grand canyon // exploration of two kinds.

my mind's about to blow as i look through my grand canyon photos. i am so grateful that i took my dslr even though it was ~3.5lbs of added weight (particularly around my shoulder/neck). it was completely worth it. next time i go backpacking, i'll just have to get rid of something else so i can make sure to take my camera again. (maybe i can forgo the food.)

anyway, there's so much to share from the experience, but for now i had to share this one photo because it communicates two new explorations.

ps. this is my mom, an inspiration!

1. faux tilt-shift effect // this picture already had the TS feel to it, so i just manipulated it some more. do you think it i captured the tilt-shift effect well? if not, how would you do it differently? (i'm learning!)

2. the north rim of the grand canyon // i can't believe i backpacked ~21 miles from the south rim to the north rim this weekend. it was my first "real" backpacking trip and the experience at GC has redefined the word "awesome" for me. it was truly amazing & i can't wait to share more.

sooo much more to come!

for the love of family :: part ii

the second day of my parents' visit (dec 26), my mom insisted that we go an pick persimmons from my neighbor's yard. granted that i had never met them before, i was a bit reluctant to just romp on over there and ask them if i could pick the persimmons i had been drooling over this past winter. it seemed, well, a bit weird. (even for me...who will talk to just about anyone.)

lucky for me, this gave me the perfect reason to go. my parents were the ones who really wanted to pick the fruit, not me. i was just there to help facilitate the exchange. um. yeah. (insert echo here: yeah!)

i have to say, i thought i was an enthusiastic gal...but my mom is quite the energetic one. she looks really confident up on that ladder, but when asked, she expressed how scared she was to be on on the ladder. yet, she climbed up without any qualms and picked every good lookin persimmon her little arms could reach. we - i mean she - picked about 30 lbs...i'm sure of it.







meet alice. she lives on the property with her brother and mom.


the damage was done.



ps. all of the pictures here (except for the very first one) is straight out of the camera.

for the love of family :: part i

on christmas, we did the tourist thing : lombard street, golden gate bridge, & pier 39

experimental photography

had to try a tilt-shift lens, especially when:
i had a sudden burst of inspiration + saw a great bargain at borrowlenses.com + holiday
= time to play & have fun!

i thought i'd just be shoot.shoot.shooting away, but playing with the TS requires more intentionality and slowing down than i had expected. it's good for me. i like the challenge.

anyway, i went to the holiday renegade craft fair today on a whim and besides having my head about to explore from all the omygod.cute.etsy.colorful.handcrafted.goodness spilling out of the fort mason center, i managed to take some pictures along the way.