365 Project | Day 191 - 205 | Seattle Portrait Photographer

Well hello again!  We have been in the throes of summer here and are enjoying the long days immensely.  And by long days, I mean LONG days.  The kids aren't going to sleep until 10:30, and by that time this mama is tired!  But, because they're going to bed so late, they've been getting up at 10:30!  Good thing I didn't schedule their swim class before 11am - which at the time I was thinking it was in the middle of the day.  11am has become our morning :).  Life is good.  The kids have been outside all day riding bikes, swimming, climbing trees, getting stitches (yes, Ella cut herself with a butter knife and had to get 2 stitches), having picnics, going to art festivals, setting up a lemonade stand, having sleepovers, eating ice cream cones and their new favorite - root beer floats.  Oh, and did I mention Tim got a new job?!  I'm so excited for him!  He just started last week and went to CA for orientation.  It sounds like he has a good team to work with and I'm sure he will be successful.

I'm getting ready for a fantastic photography workshop this weekend and couldn't be more excited to get my learning on and meet some new people!  I'll be sure to tell you all about it in the next post.

So these photos were taken from July 12 - July 26th and truly represent how our summer has been here hanging out in Seattle.  We have another trip to the cabin coming up in a few weeks after my first wedding of the season, so I'll be sure to shake up the project then.

Day 191 - Isaac in swim lessons - taken with my new (and lovely) 70-200 2.8L.

Day 192 - Our lilies bloomed!  LOVE the orange pop of color they bring to our front yard.  Taken with my lensbaby lens.

Day 193 - The kids' project for the day - making baby bird's nests out of our ornamental grasses in the front yard.  This is really where they put them to 'save' for later - right on my bird welcome mat :)

Day 194 - We had been heavy into the face painting - had to get a photo!

Day 195 - Enjoyed a beautiful sunset from our back yard (and new deck!!)

Day 196 - Isaac and I made jam.  He mostly just wanted to sneak licks of the sugar, of course.

Day 197 - Morning (noon) play time

Day 198 - The deck is finally ready for use!  Woo Hoo!  Ella was as excited as I was, and I love how it turned out!

Day 199 - My new business cards came in from www.moo.com.  I LOVE Moo cards - they are the best.  They use high-quality cover stock paper and laminate it, and I can use up to 100 photos on one side - so cool for my line of work.  I re-branded back in February and have slowly been ordering new print materials.  What do you think?

Day 200 - Oh Dahlia!  My neighbor has a green thumb - her front yard would make a nursery swoon.  She gave me some dahlias to enjoy.  Taken with lensbaby lens.

Day 201 - How about these apples?!  These were in our neighbor's yard - these are the apples involved in Ella's butter knife incident.

Day 202 - Major fairy play time happening here.

Day 203 - I had another photo already taken for this day, until I went in the kid's room to check on them before I went to bed - and I saw Ella.  LOVE this sleepy shot of her, so innocent and peaceful.  Due to the low light and I did not use my tripod, it is really grainy.  I don't mind it in this one.  I think it gives the photo a vintage film vibe.  What are your thoughts?  Yay or nay?

Day 204 - From Where I Stand - on my new deck with my new fun sandals - that's where! - (this title is actually a popular instagram thread, FYI)

Day 205 - Our sugar snap peas are going off! or should I say 'growing' off?!  Ha - I try to be funny.  This was a fun exercise.  The photo on the left was taken without my circular polarizing filter; the one on the right with maximum polarization.  These are both SOOC - straight out of camera - with no editing.  Quite a difference, yes?  My wedding next week is outside and I plan on using the filter the entire time.  Not only does it increase color saturation, but do you see how it helps with highlight and shadow details?  It will also enable me to shoot outdoors at a lower aperture thus a shallower depth-of-field in bright sunlight or when using flash, which is my preferred way of shooting.

Until next time!

365 Project | Day 178 - 190 | Seattle Portrait Photographer

The dog days are here, that's for sure.  Sunny weather, beaches, boating, vacation, friends, 4th of July, and amusement parks are just a few of the things that I think of when reviewing these last few weeks.

This group of photos were taken between June 29 to July 11th.  We took some time off to go to our lake cabin in Coeur d'Alene with friends.  We only get to spend a few weeks there every year, but I love it, and I love spending 4th of July there!  Coeur d'Alene does it right.  They launch the main fireworks right off a barge in the lake by the resort.  While you're waiting for the big ones, you can lounge on your deck or favorite view point and watch all the homes and cabins' fireworks displays.  This year we took our friends out on the boat to watch and a good time was had by all!

I really got into experimenting with low light photos - and had fun. I love the mystery and intimacy it lends to the photo.  Look for more of these soon.

Day 178 - In preparation for our trip to the cabin I was getting the kids groomed.  Nail clippings turned into a full-on patriotic display {although the big toes are more on the french side - I couldn't do the flag that small}!

Day 179 - Road trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho through Eastern Washington.  Tim was driving and I had my new 70-200 2.8L lens at the ready for part of the way.  These next two photos were taken just outside of Moses Lake.

Day 180 - First day at the cabin.  One of the kids favorite things to do is look for their animal friends. They've seen deer, moose, osprey, turkey, lizards, frogs, crickets, bats, and mama and baby birds.  We have some permanent birds nests under our cabin so we like to check them often.  This one was occupied, and mom was keeping her eye on us and protecting her little one in there.

Day 181 - July 2nd.  We experienced an amazing thunderstorm.  I've always loved storms.  There's something special about watching it here, too.  We have this unobstructed view of storm clouds rolling in over the lake, and you can literally watch the storm front blow over the lake towards us!  We turned off the lights and sat right in front of our windows, cuddling in blankets with the kids.  It was fun until about 11:30pm or so, when the thunder got really loud and kept the kids up half the night. :)  Ella slept about 4 hours with her "earmuffs" on.

Day 182 - July 3rd.  The cabins on Driftwood Point were giving us a fireworks show this evening.  I had the camera set-up on the tripod, ISO 200, f8, with a 30-second exposure.

Another photo of the same night.

Day 183 - 4th of July {and official halfway point of my 365 project}!  You would assume this would be the photo of fireworks - fooled you!  I didn't want to take the camera out on the boat.  This photo sums it up though.  All the kids had several glow sticks running around that evening.  They were exhausted from the day's fun - bike riding, swimming, boating, eating, making glow stick tracks in the dark, fireworks on the water, then fireworks at our neighbor's house.  I love that Isaac didn't let go of his!

Day 184 - Tim chilling in our cozy cabin as we wait for the kids to fall asleep.

Day 185 - My friend and I took the kids to Silverwood, an amusement park and water park in North Idaho.  This was taken with the iPhone and is one of Isaac's favorite rides.  We literally spent over 10 hours there, and finally got him on the Tilt-A-Whirl right before the park closed!  We had a few touch-and-go moments, but overall everyone had a good time.

Day 186 - Loved the light falling on our lonely table, begging for some company.

Day 187 - Sunday.  We were packing up and heading home.  I thought a photo of our beautiful view was appropriate, and hopefully it will suffice until we go back again.

Day 188 - Back home and back to Ella's horse back riding lessons.  Loved this big covered arena and the light.

Day 189 - Kids being silly while eating their strawberries and whipped cream dessert!

Day 190 - On the way to Ella's last riding lesson.  She took lessons at Hillcrest Training Center in Woodinville, close to many wineries.  I loved Chateau Ste. Michelle's grand entrance.  Breathtaking.