A Wandering, Pondering Penguin

Tyler at Carmel Beach

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:59:00 +0000

I took these shots at the very end of December of 2011 at Carmel Beach. Tyler was about 9.5 months old. I cannot believe that his 1st birthday has already come and gone.

Family Portraits: The Lees

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 04:20:00 +0000

In November I took family portraits for a family that I have known since I was about six. It was so fun to hang out with them for an hour and catch up.

Dominique Maternity Shots

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:14:00 +0000

I have shared with you Dominique's engagement photos and her baby shower photos. Now, here is a peek at some of her maternity photos. What an opportunity it was to capture these moments for her and husband, Juan.

Cristal

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Cristal will be graduating from high school in June! I got to spend time with this sweet, sweet girl for a few hours in a beautiful forest and a breath-taking beach to take her senior portraits. We got some fun lighting and, luckily, I had some assistants around to make sure to make her giggle to grab some natural and light hearted shots.

A Baby Shower

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:06:00 +0000

Yikes! It looks as though I have some catching up to do. This past October I had the opportunity to shoot a baby shower. I took her and her hubby's engagement photos last March and was invited to document her baby shower. It was a great afternoon spent celebrating a great little family.

Alli Clarke : Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 04:32:00 +0000

And here is the second part(ish) of my shoot with Alli Clarke, a local musician here in Monterey. You can find the first part(ish) of the shoot here at this link. Go ahead, click it. This part of the shoot kind of took a life of it's own when I started editing and I cannot be more happy with how it turned out.

I feel that the red tones with hints of green and a largely brown palette give an appropriately autumn feel to welcome in this new season.

Alli Clarke : Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 06:12:00 +0000

Alli Clarke is a local musician here on the Monterey Peninsula and, yes, that is a shameless plug. But, the music scene is also how we met (well that and when she used to be employed by Plato's Closet) and I am so glad that she did come into my life. This was my first time on shoot with her in a more formal not-so-much-hang-out session (although it was still quite fun). These are some of the frames from the first half-ish of the shoot and then some from the last bit of the shoot. I decided to split this post up because I felt as though the theme changed in the middle and then worked its way back to where we started, so in the next shoot you will see the middle.

...and this is the end of the shoot...

Tyler at 5 Month

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:01:00 +0000

Tyler is my nephew so I may have some bias here, but I think he may be one of the happiest, most sociable and cutest little boys in the world. He is smiling all of the time. He is squawking a lot of the time, too, but the squawking is sheer happiness or curiosity. And boy is his laugh hardy. Oh, and he loves dancing and loves music (including Ryan Adams, The Band, Josh Rouse, Fleet Foxes and Casey Frazier). A quick story about the music thing: One time a Casey Frazier song came on and he stopped what he was doing, turned to my sister and smiled. For a five month old to have that kind of response was pretty hilarious to my sister. Yes, he does cry but his smiling and squawking outweigh almost anything else. That all being said, I took pictures of him again and if you compare these pictures with the shots I got when he was just a few weeks old you will see that babies really do grow quickly.

These shots in the green sock specifically show how much he has grown. My sister wanted to visually measure his growth by putting him back in the knitted sack that his first shoot was taken in and I think that it definitely is telling. Not to mention, this time he could practically wiggle himself out of it.

Tyler is also starting to get some teeth in (now at 6 months) but he was quite drool-y when I took these as his mouth was getting ready for those razor blades we call teeth to come in.

Portrait Session :: Tatum

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 22:38:00 +0000

I had the opportunity about a month ago to do a little photo session with my dear friend Tatum. She also happens to be one of my favorite subjects to shoot. I think it is a combination of how well we know each other, how comfortable she is in front of a camera and simply the fact that she is just so darn cute.

Oh, yes, Oso (my little pup) tagged along to Garland Park with us to take the photos and was more than happy to step into some of the shots.

After following a few little trails in Garland Park and heading down to the river bank there we decided to head back to my mom's house to utilize her beautiful redwood porch and comfy hammock from Nicaragua.

The other thing about shooting Tatum is that I always walk out with twice (or triple) as many frames as I was originally expecting. I may have to do another blog post later with some more shots down by the river and on my mom's lovely porch.

Mottos

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:27:00 +0000

Today was the first day of orientation for my master's program at Monterey Institute of International Studies. Throughout the morning I continually heard the school's motto: Be the Solution.

Today, as the president was speaking, I realized that this motto was quite similar to another motto that I heard, read and was bombarded by my whole undergraduate career: Engaging the Culture, Changing the World.

I guess the ideology stuck.

Thanks SPU.

Hello MIIS.

Olallieberry Picking

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Every year (almost) my family and I go olallieberry picking at Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville, California. This year we had a team of five and a half and we made out like bandits. We were lucky that it was a late season this year because we went later than we usually do, but we still found tons of berries.

