Sereina Charise Photography

Thankful To Have a Camera

2012-01-27T12:57:00.000-08:00

I'm finally posting about my new camera, which I mentioned I would share about quite a while ago. So lets start at the beginning:

Back last summer, I did a bit of research to decide what camera I would to purchase once I had enough money to buy one. Since I've been able to use my parents dSLR for quite a while I was able to figure out what I wanted in a camera and find one that would work for me. Our Sony A100 was a marvelous camera and I took many photos with it that I still love, but I'd started to outgrow it. So after many hours of searching the web, looking at pictures on flickr, and comparing specs, I finally decided on one: the Sony A580.

I thought it would be quite a while before I would be able to buy it and put most of the money I received in a camera savings. But just a few days after New Year's, our camera died. It was quite sudden and unexpected, but we were glad it didn't decide to die on our vacation next month.

So, thanks to my grandma was able to help me out with some of the money I needed to purchase my camera, I was holding my first dSLR, the Sony A580, in my hands a little over a week later. I'm very thankful to actually have my own camera, which I got much, much sooner that I ever though I would.

Now on to the fun stuff! The A580 has a lot of great features that the A100 didn't have, such as live view, a tilt able scree, and HD video, which is really awesome. But one of my favorite things is the ISO quality/range. The grain at higher ISO's is much better and has a higher range as well.

I am so happy! to have such a wonderful camera! I know I'm going to get a lot of great use out of it in the many years to come.

Two Years

2012-01-23T18:28:00.000-08:00

I can barely believe it's been two years since I started this blog. Time has just been flying by. Looking back at my archives, I can see how much I've improved since then. Some of the photos aren't too bad, but I can't help but cringe at the over editing and the terrible watermarks I made. I had no clue what aperture, f/stops, or any idea how to operate my camera out of auto, but now it feels like I've known that stuff forever.

(you can read my first year blog post here: One Year)

Here are some fun things that happened this year:

-The biggest thing that happened was being able to purchase my new camera (and I'm still working on a post about that).
-I upgraded from PSE7 to Photoshop CS5

-I got to take Senior Photos of a friend of mine

-I purchased a new lens, the 35mm f/1.8

There are so many fun pictures that I took this past year and these are just some of my very favorites:

{Claire's headshots - January 2011}

{Ducks - February 2011}

{Tulip Fields - April 2011}

{Daisies - May 2011}

{Visiting Oregon - June 2011}

{Gino - August 2011}

{Lavender - August 2011}

{Beach Vacation - August 2011}

{Renee's Senior Portraits - September 2011}

{Chocolate Truffles - October 2011}

{Autumn Leaves - October 2011}

{Pumpkins - October 2011}

{Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies - December 2011}

{Winter Wonderland - January 2012}

It's a Winter Wonderland Outside

2012-01-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

Ya know how I mentioned in my last post how the snow wasn't sticking? Well, it wasn't very long after I published that post when it really came down and it decided to stay. Now, four days later, we have a seven and a half inches of snow covering the ground.

Sunday Tiana, Daniel, my mom, and I went on a walk around the neighborhood, which is one of our favorite things to do when it snows.

Oh, and just before we left, Tiana made this tiny little snowman.

I though the fire hydrant looked pretty cool covered in snow.

After walking our usual route, we thought it would be fun to walk across the street to Starbucks for drinks. We ended up getting chocolate doughnuts as well.

Daniel eating his doughnut and peppermint hot chocolate.

Yes, I did decided on a cold drink, even tough it was only thirty degrees outside.

At the table outside the store, someone had build this snowman on the table. The eyes, mouth, and buttons were all coffee beans.

It's Snowing

2012-01-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

It's pretty wet and not sticking much, but it's still snow!

Taken with my new camera, which I'll be posting about soon!

Oh, and whenever I think of snow, this song pops up in my head.

I Heart Faces - Best Face Photo of 2011

2012-01-10T18:24:00.000-08:00

I have lots of favorite photos from 2011, but this photo of my brother Daniel is one of my favorite portraits I took. It was just a quick snapshot taken in our living room when I noticed the great lighting. I just love how sharp and clear his eyes are.

Catching Up

2012-01-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

My family had a great Christmas. We all decided to open our gifts on the morning of Christmas Eve instead of Christmas day this year, which was fun. We all woke up while it was still dark out and my mom and dad had gone out to get some doughnuts, which was a fun surprise.

I made these yummy chocolate pretzels which we all munched on throughout the weekend. The M&M's on top are the coconut ones.

The day before New Years Eve our whole family went to a ball that our friends put on. It was a really fun night filled with lots of Ceilidh Dancing (Scottish and Irish social dancing) and even a little Waltzing at the end.

On New Years Eve we decided to go inner tubing in the snow at night. We went with some friends of ours and we had lots of fun speeding down the hill. And at the end they let us go down in trains. That was awesome.

It was quite sad when last week the dSLR died. It was quite sudden as it was working fine earlier in the day. There is a bright side to that, though, because since we don't have a dSLR in the house anymore, I was able to purchase the camera I've been wanting, the Sony A580, last night! I'm super excited about it and I can't wait for it to arrive this week!

