More Than We Expected

Yesterday I went up into Corner Canyon with a friend hoping for some pictures of the sunset.

The sky did not cooperate at all (very hazy, and sadly no sun or sunset was visible).

We decided we'd walk along a trail hoping for some fall colors. While there were a few very pretty trees, we didn't get the amount we were hoping for.

Here's what I did get -

Then on our way back to the car, we saw these lovelies who posed for us for quite a while -
(disclaimer - some of the pictures are fuzzy because I had to shoot at a really slow shutter speed since it was pretty dark by this time. also, I used iphoto to lighten them up a little since even with a slow shutter, the pictures were fairly dark.)

the 1 buck with 4 does. the does all ran away when we came across them, but he stayed for a solo photo shoot.

then one of the does ventured back.

the buck walked away...

the doe got a solo shoot.

and then she walked to where the other three were waiting.

And lastly, I "found" a view of the Draper temple that I hadn't ever seen before -

Turned out to be a great night for shooting, missed sunset and all.

Christmas and the New Year

When people have asked me how my Christmas was this year, my response has been -

'Great. In fact, pretty much perfect.'

And I hold to that. It really was a great Christmas.

I loved the whole season. I listened to a whole lot of Christmas music - which always makes me happy. However, I have a method when it comes to Christmas music. It's simple. Don't listen to Christmas music on the radio. That's the stuff that drives me nuts. Some of it is way too schmultzy and cheesy... etc. On my phone - I have only songs I like, versions that I like, by artists that I like. It's perfect. I also avoid all the awful consumerism-focused commercials on the radio that way. Speaking of which, I almost never watch live TV anymore which means I get to miss all of those awful commercials on TV too. Which, I've decided, really helps me not get annoyed with how 'me, me, me, this is what I want' this season can be for some people. So yay for that.

That being said - I happened to get some really nice gifts this year. One of them was a canon DSLR from my parents. It's one gift that I'm going to be contributing too because they cost more than what my parents spend for Christmas. That being the case, my mom asked me a couple of weeks before Christmas if I would be interested in getting one and contributing toward it and I said - YES! I had actually looked at getting one before... but they are really expensive so I decided I'd wait. I waited and now I don't have to wait anymore. I've already really, really enjoyed it.

While the battery was charging I told Harper that the last camera I got was also a Christmas present and since I had been sitting at the hearth and he was on the couch across from me, he was the first picture I took on that camera. He said I better not mess with tradition -

2008 -

2011 - (a la george costanza)

then I hooked up the telephoto lens. this was as 'unzoomed' as it got.

I took another - as zoomed as it goes - picture, but I'll spare Harps the posting of that one. 

Next came Annikki and I messing around with it

I had to auto-focus this one since without the flash the face was too dark for the camera to really focus on. Not bad detail, eh?

candid of Annikki -

always-available photography subjects -

Katie's and Neil's cat that we were watching for a couple of weeks while they were out of town visiting their families -

my first official outing with the camera - temple square -

I've gotten a shot similar to this for the last few years. I love this view -

this is, unfortunately, the back of the nativity, but the red reflection was seen a lot better on this side of the water -

next outing - BYU v. USD -

my nephew and I had some fun messing around -

And now it's the New Year. I'm looking forward to 2012. I have a feeling it's going to be awesome.

Happy New Year!

Photo Catch-Up

some random pictures:

the first (and only) time the dogs have shared a bed
it happened in the middle of the night after Dingo woke me up to go out
they both misbehaved (somehow) and after I got mad at both of them,
they decided they needed comfort against their common enemy

a triple-cab truck
never seen one of those before.

my nephew at my 2nd annual 'we don't hate valentine's day party'

three of the beautifully decorated cookies by haley - a culinary genius & artist

It Makes Me Want to Gag

Published...

... Photographer...??

I just found out that in January 2010 a picture that I took of the temple will be published in this magazine.

Yay!

Okay, here's the story:

Remember this picture that I gave to John and Sharla?
John works in the Multicultural Office (where the magazine is based) and heard that needed a picture of the Draper Temple. He asked me if I'd mind if he shared the album that I had shared with him and Shar full of pictures of the temple. Of course I didn't mind and told him so.

He shared it.

They chose one.

The rest is history.

(or will be as soon as January rolls around)

Draper Temple

Last Monday, I finally figured out what I wanted to give as a gift to some friends that had gotten married a month earlier (sometimes I'm a little slow on these things). They had gotten married in the Draper Temple, so I decided to take a night picture of the temple, frame it, and give it to them (hoping that they didn't already have a picture of this temple).

Here were a few of my numerous attempts:

One thing I love about digital is that you can take as many as you want and then sift through to find something good.

This is the one I ended up using:

And this is what it looked like when it was framed:

detail of the frame:

I liked it so much that after I gave it to them I went back to the store and bought the same exact frame for myself and printed out the picture again. It helped that Michael's was having a great sale on frames and I got it for 55% off.

Thanks to Faith for helping me figure out how to print a good quality picture from iPhoto!
and
Thanks to Caitlin for helping me find a beautiful frame!

ps - I really like taking pictures. (: