iphone pictures...

Temporarily fill my overwhelming need to capture in a photo everything in my life that makes me smile, even though the final product is typically lacking in basic quality.

This week my time is filled as it typically is - driving through the UP and Northern WI to go and photograph school pictures. Yes, school pictures...the ones we ALL dreaded (after a certain age anyway). But there is one thing different this week than others. This week, my other half is out in the woods, the cold, sitting in a small tent like shelter on a small stool - all in hopes that he will encounter a prize Buck and further prove his "man of the house" status by bringing home the "bacon" (regardless the fact that we still have a freezer full of venison that a family of two simply cannot go through fast enough). All lady sarcasm and joking aside, it pleases me to see him so excited, so prepared, so...manly :)

So when my dark Tuesday morning drive finally woke the sun to a fiery hunter orange sunrise, I could not help but smile to myself. Smile, and realize that even the morning sky was excited for opening day and welcoming hunters out in the woods in the best way it knew how. And once the sun awoke and I could see other travelers on the road, it made me smile even more to realize most of the other 6 a.m. morning traffic was 4x4 trucks loaded with four-wheelers complete with gunboots, turning off of the hwy onto tiny little dirt roads that lead no where but into the woods. Now, I'm not a hunter, and it does not please me to know that beautiful creatures all over the UP are going to be "taken down" during their breakfast - I stand firm behind my saying "the only animal I will shoot will be with a 300 mm Nikkor lens", and I further do not enjoy seeing the evidence of such take downs all over town frozen and stiff in truckbeds (or worse, strapped to the top of the cab) in the parking lots of innocent places like the grocery store. BUT, what made me smile was knowing that somewhere out there, my favorite person in the entire world was too heading out to embark on for what he has been prepping so intently, and I thanked the sky for giving him such a beautiful welcome. I wished him silent luck, and then I even more silently wished for the deer to run...run fast.

The little smiles for the day, however, did not end for me after my drive was over. School photography, as one could assume, is a love/hate relationship. Some days, the kids are adorable, and well behaved, and did I say adorable? But other days, they are infuriating, badly behaved, and, well...did I mention infuriating? The particular school(s) I was headed to on this particular morning is on my top 5 list of badly behaved and difficult schools. In addition to this, it a school where I cannot park near where I will be set up to unload my equipment (and there's plenty, three trips worth). So generally, by the time I am finished photographing and needing to load up to head out, I am even LESS thrilled about having to lug all of my stuff back out to where my car is parked. But something for me went differently this day. As I was hauling all of my gear out several sets of doors, a nice gentleman teacher held a door open for me, assessed the situation, and returned seconds later with two kiddos to "help". At the very same moment, two more boys came running out yelling that they wanted to help, and then two more...ultimately until there was too many little helpers for the number of things to carry (some settled on doubling up to carry one bag). Now it is a very small thing, but this happening utterly and completely MADE my day, and made me smile (even now) thinking about how adorable my slew of little helpers were. Thank you to the mothers out there who are still making it a point to raise little gentlemen!

There were about three more that didn't make the picture because I took it quickly over my shoulder. Adorable.

"Falling" into Winter

Lately I feel like I don't have enough hours in a day (and yet, I know I nap and watch reality TV WAY more than necessary). It seems I woke up and Fall was in full swing, only to wake the next morning to Autumn "falling" off the grid. I was so fortunate this year to see Autumn at its finest in an array of places. And it made driving all over the UP and Northern WI (for my day job) not nearly as much of a chore. I found myself actually driving under the speed limit most days to be able to take in what I was being fortunate enough to see.

But alas, last week I noticed what a major difference a few days (and absurd wind storms) can make, because my beautiful morning drives are now barren and lonely looking. I was pleased to see some color still in burst near the bridge late last week, but for the most part.... I fear it is time to bid Autumn a farewell, and brace myself for my polite but somewhat fake welcome to Winter.

So... in honor of my second favorite time of the year.... Here are a few photos of this year's beauty from my home area, and also my drives all over the UP and Northern WI.

 Until next year...................

Modern Day Vintage

As I begin branching out more in my photography to include photographing people and not just the nature that I love so much, my mind is constantly filled with themes, ideas, locations, outfits, props...etc (I'm not going to lie, I keep a little notebook with me filled with these goodies). What better way to play around with some of these ideas than on willing friends :). My friend, Tori, is beautiful on any day, but she was radiant for this "folk inspired" vintage shoot. It was really just somewhat random that I used Tori for this set, but I don't think anyone else could have been any more perfect. I only wish I had a better laptop right now to keep editing more images from her shoot (and so that the ones edited would be that much better, as my current laptop set is..well...lacking), because there was very few "unworthy" photos.

Thanks again, Tori, for being my guinea pig for a couple of hours!

"Sailing" into Another Year!

