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!

pruning at ribbon springs vineyard

this morning, our vineyard workers were gracious enough to allow me to lurk around for about a half hour and take photos of them pruning.  to be perfectly honest, i felt intrusive.  first of all (and biggest problem of all), i don't speak spanish.  so, i showed up and said, "hello, i mean hola, i mean... um... is it ok if i take pictures?"  and, so it became that i wandered around them taking photos, all the while they were talking and laughing (probably at me! i really have no idea what they were saying.).  i think it would definitely be awkward if someone came into my office and started taking photos, so i sort of felt the same way about going into their workplace.
 
at any rate, i have a few shots to share.  i really need to figure out how to use lightroom because i think i did more harm than good in there.  that might have to be my second class at newspace!
so, without further ado, here you go: 

a wide angle shot of the vineyard.  there were 6 guys working in this area, each one in a different row.  perhaps you can find them all?  

patiently waiting for their turn to be pruned...

my second favorite photo of the day

freshly cut

i don't think this is a particularly good photo, but i guess it's a good "action shot" to show you what the guys do out there.  

my favorite shot of the day

fresh cuts.  now the other team will come through and pull out the old canes.  they'll eventually get mulched so they can break down. 

driving back down dopp road, i came across these little guys and thought their horns, while gnarly, are quite fascinating.  

last moments of sunset

i left work today at 4:25 to try and catch the last minutes of sun for the day.  unfortunately, i didn't end up with as much time as i would have liked, but i did catch these shots of a hazelnut orchard right by the winery.

i was having a hard time with the exposure.  i totally understand the exposure triangle in my head, but now the goal will be to actually figure out how to do it.  i was shooting in aperture priority mode at first, but then changed to manual which definitely helped.  these shots were a challenge because i was trying to balance out the left side (sunny) and the right side (dark).

here is one i took from kings grade.  i couldn't believe how fast the sun goes down.  i really would have liked to start taking photos earlier, but i was rushing because i only had about 20 mins of light tonight by the time i got going: 

this was also on kings grade.  the cow stood there the whole time wondering what the heck i was doing interrupting his grass eating time. 

tomorrow morning, i'm going to go to ribbon springs vineyard to take shots of the guys pruning.  it's supposed to be foggy in the morning, then clearing later on.  it could be a neat morning to take some landscape images in particular, especially with the fog effect down in valley.  we shall see... still loads and loads and loads to learn.  i can't wait until my first class starts. 

just for fun, to round out this post, here is one of the wee girl.  she's such a pretty princess! 

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!  

my total money makeover

i don't remember how i started listening to him; all i know is that i now listen to him most days and he is changing my life.  'he' is dave ramsey.  i just finished his book the total money makeover and i'm currently reading financial peace revisited.  dave doesn't teach anything new or extraordinary.  rather, his philosophy is simply to live on less than you make.  it seems like pretty straightforward advice, right?  well, considering the level of debt in the average american household, it seems as if it is a lesson that everyone (myself included) could use.  


listening to dave and reading his books has made me realize that it is absolutely possible to do things financially that you previous thought were impossible.  all it takes is dedication and time.  unfortunately, most of us want it and we want it now.  he will teach you how to change this.  


his books are all on sale at the moment for $10 each - a perfect gift for christmas!  buy here. you won't regret it!  

¡Salud! success

wow, i really am the worst blogger on the planet.  i do all my updates on facebook, so i forget (or fail to take the time) to update my blog. 

today i have a reason to update since i have this amazing photo to share.  doesn't my husband look awfully dashing in a tux?   

it was taken by my friend carolyn wells-kramer at the ¡Salud! auction on saturday night.  she is a great wine country photograper here in the valley. 

the new zealand travel package i put together was the highest earner of the night, fetching a whopping $15,000!  that package itself will give nearly 188 vineyard workers comprehensive preventative medical, dental and vision care next year.  very cool!

at last glance, we had sold 16 tickets for the nz/oregon pinot noir "showdown" tasting, so less than 20 to sell and still two months to do it in.  we should get there! 

word for the day: discouraged

i had another physical therapy treatment this morning and discussed the option to postpone the marathon with my therapist.  we both agreed it would be in my best interest to switch to the spring season (eugene marathon).  that will give me 3 months to rest my leg, do some strengthening exercises and try to correct the muscle imbalances.


i'm not going to lie, i'm not happy.  to have trained all this time and not be able to cross the finish line with my team pretty much sucks.  but, from all accounts, the eugene marathon is a cool event and (added bonus) at least one of my current teammates will be running the season with me.  oh, and my funds for TNT transfer with me.  so, all is not lost. 


unfortunately, the weather today is cold and rainy, so i think that's just exacerbating my discouraged mood.  i'm drowning my sorrows in a latte. 

i hate quitting.

the portland marathon is 19 days away and i have 3 days to decide if i'm running it or not. if i don't run it, i can still transfer to another season (probably the summer season and do the eugene marathon on 5/1/11) and not lose too much of the money i fundraised.

but i hate quitting. the competitor in me wants to run (we're "thisclose" to the race and i've been training for 4 months!).

knee -- you're killing me here!!!

iliotibial what?

i kind of suck at blogs! i always get really excited about the prospect of keeping a blog, but then i suddenly realize that i haven't posted in two months, which kind of defeats the purpose of keeping a blog.

at any rate, the big news lately is that i have been battling with iliotibial band syndrome (according to wikipedia, one of the leading causes of lateral knee pain in runners). with the portland marathon less than 3 weeks away, i am getting less and less optimistic about actually accomplishing my marathon goal this year. which, i'm not going to lie, is a huge bummer considering i've now put 4 months of time into it (7 if you count the half marathon training from january to april). but when i can barely make it through the first 6 miles of a 20 mile run, i'm not so sure that 4 1/2 hours of running in excruciating pain sounds like fun.

so, i'm very, very, very cautiously optimistic that this thing will work itself out before 10/10/10. after all, it came on without warning, so perhaps it will go away without warning. in the meantime, i'm going to physical therapy and hoping that will help.

next year, I might try biking instead!