Week #7 - Hanging Out In Seattle

The long weekend provided me with the perfect excuse to hop on a plane and head out of town to the Seattle area to visit my son who recently moved up to the Pacific Northwest. Saturday was raining so we headed into Seattle to check out the Conservatory in Volunteer Park. The Conservatory is small but had a good collection of plants and flowers. They are offering free entrance through the month of February. If you are in the area I would recommend a visit.

Some images I took as I focused on lines, patterns, and shapes.

Lines on the leaves

Lines on the leaves

IMG_2151.JPG

Circular patterns

 

Circles and lines

Circles and lines

Week #5 The Simplicity of Nature

 “Nature is so powerful, so strong. Capturing its essence is not easy - your work becomes a dance with light and the weather. It takes you to a place within yourself.”

Annie Leibovitz  

 

 

IMG_2059.JPG

A study in black and white

On Our Way To Taos

This year we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Taos , New Mexico. This has been on my list of “must dos” for years and 2018 ended up being the year that it came true.  We met up with an old college friend and his girlfriend in Albuquerque. After spending a fun time day tripping around Albuquerque we headed north towards Taos. On our way we stopped at San Francisco De Asis Church located in Ranchos de Taos. This church has been made famous by artists like Georgia O’Keeffe and is one of the most photographed churches in the West. Of course I couldn’t resist the chance of taking a few photos of mine own.

 

Church Courtyard

Church Courtyard

IMG_1889.JPG

Bell tower

Crosses

Crosses

Towers and Crosses

Towers and Crosses

The back view of the mission church

The back view of the mission church

A Colorado Wedding and Lessons Learned

IMG_0018.JPG
IMG_0016.JPG
IMG_0021.JPG
FullSizeRender.jpg

This past October I attended a family wedding in Colorado. I’ve never thought seriously about shooting weddings but I was ready to take up the challenge of capturing the preparation of the festivities and the wedding itself, if only for my own skill development. The young couple getting married were excited that someone would be chronicling the days proceeding the wedding and I was happy to fill that void.

So with camera in hand I got to work. I was so pleased with the moments I captured and was excited to share them. The day of the wedding came and even though I wasn’t the wedding photographer I was hoping to keep practicing my skills with candid shots. As I got my gear ready I decided to change out my memory card. I tucked it away in a “safe place” and dashed off to the ceremony. The next day I packed up the hotel room getting ready to leave. What I didn’t realize was that my old memory card had somehow gotten swepted up in the room trash, never to be seen again. When I started to unpack from the trip it became painfully real that the card was gone. I frantically called the owner of the inn but the trash had all ready been picked up. It was gone and so were all of those special moments. I had my shots from the wedding but nothing from the days leading up to the main event.

Thinking about it now still makes me sad and frustrated. I have made changes in the way I carry my cards and camera when I travel so that I never lose anything that important again.  Here are a few of the pictures from the wedding day - sure wish I could share the others.