Kids on the 4th of July

Kids always make the party fun!

Bubbles and Smiles!

Summer Randomness

A couple of photos from the start of the summer that I thought I would share. The weather is improving around here, so there will certainly be more to come!

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge: Pets!

I have decided to participate in my first ever I Heart Faces photo challenge. Mostly because this weeks challenge is PETS! We just love our puppy Lacey, and who can say no to this face!?

Please take a moment and check out all of the other wonderful entries on I Heart Faces. There are too many adorable pets! I kind of feel bad for the judge that has to pick just one.

Camping!

We had the weekend off from field trips for the Memorial Day holiday. So we did what most Washingtonians do - we went camping! Because we managed to avoid the rain (until Monday morning, but that was the day we left, so it doesn't count!) I had the opportunity to take some photos.

Here they are!

The shots you'll see here...

Just a quick note - the majority of the photos that you'll be seeing here while I'm 'in school' will be straight out of camera (SOOC). Most of these are shots I am taking in to class for show and tell, and to get feedback. Editing is cheating! :) The only editing I may do is cropping. If I post a final product, or edited shot, I will be sure and label it as such.

With that being said, I am working on learning basic Photoshop (maybe I will take that class next quarter?) and am getting pretty comfortable with Lightroom. More of those to come in the future.

Pike Place Market

Here are a few shots from my time at Pike Place Market. Any of you that have been there know it is gathering place for many of the interesting characters of our beloved city. It is vibrant and lively and it happens to be one of my favorite places in the world.

When you enlarge this image you can really see the sparkle in the woman's eyes.

Check out those cute shades!

This man was leading a guided tour around Downtown. Here he happened to be providing instructions on how to select an eggplant.

Isn't he a character? I love the top hat. What you cannot see is his adorable dog. She was a pitbull wearing butterfly wings. They made quite a pair.

This weekend I'm off to Ballard and the Seattle Center. My focus for both locations will again be on people. I've got a few things I'd like to try, so we'll see how it goes. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!

Bellevue Botanical Gardens

These photographs are from the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. If you've never been, this place is beautiful. I only saw a fraction of the gardens and I certainly plan on going back when I have more time! They are the pictures I turned in as my 'homework' for Tuesday's class - Camera Fundamentals. I got some great feedback. What do you think?
Later in the week I will share a few of my images from Pike Place Market. Stay Tuned!

I'm Published! (Kind of...)

If you've never heard of The Pioneer Woman, do yourself a favor and visit her site. Me? I love her. Yup, I'm in love with a woman. And one I've never even met to boot. I cannot tell you how much time I've spent on her site. She's my idol. She lives on their ranch with her devilishly handsome husband and 4 children. She is a self taught photographer, blogger, cook, and still manages to home school her children . (I could probably go without the homeschooling part...) She recently completed a cookbook tour and I'm very bummed that I missed meeting her in Seattle. (However, I did record and watch her appearances on the Today Show, The View and Good Morning America. I'm not a stalker though. Nope. Not me.) Seriously, you could get lost on her site for hours. And that's before you stumble across her love story, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. You'll thank me later.

Anyway, on to the meat-and-potatoes of why I'm chatting about PW. Occasionally on the photography section of her website, she will give assignments. These assignments generally have a theme. People join her group on Flickr and can submit one photo per day. This week her assignment was 'Happiness'. I decided that I would submit a photo. Me and.... about 75,000 other people as I last checked. (I think it may have been about 50,000 yesterday, but you get the idea.) There are excellent photo submissions. GREAT stuff. She reviews these photos and each day of that week she picks about 10 to show on her site. Then at the end of the week picks the finalists and winners.

On to the best part - She picked one of my photos for the first round!!! Remember this one?

I could not believe my own eyes. The Pioneer Woman picked ME!? Yes, I'll admit it, there may have been a brief moment of hyperventilation at my desk. It was only 5:40am for petesake! I can't handle that kind of excitement before I've even woken up!

So there you have it. My first publication. And it is by a woman I admire. Can't get much cooler than that on a Wednesday morning!

SOOC Sneak Peaks

Here are just a couple SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) sneak peaks from my field trips today! I've got to sit down and work on the rest. Tomorrow. Because today, I'm beat!Pike Place Field Trip 5/16/10. Assignment = Photographing People

Bellevue Botanical Gardens Field Trip 5/16/10. Assignment = Floral/Nature

Beautiful Spring Night

I love warm evenings in the spring.

Whistler

I've been a bit of a slacker getting some of these photos edited and online. Here are a few! (click the photo to view the album)

Lacey

I swear she just gets bigger every day.

Spring has Sprung

A Day in the City

Saturday was a beautiful day in Seattle. The market was bustling and sun was shining. Great day to spend in the city!

(click photos to make them larger)