Image of the year

Typically, we start the new year with a resolution. Instead, I'm ending the old year with my personal favorite image from 2009. After reading LeggNet's Digital Capture blog post about his year-end tradition of looking back and decided I should start the same.

What I love about this image is the sense of wonder it produces. Who is this floating girl? Why is there a dog? How is she floating? This was also one of my first images where I set out to create a particular idea and ended up with something even better than I had pictured in my mind. Previously, my ideas had usually fallen far short of what was in my head.

Hope you have a great 2010, see you in a year!

More Costumes, Dancing

This past weekend was the last weekend for the Dickens Fair, and the December Gaskell Ball. We spent most of Saturday dancing; it was wonderful! I purchased both CDs from Brassworks and I've had various Victorian dance pieces in my head for the last few days.

Jessie made a beautiful new blue day dress:



we discovered a T-Rex:





and danced some lovely waltzes at Fezziwig's:



Later that evening we went to the Gaskell Ball. Jessie wore one of her red ball gowns and looked absolutely lovely:



Next week, I promise a blog post about something other than costumes. The topic? Moving into our new cottage!

Waltzing

It's been a long time since I posted anything here! Since my last post, I've been busy with a variety of waltzes:

First up, the Gaskell Ball in October. Jessie and I had a blast dancing in our "schmancy dress" (her words) ! I have a set of photos from the event up on flickr



Fast-forward a few weeks to the Dickens Christmas Fair with more fancy outfits, and more dancing. The fair is a lot like a renaissance faire, but with Victorian England stylings. More photos are up on flickr. We're going back in a couple of weeks, so look forward to more photos (I'll try to actually post something here).



And for a waltz of a different kind... Jessie and I started a daily photo project just after my last blog post here! In our Photo Waltz project, each of us takes a photo every day, and we post them side-by-side on the Photo Waltz site. We don't share our photos with each other until they're on the site, so the results are always a surprise. Every day, we rotate places, first her photo's on the left, then mine; our photos waltz through time. Here's one of my favorite pairings:

Headshot retouching

Photo retouching, before/after:

Costumed Outings

Earlier this month, Jessie and I got all dressed up and headed out to the Sacramento Gold Rush Days, and then the PEERS Space Cowboy's Ball. We had a great time! Rather than attempt to bore you with text, I'll just share the pics:

Knapp's Castle Roundup

Has it really been a month since I posted anything here? I bought a D700 at the beginning of the month, and I've been quite enjoying it. I've been up to Knapp's Castle several times this month... twice for photo shoots.

First, Patty, Theresa, and I hiked into the castle around 11 PM and stayed through 1 AM. We first set up at the ruins of the old wall:



Then, the fog rolled in and we moved to the arch. It's a several second exposure... I don't know how Patty managed to stay so still for so long!



A couple of weeks later I took Jessie up to Knapp's castle for a shoot in her lovely red ball gown. The sunset through the La Brea fire made for some amazing backdrops!

Accidental Diptych

These two photos ended up above each other in my flickr stream in an amusing fashion: