Embracing simplicity

There's a big advantage to going to the beach in March: very few people meant I was able to capture photos unsullied by the presence of people. The stark beauty of the beach is enough in and of itself.

North Carolina Aquarium

Last month we went to the NC Aquarium in Manteo, NC. We've been there previously, but I didn't have a camera at the time that could capture good interior photos in this environment. Now that I do, capturing these animals was a lot of fun!

Wintery beach sunsets

About three weeks ago we visited the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Despite the freezing cold winds, the cloudless sky was too great of an invitation for sunset photography for me to pass up. These first two photos were taken at the Albemarle Sound on the first night of our trip.

The Weekly Photo Project: March 2014

As I mentioned in my last Weekly Photo Project post, I started off March with choosing the first topic. Having just finished going through my photos from a visit to The Louvre last year, I chose this as our first topic, and submitted a photo of my favorite statue from the museum (Cupid and Psyche)

March 3-9: Objet d'Art

San Diego Zoo

In November 2013 I went to San Diego for a conference. I took one additional day there, after the conference was over, to spend at the San Diego Zoo, as I had repeatedly heard it is one of the top zoos in the world. My friends were not wrong: it was amazing, and I would go back again in a heartbeat. I took well over 200 photos there, so it was hard to select just a few favorites to post here, but I did my best!

Many of the photos I took were of the beautiful flamingos. They, along with many of the other animals I saw, were practically posing for me! 

 

San Francisco

At the end of October I had the opportunity to travel for the first time to the San Francisco bay area with a colleague. I didn't have time to take too many photos, as we had at least 4-5 client visits scheduled every day of the trip. Since we started with visits early on Monday, we arrived on Sunday, which allowed us to get some sight-seeing done in the city prior to heading north to Sacramento.

We walked around a good part of the city, near a section of the Golden Gate Park. We passed beautiful row homes, interesting trees, had some dim sum (delicious!), and walked a few miles around.

I snagged these photos of my colleague without him realizing - I love the mood in them!

 

Family photo shoot

Remember back at the end of 2013 when I posted all of those wedding photos? After the wedding, my brother- and sister-in-law, with their son, stayed with us for a few days before returning to Australia. For one night, my in-laws also joined us so that we could have some quality family time, as things were hectic during the wedding. While here, my sister in law asked if I would take some "official" portraits of them, and it turned into a photo shoot of the whole family, with a bunch of different combinations. We turned my living room into a portrait studio, and had some fun!

I started with my adorable nephew and his parents.

 

Planes, Shuttles, and...more planes

The first weekend in February we went with my brother- and sister-in-law to the Udvar-Hazy space museum at Dulles Airport. We actually went back just yesterday with some friends; can you tell it's one of my favorite museums in the DC metro area? Each time we find something new and thrilling to get excited about. It's especially fun for me to go there with people who have never been there before, as there really is so much to see.

Weekly Photo Project: February 2014

February was the first month where we had a full month of subjects for the Weekly Photo Project on Facebook, and I was glad that I was able to submit something for each week. Here's hoping I can keep that up! I really enjoyed the topics this week; they weren't things I would have chosen, so it made me need to get a little creative in my thinking.

Week 4: "Makes Me Happy." I think the picture pretty much speaks for itself! How could this not make you happy?!

Silliness in the Studio

Yesterday's post highlighted the sweet shots that I captured when I put the kids in front of the new backdrop in my studio. Here I show their silly side..I can't decide which I like better!