Last night I had the honor of attending my son’s high school graduation ceremony.  It was cold and pouring down rain, but after a while it stopped raining and we could enjoy the ceremony.  I didn’t bring my big gun camera (canon 7d) because I didn’t want it to get wet, but filmed the whole thing with my little Canon G12 (I love that camera) which I wore around my neck and it fit snugly under the umbrella.

My daughter helped me out a bit with the filming, so I made a slide show of the whole event.  Enjoy.

Congratulations, Pat.  Your dad and I are very proud of you!

NEW! NEW! NEW!  UPDATED! updated with new video! click on link below!

Patrick Gets Graduated…New and Improved

What a great time we had in Napa Valley this weekend.  The whole weekend was devoted to photography.  Saturday was spent studying landscape photography with the help of landscape photographer Dean Gufstason.  I learned so much from him.  He is an excellent photographer (click on his name to go to his web page) and was extremely helpful and kind.

Sunday, we journeyed up to the private Behren’s Family Winery where we literally had the run of the place.  I have lots of photos to edit, but I’ve put a few here for your enjoyment.

I’ll probably do a little slideshow later on and I may add some more to the blog by way of a light box, or something.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun.  Thanks to Mark Behrens for putting the whole thing together.  Disneyland for photographers, indeed.

This is the current Mrs. Santa Clarita Valley, Julie Winkle.  She is running for Mrs. California 2011.  As you can see, she is gorgeous and has a beautiful family.  That’s her husband, Jack, (middle left) and her son (middle right) in the above pics.

Let me tell you a little about Julie.  It is obvious to anyone who sees her, that she is a true beauty. She’s about 5’9″ tall with long blond hair and gorgeous green eyes.  It is also obvious to anyone who observes her for any length of time that she is just as beautiful inside as she is on the outside.  She is a Christian woman who takes her faith seriously. She has a good sense of humor with an infectious laugh and is very quick to laugh at herself.  She is generous, almost to a fault. She is naturally hospitable and wants anyone who enters her home to be comfortable and make themselves at home. She has housed people in her home who need a place to stay until they get on their feet and can afford their own place.  She has also housed college students who can’t afford housing while they attend a nearby college.

She is also the bravest, strongest woman I know.  When her only child was around 2 years old, he was diagnosed with severe autism.  Although a devastating diagnosis, she and her husband researched the disease, consulted doctors,  determined a course of action that would best suit their son and moved forward with it.  To say their lives have been challenged with this diagnosis is a severe understatement.  However, their lives have been ultimately blessed and their little boy is happy and a loving child.  Julie strongly supports several charities, one of which is “Autism Speaks”.  Running for Mrs. California will give her an excellent platform to support this charity.

Most of all, Julie is a kind, loving and supportive friend.  I should know.  She’s been my best friend for the last 20 years. I may be biased, but all the things I said above are true.  She has been a huge blessing in my life.

You can vote for her for “People’s Choice” here.

Only $1.00 per Vote and a 5 Vote Minimum

Vote for Julie Winkle, Mrs. Santa Clarita Valley

Here’s a little slideshow I made with some shots of her photo shoot taken by me in November and December, some personal shots that I have taken thru the years and some shots taken by Julie and some of her friends (Michelle Hopkins).

*The two middle shots in the collage above, were not taken by me.  They were provided by Julie and edited by me.

As I was sitting on the floor in the MGM Grand Convention Center waiting in line for the first speaker of the convention (Sal Cincotta who was fabulous, by the way), this is the view that made me happy to be there.  I spent 5 days in fabulous Vegas attending one of the biggest photographers’ conventions of the year, WPPI or Wedding and Portrait Photographers International.  Sixteen thousand wedding and portrait photographers, vendors, and other people affiliated with the industry were present.  Although most of my days were spent either listening to speakers or browsing the trade show, I did have some time to walk around the city with my camera and a photographer friend of mine. Here are some of my impressions.

And, of course, I made a video slideshow of the whole adventure.

On the Chopping Block

Creamy Smooth Mashed Potatoes

The finished product: Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts

Hope you enjoyed watching.  We sure enjoyed eating it.

UPDATED 2/4/11

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to participate in a photo shoot involving beautiful women, handsome men and guns in a lovely old building in Downtown Sacramento.  I am in the midst of processing the photos, but here’s a sample of the fun we had.  I brought my  youngest son with me to help shlep my gear.  He’s 17, so he was happy to go along, see all the great guns they brought and, of course, see some pretty girls.  He even got himself involved in a shot or two.

It was a great day.  Many thanks goes to Mark Behrens, who put the shoot together through his business, Lookpw.com.

Thanks also goes to Shooters Paradise, the men and women who came to model and allow me to get some great shots.

This slide show is the whole event from beginning to end and replaces the sample slide show.  I’ve added a short clip of video to make this a photo fusion slide show.

It was tough to pick because I had so many fantastic people that I was fortunate enough to photograph this past year.  Thanks to all those who touched my life with beauty and grace and down right fun.

Enjoy

My husband is a part time chef.  He frequently makes our dinner.  I especially like his Sunday night meals, but that’s not the point of this post.  My husband made the food for the wedding in Lake Tahoe a couple of weeks ago. My daughter acted as sous chef.  My two sons and my niece served the food.  The china was from the groom’s grandparents.   It was a family affair.

The food was fun and delicious.  The bride and groom wanted to stick with food from their heritage.  The bride’s heritage is Irish and the groom’s heritage is Cornish and Scottish. So, my husband scoured the internet to find tasty servings from the United Kingdom.

There were three kinds of stuffed potatoes (Irish), Irish Soda bread with smoked salmon and a cream spread (Irish and Scottish), bangers (Cornish), potato pizza (Irish) and other goodies.

The food was a big success.   The bride and groom loved the food and so did the guests.  My husband and daughter were heroes. Of course, they have always been heroes to me.

All in all, it was a beautiful family wedding.  Much success and congratulations to my brother and my new sister-in-law!

Just for Fun!

I’m trying out a new storyboard for web design.  I thought I would use some pics I had from a day spent with some wonderful friends a couple of weeks ago.

I talked my husband into going to Reno, Nv, with me on Saturday. This was a supreme sacrifice for him because he works hard all week and values his rest on the weekend.

The alarm went off at 2:00 a.m. and we dragged ourselves out of bed, showered, loaded up the camera gear and were out the door by 3:00. We were staying at Tahoe, so Reno was only about 1 1/2 hour drive. We arrived at the event about 4:30, drove around looking for a parking place and finally settled at a free spot at the University of Reno. Then we hiked about 1 mile to the park where the event took place. There were already thousands of people there. Many of them were in their pajamas, pulling little pajama-clad children in wagons, hauling sleeping bags and lawn chairs. We were obviously ill-prepared as we only brought my camera, my camera bag and a tripod, none of which is very comfortable to sit on.

The pre-dawn glow show was interesting, but not much of a photography event. There was some excitement when one of the “Dawn Patrol” balloons collapsed on itself and the operator shot the flame right through the balloon. Luckily those things don’t catch fire but it was ruined, nevertheless. This is not a very good photo, but you can see the collapsing balloon and the flame shooting through it.  Emergency crews were at the ready and arrived post haste to make sure nothing bad happened.

One of the best things that happened was the fly-over of 5 jets as a tribute to 9/11/09. I was sitting on the field facing 2 balloons that were ready to launch. The announcer was giving a great tribute to 9/11 and the first balloon went up with the US flag hanging from the basket. Then, all of a sudden the jets just appeared out of the sunrise and behind the remaining balloon. I was situated perfectly to capture the amazing event. I pointed my camera toward the balloon and let it rip, catching about 6 shots of the jets. This is  my best shot.

My husband and I wandered around the field watching the balloon operators setting up one balloon after another. I followed one operator (photographically…not like a stalker…heh) pilot from layout of his balloon on the field to take off. He told me he was an airline pilot by trade. He was taking a woman up with him who was writing some sort of article on the event. She had never been up in a balloon before and her comment to me was, “The things I do for an article”.

My husband and I left around 9:00am tired, but happy. We got back to our place at Tahoe and promptly collapsed. What a great day.