Tyler is the half-helper. He did a great job of squealing encouragement to the team. Look how much he has grown!

Today was okay

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 03:45:00 +0000

A weekend that starts off with homemade berry pancakes, potatoes with herbs from our garden and bacon made to the rhythm of salsa music and pups laying around that leads into a day of garden tending makes for a day that I am thankful that I am experiencing a beautiful summer and in one of the most gorgeous places in the world. And the fact that I have a pretty killer live-in cook isn't too shabby either.

4th of July : Apple Pie Ridge : Big Sur

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 02:18:00 +0000

Every year there is a little big party in Big Sur at Apple Pie Ridge on the 4th of July. It is full of my favorite things: music, picnics, beer and colorful people... and some dogs running around for good measure. Naturally, we headed up there later than expected and hung around all afternoon in beautiful weather, taking in breathtaking views with good company.

Alli at East Village Coffee House

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 17:33:00 +0000

My dear friend Allie recently had a show at East Village Coffee House in beautiful Monterey, California. What's especially special about this is that she recently broke the news to us that she is staying in the area for a little longer (YAY!). It has been so great getting to know her and seeing her play with Kenny (on harmonica) and Casey (Frazier, that is. If you read this blog you are pretty familiar with his face I am sure). I am glad I was able to get a few shots of them in action.

Another New Addition: Oso

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 17:05:00 +0000

*Oops, it looks like I forgot to hit "publish" on this one. Nonetheless, enjoy!

Oso is not as new as Ty, the other new addition, but he is still a new addition nonetheless. We adopted this cute little guy from the SPCA for Monterey County back in the beginning of February. We technically weren't looking to walk out with a pup, but when we laid eyes on this little Chow and Corgi mix (Chorgi?) and his sister we knew we had found the one. It took all the self control that I could muster not to leave with both Marlene, Oso's sister, and Oso. The decision was ultimately made by gender-- we technically were looking for a boy (not that we were looking, of course). However, I did go back and check the website religiously until I saw that Marlene, too, was adopted a few days later.

After a few weeks of simple training I had a Water for Elephants moment when I kiddingly looked at Oso and said "¡Sentate!," which means "Sit!" in Spanish. Without a flinch, Oso sat. I thought it was a fluke, but it was not. I then tried "¡Venga!" (the command for come) and Oso came right to me. It was a moment I had wished I had on camera. We have integrated English commands into his vocabulary, but to no avail, his Spanish is much better. So, not only is Oso super cute, cuddly and affectionate but he is bilingual!

I am currently training him to become Therapy Dog Certified but he can't be tested until he is at least one year, so we have still have a few months! I am sure there will be updates to come.

The Country Under My Skin

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 May 2011 23:15:00 +0000

I literally (about five minutes ago) finished a memoir by Gioconda Belli entitled A Country Under My Skin-- long-story-short is that she played an active role in the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua. This is her memoir about her time as a Sandinista, a mother, a lover and a fiery type of woman that I can only hope to be one day. I am overflowing with emotion and thoughts at the moment, but I wanted to share a piece of her writing from the last page of her memoir because it spoke so strongly to me:

I dare say, after the life I have lived, that there is nothing quixotic or romantic in wanting to change the world. It is possible. It is the age-old vocation of all humanity. I can't think of a better life than one dedicated to passion, to dreams, to the stubbornness that defies chaos and disillusionment. Our world, filled with possibilities, is all and will be the result of the efforts offered by us, its inhabitants. Just as life was a consequence of trial and error, the social organization that brings us the full realization of our potential as a species will issue from the ebb and flow of struggles we jointly undertake across the globe.

The future is a construct that is shaped in the present, and that is why to be responsible in the present is the only way of taking serious responsibility for the future. What is important is not the fulfillment of all one's dreams, but the stubborn determination to continue dreaming. We will have grandchildren, and they will have children too. The world will continue, and whether we know it or not, we are deciding its course every day.

-------------------------------------------------

Page 369

The Country Under My Skin

by Gioconda Belli

A New Addition: Ty

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 03:26:00 +0000

Meet my nephew Ty! He was born on March 14, 2011 (for you closeted, or not so closeted, geekoids that is Pi Day!). My poor sister was in labor for way too long, but the outcome was pretty darn cute, huh? In my opinion, he is lookin' pretty photogenic for only being 8 days only in these photos! The little bag and hat that he is in was a hand knit that my sister bought on Etsy-- a great find in my opinion. He looks like a little pea pod. :) Oh, and don't mind Oso, the fluffy brown blur in some of the images-- you will be introduced to him shortly! He is also a new addition. I find it so interesting how dogs react to babies. Every time Ty made a peep Oso and Kona, the other pup that was creepin' around, were in his face making sure everything was okay.

