Inessential Stuff

One of the advantages of having a son in first grade is that I can go along on field trips.  Recently, they went to Turnbull Wildlife Refuge, where I had always wanted to visit, but hadn’t ever gotten around to it.  So it was the perfect opportunity.

I was a driver, so other than driving to and from Turnbull, I could pretty much do as I pleased (so long as I wasn’t a bad example for the kids, I suppose), which gave me a chance to get some pictures here and there.  There was also a guided tour where I learned that badgers can run up to 35 mph.  That’s not a badger below; it’s a ground squirrel.  The guide didn’t say how fast ground squirrels ran, but too fast to be captured with a 1/160th of a second shutter speed, I know that.

I was really fascinated by the grasses that were growing like crazy around the lakes.  I thought they were beautiful, so I was disappointed to learn that they were non-native and had kind of taken over the place.  Even so, they did make nice lines.  All in all, a great trip.

Here are some pictures of Isabel!  We did her senior portraits on the South Hill at a great red barn, and later at Upper Lincoln Park.  It was waaaay colder than it appeared, a testament to Isabel’s modeling ability (I’d call it “professionalism” were she a professional model, and maybe she should be!).

If you have a facebook account, you can see more pictures from the session here.

Here are some photographs from Courtney’s senior portrait session.  We did it over a couple days (both cold), once at her school to get some track-and-field shots (under a great sky).  And then a more conventional shoot at a couple different locations.  Good fun.

I loved this shoot.  Partly, I loved the sofa.  Brilliant red.  Semi-retro styling.  Epic in every way.  In fact, the idea of using The Red Sofa in photoshoots was one of the main reasons I was willing to overpay for a used sofa, that was, in fact, the third least comfortable sofa in the world (A mildewy sofa in a basement in New Jersey, and one stuffed in an alley in Cairo are rumored to be more uncomfortable). So spectacular was The Red Sofa, that when I put it into the family room, it was thereafter known as “The Red Room”, though the sofa was the only thing red about it).

The second reason I loved this shoot was Thaly.  She is WAY more fun than these pictures suggest, which are all kind of serious.  Thaly isn’t all serious and moody.  She’s fun and genuine and warm.  It was a super combination, and these pictures are some of my favorite studio portraits.  I hope you like them too.   (Sadly, the Red Sofa is no longer with us.  Don’t ask.  But at least we have these pictures, right?  And in its honor, I still call it “The Red Room”.  But man, was that thing uncomfortable.)

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Having arrived early in Lewiston for a photoshoot, I poked around town a bit and took some pictures.  Lewiston has a great old, brick downtown area, with a great old theater, similar to the town I grew up in and also the town in which I now live.  After the shoot, on the drive back to Spokane on the highway through the Palouse, I stopped several times.  I always want to stop more than time will permit.  But I did capture some wintry clouds, a couple of old barns, and an old motel I’ve had my eyes on for a while.  This link will take you to a small gallery of my photographs from Lewiston and the Palouse.

. . . pictures I took on my day trip to Wallace, Idaho.

Lake near Cataldo, Idaho

Weeds and Sky near Cataldo, Idaho

I am woefully behind on this blog.  It’s safe to say, my blogging this year has been an utter failure.

But today is a new day.  Starting now, I’m going to retroactively (which, yes, is cheating) update my blog.  Starting back when I apparently fell off the planet, in March.  I’m going to back-date the blog entries to the time the pictures were taken, and I’m not going to feel too guilty about it.

I’m also changing the format a bit, so that the pictures are bigger and better (well, at least bigger).  Unfortunately, that means all the older posts get scrambled a bit and might look a little off-kilter, but it will be worth it.  There is also a facebook “like” button.  So like away!  (I’m going to!  Shamelessly!)

Without further ado, let the blogging begin!  Or recommence!  Or whatever.

–Larry, November 11, 2010