This beautiful picture was taken by the hubs during last Sunday’s firework show put on by the city every year. This fireworks show was one of our first dates back in 2003, so it always has a special place in our hearts.
xoxo
35mm f/2 ISO 640 1/50
Oh hello, bridal magic! I tell you, I love me some veil and Kimberly wears it like an angel!
xoxo
Whoa – I have finally reached week 40 which means there are only 12 more pictures of this project left so I better try to step up my game, but I will leave you with this picture of the stunning Los Angeles sky taken with our Fm3A.
I have come to realize that I may have a slight obsession with photographing clouds, but what can I say – I think they rock and am still waiting for some really smart person to invent a way to float, jump, and bounce on those clouds just like you dream of as a child (or adult in my case). Or maybe I should just become a Care Bear {the pink one}, so all my cloud dreams will come true! Until then, I will be admiring them with my feet firmly planted on the ground and day dreaming.
Reminds me of a secret garden where lots of fun, exciting stuff is about to go down! Who wants to come?!
xoxo
With so many pictures from our trip it is impossible to pick a picture of the week, but I decided on this one from Lower Canyon Falls in Yellowstone. The canyon lit up by the sun was breathtaking!!! This was the view from the brink of the Lower Canyon Falls facing east.
We happened upon this part of the park as the last part of our day unwound, and Mrs. I-want-to-do-and-see-it-all insisted that we had to go check out the canyon because we would not want to come back to this region once we went back to camp (all features are at least 40 minutes away from each and this particular one was about an hour from our camp at Grant Village). Turns out, we came upon this feature at the perfect time of day (5pm-ish) because the sun was setting behind us, thus illuminating the canyon walls in the most brilliant golden yellow. I promise you, the canyon really is that colorful and beautiful in person – no extra Photoshop tricks there!
This was the view from Inspiration Point facing back (west) at the Lower Canyon Falls. We were standing right below that sun flare on the right.
My dear friends, THAT on the left is the edge of the waterfall. and on the RIGHT is my intelligent husband. I will never understand why he must walk down, off the path mind you, to stand so close to the edge! There is nothing right there that you can’t see from the safety of the path located above! 
And this is the brink of Lower Canyon Falls. As with most waterfalls, they leave you awe struck as to how they can continually dump so much water over the edge, year after year after year. Lower Canyon falls did not disappoint and was WELL worth the 20 minute hike down to the edge.
Neither of us wanted to step away from this beautiful site, but we knew we had an hour drive back to camp and had to begin making dinner. Ryan loved watching the water fall over the edge of the cliff and I am pretty sure I could have let him stand there all day doing so.
That is one happy husband!
xoxo
Something I was really hoping to do while spending our time at Glacier National Park was to get a night time picture of one of the lakes. One evening, after cleaning up dinner, we headed down to the lake armed with a tripod, bear bell, flashlight, bear spray, and a remote for the camera. Since, we were deep in bear country we could never be to prepared and the bear bell and bear spray became part of the daily packing routine {yes, I am a HUGE chicken and would not let us go anywhere with out even though this may have been a bit over the top being that we were not back country camping or anything crazy like that}.
The shore line of the lake was pitch black, so Ryan was on bear watch while I fiddle with the camera and tripod. We took turns alternating between playing photographer and attending to the bear watch. We spent about fifteen minutes down at the shore before deciding, we got what we needed now lets book it outta here and back to safety. {Safety for me consisted of our nylon, totally bear proof, impenetrable tent! HA! Whatever, somehow it eased my mind. If I can’t see you, you can’t see me mentality}.
I love the reflection of the moon over the water and am so happy that I was able to “sack up” enough to get this picture and thankfully, no bears were seen this night!
xoxo
Good morning from Utah! Like I said, I have been in love, amazed, and in awe of the majestic clouds. In Los Angeles we rarely, as in like never, get clouds like this! The last time I saw these type of clouds was over a year ago while visiting my parents! I am not sure if these are old news to most, but I have to say I wish clouds like these filled the skies of my pictures every day! Just one of the many things I will treasure about this trip {besides my hubby, co-pilot companion}!
xoxo
xoxo
Ahhhhh, to be a kid again. Spending endless hours exploring the world, having all meals prepared for you, waking up every morning ready to learn and conquer something new in this world, and having endless giggles always on the verge of being released into a full blown laugh. At what age do you turn around and dream to be a kid again?
