San Diego Zoo and Aquarium

I had never visited the San Diego Zoo before this trip to San Diego.  My good friend Sara made sure I got there.  Twice.  And also took me to the Scripps Aquarium.  I have never been to an aquarium before.  I was stoked to see so many cool animals and marine life.  And even more stoked that Mellisa was able to come out and join us Sunday afternoon at the zoo.  Woot!

Here are my favorite pics from the aquarium and my second trip to the zoo.  I hope you enjoy them all :)  And I couldn't start off without posting a pic of this sweet chunk of a baby.  I held him.  A lot.  :)

Okay, this isn't the aquarium or the zoo.  It is the mooring for boats next to the bridge into Coronado where we went for lunch one day.  My friend Sara's mom lives in one of those boats.  I can see it on google maps and it makes me smile almost as much as driving by in person.

This guy had the nappiest dreads hanging from his body.  I don't recall seeing such a dark brown camel, but he was just gorgeous.

I was initially pretty irritated with the fencing blocking my view of the flamingos, but it turned into bokeh in this pic.  So now I'm not irritated any more :)

I really wanted to grab his nubbies and pull on his ears.  He might have liked it as much as Little Horse loves for my to grab his snout and pull on his ears.  Maybe.

Palm trees make me happy.

We rode in the skybuckets from the back of the zoo to the front.  And then walked a ton more.

Mr. and Mrs. Birch were the founders of the Scripps Aquarium.  They were friends with Ted Geisel.  Dr. Seuss's drawings weren't too far from reality.  What a great inspiration for him to see these guys, some of which were kept in the Birch home.

LOVE the combination of the stripes and all the teeny tiny pin dots.

He's waiting to be triggered.

Who knew sardines were such scaredy cats?

This ginormous eel looks quite friendly and inviting, don't you think?

I loved these jelly fish.  I think I may need to print this off big.  I'm in love with the colors.

Last November, I stood on that far reach of land looking into the cove at the sea lions.  It was fun getting the opposite perspective this time.

Lionfish have the coolest fins.

I know my boy child would have loved this fish the best.  He is fascinated with mohawks and this looks like the longest one ever.

The sting rays have such happy faces.

This was an awesome room with floor-to-ceiling glass and bleacher-like seating to just sit and watch the many different kinds of fish in this tank.  Look near the bottom and you will notice some fish that liked to hang out vertically.  Strangeness.

And in the bottom left of this large tank was a little shark parking lot for the ones needing rest...

Octopi must prefer red lighting, because that's what was blasting away in this tank.

That is all for my weekend of photography and friends new and old.  I am taking another vacation day today from work and spending much of it at the torch.  I already have a couple dozen new beads soaking away in the kiln.  We will be back to our regularly scheduled programing of bead pics come tomorrow and a shop update this Saturday afternoon.

San Diego with Blue Lily - Day Two

Day One was epically wonderful!

Day two started off with discussions on editing techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop.  There was a break before lunch to shoot in a studio setting with flash equipment, before going back to more information on editing.  I learned so much about Lightroom and now feel comfortable moving around within this program.  

Before sunset, we drove out to Carlsbad and met Mandy and Ken on an abandoned bridge.

Mandy was absolutely stunning in a simply gorgeous dress.  I also want her beautiful hair and wish mine had looked half as wonderful on my own wedding day.

The light was awesome and I loved the surrounding hills.

Blue Lily definitely knows how to find great locations for shooting.  They also find wonderful models to come out and pose for us!

Nikki is checking out one of Cameron's shots.  Cam was the only dude in our group.

Did I tell you that Nikki was my girl?  I never saw her not smiling.  She also had the sweetest hair accessories from Anthropologie.

Although I don't have any interest in wedding photography, I was thankful for this experience and know I will be able to apply so much of it to just shooting families or couples.

I somehow did not get pics of Debbie or Cynthia...I'm sorry ladies.

Being the only guys, Cam and Tyler had to show us just how close they got over the weekend by sharing a scarf.

Tyler has mad balancing skills!

We got a group shot before we left the bridge.  Both Blue Lilies have mad balancing skills.

Then we went out for Mexican at a restaurant called Norte.  The food was dee-lish-us!  On our way, I couldn't resist pulling out my camera for this quiet moment where Tyler reached over to hold onto his wife.  It made me a little homesick for my own honeys and realized that I don't take his hand-holding for granted as we walk to/from our car through parking lots when we are together.

