Who's this guy?!

Chris took a new position at Key recently, and as part of his move, he had to have pro-photo. So of course, he came to me ;) He didn't actually use this one, because he's smiling too much I think, he used a more serious version, but I thought it was awesome. So... blogging it!!

Baby Shower!

Had a great time yesterday hosting Dellany's baby shower. Ethan is due in just 5 weeks!! Very excited for him to arrive.

I love the bump comparison with Betsy and Dellany - she is due just a few days before Dellany!

Winter is due just after Dellany - I had to make sure our driveway was extra safe so nobody went in to early labor slipping on the ice! (anyone that has parked in our drivway can relate...)

Helping Out!

My friend Bryn Welcenbach has been serving in Macao, China as a missionary for about 2 years now. She is trying to raise support so that she can continue her work there, and needs to raise over $25,000 before June 15!



In an effort to help, http://enjoymittens.com/ has donated 50 pairs of their beautiful vintage wool mittens to Bryn. The mittens sell for $35 and every single dollar goes straight to helping Bryn!




If you are looking for a fun gift for a friend, or need some fun mittens yourself, this is great way to give something back! Contact me, or email Norma Jean: enjoy.etc@gmail.com

Or, if you would just like to help out (and don't need mittens), you can donate to Bryn directly: http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=13540

New Years Eve!

Had a great time up north this year, freezing our butts off at -20 degrees, but we snow machine'd back to a friends cabin right on a lake. It was great - plenty of fire works, lots of wood for bonfires and the wood stove (very important at -20!) and great friends - what more can you ask for?

More Night Winter Photos

I love Christmas lights! The Anchorage town square is a total winter wonderland right now - the foggy weather has put a beautiful frost on all the trees, and the lights are so fun! Went downtown with my friend Renee Vanni last night and we practiced a little more night photography. As promised, here are a few more images!

Winter Frost

It has been forever since I posted new photos! In the spirit of catching up before the holidays - here are a couple quick pics I took last night. I have been desperately wanting to play around with night photography, and of course, in Alaska you can only do that in the winter! And Chris gets a little concerned when I want to go out alone at night... So I only got about 15 minutes to play. But here is my first attempt. Hopefully more (and better) photos to follow soon!

B-Day in Seattle!

Had an awesome time in Seattle for my b-day this year. Cristen drove up from Pullman and we had a great time running all over town!


After a visit to the Comedy Underground we headed to an awesome Irish pub near Pioneer Square, Fado.

I love Michael's expression in this one - although it looks like he was edging Megs out of the pic!

Fall Photo

Just a fun pic from this past weekend...

Seattle

On our way back from Milwaukee/Minneapolis we stopped over in Seattle for a couple of days. Chris went off on a bike expedition with Joe, so I hung out with my awesome siblings for a couple days. Cristen even drove in from Pullman to surprise me, and we had a fab time!

I was a bit photo'd out from the wedding shoot, but i did manage to take a few on a quick trip to the park near Megan's place in Queen Anne...

View of the skyline from the park pier
Bandit gets around so good in his wheel chair!

He gets lots of attention everywhere we go - everyone thinks he is super cute and asks about the wheels. He loves it - he was literally romping in the grass - so cute!

Fall Day

We are in full fall swing here in Ak - and it is gorgeous! We've had beautiful weather this weekend, and are trying to take advantage of our last little bit of summer... Chris and I headed out Saturday afternoon for a little hike. We took Guinness along, and he was quite a trooper! We had to cut it a little short because I we both thought he was going to die... short legs are not good for hiking! But he did good ;)

Normally, Guinness hates to be picked up, but he was so tired, he didn't even care...

We came right up on this chipmunk, and he didn't even care! Alvin was totally about the berries he was eating...

I love this last one - been playing with some of the ideas I learned at my workshop with Edie Soloway...

Minneapolis & Milwaukee

For our friends Jess & Mark's wedding this past weekend, we flew in to Minneapolis and met up with KJ & Brian. We had a great time hanging out - here are a few snaps from out weekend with them ;)

This is the wine bar where we went for Jess & Mark's pre-wedding plunge drinks... Awesome wine, and the brunt of many a joke. Yes, we're all highschoolers at heart.

Self portrait ;)

KJ was my awesome assistant for our "Day After" wedding session with Jess & Mark. I could not have done it without her!

For pics from Jess & Mark's wedding, check my DSY Design Photography blog, or
fan me on facebook!

Fall is here...

Spent my labor day holiday up at Eklutna lake with Sara and the girls, Barb, Dellany, and our pack of dogs... The weather was incredible this weekend, so we had a nice walk but boy are the leaves turning yellow! Summer is definitely winding down...

Photo Workshop

I had the pleasure of taking a 2 1/2 day workshop with Eddie Soloway this weekend, who is a New Mexico photographer that came to Ak to jury an anual show the Alaska Photographic Center (APC) puts on. The workshop was called A Natural Eye, and Eddie tries to teach photographers to change their perspective and think about things in a different way when making pictures. It was very inspirational and fun, and we had a chance to go out in the woods and put things in to practice. Here are a couple of the images I made:

The idea is to convey a sense of emotion in your image, rather than just take a picture. I am really excited to continue practicing his techniques and see where it leads... the great thing about practicing with nature and landscape is that you have plenty of time to get the shot right. Makes practice a lot more fun ;)