So, that pretty much sums up my last couple weeks. How was your Christmas and/or New Years?

Merry Christmas to All!

2011-12-24T11:23:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note wishing everyone a very merry Christmas!

Snowflake Lane

2011-12-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

For the last few years we've been going to Snowflake Lane, a Christmas performace outside the mall every Christmas season with another family or two. We went this past Saturday night and the sidewalks were packed for the show! We went to our favorite burger place, Five Guys, first before heading to the mall.

We had some time to spend in the mall before the show, and I took many pictures of Christmas decorations.

We went to Starbucks and got a warm drinks. I usually get a cold drink, since I'm not a coffee fan, but this time I got a peppermint hot cocoa.

They have a penguin and a polar bear that wandered around and took pictures with people.

The snowflake lights lining the streets.

These drummers were new this year. They had water on top of the drums that bounced up when the beat it. They also make it snow.

The sidewalks and the area were we were at was packed like crazy. I was able to make my way up to the front to get some pictures, though.

Here's a video clip that my mom took of the drummers.

Gotta love Christmas tree bokeh!

While we were in the Disney store, I spotted this Animal plush, which I promptly showed my brother Daniel. Animal is his favorite Muppet and he can to a perfect Animal voice.

Cristina and I waited outside the Lego store while our siblings went in and looked around, since it was pretty crowded. I had her pose for me in front of that awesome bokeh.

Christmas Link-up: With a Face

2011-12-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

It's time for the last week of a Very Merry Christmas Link-up. My, how time has been flying. You can still enter any of the categories through the 31st.
(If your new, or would like more info about the link up, you can visit, this post.)

Week 4 - With a Face(s)
From a portrait of one friend, or a whole group of you doing something fun. Just make sure its still Christmas-y.

*Update* The linky doesn't seem to be working, so please leave your link in the comments.

Joining is easy. Just put together a post with a photo(s) that fit with this weeks theme, Christmas Lights, add my Christmas Link Up button, and come back here and add your post to the linky. Remember to post a link to the post, not your main blog address. Also, go ahead and check out all the other posts that are linked up. That's what makes this fun!

The 35mm

2011-12-15T16:31:00.000-08:00

For a while now I've been wanting to purchase a new lens, the 35mm f/1.8. Last week I decided to look it up online again, and Amazon had it $25 off! I was super excited that I was able to save a little bit on it and I purchased it that night. It arrived in Tuesday's mail, but was only able to play with it a little bit, since it was getting dark and I had to make dinner. I was only able to take a couple dozen photos, but I can already love it and I definitely see it getting a lot of use. It auto focuses really well and I can get really close up to subjects.

This is one of the first photos I took with it. Like I mentioned earlier, it was getting dark, so I had to bump up my ISO a bit, which added a lot of grain. I was able to fix it up a little in Photoshop, though.

Christmas-ness

2011-12-14T13:29:00.000-08:00

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas,

Let your heart be light,
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight."

I don't know about you, but I've been having quite a fun time taking all sorts of Christmas-y photos. Especially ones with Christmas lights/bokeh. By the time the month is over, I'm going to have so many random Christmas related pictures.

I had some fun the other day taking picture of our tree while zooming in or out with the lens and a slower shutter speed. It's very entertaining.

Then there's all those decorations that I set up in front of the tree, so I can get some nice bokeh in the background. I love Christmas.

Winter Frost

2011-12-13T11:18:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year when the rooftops and plants are covered in frost in the morning.

I Heart Faces - Furry Faces

2011-12-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

I don't have too many pictures of animals or pets, I dug in the archives and found this fun picture of a chipmunk we found with on a walk. On our way back from hiking to some waterfall, we stopped at a covered area with picnic benches. As we were getting ready to leave, we saw this chipmunk, so I started slowly inching over towards it, hoping I would get a good shot of it. Then my sister holds the zbar that I was eating to the chipmunk and he starts eating away and I snap away like crazy.

Christmas Link-up: Foods & Tasty Treats

2011-12-11T08:49:00.000-08:00

Week three is here! It's hard to believe it's only two weeks till Christmas is here. Today week three of a Very Merry Christmas Link-up begins, but remember, you can still join any of the themes trough the end of the month. Themes that have already started: Christmas Decor and Christmas Lights
(If your new, or would like more info about the link up, you can visit, this post.)

Week 3 - Christmas Foods & Tasty Treats

There are so many tasty things made this time of year: cookies, gingerbread houses, candy canes, and my personal favorite, eggnog. Mmmm, my mouth is watering! If you bake something yourself, you could share the recipe as well! Anything that is edible will work for this weeks theme. And remember, composition is an important key to getting a great food shot.

*Update* The linky doesn't seem to be working, so please leave your link in the comments.

Joining is easy. Just put together a post with a photo(s) that fit with this weeks theme, Christmas Lights, add my Christmas Link Up button, and come back here and add your post to the linky. Remember to post a link to the post, not your main blog address. Also, go ahead and check out all the other posts that are linked up. That's what makes this fun!

