TBT: Daisy Then and Now

My daughter, Daisy, on the day she went home from the hospital. January 1st, 2012. Best. New Year's. Ever.

And now. Two years old (plus a few months).

I saw a 5-week old baby today. He made cute little noises while he ate. He fell asleep almost instantaneously when he was done. He made me miss Daisy when she was an itty bitty. Then I see her developing every single day. I see the way her vocabulary explodes minute by minute. I miss the coos and putting her in one place and her not moving. But, if she went back there, I would miss the way she is now. She's her own person, with her own idiosyncrasies, her own personality. Quite amazing for just two (plus a few months) short years on this earth.

SPCA of Solano County Biker's Best Friend Adoption Event

Saturday, Iron Steed Harley Davidson put on an event called Biker's Best Friend Adoption Event and the stars of the event? The SPCA of Solano County's adoptable dogs and cats. The event featured two different raffles, hot dogs, a dog fashion show, and a DJ. A few of my favorite pictures are below. The rest are on my Facebook.

Turkey

Just down my road, our neighbors have several birds. They have a large male turkey which has a tendency to actually think. It thinks every morning how fun it would be to torture me and keep me from going to work. If only the turkey would pay me to stay home, I would just take photos all day.

Anyhow, this turkey blocked my way once again this morning. While I was contemplating which side of the road I would have to drive on to pass, I saw the light, the turkey in the road and I just had to stop. So I did.

I like the light on this one but I don't like the perspective.

I like this perspective much better. The lighting isn't quite as great as I'd like it to be but still, the better of the two shots. Any longer and I would be late for my day job so I had to go. Naturally, as soon as I got to the turkey, he waddled to my side of the road and I had to use the other side. *Sigh* I will never win. Turkey 1 - FFR 0.

Daddy Daisy Mini Session

We did a dry run of a mini session in Andrews Park. Unfortunately, we left a little too late and lost the perfect light but we still got almost half an hour of shoot time. Andrews Park in Vacaville has a playground, a small elevated garden, art pieces, and an inexplicable wall with a doorway. Incidentally, this piece which makes zero sense, is good for pictures. Another session was taking place there so we stuck to the grassy hills and benches.

This bridge is pretty fantastic. Rustic and modern all in one.

This is one of Daisy's favorite toys. She takes the stethoscope and listens to all of our hearts. She also tells us if we're going to live.

Daisy loves to fly.

Daisy and her dad share Eskimo blood. (Yes, really) They are truly allowed to share an Eskimo kiss.

So who do I get to take out there next?

Flowers Bright, Flowers at Night

I have loved flowers as subjects for many years. They sit quietly and have numerous details; their texture, color, the very center of them...I could go on but I won't. One thing I have not done is photograph flowers at night. Last night I walked out of a meeting with Daisy to let her run off a little steam (sitting through meetings is hard for a two-year old) and I saw these trees illuminated at the top by a parking lot light and growing darker as it went down. Now the first couple of shots were when the sun was set but some light remained. My camera slowed it's shutter speed and you can barely tell it's not daylight.

In the last two, it's much more obvious it's night. I just love the way the street lights played on the tops of the trees.

I need more practice and a tripod to make these shots clearer but it's not bad for a first try.

Accidental Perfection

Picture this (no pun intended): I get a new lens, a new toy if you will. It's raining (bummer!) and while the lens is hardy, it still makes me very nervous to take it out to play with it. Finally, the sun clears the clouds and I immediately run out to play. I see one of our daffodils has popped out of the ground and I immediately go to snap a picture of it:

Then I think, if I could get a bit lower, I could see inside of that flower. Not wanting to get dirty, I resorted to an old photo trick, lower the camera, point, shoot, and hope for the best. I got something I didn't even know I wanted. Perfect. Accidental. Like...Teflon. If only this accident made me a few million bucks.

What I love about this is the contrast of the dark brown bark against the bright green spring grass. I also love the hint of the rain droplets in the background and how sharp the foreground is while the background has a nice bokeh about it.

- FFR