A Captured Memory

Sedona Arizona

2010-03-08T09:33:00.000-08:00

Breathtaking. That one word sums up Sedona, Arizona quite nicely. Sedona is my kind of place. Nature, beauty, relaxation and invigoration around nearly every corner. We decided to join our good friends, Yolanda and Zaya for a few days just to get away. I have always said that I wanted to go to Sedona and January provided the perfect opportunity. The 8 hour drive was well worth it when we stepped out into this beautiful place. It was as if we were on a different planet and Mynde must have said "wow" 25 times in the first hour of our arrival. We spent the next couple of days hiking and exploring and just hanging out in the super-cool awe-inspriring city.

Bell Rock

2010-03-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I came across a picture of Antelope Canyon . I had never heard of this place (located in Page, AZ near Lake Powell, AZ), but I knew at that moment that I HAD to make it there someday. So, after a little convincing, our group decided to make a detour on the way to the Grand Canyon. Page, Arizona is located about a 4 hour drive from Sedona and, as we found out, not really on the way to the Grand Canyon, but it was soooo worth the extra drive. Because Antelope Canyon is located on Navajo land, everyone has to be escorted by a guide and are only allowed a short amount of time in the slot canyon itself. There are longer photography tours available, but I am the only photo freak so we went with the "regular" tour. It also happened to be about 15 degrees colder in the canyon so I am not sure how long my fingers would have survived, anyway. Our guide, Leonard (fancy Navajo name eludes me), was GREAT! He knew all the places to look and pointed out the "perfect shots". Needless to say, it is not easy to take pictures in the canyon. It is dark and the use of flash would wash out the natural light. I was completly running on adrenaline and was just hoping I could capture even a fraction of the beauty that surrounded me. Here are a couple of the seemingly million pictures I took inside the Antelope Canyon...I cannot wait to return in the summer when the light shines directly in the canyon and makes for completely different photographs~

2008-11-29T23:14:00.000-08:00

Greetings! If you are looking for photos of the Elite Softball Turkey Tournament from 11/29/2008, click on the photo and it will take you directly to the uploaded photos!

If you are interested in downloading or buying any prints, you can click HERE for a link to my price list post. Thanks for looking!

2008-06-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

Click on the photo link to see some photos from our Greek adventure...Enjoy!

FUN WITH THE DUCKS!

2008-01-21T12:14:00.000-08:00

I had a lot of fun when Lance invited me to go watch the Ducks play some hockey. I was lucky to have gotten my camera in as they apparently have some kind of rule that doesn't allow lenses over 6 inches and well, that doesn't leave a lot of options. Nonetheless, I passed the length test and got a couple of good shots...still learning the camera and shooting through the glass and nets...but still some fun pictures. Thanks Lance for taking me along!!

Hockey's favorite pastime...fights!

Birthday...............once again.............

2008-01-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to me...Happy Birthday to me...

I spent my actual birthday with Mynde and Tammy and we just had a nice dinner out at a local Teppan Japanese joint...good food and good friends...sounds like a nice evening to me!

A couple of days later, the girls hit the town (Fullerton) and had a little fun...

The group at Tammy's before we left (notice Mason sticking his lil head in)...

The Irish Pub--stop 2 of about 7

Our celebratory drink...I hope the fishies found a new home...

And last me showing off my BOLLOCKS shirt I made just for this evening...that or my Saturday Night Fever pose...FUN TIMES...

Santa Cruz November...Catching up...

2008-01-16T23:04:00.000-08:00

Wow! I am not being very diligent about this whole blog thing...but in the next few days I will try to catch up starting with the pictures from our little road trip to Santa Cruz just after Thanksgiving. Okay okay...so I am a couple of months behind...I will do better in the future...maybe.

Downtown Santa Cruz
After spending the afternoon touring the shops and sights of downtown Santa Cruz, we picked up dad and went to dinner out on the pier.

We watched the few surfers beg for the wave gods to send some on...not much luck as the sea was very tame.

Santa Cruz landmarks and beautiful signature views...

Mynde and I hangin by the ocean...I need my own photographer...

It was so great to see Drake...way too much time between visits...

Pismo Trip to See Family

2007-12-28T22:34:00.000-08:00

R.I.P Tannerman

We (Mynde, Canon and I) made the drive down up to Pismo Beach to visit Auntie Karran, Russ, Beck, JD, Shelby, Emma, Libby and Ronin (Tanner, Zoie and Millie, too)...that is my aunt, uncle, cousin, hubby, and 'lil cousins (and the dogs, too). We had a fun time (albeit quick)...I got to take some pictures...I am sharing some here because I like them...enjoy!

Profound thinkers pondering the world ahead of them...maybe.

Mynde and Canon walking Tanner and Millie

Group shot...Mynde, Canon and I with the dogs

Ronin and those big blue eyes

Emma and Libby exploring by the sea

Thanksgiving in Bakersfield...

2007-12-10T21:39:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was spent this year in Bakersfield with family and friends. I forgot to take a group shot, but got the grandparents grinning and playing cards.

Cali the cat--she is getting old...I think she is 10 since I got her when I was a Junior at UCSC (1997)...she finally found a comfy spot on Mynde's lap (and she says she doesn't love animals)...

Living Vicariously through friends...this way I dont need my own Kids...

2007-12-10T20:49:00.002-08:00

Because I don't have kids, I get my "fix" by hanging out with friends that have kids. I lovingly joke with them that hanging out at their house is the perfect form of birth control as I would easily go insane if I had not one but FOUR of the rugrats...Still they are great kids and I spent the day hanging out at the soccer field and snapping pictures. A great way to get practice and be entertained...