Spending time with them during this two day workshop only served to reinforce what path I want to follow in my life and that I may do okay with photography.  Next steps for me are finding a name to associate with my photography and build up experience (and a portfolio) in photographing families.

I was more than a little bummed to be leaving this beach house and a world of fun so soon after arriving on Sunday morning.  But I was also excited to begin using all the new skills I had learned from Wendy and Tyler.  They are planning a reunion weekend for all previous workshop attendees in Park City, Utah in August.  I'm so there.

Links to the others' posts about our weekend together:
Cameron
Dana
Debbie
Megan
Nikki
Trish

San Diego with Blue Lily - Day One

The weekend was absolutely phenomenal for me in mind and soul (not necessarily body, as I ate more junk than I would care to recount).  I was surrounded by others who love photography and just as filled with an intense desire to learn more about photography and successfully running a photography business.

There was a lot of learning that took place inside the beach house, but we went out Friday afternoon for a family beach shoot.  It was a cold and windy day, so I was thankful every member of this family was a great sport at coming out and freezing with us.

There were nine of us in the workshop, so it was a bit crowded at times to get in and take pictures.  I'm not very good at being pushy (unless of course I hear one of my friends is going to NYC and then I have no problem inviting myself along) and stayed near the periphery during much of the time.  Which was fine, I was more intent on seeing how Blue Lily ran their photo shoot and how they helped arrange their clients.

Amazing people were in this workshop with me, like Crystal B.  Everyone was so willing to stand and pose for the others.  We all took turns.

Dana was our Northernmost attendee, coming all the way down from Alberta, Canada.  She's still stuck here belly flopping on hotel beds while waiting on UPS to deliver her birth certificate.  Boo hiss to lost passports.

Over the weekend, I learned how to use Lightroom better for editing (as opposed to iPhoto, which has been my primary editing program for years because I mainly just crop). 

I also started shooting in RAW (as opposed to JPEG), which makes for easier editing in Lightroom if my exposure needs tweaking at all.  So many good things I learned how to do and am already putting into practice. 

This is my girl Nikki.  She was the only other Nikon shooter there and we stuck together.  It was really cool being able to talk about our likes/dislikes of our cameras (she has the same camera that I started with and wants to upgrade to the camera I have now).  Nikki has been a second shooter at weddings and is just now beginning to charge others for photographing their families.  She is where I want to be.  Seattle is also too far away.  I wish I could continue getting to know her better in person.

I want to get a hat for my boy child like this, but I don't think he'd be willing to wear it for me.

Doesn't he have gorgeous brown eyes?

Trish flew out from Michigan to join us.  I am loving the photographs she took and has posted to facebook, but am also coveting her paper birthday cakes she sells in her Etsy shop.

 I love people who laugh so easily, everything is just so much more fun.  Wendy and Tyler are AWESOME and totally wonderful teachers with only positive things to say in encouraging us to look through our viewfinder differently.  It was a good first-hand reminder that encouraging my own children to do better is so much more effective than pointing out what went wrong.  Hooray for excellent teachers!  And don't let Meg's smile fool you, she is a cut throat player when it comes to a game of Spoons.  I had never played before and had a blast!  I don't remember the last time I laughed so much.

Day one ended with me fighting to stay awake on the couch, but I crawled down to my bedroom by 9pm.  My head was spinning with everything we discussed during the day, the fun new people I had only just met and the new techniques I couldn't wait to begin implementing in my own photography.

See my Day Two with Blue Lily here.

Friends

Tabitha gave me this for my birthday.  I love getting birthday presents four months after the fact.  It's like a never-ending celebration.  :)

I love my friends.  They have been here for me this morning, as I am trying to ward off panic attacks about my trip to San Diego.  I didn't realize how nervous I was about going and feeling like the new kid on the block who doesn't know squat and has no right to be in attendance.  Not having my laundry done yet or having started packing probably doesn't help my level of anxiety about being ill-prepared for this, either.

I wanted to share a few of their comments, as they are good reminders for us all when questioning our abilities or worried about how we will fit in.  But mostly so I have a reference point to come back to later when the conversations have long since disappeared from my instant messenger windows or scrabble sidebars.  Or when I look back after this weekend and see my fears were completely unwarranted.

