He thought a little September sun couldn't hurt....

Arty Party

Never thought I would be so lucky to have the privilege of being a VIP guest at a swanky Carmel-by-the-sea art party, hosted by the legendary Scott Jacobs.
But there I was on Ocean avenue, paper plate full of olives, Ritz, and cheese spread, little plastic cup of table wine...and wait, swanky???!! Okay, okay...so ritzy ain't my style, and it ain't Scott's either, that's why we were so cool.
I quickly downed a few *shots?* of wine, and took on the role of "awesome personal photographer of Scott Jacobs". No one questioned my high roller status as I floated through the crowd snapping away...and by crowd, I mean, a few chicks who probably were trying to hook up with Scott, a few art snobs, and a random homeless looking guy (who turned out to be way cool and a Beatles expert-so you know I loved that!).
Scott's quaint studio is on prime real estate above an art gallery on Ocean Avenue, a two story loft with a kitchen, bath, balcony, and my favorite--an accessible roof, with an ocean view!! He took me out a tiny door/window to the roof, and a bunch of us all sat among the rafters drinking beer and laughing...as the pink and orange hue of the setting sun painted the sky and buildings.
I thought to myself, if I was ever a struggling artist, trying to find my way, trying to pursue my dreams...and I had this view--I would think I had made it. It was perfect.
The art crowd subsided quickly, and the rest of us drank into the night serenaded by some of Scott's friends....a quiet simple beat on the drums, and a sweet melodic voice on the microphone...

::See more photos on my facebook page from this event::

Never met a sky I didn't like



A little motivation

So, hopefully absence really does make the heart grow fonder??

I have not blogged since February... and that makes me sad. But, I'm back with full intentions to become a little more bloggerific!!

A little pink thang inspired me the other day, to wake up that lazy camera and tell it that summer vacation is really really over...

Easy breezy beautiful with crazy hair, who would not pose but for a second, reminded me how gorgeous these moments are...out of focus, non-artistic, who cares. I love photography. I love capturing my moments, as nothing in this world makes me happier....even when all she wants to do is eat grass.



Oh, HAIL NO.

This is the photo you get when you sleep in--oh man, I was having the weirdest dream, I'm pretty sure Justin Beiber was in it, and I sure did just admit to that, okay moving on--so you wake up too late after a night time hailstorm, happen to look outside and realize that there is ICE all over the place, but the sun has already melted most of it, so you scramble outside in your tank top, ACK! COLD! and you start taking pictures in hopes of capturing something, but melted hail is just not very impressive, so you gather up a whole bunch that has collected against the back of a chair, and well now, THAT is an impressive little, tiny, itty-bitty mound of hail.

Brrrrrrrr.....

The Pacific ocean is so deceivingly cold. This is as far as I went.

Chasing clouds

I had an hour or so to kill today, so armed with my trusty best friend--the camera--(you know I should really come up with a name for her), I hit the streets in search of a good photo. As I drove north along the PCH, the clouds were so amazing, they were almost affecting my driving. Almost. I was so drawn to them, they were so hypnotising (yes, the sky has that effect on me) I decided to drive a bit out of the city, to get a better view. I concluded that the best view would be from the Salinas Valley, I imagined the clouds would look very dramatic over the vegetable fields, and I would get a great panorama. On my way there, it suddenly got very dark, as the sun had been completely engulfed by a monster cloud. Demonstrating my awesome driving skills with a quick pullover, I tried to get the shot before the "moment in time" passed.

The moment did pass, but I did manage to capture the dramatic sun peeking back out. It was just beautiful. I am pointing the camera directly up here.

Once down in the Valley, I tried to find a good spot to set up on the two lane highway--somewhere I wouldn't get run over my an artichoke truck or something. Dressed to impress, in my workout pants and running shoes, I braved the mud, wind, and veggie trucks whizzing by...my hair flying around like a crazy person. In the attempt to capture a "weather" shot for my photography class, I snapped a few illustrative images.

  This, is MUD. This mud, is DEEP. Deep mud does not go well with running shoes...or floor mats.

This, is WIND. Wind is windy.

Now, feeling great that I at least got my homework done, I was determined and excited to get my panorama. Doing my best not to get sucked up by the quicksand-mud-stuff, and not get any dirtier, I found my spot, and got my shot.

I shall call this, "Simpson's clouds".