Cranberries + White Chocolate + Oats

2011-12-05T16:03:00.001-08:00

For Thanksgiving, we bought a big bag of cranberries from Costco for cranberry sauce. We had tons left over, so I searched the internet for baked goods with cranberries in them, and came up with these cookies. They're pretty much oatmeal cookies with cranberries and I also added white chocolate chips.

The recipe called for dried cranberries, but just used the fresh ones. They taste really good, but the cranberries were a little sour. Next time I'll add some sugar, or something.

I found the recipe on the Food Network website.

I shot these photos out in the cold on our back deck. I plugged in the lights inside and brought them out on the deck, a few feet from the cookies, to get some nice bokeh.

Christmas Link-up: Christmas Lights

2011-12-05T15:55:00.001-08:00

(I was having some technical difficulties with the linky not working properly, so if you had linked up before, you'll need to re-do that below.)

It's time for week two of A Very Merry Christmas Link-up! Remember, all linkys will be open all month, so keep joining with your photos!

(If your new, or would like more info about the link up, you can visit, this post.)

Week 2 - Christmas Lights

Anything from on a Christmas tree, on a house, or anywhere else you can find some decorative lights. They don't have to be in focus, either. Some cool bokeh shots would count as well.

Joining is easy. Just put together a post with a photo(s) that fit with this weeks theme, Christmas Lights, add my Christmas Link Up button, and come back here and add your post to the linky. Remember to post a link to the post, not your main blog address. Also, go ahead and check out all the other posts that are linked up. That's what makes this fun!

Christmas Light Bokeh

2011-11-28T16:31:00.001-08:00

Now that we got our Christmas decorations and lights out, I thought I would play around with taking portraits with Christmas lights bokeh.

I set two bar stools at the top of our stairs and draped a tablecloth then Christmas lights from them. I placed Daniel a few feet from the background and use my widest aperture (f/1.8) to get the nice bokeh. For the lighting, I opened up the front door, which lets lots of natural light on the staircase.

Christmas Link-up: Christmas Decor

2011-11-27T07:04:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is over and today starts the first week of A Very Merry Christmas Link-up!

Week 1 - Christmas Decor
I love pulling out all of our Christmas decorations each year and placing them all over the house, with Christmas music playing in the background. Lots of fun!

Every year at on Black Friday, JCPenny's gives away these fun little Mickey Mouse snow globes. I've been collecting them since 2002, but a couple of them have broken over the years, and last year we were too late to get them.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T11:18:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is here. Soon we'll be putting the turkey in the oven and just hanging with my family. I'm looking forward to some yummy mashed potatoes. They're my favorite. :)

Sunday afternoon we had a big Thanksgiving dinner with my mom's side of the family, so this year we get to celebrate twice. We had a great time visiting with our family from out of state that we hadn't seen in two years. There was lots of laughter, card games, hide and seek, and awesome games of Ultimate Ninja.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Project 52: Week 45

2011-11-19T11:33:00.001-08:00

{45/52}

Golden leaves in our front yard.

Announcing A Christmas Link-up

2011-11-15T14:20:00.000-08:00

It's only a week till Thanksgiving, which means the Christmas season is just about here. Last year I hosted a link-up, which was tons of fun, and I shall be hosting it again this year!

Heres how it'll work:
Every Sunday for the next month, I will be posting a linky. You'll write up your post with picture(s) that fit in the category for that week, include the "A Very Merry Christmas Link Up" button that I've included at the bottom of this post, and come back here to link up your post. Then blog hop around a bit and check out every one else's photos. You can enter just one or two of the weeks, or all of them, whichever you prefer. At the end of each week, I'll choose a few of my favorites to share.

All the linky's will be open trough the end of December. Feel free to link up as many photos/posts as you'd like for each category.

The Categories:
Week 1 (Nov. 27th) - Christmas Decor
Every year I love geting out the Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. Pulling out the Christmas mugs and dishes, stockings, snow globes, nativities sets, and everything else.

Week 2 (Dec. 4th) - Christmas Lights
Anything from on a Christmas tree, on a house, or anywhere else you can find some decorative lights. They don't have to be in focus, either. Some cool bokeh shots would count as well.

Week 3 (Dec. 11th) - Christmas Foods & Tasty Treats
There are so many tasty things made this time of year: cookies, gingerbread houses, candy canes, and my personal favorite, eggnog. Mmmm, my mouth is watering! If you bake something yourself, you could share the recipe as well!
Anything that is edible will work for this weeks theme. And remember, composition is an important key to getting a great food shot.

Week 4 (Dec. 18th) - With a Face(s)
From a portrait of one friend, or a whole group of you doing something fun. Just make sure its still Christmas-y.

If your interested, I'd love it if you'd spread the word by posting about it on you blog, adding the button to you sidebar, etc. And if you have any questions, just let me know!