Engagement Photos: Dominique and Juan

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 04:06:00 +0000

Well it has been almost a month since my last post but that doesn't mean that I haven't been camera-happy! I had the humbling opportunity to photograph Dominique and Juan before their wedding day. It was so much fun to hang out with these two at Carmel Mission for a quick afternoon shoot. She and he obviously had affection and love for one another that they were willing to portray naturally for my camera. Here are some of the shots from the afternoon:

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Silva!

Portrait Photo Shoot: Tatum

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 05:56:00 +0000

I consider myself lucky for many reasons. One being that I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. This makes for easy backgrounds and themes for portraits... and great for any photography, really. Two being that I have some incredibly photogenic and absolutely gorgeous friends. My good friend Tatum was willing to spend a couple of hours with me to expand my portfolio-- and expand it I did! Tatum was a blast to shoot with because of her easygoing attitude and the fact that she is super comfortable in almost any social/public setting... and she has a very classic Audrey Hepburn-esque look about her. Oh, and I love her clothes.

My Bunny-- amuse me for a moment

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Mopsy a few days after I got her

Alright so some may say that I have become obsessed with my Mini Lop, Mopsy. I thought she was a Holland Lop but as she has grown I am almost certain that she is a Mini. I assure you, however, that I do not love my pup any less than my bun. Nonetheless, I decided I would do a little "Mopsy Update" since there are some people who live far away and love her almost as much as I do, but have not gotten to see her grow.

Above you can see Mopsy with my dog Maggie (the m's were not on purpose, I promise). The funny thing about their relationship is that Mopsy is dominant and will chase the dog. They do play, though, and it's pretty cute. I may have to post a video of that sometime soon... It's pretty ridiculous looking.

When I called my mom to tell her that I was moving home we started to discuss where exactly Mopsy was going to live and what she would live in. My mom, being the great mom she is, went out and bought Mopsy a hutch-- a great hutch that had made a great home.

Please excuse the awful flooring

Mopsy is still a lot less destructive than most rabbits but that may be because we have found what she loves to chew and tear and have made sure she does not have access to those things-- like twig-thin cords (like the one for my MacBook). My brother-in-law, while bored one weekend, built her a cardboard tunnel full of newspaper and beer boxes which keeps her away from the other cords in the room that we keep her.

The point all of this is that she has definitely grown, she loves her new dog friends (Maggie and Kona), and she has become increasingly cuddly. If we are sitting on the couch watching TV and we let her out she will hop around for a bit and dance, but it doesn't take her long to come settle in close to us. She also really likes grooming (and licking!) everybody.

Big Sur welcomed me home

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:00:00 +0000

My best friend works and lives in Big Sur. Too much information? Sorry. Please do not stalk her. Anyway, my point: one of the first excursions we took after arriving in California was down the coast on a beautifully drizzly day to visit her at work and eat a yummy dinner at Big Sur River Inn (a must-see, especially in the Spring or Summer when you can sit in the river and drink cocktails). While we were waiting for her to finish up at work we drove a little further down the coast to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. When one performs a Google image search of Big Sur different angles of a waterfall or a bridge come up. Go ahead, try it. Well, that waterfall is in Julia Pfeiffer and no one can get down to that beach because it is protected so it will always look pristine and picturesque. This makes it a staple of the tourist-eye-view of Big Sur because it is always beautiful and there are never footprints along the shore. None of us had ever taken that trail, though, so that is why we ended up there that early evening.

What I did not know about this site before we went there is that this particular piece of land was once owned by a family that had a house nestled on the cliff overlooking that waterfall. Pieces of the house are still around making it look like a tropical ruin that one would find in a video game or adventure movie. The house would have had the most majestic panoramic views of the Big Sur coastline and the lone waterfall if it were still standing today. The house even had a tram up to the road to bring people and supplies down and the tracks can still be seen. It was just so... cool. To be honest, I wish it was still a house so in my day dream of winning the lottery that could be my day dream house. However the family generously donated the land to California State Parks so that it would be preserved and in the agreement the family made sure that the beach under the waterfall was to be kept off limits and forever private for sea creatures, sand and ocean water.

As a photographer these types of places are always so hard for me to decide whether to shoot or not. Of course my finger wants to trigger away because I want to make sure that the beauty that my eye at that very moment is seeing is captured and shared and awed over. At the same time, part of me is instantly uninspired because there are so many pictures out there of these places. Another problem that is particular to places as stunning and dramatic as Big Sur is that pictures rarely do the scenery justice. The colors are never as precise and the scale is always skewed and the angle is never quite right and the lens can never get the whole image and, well, you get the pict, er, idea. This day, I forced myself to shoot and these images are a glimpse into the beauty that my eye grabbed.

