oh indy....

well i don't care what they say (new york times review), I still have to see the new indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull. always a sucker for a handsome swashbuckler, i am looking forward to a little time with harrison ford!

by the by, i watched the golden compass last night and it really wasn't up my ally, although i did love looking at nicole kidman's fashions. she made a good baddy.

emily & collin

isn't this so magical? emily and collin are getting married in july and they will be my FIRST wedding. (aren't they brave?!)

On another note, i am still having challenges with color management. i was sending the photos through photoshop to sharpen them - and i think this somehow drained the color: the camera is set to adobe rgb. so is photoshop. but lightroom likes prophoto rgb. the web likes srgb. that is what i can't quite figure out.

they were coming through really gray, so this time i just exported - no sharpening, no photoshop - as srgb. it worked better.

if anyone can splain me this, i'd love to figure out how to get the sharpening and the color! frankly, its a little too much to deal with before the first cup of coffee.

enjoy the photo. i will keep cogitating on it.

poppy

I can't help but think of the Wizard of Oz and the poppy field at this time of year. In Boulder, we have these poppy clusters that burst for about a day and then go to sleep until next year.

sorry this is looking a little underexposed. all of my photos seem to darken on their way from lightroom to blogger. i will look into it!

erie balloon festival II

erie balloon festival

couple!

worked (practiced) with my first couple yesterday. they were great sports about the whole thing...including the camera meltdown.

boy, that was different. i am going to focus on the good ones and let the bad ones go!

it's a disaster

Photo: Khin Maung Win/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images

this is a photo from myanmar. what a stunner. (in case you didn't hear, they had a cyclone.) i hope they accept aid. apparently, there is concern the government might not...

little-known fact about me: i am very interested in disaster planning and relief, having worked a bit with the red cross on communications in the wake of hurricane katrina. that was a really complex situation. i think everyone did there best...it just wasn't good enough.

i am taking an 8-week CERT (Citizen Early Response Team) course so I will be able/prepared/trained to help in the event of a disaster where first responders are delayed, unavailable (widespread impact) or unable (road destruction, etc.) to reach the scene. this weekend we are going to be working with fire and firefighters (:-) so i will post some pictures next week.

i'm back!

i took a little photo safari to moab to visit canyonlands and arches national parks. what an amazing trip. i know the composition on this photo isn't the best, but i just wouldn't get any closer to the edge.

this picture was taken upon our exit from the white rim trail in canyonlands. that little stripe is the road below. the mountains in the distance are the lasals! the trip up was - exciting - so glad to have a great vehicle to drive. (no we did not take the convertible.)

turns out i love 4-wheeling, and i was at the helm for the whole 100-mile trip. there were definitely a few sketchy moments. one, in particular, where i thought the car would tip over. but with some great guidance from the ground, it made it.

i'll share more over the next few days.

the biggest news: yesterday i had my first paid photo gig. soooooo, i am now officially a photographer! (probably the only one on earth without a web site, but that is in the works.) it was a portrait session for a graduating high schooler. she was so much fun and we have many things in common. thanks mikayla.

the yard

i just got in from mowing the lawn and i need some warm fuzzies. after reading all about the prolific lawn care administered by knitting contessa, i just had to step up to the plate. (plus, i might need to have clients to the house, so it better look tidy and cute again.)

soooooo, i implemented the 30 minutes a day program to get the yard fixed up. i decided that my eyeballs could use a break from all of the tutorials and computer time, so i have been getting out just for a little while. this is day four and its working. (hence the call for kudos.) so much easier to do it a bit at a time. plus, i can see some real progress.

my artistic brain has trouble with programs and routines, but in this scenario i work on a different little project each day. so voila, flighty artist brain is entertained.

pirates of petzance - one more salute

i seriously loved this makeup. in general, i was really impressed with the passion and devotion of the volunteers, so many of whom came in full pirate regalia!

everyone embraced the fundraiser concept - so much that they want to do pirates again next year. personally, i'd like to see a cowboy theme...last chance ranch?! (nah! that's probably in bad taste.) oh, give me a home? (yikes!) what about...??

here's a better idea: leave the naming part to those who really know what they are doing!

this photo gig was a tremendous learning opportunity. i am truly grateful that i could do it. thanks Sarah!

what i learned: i love going to these events as a photographer. on my way in through the service entrance - very behind the scenes-sy - i caught a glimpse of my reflection with the camera gear and had to say to myself ---- girl, you look like a real photographer. yippeee.

what i learned: it takes a heck of a long time to process photos the way i am doing it now. i hope by the time i get through The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book by none other than ......scott kelby..... i wil be able to do it much faster.... in batches? i "touched" everyone of the 1000 photos twice (if you count downloading), and all of the picks - about 136 - three times. this will not work as a going-forward system for events. i think i spent about 16 hours editing/processing.

scott....HELP!