Triceratops Picture Published in Seattle's Child Magazine

Dinosaur Day at the Burke Museum is coming up this Saturday. Several weeks ago I shot some promotional pictures for them of Niall with the Burke Museum's gigantic Triceratops skull. The lighting was challenging, but Niall did a great job standing with the skull and I got some great shots. Today, I found out that one of the pictures has been published in the March printed edition of Seattle's Child Magazine. How exciting!

Here's the picture they used, posted here with permission:

Where Were You on Inauguration Day?

Over the course of my life there are many moments that are personally meaningful, memories that I will always cherish; my wedding day, the birth of my son. Today our nation and much of the world shared one of those moments. We will forever remember this morning as the answer to "Where were you when Barak Obama became the first black President of the United States of America?"

I was at home, watching the ceremony on TV with Niall and Jude, and helping them get ready for preschool.

So, where were you? Leave a comment and share your Inauguration Day experience.

Niall Is A Famous Liverpool Fan!

One of Niall's favorite songs to sing is "You'll Never Walk Alone", which is Liverpool's team anthem. Can you guess who's daddy is a huge Liverpool fan? For Christmas Niall's grandparents sent him the full Liverpool kit, complete with socks and a scarf to wave while he's singing. He was thrilled!

My brother-in-law shot this video of him wearing his kit and singing in front of the Christmas tree. It's got nearly 600 views on YouTube and has been posted on the biggest Liverpool fan site. Fun! I'm enjoying being the mother of a famous person, and he's so proud he's been watching it over and over again. I don't think he really understands where it's posted, but he really likes to watch himself sing.

Happy White Christmas!

Growing up in Seattle I always wished for a white Christmas. As inconvenient as the snow has been, now that the presents are wrapped and Niall is tucked in his bed everything seems perfect. His eyes were wide with wonder as I read "The Night Before Christmas" and he then he went to sleep without a peep! Looking at Christmas through my little boy's eyes has become my favorite thing about Christmas, and one of the best things about being a mom. Hope your holiday is full of love and wonder!

Night Pictures on a Snowy Walk

At our house tonight it was Niall that saw the snow first. He told me "Snow is falling from a place". When I went to look, sure enough it was snowing! The news has been going on and on about how it's going to be the coldest weather since 1950, but still, part of me is always suprised when it actually does snow.

We were going to go for a walk after dinner to look at Christmas lights anyway, and snow made it even more exciting. Too bad Niall didn't have a nap today, he fell asleep in the first ten minutes. By the time we got back there was enough snow sticking to make a nice winter photo, and with a sleeping child we decided to get the tripod and try some longer exposures.

What makes this shot possible is a tripod, a long exposure, and of course, a sleeping child. I had Jude stand with Niall under a streetlight, and then set up the tripod and camera. I used auto focus to get the focus just right, then set it to manual so it wouldn't change. Then I composed the shot, set the exposure, and took the picture. My settings were F 5.0, ISO 400, 6 second exposure.

There is very little post-processing on this shot. In Lightroom I just adjusted the white balance and turned down the saturation a bit. This is what it looked like before any processing, straight out of the camera:

Isn't it amazing the difference a little white balance adjustment can make?

Enjoy the snow and stay safe!

The best idea ever, followed by a VERY bad hangover

Have you ever had too much to drink, and had an idea that seemed like the best idea ever? That happened to me on Saturday night at my company holiday party. The idea was to take Zoolander pictures. So I asked people to show me their best Magnum or Blue Steel. Granted, Ben Stiller's is hard to beat.

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So, armed only with my Canon G9 and soaring enthusiasm, I approached my fellow partiers and asked to take their picture. I explained that I was taking Zoolander pictures, and gave a quick summary of the movie for those that weren't familiar. Then I would demonstrate, and show them my best "Blue Steel" for inspiration.


After that I would put my drink down and take their picture while saying things like "Work it, baby!"

After all this, you can imagine how much fun my Sunday was. Not fun at all!!! Now that I've recovered, I've had the chance to refect on what went well and what I could have done better on Saturday night. I have created a list of tips based on my experience. Hopefully this is just in time for your holiday party!

Top five tips for drunken party photography:

1. Use only your small point & shoot camera. Don't risk your SLR and big lenses!!!
2. Use full auto or "green box" mode. If you have face detection auto focus, use it.
3. Set the camera up before you go to the party and start drinking.
4. Do not go up to the paid professional event photographer, who BTW is sober, and show him your brilliant Zoolander shots. Trust me, even though he'll probably be really nice about it, you'll be embarassed later.
5. Don't be so distracted by taking pictures that you forget to drink a glass of water every now and then.

Happy Thanskgiving!

Thanksgiving means so much to me. Time with family and good friends, wonderful food, and thinking about how fortunate we are. In another way, it's also a bit of a sad time. My brother's birthday was November 25, so it always fell on the week of Thanksgiving. We lost him in a diving accident six years ago, and even though he died in September, Thanksgiving is really when it really hits me every year, and I have a lot of time to think about him while I'm baking pies. This year I took a few minutes and played a sad song, Bad News by Kanye West. Thinking about my brother reminds me to enjoy my family and friends every day, and cherish every moment along the way.

I've also been thinking a lot about how I can use photography to give back to my community. I have some ideas for next year, but I still need to work out a lot of the details. More on that coming in the next few months!

I feel like I have so much more to write, but I'm running out of time today. I'll leave you with a shot of the pies I worked so hard making, and the wish of a happy, healthy Thanksgiving to you and your family.