Pssbbbbt!  If everyone in the class knew everything, they wouldn't be there.  You have just as much right as anyone else.  It will be a great experience and you will learn lots and grow so much!  But...you may be the only midget, so just go ahead and accept that one (ok, this probably doesn't apply to everyone).  

Don't be nervous, you are going to do great.  You're moving towards your goal.  Everyone starts out where you are!

You have the important part, the instinctual ability to take great pictures (I still feel like such a beginner at times, but this is so nice to hear!).  Turning it into a way to make money is a totally different skill set and I would think most people would need to get those tools from somewhere else.  This will just jump you ahead by quite a bit.  I bet a good number of people there will have the same fears as you (Lord, I hope I'm not alone!).

The Week is Flying!

Suddenly, Thursday is almost here.  The day when I have to be packed up and out of the house before 6am to fly out to San Diego for five days.  I'm excited and nervous. 

Do you think geese ever get nervous about their travels?

I have fallen behind on my Project 365 on Flickr.  Maybe I can catch up while I'm out in California next week.  Or maybe I can be more realistic and say the weekend after I get home from California.

Tonight I will be testing out of my white belt for an orange in Tae Kwan Do.

Yesterday, Jezzie climbed the willow tree in the backyard.  I climbed up to get her the first time.  Two minutes later, she was back up in it so I decided she could get herself down.  She ended up dropping about 10 feet, but landed on all fours.  Jez walked away rather slowly and stayed away from the tree for much of the rest of the day.

I still need to do laundry so I can pack tomorrow.

There will be no time for the torch before I leave on Thursday.  Boo hiss.

Todd got home (late) last night after spending a long weekend in Minnesota to surprise his mom for her birthday.  They got over a foot of snow on Sunday.  The Minneapolis airport canceled 700 flights on Sunday.  I was thankful he got out yesterday.  Todd said he had to have seen at least 80 snow plows busy clearing runways and the ramp while he was on the plane.  And many, many de-icers.

Maggie is snoring on my floor with no regard for the noise she is making.  At least she isn't making stinks, so that is good.

I will be closing my shop tomorrow night.  So tomorrow will be the last day to take advantage of my little sale (there's a link on the upper right of my blog, if you didn't know).  I will re-open my shop on Tuesday, March 1st.  Still contemplating taking that day off from work so I can spend it on the torch and readjust to the Eastern time zone after having just enough time to acclimate to the Pacific time zone.  :)  This really cool focal is still in there, just waiting to find her forever home.

This girl will be testing for her orange belt on Friday night.  I will miss it.  I missed the boy child's test from white to orange before Christmas, too (I was at the girl child's Christmas concert).  I am bummed.  I will also miss out on Owen testing for his yellow belt.  Sigh.

I can't wait to see my friend Sara and her boys after I land in San Diego on Thursday morning.  This time, she won't be confined to the hospital like in November when I was out there.  When I got to hold her second baby who was 30 minutes new to our world.  She has promised a trip to the San Diego zoo (working to coordinate that so I can see Mellisa, too!) and to drive me to/from the airport and up to Oceanside where my photography workshop is on Friday/Saturday.  I'm so excited!

My boy child is gradually becoming more and more helpful around the house.  If he sees the recycling basket overflowing, he grabs it on his way out to the car in the mornings before we drive to school (without being asked).  I really like eight.  And the girl child helped me clean out all the cat boxes and the laundry room this weekend.  She even washed the walls (without being asked).  I think I also really like six.  :)  

We have had exceptionally warm weather over the last week and a half.  This time last year, we had snow on the ground.  This weekend, we ate out on the back porch.  In short sleeves.  And it was good.

Peter, Paul and Mary is in the back of my head.  All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.  Except they aren't and I'm not.

I am really hoping for a lunch at Jack in the Box on Thursday.  It has been a good eight months since I have had one of their tacos and I think I am over due.

I think I have watched less than five hours of tv since the start of the year.  The sad reality of no 24 this year or Jack Bauer to watch.  Instead, I try to keep up with my photo editing, family blog, laundry and scrabble duties.  I'm behind on all of those, too.

If anyone has any extra time in the day, please send it to me.  Kthxbye.