From Tennessee to California

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 05:27:00 +0000

Gallatin, Missouri

In my last post I mentioned that in the beginning of October I made another cross country trek from Tennessee to California. We took a new route and a HUGE detour in New Mexico so I could see states and sights I had never seen before. It was a impromptu road trip but a road trip nonetheless so we made the most of it. We spent two nights in northern Missouri (not too far from where Mormons think the Garden of Eden lies...) and I got to see Kentucky, Kansas and Illinois!

Gallatin, Missouri

Adam-ondi-Ahman

This was my first trip to Missouri and it was also my first time experiencing an Amish community and a squirrel jail. If you don't know what a squirrel jail is you should look it up and know that I saw one of the only functioning ones in the world. Unbeknown to us until we were in the middle of the trip, we were following Jesse James' tracks almost perfectly. One clue to this was that Gallatin, MO ended up having a lot of James history, as did almost every place we stopped after that. It made the trip all the more exciting to think that Jesse James was on the run in the directions that we were heading. We also discovered that Dodge City, Kansas, USA is NOTHING like you may think it is and that made us a little sad.

What did not make us sad was that Mopsy was a trooper through this all and happily napped on the floorboard of the passenger seat of the car and slept in motel bathrooms.

New Mexico

In the end, I came away from this with a new love: New Mexico. We happened across the greatest landscapes and state parks and I swear every person we spoke to was the nicest person on the trip. New Mexico is a gem and I cannot wait to go back some day. Until then, I have some awesome memories and a few neat pictures. I hope another road trip happens soon.

New Mexico

Stevie and Mopsy Meet!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:04:00 +0000

Stevie's first night she slept in a big blue bin surrounded by big blankets and a little giraffe friend. This was only supposed to happen for a night, but I wouldn't be surprised if she is still sleeping inside. Because she was so young and she was rejected by her mama we had to bottle feed her. Of course, I was so excited to introduce her to my bunny, Mopsy. They took to each other well and quickly started nuzzling and snuggling. And of course, the cats were interested in the newest house member as well!

An Apple Orchard With No Apples

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Right before I left Tennessee, we all trekked out to an apple orchard with the hopes of picking apples and coming home to bake and cook the fruit into many splendid things, like pie and cider. As we were paying at the entrance we were informed that this apple orchard was all out of apples. Yep, the apple orchard had no apples at the end of September. None. Zip. Not-a-one. However, we were promised that there were other treasures to be found.

Like farm animals. That you couldn't pet. But you could look at them. Like these adorable baby goats that we could not keep our eyes off of! Little did we know what impact these baby goats would have on us when we left. I will get to that in a second.

And of course, like any good family friendly place, many great locales for pleasantly fall photos to be taken. Such as the mock "Old Western" strip of rooms including a jail house, a barber and a bank. Okay, so back to those cute baby goats. My Partner-in-Crime and I had been scheming all summer to get goats. We saw these baby goats and instantly fell in love. We could not stop going back and ooh-ing and aww-ing at the babies. Finally, Sue encouraged us to go and ask if they were for sale. Long story short, to save you from the boring details, we left that apple-less apple orchard with a baby goat! The goats weren't really for sale, but this cutie below was rejected by her mother and was just too much work for the family that owned the orchard. So, away we drove with a goat named Stevie.

Why was she named Stevie? Because Casey was inspired by the following South Park episode:

Only would going to a pick-yourself apple orchard resort in a pick-a-goat outing with this group. I tell you what.

Why I haven't posted in over a month

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 19:24:00 +0000

Why I haven't posted in over a month, you ask? Well, it's because I moved across the country...again. So, I am back in California. And when I got to California I had a whole slough of pictures that I was excited to edit and post and share, but then I took more pictures. At this point it all felt overwhelming as I was settling back in California and unpacking and looking for a job. But, one day I started to edit my HUGE pile of pictures. And everyday for a few days I worked at chipping away at these unedited photos. And then the other day I was cleaning up my storage space on my external hard drive and POOF all of my photos from 2010 were gone. Deleted. And gone.

Luckily, I had all the edited photos from 2010 in a different folder so I did manage to save my 2010 edited archive...except for about 150 photos that had been edited but not backed up. You know, because I wanted to finished editing all the pictures before backing them up. From now on, every time I leave Lightroom and I am exporting the edited pictures. It's a done deal. Anyway, included in the group of deleted and lost forever group where photos from my cousin's wedding and one of the most magnificent pumpkin patches in all of the United States. It had a corn maze that we did twice and got utterly lost in the first time. It had games, a petting zoo, a hay ride, a mini corn maze for childrens and a pick-your-own pumpkin patch with big wonderful orange pumpkins.

What is coming soon, however are pictures from my road trip from TN to CA (through KY, IL, MO, KS, OK, NM and AZ) and a day trip down to Big Sur on a beautifully drizzly day. Oh, and some photos from an apple orchard that we visited in Tennessee that didn't have any apples...

Hopefully there will be a new post in the next week :)