Two weeks ago, the hubster and I celebrated our one year anniversary (of marriage that is). We were blessed with a beautiful day that we put to use by taking a sail on the Coaster II around the harbor. The day was further on our side when we lucked out by being the only two people for that afternoon's sail. Captain Nico, of the Coaster II, is a calm and soft spoken man, and he made us feel right at home on the boat. We were able to, and actually encouraged to, move about and enjoy the boat during the sail. We also packed a little lunch and snack to enjoy, as we were out on the water for two hours. It was a treat to be able to see the city from a view we don't typically get to see, learn the history of the boat, and watch the crew (Nico, his son, and another young guy). Mostly, it was great to share a new experience for our one year anniversary.

After our sail, we stuffed our faces at Elizabeth's Chop House (um...YUM), and then headed home to stuff our faces even more with an anniversary cake courtesy of Joe's Cakes. Joe is an amazing local cake baker/designer, and who we tried to book for our wedding to no avail. In passing, we mentioned this to Joe at a recent wedding and as a consolation prize (so to speak) he gifted us an anniversary cake!! AMAZING (if you have had his cakes, you obviously agree). No worries, we still planned on eating our freezer burned wedding cake in true anniversary tradition. We treated ourselves to Joe's cake on Saturday (the day of our sail and dinner), and ate our wedding cake on Sunday (our true anniversary). I won't lie, I feel guilty saying this... but our year old cake was amazing (as was Joe's, but I don't need to reiterate that for most).

What an amazing weekend! Beautiful weather, a sail, wonderful dinner, TWO cakes, but most importantly time with the hubbs and a toast to many more years to come. Did I mention TWO cakes? ;)

<3

Watching the sky and top sails. So relaxing

Raspberry Bomb - Thanks Joe!

Copper Harbor, the TRUE Gold at the End of the Rainbow

The Hubbs has the photography bug sometimes too! 

I submitted the following blog to Pure Michigan as a guest blogger regarding a "photography road trip" - and although the content and photos are almost a year old, I thought why not share on here. Despite my devotion and love to Summer, I have found myself craving a crisp breeze and Fall color lately. I know when it comes, I will miss Summer intensely, but why not at least dream about it as a little taste to cure the craving! :)

"I had been living in Marquette for seven years (a faux Yooper transplant from the other side of the Mason Dixon line) constantly hearing about Copper Harbor and the beautiful color there during the Fall season.  Last October,  I was finally able to convince my husband to embark with me on the three hour drive to the Keweenaw. It was a photogenic road trip well worth our time.

In Hancock, we were intrigued by the bones of what were once large brick buildings and pulled over at Quincy Mine to explore them.  A tour and tram ride while there…why not? We browsed the large gift shop and museum while we waited for our tram to depart down the mountain and to the mine entrance.  The color on the mountain, split by the tram tracks, was breath-taking!  From the tram, we boarded a wagon set-up and traveled underground into the mine (hard-hat included!) It is chilly underground, so a jacket is well worth it, but if you are without the mine supplies old mining coats (to coordinate with the hard-hat of course).

After the tour, we continued our drive from Hancock to the Keweenaw. At times the trees canopied over the twisting and turning road providing a tunnel of gold and orange.  Upon entering Copper Harbor, we pulled into the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge where we, again, had a beautiful view of color draped mountains.  Since it was getting late, we continued on straight to Brockway Mountain. The drive to the top was beautiful in and of itself, but the view from the top is really an experience best understood in person, and to this day one of the most memorable views I have been lucky enough to see. There was a faint rainbow visible only for a few seconds that made me laugh to myself and think we had found the “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow.  We stayed for quite some time and enjoyed the sunset.  To complete our day, we enjoyed a dinner of German/American cuisine at Harbor Haus. What a delicious meal, and another great view to boot! Beat from exploring all day, we found an available room at Lake Fanny Hooe Resort that overlooked Lake Fanny Hooe.  Don’t assume that no one else has planned to visit during peak color and that there will be plenty of rooms available, it is NOT true.  But, in the end it all worked out well for a room with yet another great view.

 The following morning we awoke to a beautiful sunrise over the lake. We treated ourselves to another delicious meal with breakfast at Tamarack Inn.  Don’t be afraid to get up and get there early, as it was another great idea that many others seemed to also have!  After breakfast we visited the local shops and art vendors (all within walking distance of lodging and eating), and hiked nearby trails to a waterfall.  We even managed to fit in a visit to Fort Wilkins State Park prior to driving back home. It was a quick trip, but for what we did see it was a photography enthusiast’s dream and definitely worth the drive!"

Remains of old stone buildings in Hancock

Another of Hubby's photography skills!

Adult playground!

Copper

Remains

 

 

A view from atop Brockway Mountain

Sunrise over Lake Fanny Hooe - seagulls in the distance bask in the steamy sunlight

Late morning on Lake Fanny Hooe