Red

Looking Through Glass

Recently I had some time to kill and decided to take an evening stroll down Sherman Avenue. It was freezing out, but I was hopeful that I would find something interesting to shoot so I stuck it out. There are so many fun stores along Sherman, such a variety! The first store I came to was an old antique store (one of many on Sherman). Alas, it was closed, but just looking through the window was enough for me. Beautiful ornate objects were placed ever so nicely into gleaming crystal-like rocks to show off to the passerby's. A friendly clown occupied the next window down. I'm usually not partial to clowns, however there was something about this one that had charm. The next antique store had a Christmas sort of theme going on inside their window. Looking at the stuffed bear inside, I wondered who it belonged to and where it had been. As I went along, I came to a very unique toy store called Fuzziwigs. This window was the most intriguing of all and I found that I just couldn't get myself away from it. Intricate mechanical toys were arranged to perfection inside. As I stood there watching the toys going around and around, it instantly made me feel like a kid again and brought me so much joy. This store was a very interesting subject to photograph indeed!

Highpoint View Panoramas-A learning experience

I had the bright idea of going into Farragut Park one morning at the crack of dawn to climb up a mountain I know of to get some shots of the sun rising. When I finally got up there (about an hour later)I realized, "huh, the sun doesn't even rise on this side of the mountain". That's why its important to know your cardinal points. I was a bit of an early bird getting there, too early in fact. I had to wait about 30 min for the light to look how I wanted it. That's why you should know the time of sunrise instead of just guessing. I took a few shots and wanted to find the sun so I moved to the other side of the mountain. It was GREAT over there and the sun was just shining across lake Pend Oreille. I got out my camera, took two shots and my battery went dead. That's why its important to keep your battery warm!

Coeur d'Alene Resort Christmas

At this time of year the Coeur d'Alene Resort is the brightest and busiest spot on the lake. My boyfriend and I were on a boredom binge and decided it would be fun to walk the boardwalk and take in all the pretty Christmas lights. We started at Java on Sherman to warm up with some coffee and proceeded on to the resort, getting a little sidetracked on the way to stop for a picture on santa's sleigh. The resort lights were beautiful as always, epecially their yearly wreath that adorns the parking garage tower. We decided we weren't tough enough to bare the cold any longer so we began our trek back to the car. As we were leaving the boardwalk one of the cruise boats was coming back from visiting santa across the lake and was letting off all of the passengers. I found a bird's eye view of them as they went through a pretty tunnel of lights.

Gettin' Hitched

Coeur d'Alene's popular little, charming chapel, the "Hitching Post", is a great place for a quick and simple wedding. The small chapel rooms and soft lighting makes it feel warm and cozy. Unfortunately, the small chapel rooms and soft lighting created a challenge for shooting some good photos. It seemed like no matter where I was standing, I was blocking somebody's view of the ceremony. I wanted to make sure to get some good shots, but I also had to remember to be respectful to the ceremony. I may have surprised the bride a little with this close up, but at least a big bright flash didn't go off in her face. When the ceremony was over I was happy to get outside into some open space and good light. But alas, it only lasted for a moment, for onto the reception we went!

Engaging for Everyone

A very good friend of mine asked me to take her engagement pictures last weekend. We had a lot of fun doing them and there were a LOT of laughs. One thing she had a hard time doing was being serious, so it was a bit of a challenge to get any serious or softer pictures of them. I had to be quick because I knew at any minute she would start cracking up. It was a fun shoot. We went all over downtown Coeur d'Alene to a few different parks. At nearly every park there were a few onlookers. One of them was a mom taking pictures of her little kids. She saw a pose she liked that we were doing and she commented to me that she was going to steal it. It was a kind of awkward, funny moment.

Carver Farms Outting

A couple weekends ago I decided to go to Carver Farms with my boyfriends' family to see what it was all about. At first it was a little awkward because my boyfriend wasn't actually there, but after a little while of hanging out with them, I felt like part of the family. The farm had so much to offer. In the spring and summer they have a lot different vegetables that you can pick yourself. However, by this time in the fall, they had all frozen and were rotting. Brandon(my boyfriends brother) and I were having fun throwing the tomatoes at each others feet, watching them explode like water balloons. Later on we decided to take a stroll through the corn field, looking for indian corn to decorate the house with. After that we wandered out into the pumpkin patch to pick out a few pumpkins and gourds for decoration. Most of the good pumpkins were gone, so it took a while to find one that we wanted. After loading up all of our goodies in the van, there was barely any room to even sit in there!