This picture captures everything that is joyful about being a child and the pure love that being a Mother brings. I was lucky enough the spend Monday night with this family capturing memories of this fun time that can only be truly treasured once it is gone.
xoxo
It’s picture of the week time and I can’t decide which picture to feature!!! I know it’s just picture of the week and not the decision of a lifetime, but I am stumped on which to choose, so I thought it might be fun to see which you like better?!
I love these little girls playing in the water and thought the lighting on them was beautiful. This was a harder picture to take because I had to expose for the girls first but make sure that I didn’t lose the water’s reflection on the sand. I position myself so that the sun was behind me and the light was reflecting right onto the girls faces. Also, snapping the shutter when both girls were relatively still took a little patiences.
However, this picture was much easier to take with less technical knowledge required. Expose for the sky, then underexpose it by about 1 stop and ta-da! In fact, I grabbed this as I was getting back into the car in a rush because Ry was blocking the alley. I love the colors of this as it looks like a photo featured on a classic California postcard.
So which is your favorite and should win picture of the week??!
xoxo
And picture of the week goes to……Tasha Marie from California. My Mom received Tasha as a gift from my Dad several years ago and she has warmed the hearts of the family, especially my Moms, ever since! Tasha is usually to much of an elitist to be caught playing dog games, but I was able to capture her letting her guard down and playing some good old catch in the summer sun. No joke, the dog would prefer to sing happy birthday with the family or play driver in my Mom’s MG (it’s right hand drive), than play something as junior as fetch.
This Madison, Tasha’s sister. My sister and Dad picked her up several years ago after she escaped from her home and was attempting to cross a busy street. After locating the owner, the owner confessed that he did not want her anymore, so my parents gladly took her into their home. And boy, she has charmed many hearts since coming into our life. 
This is Tasha’s back-to-school photo and it looks like she made the soccer team this year – look at me Mom – #1 player!!!
xoxo
How do I even begin to top yesterday’s post with over 5,400 views??!!! We had so many viewers it even crashed my account used for photo storage!
THANK YOU to WordPress.com for featuring us on Freshly Pressed and thank you to all of you who decided to stop by for a visit! I hope you enjoy making the brownies as much as I did and I hope you have a new recipe to share with your loved ones!
With that, here is Friday’s picture of the week featuring one very humbled and happy blogger!
xoxo
Believe it or not, I missed a few picture of the weeks somewhere along the line, so in honor of the dear hydrangea bush, here is another one!
xoxo
Before I say anything else, please take a look at that hydrangea bush…its owner must have one serious green thumb! And don’t worry, the picture is not deceiving you. The bush is as big as the house, has as many blooms as the entire LA Flower Mart, and by my calculation if the owner was to sell each bloom for the going rate that bush is worth $400!
I have seen this bush bloom for the past three years and every time I am in awe (and secretly kind of want to “snip” a few blooms….juuuust a few.) I even asked my husband what he thinks about taking a few and he was appalled I even asked. I thought he must be a boy and just doesn’t get it. So what do you do when you need advice on something only a girl can relate to? Ask Mom of course; she loves flowers so she will understand. I asked my Mom, if it would be “ok” if I took a few and then tried to describe to her just how many blooms this lady had and how she really really would never know or miss those blooms and that I would really really enjoy those blooms in my house. My Mom replied, “SHANNON? You can’t STEAL the neighbors flowers!” Yikes – I guess I got my answer and I learned, at 27 years old (this was last year when I asked), that taking a few blooms from the neighbor is not allowed.*
Until, I have a yard that consists of more than my three potted plants, I will be enjoying this seasons hydrangea blooms only through my pictures.
*Travis McConnell, if you are reading this, picking strawberries from the “neighbors” would also fall under this category.
It’s official and I am happy to say that my little brother got married this past weekend! The wedding was filled with love, beauty, and lots of family! Bill Quinn was the official photographer for this wedding but of course I couldn’t let the day pass without snapping a few pictures. Since, I am in SF I do not have access to all the pictures, but Ryan was kind enough to send me one for my picture of the week. Until I do a full post, please feel free to check out Quinn Photography’s blog post if you want to see more pictures from the day!