Marley was the top-scorer of her team and was less than happy when she was asked to play goalie for a quarter of this game...at least I got a shot of her stopping a goal as proof she actually played goalie...

I split my time between Macee's and Maddie's games since they were at the same time on fields next to each other. Luckily I happened to catch a couple of nice action shots...Macee likes to practice her acrobatics and my camera was in the right place at the right time...

Maddie kicked butt during this game...she literally saved the game by her fearless goalie display of diving on the ball several times. It was their last game of the season and the girls won 3-2. Yay Maddie Myers!!

Mason beat all the girls and loves to kick-off and throw the ball in...basically any action is good action for him...
I couldn't resist adding a couple of candid shots...afterall, soccer can get a little boring when you are 5 years old...

Thanks to Matt and Tammy Myers for dragging me all around Yorba Linda and letting me take pictures of their kids. Basball season is just around the corner and I will have my camera ready!

Amazing Flower Garden for my Shooting Pleasure

2007-11-07T10:18:00.000-08:00

A heartfelt thanks goes out to the woman who lives in the house on the corner of Poinsetta Ave...ok let me back-up...like I was saying in my first post (For The Love of Outside), I went on a little mini adventure a few weeks ago with my bike and my new camera. I left off that I finished taking pictures of the ocean and was heading back to my car when this beautiful flower at the edge of this amazing yard caught my eye and subsequently my camera lens.

It was then that I noticed the owner of the flower (if anyone can truly own beauty) and I hollered out to her "hello! I love your flowers! Would you mind if I took some more pictures?" Not that I thought she would mind for a second, but I was close to encroaching on her space just to get this shot so I figured it was the polite thing to do. Not only did she not mind, she invited me up the stairs and into the garden to see another beautiful Dahlia...she said "oh you have to come up here and see the color of this one."

Wow! I had never seen a flower of this color, but it was deep in the "thick" of the garden and I had a hard time getting a clear view so this was the best I could do (without hurting myself or some other flowers that is).

This was the next beauty I found. I couldn't resist a number of shots of this one but I think my efforts paid off. The lady was so obliging and actually almost pulled me around to show me another of her prized flowers.

I just loved the entire climbing bunch of these flowers they were so bright white and perky as if they were so happy to feel the sun...

Keeping with the white theme, I am so happy with how this shot came out. It is so great when the beauty of the rose translates almost exactly through the camera and onto the page like this one seems to...

I spent the rest of the afternoon (and probably for the rest of tonight, too) hearing the jingle "there's a yellow rose in Texas I'm going there to see..." Now you too can have the catchy 'lil thing in your head for a while as well. Welcome.
Although I probably took well over 100 pictures just in this lady's yard the examples are some of my favorites and I don't want to get too carried away and bore people to tears. So I will move on.

I made my way so far (about 20 feet across the street) to see a little more of the view and I spotted this amazing GODDESS frolicking on the cliff...it seemed everywhere I turned that day there were photo opportunities and I wasn't about to miss them...

Ahhh...now THIS is SoCAL at its best!

Just as I made it back to my car, I realized I was parked right next to this great statue/fountain and I risked looking like a stalker to get a couple of quick shots...it just looked so peaceful in their yard...
So that wrapped up my day of fun. I did head on down the coast to Laguna and Dana Point but the traffic was really bad so I just turned the car around and headed home...all in all a wonderful day getting to know my camera a little and bringing many pieces of beauty home with me to share with as many people care to enjoy.

***The top photo was obviously enhanced in Photoshop but it too was from the yard of the Poinsettia lady and I absolutely love love love the results...***

Flowers and Flowers and Flowers

2007-11-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

I find myself wandering around with my camera looking for things to take pictures of...and often times it is the flowers that have me attempting to capture their beauty for what seems like hours...I like to take macro photos of flowers so many of the flowers that I have photographed are small...but beautiful. Also, I think it is fun to play in Photoshop and add some artsy fartsy things to my pictures...just a fun little twist.
Slight changes for fun with Photoshop...

The theme for this day seems to be "purple are we"...I had so much fun trying to keep the little guys in focus with the crisp Santa Ana winds blowing but I think I managed ok...

And finally...one Photoshop version...

For the Love of Outside

2007-11-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, my new camera arrived in the mail and I couldn't WAIT to take it out and shoot some of my favorite things...FLOWERS and the OCEAN! I love nature, I love beauty and I prefer to observe the flowers in their own environment and take pictures so I can easily recall their beauty and share it with as many people as possible. So on this particular day, I decided to go on a road trip. Just me, my little red car and my beautiful red bike (I think I sense a theme here)...loaded up and headed off to Huntington Beach and later, Newport Beach, CA. The above pictures are me playing with the option of zoom on my new lens. The HB pier from the bike path far and closer...this was right before I got a flat rear tire and had to trek back about 2 miles to have it changed by a local bike shop...because of this, I cut my visit to HB short and loaded up and moved on down the coast to Newport.
After finding parking, unloading the bike, and riding down to what may be my favorite (lesser known) beach...Big Corona in Newport Beach, CA, I took out the camera and continued my playing and getting to know my camera. The above picture is actually to the South of where I normally go, but much better composition than the sand on the other side of the cliff...

The beauty of flight...

ok so they are not the most beautiful birds, but because they are not near the tourists as much, the actually are not nearly obtrusive or annoying...

Catching a little spray with Big Corona Beach in the background.

More spray...I love it...I cannot wait to go back when the seas are high...

I decided I had enough shots of the sea for the day and climbed back up to my bike at the top of the cliff. If you have never been to this part of Newport, there are some amazing houses but one specifically caught my eye. I happened upon an entire front yard full of beautiful FLOWERS!!!!...I will cover that amazing part of my adventure in the next blog...

2000-11-01T23:30:00.000-08:00

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