adelsheim in spring

since i am taking pictures of the futures event at adelsheim tomorrow, i wanted to test out some things today... namely the flash i rented for the weekend.  chad offered to model for me, what a sport!

thankfully, i got a couple of decent shots of the space.  hopefully i know what i'm doing tomorrow when there is more than one person milling around.

after we finished in the caves, we took fife out into the calkins lane vineyard next to the winery to get some energy out.

fifey girl

the wee girl must have had a long week.  she's a sleepy baby!

how to earn points with your wife

i'm pretty sure i have the best husband in the world.  he organized a valentine's weekend getaway to salishan lodge in lincoln city for all three of us.  i had no idea until yesterday morning when he told me that we were going to the coast... and to pack a bag because we'd be there overnight... oh, and that we were going out to dinner, so make sure to bring some nice clothes.  in fact, i had absolutely no idea exactly where we were going until we pulled into that beautiful place.

well, i can tell you that chad earned lots of points from both me and fife.  she was excited that she got to go along, although she's never stayed in a hotel room before, so she was a little unsure of what was going on.  all was redeemed, though, when she got to run on the beach this morning.  

and me?  well, i got the most amazing five course dinner at the restaurant at salishan last night.  duck confit, lobster bisque, salad, filet mignon, and chocolate mousse... complemented by a matanzas creek 04 chardonnay and mayol 02 sebastian vineyard cabernet sauvignon from mendoza, argentina.  not sure what i did to deserve all of that, but it was amazing!  

today, we took fife for a walk on the beach (i gimped along as my knee still hurts from an ongoing running injury) and then chad and i had lunch (and beer!) at rogue brewery in newport.  

coasties

chad, fife and i went out to cannon beach today for a change of scenery.  i always feel so refreshed when i get back from the coast.  the fresh air, ocean, sand, and sun... well, the sun was there for about 20 minutes... but still, it was so, so nice.  

 i have such a hot hubby!

35mm ISO 100 1/1600 sec at f/4.2

i think this dog wanted to say hello...

18mm ISO 100 1/1600 sec at f/3.5

chad was playing fetch with fife with a football.  it was too cute.  the football was actually a christmas gift for chad, but as soon as he left for nz, she claimed it as her own.    

18mm ISO 100 1/1600 sec at f/3.5 

18mm ISO 100 1/1600 sec at f/3.5

fife was playing in the tide pool, but the tide was coming in!

18mm ISO 100 1/400 sec at f/5.6 

18mm ISO 100 1/250 sec at f/5.6

fife was scoping out some playmates...

98mm ISO 100 1/250 sec at f/5.6 

the tide was coming in around haystack rock

105mm ISO 100 1/1250 sec at f/5.6

a little yoga on the beach?  don't mind if i do... 

105mm ISO 100 1/400 sec at f/5.6

here's fifey girl with her football... my little kiwi likes american sports after all!  

105mm ISO 100 1/1000 sec at f/5.6

chad wanted to join in the photo-taking fun.  i think he did a pretty decent job!  and i have to say, i adore my new crumpler camera bag!

portlandia

this morning, after running 10 miles with team in training in northeast portland [time 1:43], i decided to wander around and take some photos of the city.  thankfully, the weather cooperated very nicely.  it was pushing 60 degrees with partly cloudy skies - not bad for the end of january!

admittedly, what i really wanted to do was take photos of people, as i think that is truly what tells the portland story.  i seriously saw a guy today that looked like mc hammer -- à la the early 1990's!  there is just so much creativity and expression to capture in this city... but i just felt really strange about pointing a camera at random people like some kind of stalker.  i'd be really interested in talking to some street photographers about how they do this without offending people.  perhaps then i'd feel a lot more comfortable about it and actually give it a try.

anyway, here are a few shots for your viewing pleasure.  i'm proud to say i shot most of the photos today in manual mode.  the light meter is now my best friend.  i did use the aperture priority mode a few times and the shutter priority mode once or twice as well.  

i call these first ones my 'gritty southeast portland' shots.  i had a hard time getting inspired over on that side of the river today.  it just seemed very void of people and very industrial.  as such, i added a lot of grain in the following shots and changed them to black and white.  [actually, now that i've typed that, i realized that the second shot was actually on the west side...but i'm sure you get my drift.]

