Ka-Pow! Fireworks Time!

As mentioned here, we enjoyed the city fireworks show as Ryan and I have done since 2003. It is always a great way to celebrate the holiday season and a fun time to get together with friends. Ryan enjoys spending each year perfecting his fireworks shots and this year were some of his best! 

Here was the great finale which lit up the entire beach with the bright flashes.

While this shot is more reminiscent of Halloween than Christmas, I loved the bright moon sitting above this house and had to capture it on the walk home. Once again, another great show and another memory down in the books!

xoxo

Friday | Picture of the Week | Week 40

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.

Friday | Picture of the Week | Week 36

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

Savoring Summer

Summer, please don’t go! I love you toooooo much and will hang on to every last ray of sunshine that you use to warm my skin with! I will kick off my sandals and treasure the grass under my feet and the freedom of walking barefoot on the beach. I will joy in the last of the 4/$1.00 corn on the cob at the grocery store and the smell of meat on the barbecue. I will take in and savor every last piece of what you have left to give, until the cool breeze will soon force me to put on a jacket and long pants and prepare for the looming winter blast. Yes, I will. I promise, I will.

xoxo

Friday | Picture of the Week | Week 26

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

Celebrating with Family

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Ryan’s family in Manhattan Beach on Thursday and then drove to Placerville on Friday  morning to celebrate with my family.

Here is a picture I snapped out of the car window somewhere on I-5 between Los Banos and Coalinga.

Each year I look forward to setting the table with my Mom’s china and her crystal. I am in amazement that she picked out her china pattern when she was just 19 years old and yet somehow, 30 years later her china is almost a perfect painting of their new home in the gold foothills filled with fences, horses, and rolling hills. My Mom made another fantastic Thanksgiving feast filled with some family favorites: twice-baked potatoes, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, stuffing, and cornbread!

In high school, I worked at the local coffee shop Bella Bru. As a former two time, Bella Bru employee-of-the-month (no joke!), we always try to make a stop in just for old time sake.

Here is another picture, out of the car window, taken on I-5 somewhere near Kettleman City on the drive home. The clouds were looming in the distance all day and they made for spectacular lighting!

Ryan took this picture right before we got on the Grapevine. We heard reports of snow on the Grapevine, so we were happy that the clouds held off until we got through.

It was a short trip and there is never enough time to fill the empty spot in my heart that yearns for family and old friends, but even just the short time there helps keep me held over until Christmas!

crisp morning air.

As mentioned in a previous post, we spent last weekend at my parent’s house. On Friday morning, I found myself the first one up and to prevent from waking everyone else up, I took Tasha, the german shepperd, on a morning walk to the pond. While there, we watched the ducks skim across the water attempting to catch their morning meal.  Here are some of the pretty pictures to start off your morning!

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Later that day, the sky began to billow up and created the most massive and gorgeous clouds I think I have ever seen. Ryan has been looking for the perfect chance to really put our new Tokina 12-24mm lens to good use, so this was his chance.

Ryan really did a great job of capturing the clouds in a natural, not overprocessed way. I love to see the differences in how Ryan and I photograph a scene. Ryan is much more focused on strong geometric shapes, vibrant colors, and very sharp exposures while I tend to favor slightly overexposed, softer images. I think these two sets of images show our different styles fairly well.