that it happens every morning so we're welcome to go back and keep trying.



Awwww, just perfect for Valentines Day!


I think this dog was being a real tease, he's lucky he didn't get neutered by the horse.




Can you see a smile?


After we had our fun with the horses, we headed for another town further away and found a great old barn and a mossy old house - it was scary looking! We made all sorts of jokes about it being a real fixer upper.

Coming soon.....

So much to say, I know I need to update more often. First off, I will be having my art showing this month at a local store called Greenies (in Richland). It's a first for me so I'm pretty excited about it, I'll be at the store Friday night from 5-8pm for their First Friday event. Each month on the first Friday, they feature a new artist as a way to showcase local talent. So I'll be there to chat it up, there will be music and refreshments. Here is what my display looks like, it's all ready for Friday!



All of the art is for sale as well and for one night only, I will be offering this print for sale ..... (it is a 20 X 30 standout print - it's ready to hang). It just arrived via UPS today and it looks awesome!



In other news... Jared took 4th place out of 15 pinewood derby cars (cub scouts). He had a lot of fun and got graphite all over himself so he looks like a dirty bum.





A friend and I drove to a tree farm for some shooting fun. Our trigger fingers froze in the cold, but we needed to get out and shoot. It's tough to find the ambition to run out in the dead of winter and shoot, unless there's fog, fluffy snow or something awesome to shoot. These two are my favorites.





The boys got to go to a fire station for a tour, they were so excited! Jared was already training for his position as a future fire fighter by asking A LOT of questions and getting to know all of the buttons/knobs/wheels. It was hard to reign him in. Near the end of the tour, they sat in a conference room to talk about fire safety. They had to kids repeat, "Never play with fire" a few times. One kid asked if it was okay to do with adults around and you can guess what answer the fire fighter gave. Jared started to say something, but I cut him off with "Quiet Jared!" I just know I'm going to win 'Mother of the Year' with this one........