I coworker of mine asked me to take some pictures of her newborn baby. It's so interesting to get these experiences under my belt and I learned so much. I'm glad I had this opportunity so that when I take newborn pictures in the future, I will have some better ideas and techniques. It really showed me that if I want to actually pursue photography as a profession, I need some more/better equipment and waaaay more real world experience. This experience also helped me in my editing workflow. It was fun!

While Connor was out with my mom, I was busy getting the house cleaned up. Alaina had been working on this ring pop for about an hour. When given a treat, she takes the tiniest licks to make sure that the pleasure lasts. I was doing the dishes when I turned around and saw her curled up on the computer chair with her "beenty". This photo is so her...unfinished candy, scuffed up toes, upheaved hair. I love this little girl.

My mom dragged me out of my pajamas today to take a picture of this rose that is spiraling open. Pretty different, huh?

*I didn't manipulate the colors in this photo at all...this pink rose is THAT saturated.*

Dad, look at your roses!

Every time I look at my blog, I cringe to see the botched editing job on my last entry. As much as I don't like it, I don't want to delete the posts or go back in and re-edit them for blog purposes. Part of the fun of digital photography for me is to look back and see how I've grown, what I've gotten more skilled with, and the whole new set of things that I'm learning (i.e. doing poorly). :)

For the past three years, we've taken family portraits on Father's Day. In 2008, we set up our little point and shoot on top of a book on our patio table and tried to squeeze into the frame before the self-timer went off.


Last year, I attached our newer point and shoot to the monopod that I accidentally bought instead of a tripod, rested it against the swingset, framed Anthony and Connor, then ran with Alaina into the picture before it was snapped.


This is where I give myself a pat on the back for getting better at Photoshop. I honestly thought that this looked REALLY good. Though better than the original:

, it still makes me want to hurl a little bit. I have since learned to stay far(ther) away from the saturation slider, that evil little thing. Where did our eyes go?!

Which brings us to this year's portrait:


My sister-in-law Kandis snapped this photo for us with my D60 (http://kandisbphotography.blogspot.com), helping us avoid the whole tripod mess, and I edited it.

This is the original:


While I'm still no pro, I feel like I'm getting better. I'm learning that for me, less is more, but it's still a struggle not to over-edit since it's so much fun. Here's to enjoying the climb!

We've been so busy lately enjoying the warm weather! I thought the kids would love fingerpainting, so I bought them some paints. As usual, I was wrong in trying to predict what activities they would enjoy, so the fingerpainting turned into bodypainting, then turned into whines of "Mess!", "Wet!", and "All done!" from Alaina and Connor accidentally painting the hose, faucet, and table. Oh well, it was a fun diversion from the norm!








...and more flowers, since I'm a flower junkie.

It's June 3, and I the fact that I haven't seen snow for five days makes me so happy! My brother-in-law told me today that this past May was the coldest May in Salt Lake in the last forty-seven years! I believe it!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the morning with my friend, Theresa. We lunched at a little eatery in SLC called Au Naturale that only serves natural ingredients in their dishes, and it was so good! I had a quesadilla and baked sweet potato fries and it was the best experience eating out that I've had in a long time.


Our neighbor's cottonwood tree is showering down it's little pieces of cotton all day. As annoying as it is to have them all fly inside whenever you open the door, it's magical in a way. It's like snow when it's eighty degrees and sunny outside. Can't complain about that!


The rest of these pictures are for my mom, who is currently a time zone away visiting my sister and her family in Minnesota. The last thing I've heard about her is that she was living it up alongside the Mississippi watching waterskiiers. She asked me to take a few pictures of her iris since she's gone, and I love the personal symbolism in these flowers. My grandparents had these very bulbs in their yard (and if I remember correctly, so did my great grandparents). My parents took some and planted them in their yard in Sandy, where I grew up and enjoyed them every year. When my parents moved from that house, they took some with them up to Kaysville. When my grandparents died, my siblings dug up the bulbs and planted them in their yards all over the Salt Lake Valley. My mom passed them out to friends and neighbors as well, so when I drive down the street, there are beautiful reminders of my grandparents everywhere I look. Such a cool story.








This iris is my dad's favorite. Can you believe the way the petals sparkle in the sunlight?