Final Project

Looks like I fell off the scene for awhile. Being a full time mom and a full time student got the best of me. I took a photography class this past semester. Not sure I'm a better photographer as a result of 18 long stressful weeks but I am a little more knowledgeable with photography speak and techniques. Shooting in manual is fun and challenging at the same time. Now that class is over I think I'll keep my dial set to "M". For my final project I did an iMovie. I was the only one who dared to take this route. This surprised me considering everyone in my class was half my age and way more creative than myself.

My girlfriend Lareema and her husband played one of the couples for my movie. They were originally supposed to be the only "characters" but when I began to edit, I realized that I did not have enough material to work with. This photo was shot in their backyard.



This scene caused me so much pain. I could not, for the life of me, get the lighting right while shooting nor could I correct it in Photoshop. Because it is a movie, each picture had to flow. The problem was that each picture had its own hue so when it played as a movie, it looked totally crazy.



Out of the over 3,200 pictures I took, this is probably my favorite. (Did I mention that this movie was created with all still photos?)



"You may now kiss your bride!" We shot this under the tree in their backyard. The same tree where they actually exchanged vows just three months before. It was one of the most intense, romantic weddings I had ever experienced. Love them.



My friend Ashley and her boyfriend Vincent saved me in the 11th hour. Due to scheduling conflicts, I was unable to capture what I really wanted with Lareema and Cedric. The movie just wasn't going anywhere. I knew I would not be able to get Lareema and Ced in the same space before the project was due so I reached out to Ashley. We were able to shoot the next day which was a few days before my project was due. We went to several locations with twin 5 month olds in tow.



Starbucks in Artesia. Or were we ON Artesia? hmmmm.....



Something told me to snap BEFORE they walked out the door and I was so pleased with the outcome when I pulled it together for the movie.



Strolling through my neighborhood....





I was upset while shooting these frames. I knew they weren't going to come out clear because I was shooting toward the sun. To my surprise, it worked! The shadowy effect was exactly what I needed. God is always on my side.



Final location. Mountain view down the street from my house. I live about 30 minutes from downtown Los Angeles but on a clear day you can see downtown skyline.



I tried to upload the final project directly to this post but gave up after an hour and a half of technical difficulties. You can visit YouTube to see the end result. I know the beginning is long, lackluster, and quiet but I did it that way to kind of set the movie up. It was one in the morning. I was done. :-) Enjoy!

P.S. In case you didn't know, you can click on the word YouTube which will take you directly to the video.

hiking

Yesterday, my family and I went on our first hike. I searched the Net prior to going for a family-dog friendly trail and all signs told me that this would be a safe bet. Sturtevant Falls in Arcadia had a beautiful picture of a waterfall and thought how special it would be to see. Little did I know that we would have to drive up a winding mountain to get to the trail. I'm not a big fan of driving up winding roads especially when the edge is just a few feet away. No room for error. I couldn't snap shots on the way up because I didn't want to look over and even when we pulled off to the side, I felt very uneasy. I'm a worry wart that way. I felt better once we got out the truck and started walking but the cliff-like trail with 3 kids and a rambunctious dog was little more stressful than I had anticipated. Needless to say, when it was all said and done, we all had a great time. It was a great change of pace from our regular Saturdays of baseball games and basketball tournaments.

My son snapped this shot of our dog in the truck. This was sometime during the car ride just before she threw up. Yeah, it was an ugly mess. Not a good way to start our adventure.


I really don't like signs like this.




It was a cloudy day, which turned out to be a good thing. We got so hot on the trail.


It was a gorgeous, breathtaking view despite the overcast.


A quaint Arcadia neighborhood down below.


Pointing out all the little things he thinks I don't notice.


This was taken after we finally found a parking spot. Had I been the driver, we would have gotten prime parking. My friends don't call me the Parking Angel for nothing. ;-)


And so it begins............


This part of the road was blocked off because THERE WAS NO ROAD!! It was gone! (Not a good sign)


This guy was way out there. Hope he wasn't thinking about jumping.


Pick your poison.


Figuring out which way to go.


The beginning of the trail.


Walking the trail. If I didn't have the dog on my arm then it was my 2-year old. I wasn't able to take pictures the way I would have liked.


Steep fall. Hold on tight!


A little pit stop for a photo op




The beauty of nature.....


We reached our destination....the waterfall!


Private residence in the middle of the mountains.


You can own a home in the middle of the mountains too for a mere $15,000.


The stipulation to owning a home in the middle of the mountains is that it cannot be your prime residence. You must prove that you have a primary residence.


This house has a prime location above the waterfall. The park ranger said there are 81 houses in the mountains.


Aloe .... one of my favorite plants.


Heading back uphill.


My mountain!


Back to semi-civilization.


This pretty much sums it up.

a sticky situation

I woke up this morning to my usually nighttime crawler. I noticed his face was crusty and for a split second wondered what it could be. He had gone to bed late and I don't recall his face being so crusty looking. I didn't think much past the split second until I made a gruesome discovery in his bedroom.

crusty


up close and crusty


it's all starting to make sense


if there's a mess to be made, night crawler is your guy


what a wonderful way to start a beautiful Friday morning


the dog didn't even touch this mess, which is surprising


the yogurt cup was neatly placed in the center of the bed


YUCKAMUNDO!




I'm only left to wonder how long he actually slept in this mess


boys