Yesterday Evening

While the Teen had his Inklings book club, the rest of us went location scouting.The location was beautiful.  Quiet, long road – no cars allowed.  Public- not private - open space.And look:  someone left their shoes behind .   (note: blurry pics aren’t really my thing, but sometimes that’s what I get when I put my camera on the road and shoot blindly.  I kinda liked these two…)But alas, despite being public lands, apparently the only part we have access to is the road.  We found miles and miles of barbed wire accompanied by these unwelcoming signs.  And so we left.  And while we won’t be back for a photo expedition, methinks we’ll definitely be back for a long bike ride …

The Family Miscellany …

I bought a super lovely quilt from this lovely lady. And I love it!  Little Dude got sick and stayed home for a whole week.I took lots and lots of flower pictures.  Just because.A certain special someone (hi, Mom!) celebrated a momentous birthday.We went to the beach at sunset.  ‘Twas perfect.Middle Dude built a radio.  Apparently, reception is better by the window.We visited an awesome museum for a pretty amazing exhibit.  I blogged about it here. Pink Martinis came over and we played with cookies and camera settings.We had guests for a week.  There was a whole lot of testosterone in the house!Someone was having a hard time waiting to open his presents …

Boast of this ...

Thus says the LORD,
"Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom,
and let not the strong man boast of his strength,
let not a rich man boast of his riches;
but let him who boasts boast of this:
that he understands and knows Me,
that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth;
for I delight in these things,"
declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:23-24

Tough. Encouraging. Beautiful. Orange County Lifestyle Photography.

Meet Sandra. She's tough, encouraging, enthusiastic, super fit, and beautiful. She's a group and personal fitness trainer at my local YMCA.

Talk about authentic "lifestyle" photography: we shot this session real-time (no do-overs, no hold-that-pose-a-little-longer, no turn-and-look-at-the-camera, no can-you-slow-it-down-so-the-pictures-won't-blur?!) during Sandra's CXWORX class. 'Twas fun, challenging, and meant that I didn't limp out of her class per my usual routine as I quickly discovered that I could not both shoot and exercise in conjunction. I'll try to make up the difference next week ... ;-)

Note for photography geeks: This was challenging! There are huge mirrors on two walls and I was trying to keep myself OUT of the pictures. If you're in a Find-Waldo kind of mood, feel free to find me in the photos above (I only cloned myself out of one, grin).

Let my teaching fall like rain ...

Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Let my teaching fall like rain
and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.

I will proclaim the name of the LORD.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
He is the Rock, His works are perfect,
and all His ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is He.

Deuteronomy 32:1-4

Anatomy of a Lightroom Edit ... Redux

Last time I played around with One Willow Brush presets using a JPG image. This time I'm playing with a RAW image.

Behold, my SOOC raw file (sized & converted for web)



Below, I applied One Willow's Lyric preset, and made a slight white balance adjustment to 4835 (just to "cool" the image a tad).



And lastly, I finessed the image using the Brush Collection...



Jessica's One Willow Brush Collection is now available and has a discount code good through March 28: OWBRUSH15 (good for 15% off not just the Brush Collection, but any One Willow purchase).

The Pod, The Bird, Art, Literature & Oatmeal::Orange County Family Life Photography

So. This is what I do. I tell family stories -- hopefully, without using any/many words. Yes, I will do my very best to capture some lovely portraits at any photography session. But ... my bigger goal and the desire of my heart is to capture the magic that is the beauty from everyday life.

This is a story about The Pod (short for The Cephalopod) and his big sister, The Bird (short for Wind-up Bird), and the delightful-full-of-love family life they were born into. A life that includes, amongst other things: art, music, literature, gaming, hugging, creating, fantastical nicknames with stories to accompany, a whole lot of Jesus ... and a little bit of oatmeal (tho, none for Papa, thankyouverymuch). Enjoy.

See the magic? The everyday beauty? We captured a precious little piece of this dear family's now. And it's a beautiful life. Truly.

Aliso Viejo Baby Photographer