A Sunday Wedding: Take Two

A wedding is such an exciting day full of an array of emotions. The bride and groom are normally nervous, excited, giddy, and anxious. This past Sunday I was asked to photograph a bride and groom whose wedding had passed two weeks ago, thus attempting to recreate and capture that "once in a lifetime" moment. Their story is actually an unfortunate one. They hired a professional photographer to take their wedding portraits and also candid photos of the day. First off, he arrives an hour late, almost missing the start of the wedding. Second, he shows up looking a little too casual wearing ripped up jeans and flip flops. Lastly, when it was time to gather the wedding party for portraits, he failed to take any of the bride and groom by themselves. Hoping to get a few after they had some food in their stomachs, the bride and groom sat down to eat. About a half hour later the photographer leaves and sadly, no portraits were taken. Therefore, this Sunday I was asked if I would be so kind as to try and capture the way they felt that day. Although the couple may not have had all the same feelings that they did on their wedding day, the pictures still turned out well, showing their laid back and silly attitudes. I actually think that these portraits depict them better than ones that would have been taken with the whole wedding party watching.

Halloween Fever

The air is crisp, leaves are turning and falling, and the holiday season is soon approaching. With a little less than a month to go before Halloween, costume stores have started popping up everywhere. People are eagerly getting started on their search for the perfect costume. Although the spooky night is weeks away, many people aren't waiting until the last second. Even in the middle of the afternoon, costume stores are full of customers trying to get their hands on what they're looking for before the selection is too slim. There's just something about dressing up that's fun for both the young and old.For the young, they get to be whatever they want to be and for the old its like being a kid again. For everyone in between its just plain fun. Purple lights begin to adorn houses, along with giant webs with spiders inside. Neighborhoods go all out, trying to out spook each other. It is a fun time for many, and for others its just another night. I may or may not agree with it, but it still doesn't change one particular fact- there's just something spooky about those black cats.

Week 1 Quote Response

“Thinking should be done beforehand and afterwards - never while actually taking a photograph. Success depends on the extent of ones general culture, on one’s set of values, one’s clarity of mind and vivacity” Henri Cartier Bresson

I really believe this statement. Think about it, if you were to think about the picture while you are actually taking it, then you would totally miss what you wanted to say with the photo or you may have missed the true mood of the photo. I believe it is important to take the time to decipher what's important and what's not so you can communicate successfully to your audience. Also, your culture and your values are an important part of you. They make you who you are. If you stay true to them then they will shine through whatever you do. If not, then you may be saying something through your photos that you don't really believe.

“Pointing a camera at a live event is not journalism. Journalism is sifting the wheat from the chaff and selecting what to include and what to exclude and put things into some sort of perspective” Ted Koppel

If you are trying to tell some sort of story through photography then you can't just go around taking random pictures and putting them together in some random order. It has to make sense to the audience and have some sort of meaning to them. Give them something to relate to or something that they can feel that they are a part of. If you can make them feel connected with it in some way then I think it is successful.

A Sunday Wedding

It came as a surprise to everyone. The announcement of an engagement. What was most surprising however was the soon approaching date of the wedding. With about a month to plan, organize, and execute, the wedding of Daniel and Renee Mottoh started with anxiety, but ended with happy tears and smiles. "Doesn't she just look gorgeous?!", many of the guests replied to one another. "All my sons are so handsome!", exclaimed the mother of the groom.

Now I've been a guest at a handful of weddings, but I have never had the perspective of being a guest from the camera's point of view. It was almost as if I were an outsider. People noticed me, but tried not to speak to me or interrupt me. I suppose they just didn't want to distract me or get in my way. I was nervous from the start. After all, I had no experience in this sort of thing and I wanted to capture the images that would matter to them most. Even though that flower girl was the cutest little thing, I had to hold back from completely filling my memory card with her pictures alone.(Although I may have still taken a few too many hee hee.)


At the end of the ceremony(and after the infamous romantic kiss) everyone was filled with joy and happiness for the newlyweds. Everyone lined up to get a hug with the bride and groom and to wish them congratulations. I couldn't help remembering the look on the groom's face when his eyes met with the father of the bride, eager for him to hand her over to his care.

Through the lens of a camera, I saw a wedding in a new perspective. In a different way that I didn't quite expect. Being a part of not only the groom's side of the family, but also a part of the brides' and playing a key role in the whole of the ceremony. It made me envision a wedding of my own some day and the yet another whole new perspective for me to experience.