Hawaii Vacation

I came back a few weeks ago from a family trip in Hawaii. We went on a cruise to the islands: Oahu, Big Island of Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, and Kauai. I loved Pearl Harbor. It's hard not to get emotional when you are there. My only regret is not being able to go to the Volcanic National Park on the Big Island. I know I would have loved to stay there all day trecking around. There's always next time. Of course I loved the flowers and landscapes. It's a photographers paradise. I was never without my camera except when I was snorkeling.
Here's a few photographs I took:

2010 Dixon May Fair Awards

This was my first time entering in the Dixon May Fair. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the Best of Show purple ribbon hanging next to my photo. I had to double check to make sure it belonged to my photo. What an honor! I also won 1st, 2nd & 3rd place ribbons.

Title: "Bubble Eye"
Best of Show: One ribbon awarded out of over 300 photos
1st Place: For Computer Assisted category

What makes this photo technically difficult to create?

• Maia is holding & looking through a bubble, but she is also inside the bubble blowing bubbles. It's a composite of two photos.
  
• The opacity of her image in the bubble had to be perfect.
• The blending of the two photos had to be flawless.

How it was displayed at the fair.
It was grouped with the other Computer Assisted photos.

My friend Sandy took this photo of me.

Title: "Best Friends Forever"
2nd Place: For Children category

3rd Place: For Black & White Abstract
By the way, this is a photo of my garden hose reel.

Jennifer & Casey Brown - May 2

Jennifer, Casey, and little Madison,
It was a fun filled day of taking pictures! Engagement & family portraits all in one day. I bet you were exhausted by the end. Can't wait for your beautiful wedding in July!

March of Dimes - March For Babies 3/17/10

I was hired by March of Dimes as a volunteer photographer for their annual fundraising event. I had a great time snapping a way at the event. Of course I took hundreds of photos. Here are some highlights.

Cope Family

Dear Angie and Robin,
Thank you for the opportunity to take photos of your family. The red shirt wasn't so bad after all? It added some great color to the portraits. Ben knew it all along! LOL

Tamra - 2010 Senior Portraits

It was so fun taking photos of Tamra! There are so many great ones...these are only a few of the many that I like. Not only is she beautiful, she has an awesome personality to go with it. I could have taken photos of her all day, no problem. Thank you Kim and Mike for the great experience not only with Tamra but with Michael's senior portraits three years ago. I love your family!

WPPI - Las Vegas March 5-10

Jim Garner

Jesh de Rox

Took some great classes and had fun at the trade show and with my friends.

Some of classes I took:
Sun (3/7: 12-2pm) Jackie Palmer & Andrew Jenkins - Children with Style
Sun (3/7: 2:30-4:30pm) Doug Gordon - Posing is Back and It's This Year's Black
Sun (3/7: 6-7:30pm) Gregory Heisler
Mon (3/8: 8-10am) Jesh de Rox - Beloved
Mon (3/8: 3:30-5:30) Jim Garner - The Experimental Style
Mon (3/8: 6:30-8:30) Hanson Fong - Fong Shui: The Lost Art of Posing and Lighting
Tues (3/9: 8-10am) Tamara Lackey - Controlled Spontaneity: Contemp. Children's Photography
Tues (3/9: 3:30-5:30) Craig Heidemann - Law School for Photographers
Tues (3/9: 6:30-8:30pm) Brianna Graham - Selling Your Vision
Tues (3/9: 8-10pm) Kodak Event with Scott Bourne
Wed (3/10: 8-10am) Kevin Ames - Lighting, Lenses, Photoshop

CA Academy of Sciences - 2/17

Carissa looking into the grand aquarium tank.

Butterfly garden in the 4-story Rainforest.