28mm ISO 100 1/640 sec at f/4 

80mm ISO 100 1/100 sec at f/5.3

28mm ISO 100 1/640 sec at f/4

the following were taken on the west side.

this looks like something the college might use on a promotional postcard or an annual report. 

48mm ISO 100 1/100 sec at f/4.8

i was trying to play around with slower shutter speeds on this one and catch the bike in motion.  it didn't really work that well, but i'm posting it anyway so you can see my first attempt at trying.

24mm ISO 100 1/100 sec at f/4.0

can't have a portland series without a brewpub!

18mm ISO 100 1/50 sec at f/3.5

21mm ISO 100 1/200 sec at f/4.0

this was a fountain that i came across.  it was dedicated to someone for their support of the arts.

38mm ISO 100 1/50 sec at f/4.5

38mm ISO 200 1/200 sec at f/4.5

this was taken at barista.  i love the variety of colors and textures in the bricks.  it makes such a complex look, especially given that most bricks look so straight, clean and boring.

35 mm ISO 200 1/60 sec at f/4.5

this might be one of the few times that you'll see a photo of chad.  he usually gets kind of annoyed when i stick the camera in his face!  

18mm ISO 200 1/200 sec at f/3.5

and because she's such a wonderful, beautiful wee girl, here is a shot of fife.

66mm ISO 1250 1/6 sec at f/5.3

now, in honor of the title, i'm going to watch the latest episode of portlandia online.  gotta love that show!!

p.s. chad bought me a crumpler camera bag today as a late christmas present.  so excited!

happy hunting

fife's favorite hobby is hunting -- squirrels, rabbits, and moles, mostly.  there's a hazelnut orchard on hillside drive that she enjoys spending time in, as squirrels like to burrow down in the hollow trunks and branches of the trees.  

we went there yesterday so she could run around and get some energy out. here is a shot of her in hunting action!

rain, rain, go away!

seeing as all the photos i've taken in the last week are inside, i thought i'd try to run between the raindrops today and catch some llama photos.  here is my favorite: 

i also took (yet another!) Fife photo.  this one i changed to black and white and added some noise (20%).  i was just playing around in photoshop.  still a lot to learn about that program (and lots of other photography-related things), that is for sure! 

i went to champoeg today with my good friend, dari, and all of our puppies.  i was hoping to get some shots out there, but it was raining when we got there, so i left the camera in the car.  after walking for about 15 minutes, the rain stopped and it stayed away until we finished an hour and 45 minutes later.  guess i should have taken my camera after all!  darn!  

Finally got the camera!!!

i'm STOKED to work for such an awesome company (they bought a nikon d7000 which i get to use!).  i start a fundamentals of photography class at newspace center for photography in portland on february 7th! in the meantime, here are a couple of shots of my "muse": 

tomorrow i am running in portland at 8:30.  it's an 8 - 9 mile run, so we'll see how my it band is holding up now that we're getting into some longer mileage.  i felt good with 6 last weekend and with 4.5 mid-week.  


afterwards, i think i'll take my stinky self and wander around 23rd to shoot some photos with my lovely new camera!  yay!  i'm SO excited about all the learning that is ahead!  

10 random facts about me

1. i am obsessed with photography blogs. i love them. i read them every day and live vicariously through the photographers. i am saving up for a nikon d60 and in the meantime am pouring over photography books like understanding exposure and the adobe photoshop cs4 book for digital photographers. maybe one day i'll be able to take photos that are half as good as some of these folks: Esther Havens Photography, Gary Chapman Photography, Jasmine Star Photography, The Beautiful Mess (owned and operated by a guy i went to high school with and his uber-talented wife), and Love the Schultzes. there are many more photographers that i follow online, but these are some of my favorites.

2. i am obsessed with goals. i have fitness goals, financial goals, weekend goals (get "insert chore here" done). for example, i decided last fall that i was going to run a half marathon this year... well, i've done that, am doing the cascade lakes relay in a couple of weeks, and the portland marathon in october. my half marathon turned into a running trifecta... and that's just the way i like it.

3. my dog is my child. i love her like i imagine i will love my future human children. i worry for her safety, i spoil her, i'm proud of her when she learns something new, and i love, love, love cuddling with her. she makes me happy.

4. i have a husband (and a dog!) that can't sit still, which is probably why we're so good together. if we have a day off, we're off to the lake, on a hike, golfing, biking or playing tennis. he also hates shopping. i think he's been a good influence on my fitness level and my spending habits.

5. i have nervous breakdowns when things are messy or out of place -- not so good when you live with a man and a dog. when they first arrived in oregon in february, i was constantly stressed out about my messy car for WEEKS! i still hate that there is dog hair, dirt and dust everywhere in my car... but i try not to get upset about it.

6. i have visited 9 countries and lived for a period of time in 2 of them (france for 13 months and new zealand for nearly 4 years). next up: chile and peru in 2011 (see? another goal.).

7. my husband and i had a fairy tale start to our relationship. we met in france where we lived at an abbey, and on our first date we kissed in front of a castle. we both cried at the paris airport when we had to leave each other because, at the time, we didn't know when we'd see each other again. and then he missed me so much, he asked me to move to new zealand to be with him -- and it took me about 1/2 a day to decide to go. that's just how i roll.

8. if my checkbook isn't up-to-date down to the penny at any given point, i feel unsettled! weird but true. i like knowing exactly how much money i have.

9. chad and i are one of those fancy couples that own property overseas -- we have a house in new zealand. not because we necessarily want to, though. we tried to sell it last year and couldn't, so we put tenants in it. we'll put it back on the market late this year. better luck this time.

10. ice cream and espresso are two of my favorite things. put them together in a milkshake and i'm one happy girl.

refreshed

our little family spent the holiday weekend in manzanita on the oregon coast. what an charming little town! there is something about the beach and the ocean that leaves you both relaxed and in awe. we'll definitely be back again this summer (hopefully when it warms up and we can lay out in the sun)!

here's a shot of chad and fife playing in the pacific ocean. doesn't this look idyllic?

the thing i'm grateful for today is summer heat and sun! we hit 87 today - the highest temperature so far this summer. it's supposed to be in the 90's tomorrow. i say BRING IT ON!!!!

summer is... here?

well, here i sit on memorial weekend watching my husband assemble a bbq grill and my dog dig holes... while it is raining. i am in long pants and sweater. this is not the way it should be! we weren't living here last may, but we hear this is not normal for this month. only time will tell.

at any rate, here is a photo of the new grill and of our pooch contemplating all the juicy steaks that will be cooked on it...!

nikon d90 - i have my eye on you

one of my goals for 2010, aside from doing my "running trifecta" is to save up money to buy this guy:
a nikon d90 dslr camera

oh, and to learn how to use it! i just bought a book on amazon called "understanding exposure" and it sounds like i'll get another one for my birthday entitled "the adobe photoshop cs4 book for digital photographers."

for a long time, i have secretly coveted beautiful photography and pored over photography blogs on a daily basis. i will be the first to admit that i've never been the "creative type," but i'm very excited to start a new hobby! thinking long term, i eventually want to learn film photography and have my own darkroom - but that may be a few years down the line.

every time i go into portland and see the urban area in all its splendor (and the folks up there that definitely aren't afraid to express themselves), i wish i had a camera in hand. same goes for living in beautiful oregon wine country - the green hills, the vineyard cycles, the people working hard in the fields - it's an absolutely stunning place to be. oh, and of course, the coast, where fife likes to run wild on the beaches and chase after seagulls. my camera phone just ain't doin' it anymore!!

speaking of which, here is one of the wee girl at cannon beach this last weekend:

so, watch this space. maybe you'll see some photos here sooner rather than later!