Sorry guys!

I've been busy!

two from the park

My snotty boys :)

Buddies!

I got to take pictures of Isabella and Anderson today. Anderson just turned one and Isabella will be turning three in a few days.







All that blond hair was hard to photograph!!

6 mos old!

That's right! Maddy is 6 months old! I got to watch her today so I did her pictures...so far I've done them every 3 months and plan to continue until she is 1.



Boring photographer talk ahead.

With all the business I've been getting lately (I've been averaging a couple sessions a week, knock on wood!) its finally time to get a new camera. It is very important to have a back up camera as a photographer...if something goes wrong (and we all know the issues I've been having with my current camera) and I have no back up, I am SOL for my sessions. The 30D needs to go back to canon a 4th time (yeah thats right), and my warranty expires in a few weeks. I have no free time to send it back in with everything I have booked (including an adoption...something that can't be rescheduled!!). Buying a new camera is not something that I necessarily WANT to do but its definitely something that needs to happen. I have been trying to decide for sometime what to get. The 5D sounds awesome...full frame...awesome in the noise department...but the 40D has its benefits too...newer technology...more advanced focusing capabilities...and $1000 cheaper. Or do I wait for the 5D mark II to be released...a camera that will blow both these two out of the water but also cost over 3k...

I finally decided to get the 40D. And its not just because the cost is significantly less, although thats a plus. I haven't shot with a full frame camera before so I'm not really going to miss it. I REALLY don't want to spend a butt load of money for the new 5D...and I honestly think that the 40D is at the same level as the current 5D. I don't need to spend all that extra money just to have a full frame camera. And now I can save my pennies until I am REALLY successful and can afford the 1D mark III HA!

Sorry about that...I'm not normally so chatty! Have a good memorial day weekend everyone! I have 2 sessions and a trip in SF in store for us. Remember to give a hug to those who are serving our country!

And seriously?!? I didn't notice until now but the 1 year anniversary of this blog passed like 2 days ago! I can't believe I have stuck with it so long!!

SOOC

I don't usually (like never) post pictures straight out of camera but Sharaun requested this. Every so often I like to challenge my photoshop skills...see how far I can push it and still make things look realistic. I don't normally edit this heavily. I mentioned on the drive up to the wedding friday how extensively I cleaned up Job's face on this image. Anyway, this is the original. You can see the edit here

firestarter!

Lots o' pictures tonight!

We spent friday night at Lake Tahoe for a friend's wedding.



The best part was the fire dancers at the after party. Crazy!!









Erik lights his cigar



Dave lights his arm





Lisa lights her hand

trip to the beach

We went to Dillon's beach on saturday. The boys took the boat for a spin.





And then got stranded in a desert of sand dunes.



Sand was the only thing in sight to eat.



Sunday we went to the Whole Earth Festival. I took pictures of Flat Sally, a school project for a friend's niece? (cousin? I dunno). She started in Oregon and has been to florida, Canada, and now California. The next stop is Arizona before she heads off to Texas, Kentucky, and hopefully Italy!



And for those who are concerned for the safety of my children sailing the high seas without a life jacket...the boat was securely on shore the entire time they were in it. :)

Check out this hair!

I'm sharing images from this session because several of my reader's know her parents. I'm having a hard time picking which ones to share! She is so stinkin' cute!

I love this dish but haven't had a baby yet willing to sleep in it. Finally!





Big yawn!



She's like a little egg in a nest!



Thanks so much to Erik and Kristi for the referral!

July revisited

I was revisiting some photos I took last July. There were a few engagement pictures I took for Beverly that were edited horribly and I wanted to redo them and print them out for her. I found a couple of pictures of the boys from that same day that I never got around to and wanted to share.

Pre-fro

a few more

There is so much wrong with this photos. Its out of focus...noisey...and his face is FILTHY! But with my mommy goggles on I love it anyway.



And Margaret modeling for me when the boys would not.

Mushroom hunting!

We went to Fresno this weekend to visit family and hunt for Morels.

I decided to practice backlight. I severly underexposed so I need to give it another go.



Jerah is such a cutie!



Job giving me a not so subtle hint that he is done with pictures by putting the lens cap back on.



Our goods!

Fountain fun!

We went back to the park this week and played in the fountain again.





Other than that I've been working on fixing some wedding photos from my brother's wedding a few years back. Their photographer was terrible!

Original:


Edit (toning down some of that direct flash shine!):


Vintage (I won a cool action this morning):