I Heart Faces - Autumn Splendor

2011-11-15T09:59:00.001-08:00

Fall = lots of colorful leaves on the ground all over the place.

Carving and Painting

2011-11-10T10:34:00.001-08:00

For the last few years, instead of carving my pumpkin, I've painted it instead. I enjoy painting them more, and I like all the color it adds. Usually the rest of my siblings carve their's, but this year Alina and my mom painted their's as well.

Alina drew about a dozen or so faces on a piece of paper before deciding on this silly face.

Tiana chose to carve like usual, and picked out a horse and rider pattern that she found online.

My mom painted her's and used a picture of goofy that she traced onto the pumpkin before painting.

Daniel came up with a dead pumpkin face.

I'm a big Muppets fan, so I decided to paint Kermit the Frog this year. I traced him freehand on the pumpkin before painting him.

I Heart Faces - Black

2011-11-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

The I Heart Faces theme is really simple this week: the photo just has to have black in it somewhere. I don't have to many photos that happen to fit that theme, but then I remembered this shot of my siblings that I took last month. I love the soft lighting that was in our backyard morning, so it was perfect for pictures.

Project 52: Week 43

2011-11-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

{43/52}

We didn't end up carving and painting our pumpkins till the 31st. All of us kids and my mom had a fun time choosing what to make and painting or carving them. I'll be posting more about them this week.

Gilligan and Star Trek

2011-11-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

Some of our friends invited us to a costume party, which was last Friday night. We all had fun coming up with our costumes for the party and putting them together. I was little red riding hood and made a red cape with some pretty red fabric. My sister Tiana was a princess in a pretty purple dress she found at the Goodwill Outlet. Alina was the guy with the red shirt from Star Trek who dies in the first episode he's in (for those of you who haven't seen Star Trek, whenever a landing party goes down to the planet, you pretty much know that whoever is wearing red shirt isn't going to make it back). And Daniel was Gilligan from Gilligan's Island.

I wanted to get pictures of everyone, but it started to rain after I took Daniel's and Alina's photos. I might have to do some self-portraits in my cape, though.

Daniel already had a perfect Gilligan hat, so the rest of the costume was really easy to put toghether.

I wasn't able to get a good full body shot, since it started raining, so this is angle I have. My mom added the black collar to the shirt, sewed the Star Fleet insignia, added the rank (gold ribbon) to the sleeves, and made a belt for her phaser.

Oatmeal Cookies

2011-11-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

Although I've baked snickerdoodle, chocolate snowballs, and chocolate chip cookies many, many times, I rarely make oatmeal cookies. I love anything with oats in it, though, and I really love oatmeal cookies.

I don't like to add any thing like nuts or raisins in them. For me, plain is the way to go!

I used the recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It's a great, simple oatmeal cookie recipe, which is just what I like. And as usual, I substituted the all-purpose flower for whole wheat flower.

Project 52: Week 42

2011-10-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

{42/52}

Daniel was having fun playing space ship with the laundry baskets in the living room. I don't have to many portraits of him, so when I saw that the lighting was perfect, I took a few quick shots. I love how this one turned out.

Autumn Leaves

2011-10-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.

~Elizabeth Lawrence

Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.

~Carol Bishop Hipps

I Heart Faces - Tickled Pink

2011-10-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

For this weeks I Heart Faces theme, Tickled Pink, it was pretty simple to figure out who I would be entering a photo of. Pink is my sister Tiana's favorite color and she happens wear a bit of it. The photo I choose is from back in February. It's one of my favorites; I love how she's looking away from the camera and the editing, which sadly I can't remember how I did it.

Project 52: Week 40

2011-10-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

{40/52}

Lately I've been busy working on my first quilt. I have already cut and sewed together all of the rows for the top and now I need to to the basting (pinning the back, batting, and top pieces together), so I can start the quilting part.

I like how the measuring tape that I was using was spiraling out.

Chocolate Truffles

2011-10-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Last week was one of my good friends birthdays and for a gift, I made her chocolate truffles. Chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk are the only ingredients needed, so they're really simple to make. They can be rolled in whatever you like. Next time I make them, I want to try adding some mint extract and see how they turn out.

The recipe can be found at Eagle Brand.

Project 52: Week 39

2011-10-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

{39/52}

Fall is here. It's getting colder outside and the leaves are beginning to change from green to bright shades yellow, red, and orange.

An Afternoon Walk

2011-10-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon we decided to go for a walk on a trail near my dad's work.

I thought this wood bridge looked neat.

We passed by a pond with a few dozen ducks that quickly swam towards any people they saw.

Project 52: Week 38

2011-09-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

{38/52}

Aren't these candy corn cookies cute? When I ran across the recipe, I knew I wanted to make them this fall. I used whole wheat flour, like I usually do, so the colors aren't as bright, but more natural looking. I think they actually look quite nice that way. They're really easy to make, so I'll most likely be baking some more soon. The recipe can be found at Land O'Lakes.

Beach Vacation: Sunsets

2011-09-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

We were only able see a few sunsets, since the sky was overcast most of the evenings. I was able to capture the ones we got, though. Enjoy!

Project 52: Week 35

2011-09-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

{35/52}

I did some baking on Wednesday and made these yummy coffee cake muffins. I've modified the recipe a bit, cutting down on the sugar and using plain yogurt instead of sour cream. Below is my modified recipe and long with a link to the original.

Original recipe from Martha Stewart

Muffins:

1 stick butter, softened

1 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

Streusel Topping:

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1teaspoon ground cinnamon

3-4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:

1. Streussel Topping: Combine brown sugar, flour, salt, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a muffin tin with cooking spray.

3. Combine together yogurt, butter, sugar, and vanilla until well mixed. Add the eggs and mix together. Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda and stir just till combined.

4. Fill the muffin tins about 1/3 of the way with the batter, then sprinkle some of the streussel topping on top. Then add another 1/3 of batter on top, and sprinkle with streussel topping again.

5. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Renee: 2012 Senior

2011-09-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

Renee and I have known each other since we moved into the same neighborhood, right across the street from each other, eleven years ago. Back then we had fun riding bikes together, playing in the playhouse in my backyard, baking chocolate chip cookies, and playing basketball together. Now she'll be graduating from high school this spring. My, how time flies!

Our first stop was the beach. There were very few people at the beach, only a couple of fishermen, which was perfect for us.

We woke up to dark, overcast skies that morning. However it wasn't long before the sun peaked out. I couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather!

Once we finished shooting at the beach, we headed to the town center near our house. I was able to capture some gorgeous portraits there.

Love her eyes!

This is one of my favorites.

Sadly there was no water running out of the fountain, but it still made for a beautiful photo.

Beach Vacation: Daniel's Birthday

2011-09-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Daniel's birthday at the beach house, just like we did last year. He also chose the same kind of cake that he had last time as well, which was gluten-free chocolate cake. To make opening presents a bit more fun, we hid the gifts in different places around the house and had clues leading to each on. Daniel had lots of fun figuring out the clues and searching for his gifts.

We had a little trouble lighting the candles, hence the two lighters.

I love blowing out the candle shots.

Project 52: Week 33 & 34

2011-09-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

{33/52}

It's fun photographing little details and things that most people wouldn't give a second thought too. I liked the rust on this chain link fence, along with the golden light from the sunset, and thought it would make a fun photo.

{34/52}

Yesterday morning I went out with my friend Renee to take her senior portraits. Here's a little preview of the shoot:

Beach Vacation: Enjoying the Beach

2011-09-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

For our trip, we stayed at the same house that we rented last year. I really love that we can see the ocean from the big living room windows and watch the sunsets from there as well. The weather was a bit colder and windier than last year, so we didn't spend as much time outside. We woke up to fog every morning and overcast skies. Despite the not so enjoyable weather, we had a grand time.

“I have always loved the beach. The smell of the salty water, the wind in my face, the gentle roar of the waves all combine to create a sense of peace and calm.”
--Unknown

One of the first evenings, Daddy, Aunt Carol, Tiana, and I went for a walk along the water. We were all a bit chilly, when my dad found this log that was still on fire. So we decided huddle around it and warm up. Or at least pretend to... :)

Myself, Daddy, and Tiana. Aunt Carol took this shot.

“Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone.”

--Unknown

One of the mornings I took a bunch of self-portraits.

Back from the Ocean

2011-08-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

Last week was our vacation at the beach with family. We arrived home yesterday, and while the beach is lots of fun, it feels good to be home. We stayed at the same beach house that we rented last year and celebrated Daniel's birthday while we were there. It was also a bit colder and cloudier than last year, but it was still lots of fun. Now it's time to sort through and edit all the photos I took during the trip, so I can share many of them here.

Lavender

2011-08-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

The lavender bush in my front yard has been blooming the last week. Every time I go out there, I always find lots of bees buzzing around from flower to flower. They rarely sit for long, which can make it hard to get a close of shot of them.

"Flowers appear on the earth;

the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves is heard in our land."
Song of Solomon 2:12

I Heart Faces - Pets

2011-08-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

It was just last week that I shared a photo of our newest neighbor, who happens to be a cat. Since my two cats don't seem to enjoy posing for my camera, I decided I wanted to get a shot of this guy for this weeks I Heart Faces theme, Pets. He enjoys spending time in our yard and gets lots of petting and holding time between all four of us kids. He's also found his way into our house several times, but luckily Koko and Doji don't seem too bugged out about that.

Project 52: Week 32

2011-08-19T08:50:00.000-07:00

{32/52}

Monday we visited the beach with another family. It's one of the best beaches around for finding crabs. My younger brother Daniel and Laura, one of the girls from the other family, spent most of the afternoon searching for the little creatures underneath the rocks. They found a couple dozen small crabs, but also found this larger one as well.

I Heart Faces - Beautiful Eyes

2011-08-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I've joined one of the I Heart Faces challenges. For this weeks theme, beautiful eyes, I've decided to enter this photo of my sister Alina that I took back in March.

