Beetle Triumph

I watched in awe a couple of weeks ago as a large beetle was swimming in my pond, triumphantly make his way out of the water.  I was babysitting a 7 year old boy and I'm not sure who was more fascinated by it!  We watched as the beetle made his way to a lily pad, climbed up on it, swam towards a rock by the water's edge and climbed right up out of the water onto the rock!  The whole drama played out over about 15 minutes!
Here are a few photos of the inspirational climb of my backyard beetle!

Swimming towards lily pad.

Climbs up onto lily pad.

Climbs out of the pond onto rock.

 

Out of the pond!

Straddles between two rocks.

On the road to freedom!

East Coast

Just returned from another trip to the east coast, this time Ray joined me!  What an adventure it is to hang out with a large family!  There are things (and people) that I really miss about living back east...
I love going seeing the green scenery along the highways, the historic architecture and Atlantic Ocean. 

Feeding the swan family in Westhampton Beach, NY

Just a few of the thousand or more photos I took on the trip.

Pebbles in a rusty post along the beach in Greenport, Long Island, NY

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Model Shoot

I did a fun model shoot the other day for my fantastic hair stylist Tami Gardner at Park Avenue Salon in Paso Robles, CA.  Her model is actually a beautiful college professor and not a "model" but she did a wonderful job!  She told me that she learned everything from "America's Next Top Model".  She would make Tyra Banks proud!  Tami is super talented at hair and make-up, a genuine artist!  Here are a few photos of the shoot. 

The first picture is the first time she saw herself in the mirror with more make-up than she is used to wearing.

Photographing kids

I love taking photos of kids in their element which is one of the reasons why I don't have a studio.  Nothing like a photo of a stiff kid with an forced, awkward smile to convince me even further!
When kids are in an environment that's non-threatening and fun for them they generally forget that you have a lens pointed at them.  This isn't always true about adults, myself included.
I had fun this Memorial Day weekend photographing some children having fun in a backyard.  Even though I shot about 100 photos it never seemed to interfere with their candidness.

It only takes a second!

We were watching three children last night at our house and one of the kids just turned one a few weeks ago.  Even though she is very small and very cute I was reminded of how quickly little ones can end up where they don't belong.  I turned my head for a minute while the little one was crawling around on the floor and then I heard a splashing sound.  There she was on the floor splashing her hands in the dog's water bowl surrounded by a pool of water!   Just before that she had discovered the doggy door out to the back patio.  She didn't seem to understand that she could have crawled out through the door but she seemed to like how the door flapped open.  

My husband and I both came to the conclusion that babies really don't have a clue about social etiquette.  (the seven year old wanted to know what etiquette was)  Babies will let their noses run, speak loudly in indecipherable languages in public places, emit the most unbearable smells and be covered in food and they really aren't bothered a bit about it!  When exactly does that all change?

Loads of Personality!

I survived a week back in the Philadelphia area babysitting my two little nieces.  They are beautiful little girls with an incredible level of intelligence and personality.  I really enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them a little better.
For someone who doesn't have any children it was somewhat of a culture shock being on duty 24-7 with them.  I had great intentions to get some work done while I was there and was also hoping to get some beautiful photos of the spring colors and green grass.
I was able to take some shots but only got a couple of scenery photos.  The girls gave me lots of opportunity to capture their little personalities on my camera!
One Saturday I was a "soccer aunt" driving from one game to another.  Not sure how moms do that week after week!
I've got tons of stories of being with them for only a week but one of my favorites was as we were driving to a soccer practice the five year old expressed her opinion about soccer.  "I don't want to go to soccer practice, it's stupid!  All you do is run around and kick a ball, it's just stupid!"  Another favorite is on my last day the older one came into the kitchen and gave me a big hug and said, "Aunt Laura, I am so glad you came!"  :-)
I think it's pretty obvious from the photos which one thinks soccer is "stupid"!

Adelaida Cellars

Spent a busy morning yesterday taking canvas prints down from Upscale Resale in Templeton then driving out to beautiful Adelaida Cellars in Paso Robles.  
I put up the new metal prints,  canvas prints and the new greeting cards, in the tasting room.   It was really hot outside when I arrived and the tasting room was nice and cool.  It was just shortly after noon on a Monday morning and the tasting had already begun.  There were a few people there from out of state.  Paso Robles is becoming quite the destination.  One couple was mentioning that they had spent the weekend driving all over the county from Los Osos, Guadalupe and San Simeon and now Paso Robles.  That is a lot to cover in one weekend.  I was just reminded that we live where people come for vacation!