Posted in: Lake Tahoe | landscapes | My Life | Photo Walk

Obie T. Dogg stops to smell the flowers

I spent most of the summer in my favorite place, Lake Tahoe, CA.  My family has owned a summer home and now a part time home since 1952.  The original summer “home” was built by my dad and his best friend, Allen Combellack.  It was, how should I say it, rustic.  For a while there were no stairs to the upstairs and so they used a ladder to get to the bedrooms.  The interior walls were not finished for years…in other words, the bare 2×4’s were uncovered. My parents finally bought their own place in the 1980’s.  They have since passed away, so my brother and I have inherited this place.  I am greatly humbled by the hard work my parents did to own this place and then graciously passed it on to us.

The time I spent up there with my family and friends over the years hooked me.  I love the lake, the beautiful natural surroundings, Izzy Burgers, The Rainbow Trail, Kiva Beach, swimming in Emerald Bay, walking in the forest behind our house and everything else about the place.  So, this year I have spent quite a bit of time here, mostly with my dog, Obie T. Dogg.  Here are a few pics that I was able to take while strolling around the area with the dog.

Meadow at Rainbow Trail (Visitor's Center) near Taylor Creek

Fallen Leaf Lake at Sunset

Obie sits on Kiva Beach after taking a swim

Obie watches other dogs frollicking in the lake at Kiva Beach

Baldwin/Pope Estates

Meadow Near Fallen Leaf Lake

We also spent a lot of time in the Angora Burn area, but I’ll save that for another post.

Enjoy!

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Posted in: portraits | Trash the Dress

Everyone knows you have to have an end of summer celebration every year. I’m not sure why you would want to celebrate the end of summer, but everyone knows that you need one last fling, before the dogs days of summer are gone.

I spent the day last Sunday at a beautiful home in Auburn, CA, with a bunch of photographers and people who wanted to be photographed.  Some of the people were new and novices.  Some of the people were accomplished photogs and/or models.  Here are some of the pics I took that hot summer day.

 There were many, many more opportunities to shoot both people and backgrounds, but I just ran out of time.  Hopefully I will be able to photograph this gorgeous home again with more fun people who are up for an adventure.

And finally, because of the thousands of requests I’ve received (?), here’s a peek into what the photographed are forced to look at while they are trying to be beautiful.  If I had to look at all this, it would be tough to keep a straight face.

Happy End of Summer!

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Posted in: Fashion | portraits | Senior Photos

Our last day in hot Redding was spent at a concrete factory and then back for more instruction on Photoshop techniques at HDR Imaging in Redding.

I have never been to a concrete factory, let alone doing a photo shoot there.  It was great fun with lots of great backgrounds and interesting shapes and textures.

I saw a bunch of forms along the outside wall of the other building that looked like picture frames. So, I wanted to get them in the background of the above picture. Rachael was quite cooperative and even got a little dirty so that I could get the background that I wanted.

Here’s Rachael again against a different backdrop.  There was great light coming in from the door next to her that made her hair positively glow.

Here’s a few more from the shoot that I really liked.

And finally, we decided to spray some water around and use our flashes to see what would happen.  It was fun!

I wouldn’t mind going there again next time I’m in Redding…

I need to find some fun places like this here in El Dorado County.

 

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  • August 31, 2011 - 3:27 pm

    Lisa Van Dyke - I love your work and admire your wonderful talent! I continue to learn from you Karen!

Posted in: Fashion | landscapes

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.

 

Already Beamed Up

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.

 

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Posted in: Trash the Dress

I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a jam-packed weekend of photography over the weekend.  It was put together by Mark Behrens of LookPW.com in Redding, CA.  Ordinarily I would never think to go to Redding in the middle of summer, but this opportunity was too good to pass up.

We started off the weekend on Friday night with a Trash the Dress session at a lovely little river just outside of Redding, called Clear Creek. There were several beautiful women who braved the very cold water of the creek in order to give us beautiful photos.

 

 

It was a very hot day in Redding and although the shoot took place in the evening, we were all very hot and sweaty (except for the brides.) After the sun went down, the brides did begin to show the cold (goose bumps, teeth chattering, etc.)  Brave, brave women.

One of the best things about Trash the Dress sessions is the way the water makes the dress flow and highlight the beauty of the bride.  The white dress against the backdrop of a dark flowing river compels viewers to focus all their attention onto the bride.

 

 

Adding a setting sun and some sun flare to the shot highlights the hair and brings further attention to the bride.

Trash the Dress Sessions are not always about a bridal gown.  Just as much fun is a period costume or a prom dress.

Although the water was a little nippy due to the late snow melt from Mt. Shasta, there are many, many places available which won’t make your teeth chatter if you have a great dress that you would like to wear in the water.  Contact me at schmautzhaus@sbcglobal.net to set up an appointment. Go here to see what types of sessions are available:  Sierra Springs Photography

 

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  • July 29, 2011 - 1:16 pm

    Brittany Butler - Love love LOVE it!!! Looks like you had to much fun!

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