Project 52: Week 31

2011-08-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

{31/52}

This is our next door neighbors new cat, who's name I have difficulty remember because it's Russian. He's really cute and lots of fun to play with. Our cats have been getting along with him quite well, which is good too.

Today Photoshop CS5 arrived in the mail! Oh yeah! I've been spending the afternoon getting familiar and having lots of fun with it.

Summertime

2011-08-11T12:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday we spend the morning doing yard work, but then later in the afternoon Daniel had tons of fun playing with water balloons. He would fill them up, then my dad would try to hit him while Daniel ran around.

Last school year I took a French class at our homeschool co-op. This year we're not doing any co-ops, so I've started teaching myself French. I've checked out all sorts of books on the subject in our library system and have been trying different books out, figuring out what works best for me. I'm really liking the Easy French Reader, that I picked up at Half Price Books (one of my favorite stores).

Tuesday afternoon we had my friends Carrie and Rose over and we had a fun afternoon walking all around the neighborhood, along with my siblings. Then we went to Starbucks before browsing around Fred Meyer, where we listened to all the birthday cards with music, looked at the toys, and tested out all the furniture.

I'm not usually a big reader, but lately I've really been enjoying some of Agatha Christie's book. We discovered the Poirot movies and TV shows earlier this year and really enjoy them, so I decided to give the books a try. So far I've only read the books with Hercule Poirot, the Belgium detective, and right now I'm currently in the middle of my fifth one, The Mystery of the Blue Train. Christie does a marvelous job of keeping the reader guessing who the murder is throughout the book.

What have you been doing this summer?

Project 52: Week 30

2011-08-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

{30/52}

Thursday evening Daniel and I played a game of Scrabble on the back deck.

Camping at Mt. Rainier

2011-08-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

Monday afternoon, we arrived home after spending three days camping at Mt. Rainier. We stayed at a group site in the Cougar Rock campground with two other families. We had stayed at the same site back in 2008 with several different families and we have also visited while staying in one of the other campgrounds in 2006.

We arrived there early on Friday, the first day. I didn't take us too long to set up camp, so we had the rest of the day to enjoy. Everyone had fun playing a game of capture the flag, even though no one found any flags.
Daniel and Rose got caught and were stuck in jail for a long time... Oh, and that rock reminds me of the one in A Bug's Life for some reason.

Behind our campsite was this rocky area, which was perfect for climbing around on.

Some of the kids were playing Mafia and where coming up with a word to use instead of "Dead Body". I suggested "Kentucky Fried Chicken", which we decided to yell at every car that passed by our campsite. See?

Getting our first campfire of the trip started.

Saturday morning the weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky. So we decided to head out early and do some sight seeing. We stopped at one of the viewpoints on the way up to Reflection Lake then to Paradise.
At the viewpoint, we decided to take a group picture with the tripod.

At Reflection Lake, we had to walk around on the snow a bit before we found somewhere with a reflection of Rainier.

On our way back to the campsite, we spotted and dear.

We passed over a bridge while going back as well and I shot this one out the car window.

Later in the afternoon, we all hiked 1.5 miles down to Longmire.

Once we arrived in Longmire, we saw that the mountain had these really neat clouds around it.

We all got an ice cream or a popsicle at the gift shop while we were there. Here we have the awesome Lilly.

And her sister, Mary.

The rest of our trip was spend relaxing and playing games back at the campsite.

I Love Camping

2011-08-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my family, along with two other families, spend a wonderful three nights camping at Mt. Rainier. We spent our time playing games, going on hikes, visiting different viewpoints, and enjoying campfires at night. Now that we're home, I have all sorts of pictures to sort through and edit. Hopefully it won't be to long before I'll be sharing them all.

Project 52: Week 29

2011-07-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

{29/52}

The raspberries in our backyard are finally beginning to ripen. I'm thinking I want to make some lemon raspberry scones with them.

A Hiking We Will Go

2011-07-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

My family and I went on a short hike, one mile each way. It rained quite a bit while we were driving to the trail head, but we stayed dry while we were there. The sun even came out, eventually. The trail followed the river for the first part, until we started going uphill.

It was quite cold on the way up and the trail was filled with mud puddles. I loved all the water drops the rain had left on all the leaves.

I thought these white flowers were pretty.

The trail lead us to this, Franklin Falls.

Project 52: Week 28

2011-07-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

{28/52}

Hiking along the river on the way to see a waterfall. More photos to come!

Project 52: Week 26 & 27

2011-07-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

{26/52}
My brother Daniel made up is own submarine game, using the Battleship board and with his invisble penguins.

{27/52}

This week I made this embroidered cuckoo clock. The pattern is from the book Doodle Stitiching: The Motif Collection that I borrowed from the library (and am hoping to buy!). I love how it turned out and I can't wait to make another project from the book.

Blooming

2011-07-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

Right now our backyard can be found with all sorts of flowers and plants blooming. The roses have just began to blossom and our Japanese Snowbell tree in the front yard is filled with little white flowers.

