A DAY AT THE PARK

Here's a session from last fall (I'm a slacker, I know!) during a trip to the park with my stepdaughter, my Best-friend and her son, and her niece. If you've never tried taking pictures of kids at a playground, let me tell that it's just about impossible. They..don't..stop..moving! Ever.

But it was fun, they had fun, and I think I got some good ones.

THE CAST:




FIRST STOP, THE JUNGLE GYM!!

NEW HEIGHTS:

HANGIN' ROUND:




PLAYTIME WAS IN FULL SWING:






TAKING A BREAK:



BUT THE BREAK DIDN'T LAST LONG!:




AWW, IT CAN'T BE TIME TO GO ALREADY!! JUST 5 MORE MINUTES...P-P-P-PLEASE????




THERE'S ALWAYS TIME TO JUMP IN THE LEAVES:

Sports

It's that time again, where I try to figure out why I haven't posted anything in months and resolve to start posting more. But who am I kidding? I am a sporadic person at best, so I should probably just give up and roll with it. It's just my nature, after all...

So, anyway, here's some "action sports" photography for your viewing pleasure. No, its not the kind of "sports" with guys in sweaty, dirty uniforms, wrestling each other on a mud soaked field, but there's guys (and 1 girl!) and mud, so it's close.


This is what's called a rail jam. This one was sponsored by Colorado Ski Shop. - which is not located in Colorado, for that matter. Riders compete by performing tricks on rails, boxes, pipes, wall rides, and several other creative features. However, the winner of this rail jam was whomever did not fall on his (or her) face and seriously embarrass themselves. I tried on my "pretend photojournalist hat" that day and I sort of liked the way it fit.

Colorado Ski Shop Rail Jam 2010

Life's a beach! Through a child's eye.

Ever notice how kids are never stationary at the beach? They're always in the water, throwing a Frisbee, flying a kite, digging in the sand, or building some architectural monstrosity on the beach. They know the best way to enjoy a day at the beach is to dive right in, get wet, get sandy, and have a blast doing it.

Here's a few other things kids know...

1. The beach is the best place to make a fashion statement. The brighter, the better.


Check out those glasses!! Celebrity in the making!



2. It's a great place to meet and make friends.


3. Don't forget to say hello to the locals.


4. Test your skills and strength...


...and perhaps beat out the competition!


No one is ever a sore loser.


5. And always take a minute to check out the scenery.

Lesson learned #2

I should have known better, but here's another goof up. *blush*

Always, always check manual setting on your camera before you start shooting. Otherwise, you could over- or underexpose your shots. Case in point - While hiking with my stepkid, I turned back to see the sunshine illuminating her in such a pretty way that I was compelled to whip out my camera and capture it.

Well, smarty here forgot that she was shooting sunsets the night before, and all my setting were adjusted for darker conditions. Needless to say, my poor skid was over-exposed. *pouty face*


So not pretty! Aw well, live and learn, right?!

Abstract

A few weekends ago I stumbled across this assumable machinery graveyard...




And I figured I'd snoop and play around, and see what interesting things I could find...click on the image to see it bigger.

Flower POWER.

When I first bought my camera, my intentions were to learn portrait photography. Not the stale, boring, all-dressed-up-with-forced-smiles-family-portrait type, like you see at Sears or Wal-Mart, no. I have some new ideas that I was kicking around and itching to bring to life.

However, apparently flora and flowers seem to be my talent, or the thing I'm drawn to the most. Strange...

So, here's a few glorious freshies in full bloom.