As for the new logo, I am pretty sure I change it every month and am just working on it until something sticks! Not sure if I will keep Shannon Càit but until I come up with something better, Shannon Càit it is!
xoxo
I spent the past week in San Francisco for a quick work trip. I captured this early morning photo from my hotel room. The clouds and Bay Bridge in the background made for a great view while getting ready.Enjoy the weekend!
xoxo
Yes, this actually happened and I was lucky enough to capture it in the camera where it will live forever (sorry babe, even if you try to delete it, I have it backed up)! For those of you who know Ryan, you will see the amazing humor in this shot; however for those of you who do not know him I will tell you, Ry conducts himself in a very serious manner–always thinking and always learning. Ryan’s idea of “letting lose” means going out with his top two shirt buttons undone compared to his usual one and maybe throwing a few fist pumps while on the dance floor. So when Ryan came with me to take a few pictures of the goats, this particular goat began kissing his cheek which resulted in Ry, well wanting more I guess!!!
Now that we had a little fun with Ry, this is me laughing so hard……hmmmm..what could it be that has me almost on the floor laughing?
Well, you see I just asked: “Check out that goats goat-…Wait, GOATS HAVE GOATEE’s?!!?!” At this point the entire barn stall stood looking at me with a long pause, then I saw small confirming head nod from my husband which turned into a “Omg, Shan are you serious?! Yes!” At this point, I was in full blown hysteric’s repeating my new revelation that the term “goatee” comes from GOATS!!! I am pretty sure an actual light bulb went off during this revelation! Seriously, goats have goatees — Still cracks me up! Does everybody know this and I am the last to put this together?? Doubt it, but if you did then A+ to you in farm animal class!!!
Thanks for the laughs and hope everyone enjoys the long weekend!!!
XOXO
Just a few iPhone pictures from our stay last weekend in the desert…relaxing it was!
xoxo
The World, Nationally, California, South Bay, Manhattan Beach renowned Bob’s softball team is at it again with their almost undefeated season record. As we have discussed here and here, Wednesday nights are not complete without a little “casual” game of softball.
Last week happened to be “Friends & Family” night which also coincided with picture day. No, I am not kidding! The team actually declares BOTH of those days and are serious about them even though they may pretend to be joking. Since Gossip Girl is on summer hiatus and I was all caught up on the Real Housewives OC & NY, I decided if I wanted a good birthday present this year, I better keep the ol’ hubby happy and attend Friends & Family night!
Although they lost that night, the season is not over yet because these guys MADE IT TO THE PLAYOFFS! Good luck in the playoff’s guys and I know you will make it past the first round unlike the Lakers this year!!
XOXO
This is Ellie Mae, one half of the Baby-Boston-Ellie-Mae-Team-of-Terror. She is my sister’s Lhasa Apso. Since Kelsey loves these two little pups like children, I thought she might enjoy a picture or two of them.
I read a tip once that suggested when photographing children to get down low so you are at their level. Most photographs of children and pets are taken from 4ft feet above the subject which results in the object looking distorted and dwarf-like. When you get down low the camera sees the world from their perspective and creates an instantly more interesting photograph.
I try to keep this in mind when photographing such subjects and I have to say this is one of those tips you don’t even need a “fancy” camera for!
I tell you, veils are my fav! I could photograph a bride in a veil allllll day long! I treasure the opportunity to photograph certain moments and experiences that can only be experienced a few times in a persons lifetime such as:
1. A Naked Baby: I mean seriously, how many times in your life are you completely comfortable and totally adorable naked and can actually have your picture taken in this state without a worry?
&
2. A Bride in a Veil: Again, it’s not everyday a girl gets to walk around with a piece of magic fabric flowing behind her; and yes the fabric is magic because it turns a beautiful girl into a briddddde.
XOXO
Beautiful Mom, beautiful baby, can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday!
XOXO
XOXO
XOXO
XOXO
She looked radiant with the veil lighting her face just before she walked down the aisle. I envisioned taking this picture before I even pressed the shutter and have just been waiting for a bride with a veil to accomplish my vision.
SPACE
SPACE
SPACE
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There is nothing I love more than a girlie bridal shower! I mean, seriously, it’s one of the only events where pink is fully embraced, mini desserts are ooh’d and ahhh’d over, and girlie the dress the better! A few weeks ago, my family hosted a bridal shower for a soon-to-be-bride and my future sister-in-law, Corynne. Here is just one of the fabulous details that we put together and stay tuned for more pink cakes, mini dessert cups, fun dresses, and champagne! Guys, I am sure you are only waiting on the edge of your seat to see more!
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Our Footprints..... 