Fall color and a few more from Port Townsend

One from Port Gamble and one from our backyard the other day.

Seasons Change

Just like the seasons of the year, we all experience different seasons in our lives. It could be our own personal journeys, different times as parents, relationships with friends/family and our spouses. I'm in a new season.
In my mid twenties, all I wanted was to become a mom, I did that. In my 30's I've loved being a mom and did my share of diapers and sleepless nights. My babies aren't babies anymore and I've always dreamt that I would go back to college and finish my degree. I've tried several times over the course of the last 6 yrs to return to college, but with young children we decided it would be best to wait until they were all in school. This fall marked a major milestone for our family, all 3 kids in school. I've hit my mark and now it's time.
I am going back to college {gulp} at 35 years of age!
My field of choice is dental hygiene. Glamorous, No. But it will provide a nice supplemental income while still maintaining part time employement and full time mom. I dig cleaning teeth, routine, monotonous, and gross, so I'm pretty excited.
I'm a little bummed that many of my college classes have since expired. I have the next year slotted out to complete my prerequisites for the hygiene program.
As for my passion for photography, it will still remain just that a passion and hobby. I've waivered on the idea of going pro for years. I've realized over the last year, while I love to take photos, I don't want to make it a career at this time. For me doing it for money, makes it a J-O-B and it's not fun anymore. The business side just doesn't interest me at this juncture (and the business side, is HUGE).
And now for the photo of the day...(I haven't had time to edit any of my recent photos, so here's two from the summer) First one taken on our 14th wedding anniversary by our 5 yr old, second one Edmonds Beach.

Playroom

The playroom is a love/hate relationship for me. This photo was taken after I spent hours finding weird smelly, indescribable objects in corners of cabinets and under the sofa! Uneventful photos today.

Petti

It's a tough gig modeling! These are from a few weeks back. It was hot, she was tired and I found a nice shaded spot with some nice light.

I'm working on so many things, watch the light, make sure it's in focus, don't amputate the girl, then I get stuck on how to compose the image. I keep telling myself "patience grasshopper, patience". Settings as follows 28-75mm 2.8, 50mm focal lenght, f7.1, 1/500, iso 800 (dang no idea why so high).

Ferry Ride

I can remember as a child how exciting it was to ride on the ferry. As an adult that pretty much hasn't changed...only now as an adult we have to pay the $45 to ride.

It was a quiet ride for the most part, from the intense faces below you can see the kids were engrossed in a good movie for the first part of our day trip.

First photo taken with the 70-200mm, I love the dof on that one, but looks a tad soft. Settings... f4, 1/400 iso 160. Focal lenght was 200mm.

Saturday Drive

This past Saturday we headed to Port Townsend. Kids were delighted since it involved a ferry ride. We spent most of our afternoon at Fort Worden State Park on the beach and playing in the old bunkers.

I took about 800 photos...yikees! I'm really off on my dept of field. After blowing them up in ACR, I found many were soft...lots of delete, delete.... I also dusted off the 70-200mm and man it's heavy! I'll be posting those shots later this week.

Coffeshop vintage action and Emily's rounded corner share! Thank you!

Tyler

Practicing on Tyler today. I did get eye contact this time, but not a genuine smile. I'm really working on lighting the eyes, and eveyrthing else, lol!

Date night

Here it is Wednesday and I'm still thinking of what an amazing evening my husband and I experienced this past Saturday. We changed it up a bit this time. Skipped the traditional movie and our normal flight plan.
One of the things we like to do is discover places in Western Washington that we've never experienced. On my list for that evening was Discovery Park and Shilshole Marina. On his list, trying a new restaurant. He decided on Cuban. We ended up at La Isla in Ballard and it was fabulous. Did I also say we hit happy hour! After dinner we drove to Discovery Park and watched the sunset. It was a fantastic evening, dinner was great and a wonderful evening enjoying each others company.

Photo taken at Discovery Park. The sun was pretty much almost gone. f6,1/60 and iso1000. Little bummed about the noise, tried running noiseware but didn't do much.

2nd photo is a random photo from our road trip a few weeks back to Deception Pass. I told my husband I wanted a barn to photograph. We drove around for 30 minutes searching for a decent barn to take a photo of.

Take 2 on the green leaf and a few misc

I upgraded to cs4 last week and I'm having some issues on web vs monitor. The colors are off and I'm not sure if I'm getting too carried away with some of the new options in ACR or if it's a settings thing. I wish I could sit down with someone and get a better feel with editing. Anyway, once I fix I'll post some better vs.

As for the leaf... I wasn't satisfied with my first photo, so the next day I drove back to the nursery and made a second attempt of the leaf. The time of day was the same, the plant was in the same position, but what I failed to keep in mind...was the sunlight. The day prior we had a few clouds in the sky and when I returned the next day, no clouds. So my attempt failed again...but it was a good experience for me and I had a little lightbulb moment on lighting.

Beautiful Day

It's an absolutely beauitful day here in the Northwest! I ditched the gym this morning to hang with my little man. We enjoyed Starbucks in downtown Woodinville and a walk over to Molbaks Nursery to browse the fall foilage and decor (the Halloween displays are amazing). Nonetheless it was fun.

Have no idea what kinda of flower/plant this is...just that the way the light was hitting the leaves I was entranced...and it's not fully in focus and it bothers me to no end....I almost want to drive back and try again! Shot at f3.5, 1/250 iso 100, 28-75mm 2.8 lens. Second one is f4.5, 1/200, iso 100. Hopefully my photog friends will chime in and tell me what I could have done better :)

A few more from Anacortes...

I downloaded coffeeshop vintage honey last night...After I upgraded from CS2 TO CS4!!! Lovin it so far! Be forwarned...for the next few weeks everything will be in vintage honey.
More from Washington State Park in Anacortes by Deception Pass.

Weeds and things~Anacortes Washington

Finding my groove.
The past year was one of the most difficult years for myself and our family. We were faced with what I best can describe as the "perfect storm" in our marriage, family, financial and career. Last fall I made the difficult decision to step back from pursuing photography and to work on myself, our marriage, family and all things in between. It's as if last year was one big "reset" button. I'm pleased to say with struggle does come triumph, understanding, and new perspective.
With this newfound knowledge and fresh perspective I'm chomping at the bit to get back into photography. I'm not sure what my future holds as far as portrait photography. I'm honestly in no hurry. All I can do right now is take one day at a time and really soak it all up and learn!
And...I may need some volunteer subjects cuz my kids are really not enjoying mommy's rekindled passion for photography.
Photos taken Washington Park, Anacortes, WA. Coffeeshop Vintage honey action and storyboard.

Lazy Labor Day Weekend

Random shots from last week. Weather wise, it's been a dreary Labor Day weekend. Photos of my kids being themselves. As you can see I'm not getting a whole lota love from my kids :) And a self portrait of me.

Body Attack

I've found a new class at the gym I really enjoy called, body attack. It's another love/hate relationship (like the step mill). One hour of intense cardio and sweating like crazy. Now that school is back in session I'm really trying to focus on losing my last few pounds to goal. I've been tracking my calories and workouts for the last week and a half ....I've lost 3.8 lbs!!!

Btw, love my polar heartrate monitor. And now I'm going to enjoy a mojito and a yummy dinner (within reason of course)!

a few more...

The last of my babies to go off to school. Today was bittersweet. While I'm thrilled to have afternoons all to myself, I'm going to miss my partner in crime!

First Day of Kindergarten