I think that this summer and spring I want to go to every park in Ferndale and Bellingham.  This may be my summer bucket list.  We have our favorite city parks but there are more than we usually haunt.  I've driven down this road a couple of times this year and noticed a park.  It looked promising.  So the othernight I packed Job, Lona and Skagit up and we headed over there.  It was fairly close to the house but had a gorgeous view of the water.  I think that if we didn't have Skagit we might have crossed the tracks to look for a trail down to the water. I have been wanting photos with some trees that are blooming and this park provided it.  Another thing I would like to do is go thrift store shopping.  Lona and I found this cute little paper umbrella at a thrift store and it became a prop at the park.  The only problem with it is that it is so easy to tear. Lona is on a hunt for a pair of combat boots and I would like props for photos, whether that is for food photography or people.  Yes, I think that we have our spring and summer ideas.










I really appreciate the relationship these two have with each other. There's just something special about it.



 Job pretty much always gives me this same expression unless it's one with his mouth open to give me grief for taking his photo.

I wish I had pictures of Isaac playing indoor but for some reason I have none.  I'm not sure if I went to one of his games. I really think that wrestling has helped Job be more aggressive in indoor soccer and Lona had the opportunity to play on Job's team once when they were down players.  She loved it and worked so well as a mid fielder with Job.  They just seemed to be able to anticipate what the other was thinking.  It was a joy to watch.  I wish they had more of an opportunity to do so.  However the indoor season has come to an end.









It's with mixed feelings.  Sad because my time viewing soccer inside although not any warmer is being replaced by enduring the breeze and wetness on the soccer field.  Happy because I no longer need to make trips to south Bellingham three or four days a week for games.  It is now onto the outdoor season of soccer and reffing.  Both Job and Lona still enjoy reffing but Isaac is looking forward to something different.  He doesn't like the flack he gets from parents, players and coaches. So now instead of traveling to Bellingham, I'm dropping off and picking kids up from the soccer fields and soccer practices.  Luckily for me they are all practicing at the high school and playing at the soccer fields.  It does get a little tricky with Isaac reffing select games either at Lummi, WWC or Civic but he takes two games back to back which helps with the driving.

Can spring come fast enough for me?  I'm not sure it can.  On this day I had planned to go to the tulip fields to work on photographing during high sun time between 11 am and 1 pm. It's hard to do in the Pacific Northwest where we receive more days of cloud cover than sun. But I was hoping for blue skies, vibrant tulips and of course sun.  I had two of the three. The tulips weren't in bloom yet so I settled on Tenant Lake instead.  The house is a great place for photos as is the lookout tower and my kids have been supportive as I work my way through various types of light. Well, two of the three have been. I went back through the blog and the last time I took photos here was last year in January with the fog.  It's amazing how different the place looks in the sun. Then before that it was April of 2010.  The kids have grown and so has my photography. I am just amazed at the difference. I like going back and reminiscing.

Well, Job finished the wrestling season with his best match ever.  He was so excited and it was against his own teammate who is 20 pounds heavier than he is.  That doesn't seem like much but when it's 30% of his body weight, it is actually a lot.  He has been pinned at every match.  Every match his opponent out weighs him.  Every match he works as hard as possible.  This time though it was different.  A pin is when the shoulders touch the mat, both shoulders.  The wrestlers score points by taking their opponent down to the ground, or reversing positions, an opponent having a rule violation, and losing or taking control of the other wrestler.  In Job's very last wrestling match of this year, Job lasted all three rounds which are 1 1/2 minutes each.  He lost by points which is a technical pin.  He came off the mat just beaming.  This wrestling season has been great for him.  When asked which he likes better, wrestling and soccer, he had a hard time coming up with a choice.

 I've been working with light and food. It's amazing how many different ways you can photograph a subject and get a whole different look to the photograph. I first start with an idea in my head of how I want the photograph to look like. I think about the style of photograph. I am in a dark and moody phase right now. That translate to all my food photographs having that style. I then think about the food and the colors in the food. I look around my house for dishes that would compliment but not distract from the food. Typically I like white or off white plates. When I'm at grocery stores, dollar stores, Goodwill, Target or Walmart I look for dishes or something I can use with food. I've been following a couple of food blogs and photographers who are food photographers. I am learning and practicing and loving how they are turning out. Food doesn't move around. I am comfortable around food. I guess I'm not intimidated by it. I think about angles, and position of forks, chopsticks, any thing that I'm using with the food. I have a favorite window in my kitchen and I turn off all the lights to get the shadows and the moodiness. I've purchased a couple of floor boards for the background when I want dark wood. I have a bamboo tray that I use, a painter's drop cloth, a cookie sheet for dark metal. I always wondered what I would take photos of when my kids move out and it's just John and I. He really doesn't like me taking photos of him and you can tell in the pictures just how uncomfortable he is. With food, I cook it during the day and then work while it's hot. Green onions are place on it last so they don't wilt and I use real food.  Professional food photographers have a lot of tricks to make food look better and there are times it's not real. I don't use tweezers to get it just right so maybe that's why I'll never have my food on a carton or an ad which is OK with me. I want my food to make me hungry and maybe other's hungry as well. I want it to real and uncomplicated so that it looks like anyone could make it. I typically take about 50 to 60 shots of the food from different angles and move stuff around. Then when I upload it to my computer I only upload a quarter of them. Next I go through as I process them, deleting the next batch of photos that didn't make it.  Finally I have a few favorites and I look them over thinking about which one will make it into the recipe book and how the recipe book is layout.  At this point and time I am having all my recipe photos horizontal so the vertical ones don't make it into the book.