My siblings have already started picking and eating the red huckleberries of the trees. I'm looking forward to having fresh raspberries and blackberries to eat and bake with soon.

Project 52: Week 25

2011-07-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

{25/52}

These little clovers are growing in the mint type plan in our backyard.

Visiting in Oregon

2011-06-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

A week and a half ago, my family and I went on a trip to Oregon, and stayed at Aunt Carol's (you may remember my post from when we visited last year). I love the smell of the juniper and all the lava rocks in the area. Most of the time was spent relaxing at their property. Alina and my dad had a lot of fun shooting a red plastic cup with the BB gun. All of us kids and my dad enjoyed playing games of pool on their pool table. I brought homemade chocolate buffalo cookies that I made, that we ate after dinner one night with Trader Joe's vanilla ice cream. Grandma Margie was also visiting, so we got to spend time with her two of the days we were there.

I love the lighting on this one. =)

One of Daniel's favorite things to do when we visit is catch lizards.

My dad discovered that there was a Geocache not far from the house, so we went to find it.

Golden Light

2011-06-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

The sun begins to set and the sky begins to fill with warms tones. The clouds are rimmed with a yellow glow. Then the sun hides behind a few of the clouds, which fills the surrounding farm land with a beautiful golden light. That is the kind of light that is perfect for taking portraits.

I had Tiana and Daniel pose for me, so I could take a few photos in the awesome light!

Project 52: Week 24

2011-06-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

{24/52}

Last week my family and I went to visit with family in Oregon. We had a fantastic time and it was great to have a little vacation of sorts. We stopped by Peter Skene Ogden State Park and saw the canyon there. The sky was so blue, the mountains filled with snow, and the moon and a few wispy clouds were found in the sky.

Colors of Summer

2011-06-21T11:59:00.000-07:00

This time of year, colorful plants and flowers can be found blooming all around us. There are so many pretty flowers that add lots of color to our summer.

Project 52: Week 22 & 23

2011-06-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

{22/52}

This flower is so pretty!

{23/52}

After driving up the windy road to the top of the hill, we got to see this beautiful view of the Colombia River.

Cute and Cuddly

2011-06-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

While out of town this past weekend, my family and I stayed with a family who have a farm. You can find horses, chickens, cows, donkeys, and pigs along with several cats and their dog, Sarge.

Every time I went outside, this girl would follow me around, hoping I would pet her.

This is Sarge. It's almost like he would pose for me, because he would stay almost perfectly still right until after I snapped the shutter.

Green

2011-06-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

Drip Drop

2011-06-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

Water droplets pictures are some of my favorite photos. The leaves on the rose bushes in our backyard were perfect for photographing, since it had rained that morning.

Project 52: Week 21

2011-06-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

This week I baked toaster pastries from scratch for the first time. I followed the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but made them with whole wheat flour. The cinnamon filling was really tasty and want to try filling them with raspberry or strawberry jelly next time.

Daisies

2011-05-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

There's a park nearby that has a big, grassy hill. The hill is covered with patches of little, white daises.

Project 52: Week 20

2011-05-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

{20/52}

Thursday night was our homeschool group's end of the year Celebration Dinner. It's a fun event were everyone comes dressed up all fancy to eat dinner, get photos with friends, live entertainment, and games. Before the dinner, a bunch of us gals got together to do our hair and get ready. The photo is of my good friend Rachel, who I've gotten to know the past two years at our homeschool co-op.

A Dandilion

2011-05-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

Project 52: Week 19

2011-05-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

{19/52}

Thursday was very sunny and warm, enough so that I was able to wear shorts (yippie!). We decided to visit the park with some friends and enjoy the nice weather. After five hours out in the sun, I came home with a bit of a sunburn.

The Flowers Next Door

2011-05-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

Our next door neighbors have a couple of large bushes, blooming with bleeding hearts.

And next to the bleeding hearts are a bunch of forget me nots.

Project 52: Week 18

2011-05-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

{18/52}

Weeds can be very photogenic.

The Whoopie Pie

2011-05-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend I baked a batch of whoopie pies. The cakes and the filling were both quite simple to make and my family really enjoyed them, especially my brother. The recipe can be found here.

According to food historians, Amish women would bake these desserts (known as hucklebucks at the time) and put them in farmers' lunchboxes. When farmers would find the treats in their lunch, they would shout "Whoopie!"
-Wikipedia

Project 52: Week 17

2011-05-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

{17/52}

I did a lot of baking this week. It started with the chocolate chip cookies I made, and the rest of the week I've been making things such as focaccia bread, cinnamon bread, whole wheat bread, and some gingersnaps. This recipe makes a really soft cookie and just the right about of ginger.

Project 52: Week 16

2011-04-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

{16/52}

Chocolate chip cookies, baked from scratch, are one of my favorite things. A warm, gooey cookie is the best, but so is the dough!

Tulip Fields

2011-04-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday we went to see the tulips along with several other families. We had a bit of rain while driving there, but we didn't get rained on while we were there. The overcast lighting was real nice for the close ups that I got.

