sunset + sisters + surprises :: Laguna Beach Photography

Delightful, beautiful sisters, a glorious sunset, low tide + lovely tidepools, Laguna Beach + warm weather all combined to create a pretty wonderful little Christmas surprise for these daughters' parents. It was my pleasure to be a small part of the magic :-).

Orange County Family Photographer

Happy Thanksgiving

WHEREAS, It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor;

WHEREAS, Both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

--George Washington - October 3, 1789

Our Beach Walk in the Rain ...

Annie Leibovitz Calls the iPhone the “Snapshot Camera of Today” ... here's my Android version of her opinion. Certainly, the best camera for the job at hand is the one you have with you. And, might I just add, it's way easier to throw the 'droid back in my pocket to keep it dry; can't say the same for my big girl camera. ;-)

We Like Ed Emberley.

I asked Little Dude what he'd like to do this week while on vacation. He replied, "Ummm, I think I'd like to draw and color lots and lots..." Permission granted, with pleasure :-).

Simple Sunset Photo Tip ...

Last time we Kellers traveled to Mono Lake, we arranged to arrive there at sunrise (oh yeah, you can bet the dudes loved that. not.) This time we traveled to Mono Lake for sunset. Because I'm, like, soooo original like that (and because I knew there was a greater likelihood of water freezing in hell than of me being able to talk my crew into another sunrise adventure!). I discovered that this tourist destination is far more popular at sunset than sunrise (go figure: way less frigid, a time of day when everyone is actually awake, and every bit as beautiful as sunrise).

Behold the golden splendor of twilight time at Mono Lake ...

A Rorschach test?  Or tufas with a tourist??

And behold the fellow photographers, arrayed all in a line to capture all the sunset goodness...

…and the sun set and all the photographers with their nice cameras & tripods left.   Which is terribly sad, because this is what they missed:

All of which leads me to my super simple sunset tip:
after the sun sets, stick around a while. The most spectacular, vivid colors sometimes arrive 20-30 minutes after the sun has gone down.

Though the Mountains be Shaken …

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed,

yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken

nor my covenant of peace be removed,"

says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:10

What we do.

Not to be confused with "What I Don't Do". This is a "we" -- as in we Kellers -- list. And it's what we do do...

Drive 200 miles roundtrip for pie. (see evidence here)

Bring Dog Dude with us on most of our adventures.

Like each other (ok. The Teen might argue this. But it's the truth, I swear!)

Laugh together at Big Dude's witty one-liners.

Read voraciously. (I like a variety. The Teen likes dystopian Sci-Fi. Middle Dude likes fantasy. Littlest Dude likes anything sweet & silly. Big Dude generally likes the one or two books per year that we tell him he HAS to read.)

Splurge on fun snacks. (tho, this time we found the price tag a little shocking!)

Get lost, if I'm the one in charge of directions. (thus, we missed the "golden hour" I wanted in the field, because I chose the wrong direction. oy.)

Totally appreciate Leslie and her sweet family for coming along with us on our mini-roadtrip and taking such lovely pictures of us!!

Searching for Fall

In our search, we did lots of this: