I wanted to say a little something about Day Two of my Redding Adventure.  It was a long but wonderful day.

My new roommate and I woke up about 3:15 a.m. because we had to meet the rest of the photogs and Mark Behrens in a Redding Parking lot by 4:30 a.m. We got there in time and carpooled to the first location which was more than one hour away.  We arrived as the sun was coming up in the cloudless sky. Not the best situation for some good landscape photography.  However, we managed to get a couple of good shots of Mt. Shasta and some local flora at a little lake.

After that we trekked down to a waterfall location at a place called Dunsmuir.  It was a short and easy hike down to this particular location and well worth the hike.  After taking numerous shots of the waterfall, the models that we brought along with us began to pose underneath and around the waterfall.  It was a little chilly down there because the water was ice cold and the sun hadn’t risen high enough in the sky to provide some warmth.  I was great with that because I had hauled quite a bit of gear down with me and I was beginning to work up a slight sweat.  The models, however, were pretty cold.

Here’s one photo that I took underneath the overhang of the waterfall with a very long shutter speed.  It almost looks like a beam of light. I liked the big slab of granite behind the waterfall.

The next stop was a lovely park near the river.  The sun we beginning to be high in the sky, so it was a little more difficult to find some great locations for our models showcasing the location.

Flowers and Rocks

It was beginning to get a little warm as we finished up our fourth location, so we broke for lunch and then met at HDR Imaging for some photoshop lessons. It was nice to be in an air-conditioned room during the heat of the day because Redding, California, is very hot in the middle of summer. After several hours of great instruction, we broke for dinner and then headed off to another location.

This location was fabulous.  It was an overlook to Shasta Dam, Shasta Lake and Mt. Shasta.  That particular location is called “The Three Shastas”.  Not only did we have a fabulous view, but when I drove up to the site there were four gorgeous Porsches, a Mustang and a four wheel drive vehicle. Oh!  And there were also about 6 or 7 models.  Later on, a nice guy on a hot red motorcycle stopped to see what all the hub-bub was about and he let us use his motorcycle as another prop.

I haven’t had a chance to go thru all my photos of this particular shoot, but here are a few…

After the sun had set and all the cars were gone as were most of the models and photogs, I wanted to try a long exposure on the beautiful Three Shastas.  It was very dark by this point and I had to use my tripod and manual focusing because  it was too dark for the camera to focus on its own.  When I finally saw this photo, I was glad we stayed after everyone else had left.

The Three Shastas

All in all this was a long but wonderful day.  Day three was almost as fun…more on that later.

My little friend came by to help me make some Mexican Chicken soup last night and he brought a school friend of his…Freddy the Frog.  He was Freddy’s caretaker for a week.  At the end of the week he returns the frog and turns in a one page story about his time with the frog.  So, I took a couple of pictures to help him tell the story.

Sadly, while my little friend was making the soup, the frog apparently got tired of reading the recipe to him and began to slide down the counter.  He’s apparently a rather lazy frog.

Alas, I wore out my little friend with all the cooking and picture taking, so he was a touch grumpy when I suggested he read a quick story to Freddy so I could take the last picture.  It was a tough day of going to school, caring for Freddy and visiting me.  It wears me out just thinking about it.

Yes, today is my husband’s birthday.  Here is a brief primer on him.

He’s very handy and fixes things around the house.

He’s athletic, but never shows off.

He doesn’t mind helping me out with my career, and loves a good adventure.

He doesn’t mind posing for me (I won third prize at the county fair with this one).  He is rather Cary Grantish, isn’t he?

He’s an excellent cook.  Here’s a bit of trivia…he’s interning at a local fine dining restaurant.  He wants to be a chef when he grows up.

And, here is my fabu husband making leaf angels in Vermont.  One of the things I love about him is his playfulness.  Although, I think he misses Minnesota, where he was raised.  You can take the man out of Minnesota, but you can’t take the Minnesota out of the man.

Happy, happy birthday.

(I’m taking a break from the slow moving narrative on Vermont, for which I promise to return.)

Our first lesson involved the different types of light and how they effect our subject. In this first session, the model was placed in direct sunlight with an interesting shadow pattern against a patterned wall. Although the light pattern was interesting, it was not kind to our female model. (Below) I changed the photo to black and white in order to focus attention on the contrast rather than the model. Not the most flattering light, but I like the photo for the hard shadow lines.

In this second photo, a reflector was brought in to show us that we could soften hard light by lightening shadows on her face using a reflector. In this case, although she has an interesting look on her face, the shadows are much softer on her and much more flattering. (Below)

In this last photo, we placed the model under a large tree with no dappled sunlight. The light is very flattering and she looks quite a bit younger and softer. I think all these types of light have a place in photography, but light definitely changes the mood and feel of a photo. The workshop was wonderful and I’m looking forward to the one that will be held in Sacramento in September.