Project 52: Week 14 & Week 15

2011-04-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post my Project 52 photo last week, so today you'll get both last weeks and this weeks photo. They both happen to be tulips...

{14/52}

The tulips in our front yard have started to bloom.

{15/52}

Yesterday we visited the tulip fields. I'll have lots of photos from our visit up next week.

The Ducks

2011-04-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

When our family went for a walk, we bought a loaf of bread to feed the ducks at a pond at the trail we went on (the same place where I got this photo). My siblings had a fun time feeding them, while I took oodles and oodles of photos of them. I'm not quite sure why, but taking pictures of those feathered friends is quite fun, and are much easier to photograph than cats or chickens.

Spring Blooms

2011-04-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

While on a walk with my family several days ago, I was able to capture some of the beautiful flowers and plants that were blooming.

"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck."
~Emma Goldman

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush."
~Doug Larson

Project 52: Week 14

2011-04-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

{14/52}

We've Got Flowers.... But Where's the Spring Weather?

2011-04-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

It may technically be spring, but we've yet to have some spring weather here. There's lots of beautiful flowers and plants blossoming everywhere, but with all the dark, wet days the last few week, it hasn't felt much like spring at all. Hopefully the sun will will decided to come out sometime soon!

Project 52: Week 13

2011-04-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

{13/52}

I love the look of raindrops on blades of grass.

Springtime

2011-03-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

Purple crocuses are so pretty!

Project 52: Week 12

2011-03-26T13:32:00.000-07:00

{12/52}

Last week I posted a photo of a single flower, on a tree that was starting to blossom. Now this week, that tree is filled with many little pink flowers.

Moss

2011-03-22T07:41:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of rain here this winter, so there's moss growing all over.

Project 52: Week 11

2011-03-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

{11/52}

Spring is on it's way!

Little Details

2011-03-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

While I was out with my mom to take a photo for an assignment in my photography class, I got some other neat shots as well.

Project 52: Week 10

2011-03-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

{10/52}

Last weekend was my birthday and my family surprised me with a chocolate cake. I won't be celebrating my birthday until the summer and I didn't have any plans for by special day, so I was pleasantly surprised. Gotta love chocolate cake!

A Little Daffodil

2011-03-08T07:38:00.000-08:00

There aren't many flowers popping up around here yet, but I found this bright and cheerful little daffodil. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the flower was only an inch or two long.

Project 52: Week 9

2011-03-04T13:09:00.000-08:00

{9/52}

Sometimes taking self-portraits is lots of fun, while other times it can be quite frustrating, when you can't seem to get the look your going for. On a whim I decided to take some portraits of myself this morning, so I put my hair up in new favorite up-do (thanks to Casey's tutorial) and headed to the living room, the best lit spot in the house. I ended up with quite a few keepers that I'm quite fond of. The two below are my very favorites.

I Heart Faces - Anything But a Face

2011-02-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

Things are a bit different at I Heart Faces this week, since our photo cannot have a face in it. I decided on this photo of my brother Daniel and my dad. It's back from October, when my family went on a hike one Saturday. Daniel and my dad had gone down to look at the creek, and I snapped this shot as they were making their way back to the trail. I love the blur, giving it the feel of motion and the angle it was taken from.

Project 52: Week 8

2011-02-26T08:27:00.000-08:00

{8/52}

Starbucks strawberries and cream frappuccino. Delicious.

What's your favorite Starbucks drink?

Dreaming of Spring...

2011-02-23T17:18:00.000-08:00

With all the cold, wet, stormy, and even snowy days we've had lately, I'm really looking forward for spring.

(photo from last July)

Quack, Quack!

2011-02-21T08:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday our family went for a walk and we passed by this pond with a whole bunch of ducks. Some of the ducks didn't let me get too close, but these two did. And for some odd reason, while I was busy snapping pictures of these two, I called them penguins...

Project 52: Week 7

2011-02-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

{7/52}

Sisters, Sisters

2011-02-14T12:11:00.000-08:00

Project 52: Week 6

2011-02-11T07:37:00.000-08:00

{6/52}

Wednesday in my photography class that I'm taking at our homeschool co-op, we went outside to take some photos with the lighting coming from different angles (front lit, side lit, backbit, etc.). Abby and I took turns photographing each other in the different lighting.

I usually only post one photo for Project 52, but I had to share two photos this week, since I couldn't decide which I liked better.

Sky

2011-02-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

I love the blues and gold in this sunset. So pretty!

Nicolasa has a fun feature on her blog called Meet n' Greet Monday, and I've been featured this week!

Project 52: Week 5

2011-02-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

{5/52}

While at the craft store the other day, I found these cute little bird figurines. They were only a couple dollars, so I bought two of them. All the bright and cheerful colors in this shot make me wish it was spring.

(linking up at Simple Days)

An Unexpected Treasure

2011-02-03T13:02:00.000-08:00

I love it when you take a photo, just to test the lighting, settings, etc. and you end up with something you really like. Little surprises like that are fun.