P o r t i a S o d e r b e r g P h o t o g r a p h y

I used to think the view at the old house was nicer (well, relatively) than the one we have now. I take that back. I found a really cool nook just above and beside our house that yields a sprawling view of the bay. The sky was beautifully burning last night, I had my camera, my timing was just right as I came driving home with the kids from the playground. My only regret is that I only had my 50mm with me.

I know, I know, this blog has been neglected! Let’s see, we bought a house, got swamped with portrait photography, packed, moved and unpacked (well, still unpacking), then the holidays just hit me out of nowhere. Hopefully I’ll get to post more regularly here. For now, I wanted to share one of the few pictures I managed to take while we were in Kirkwood, California last weekend when we welcomed 2012. Happy New Year everybody!

When it comes to hiking, I usually don’t let a goal elude me. Unfortunately, this obstinate mindset went down the drain soon after I had my first child. Parenting taught me a lot of things: to be safe(r), to be (more) cautious and to be willing to put aside my selfish goal for the comfort of my child(ren). Parenthood also humbled me in many ways.

This 5 mile hike is deemed moderate in many guidebooks. Oddly, I found it rather hard to reach Parker Lake. Hard enough that we had to turn around last year. I remember bits and pieces of last year’s hike: It was cold, rain threatened in the horizon, nothing in our packs except water and camera. My 3 month old daughter was getting hungry, my 3 year old son was slowly chugging on. I swallowed my pride and told E “Let’s just head back …” – we later found out that we were just under a mile from the lake. I had a year to wonder what Parker Lake looked like. I was tempted to surf the net for pictures, but I instead swore to myself (children permitting) that I will attempt it again this year -and- I’ll actually enjoy getting there this time.

This year we came prepared. Food and water, rain gear, a more positive attitude despite the still cold temperature at this higher elevation. It was overcast that afternoon. Even episodes of showers did not dampen our spirits that day. The trail beckoned us to keep going.

The kids are a year older. My daughter can now go on longer without having to nurse or eat which means fewer stops. My 4 year old son is my hero! He’s become such a strong hiker and a true trooper. Can you believe he walked all but a 1/5 of a mile of Parker Lake trail? He even made friends and discovered quite a few things along the way

Soon, I realized I was jogging to the end of the trail, with my daughter slightly bobbing up and down in her backpack carrier There it was! Parker Lake. I sat the carrier down and pulled my daughter out. “Baby, we’re finally here!”. It was SO worth it.

Heading back we saw the biggest rainbow we’ve ever seen. It punctuated the skies just above Mono Lake. What a sight to end the hike! It was so nice finally reaching you Parker Lake. I would definitely see you again next year

One of the hikes we did at Lee Vining was through Lundy Canyon. Lundy Canyon Trail, flanked with spectacular scenery, is a short and intense trip into the heart of High Sierra’s Hoover Wilderness. Along the way, you’ll see huge beaver ponds, waterfalls, beautiful meadows and wildflowers, soaring cliffs and eventually Twenty Lakes Basin. We didn’t reach the basin ~ to get there, one must climb a potentially treacherous trail that leads up to a precariously steep and unstable talus-filled chute. Not really a best mommy award point earner. Nonetheless, the hike was fantastic and we all enjoyed it.

One of the few giant beaver ponds we came across during the hike

The leaves haven’t completely turned, but the trail was vibrant

My daughter absolutely LOVED being outdoors … well, seriously, who wouldn’t?

So did my 4 year old boy who, side by side with E, savored both the challenges …

… and the reward …

… the canyon is incredibly beautiful … colors, cliffs, water …

We relished every step and scenery

A parting shot before heading out. Me with the kids (thanks E!), they were true troopers! Love them!

We’re back from a 4 day trip to the eastern sierra! Here’s a teaser shot from our short getaway. More to come after we get settled in. Happy Tuesday!

I’m still here! Busy as can be, slowly settling in to our new home. It’s been chaotic trying to get things organized. Just when I thought I got a room figured out, I think of something and then end up having to redo and re-arrange everything. One down, 7 to go! Don’t even get me started with our garage Also, moving into a nicer home made me realize that we have crappy furniture – so we need to work on upgrading our current stuff as well.

Anyway, we’re taking a bit of a break from the madness of unpacking and getting some much needed fall r and r in the Eastern Sierra. Here’s a taste of what’s to come …

Watching the sun go down tonight is bittersweet. It’s the last sunset we’ll be seeing from our current dwelling. Tomorrow, we move to our new home, one that took well over 5 years to find and ‘the one’ we are ECSTATIC about. But, it is with great nostalgia that I leave Redwood Heights. We have a lot of fond memories here, ones we’ll forever cherish. We had both of our children while living here. Laughters from walks with the fam around our complex fill my head. Sigh. I will miss the neighbors, the view, the easy access to Redwood Park, oh and the pool parties! Alas, good things must come to an end … to pave way for the better. Good night, dear Sereno.

I’m not known to back down on a challenge. However, things change after you have kids. Motherhood taught me to put aside my pride and focus almost solely on my children’s safety and enjoyment. Last year, I passed up on one destination while out in the Sierra. This year, if the children let me, I will set out and set foot on that one goal that got away … Watch out Parker, here I come … kids in tow.

A continuation of yesterday’s post. Shawn, here’s one more for you!

No, I’m not posting about a tutorial (too inexperienced for that), nor am I going to write about post-processing steps or techniques I used (I’m too disorganized for this). The title, well, I came up with it for lack of a better idea. Anyway … a friend of mine (Shawn) sent me these two photos among many of those taken in a recent trip to Alaska. He had asked me to tweak it before having them blown up and mounted. I included a before and after post processing, in a way to help me gauge which areas I should improve on (editing wise). As you can see, I didn’t really do a whole lot other than improve colors and contrast, remove casts, cropped and sharpened. With landscape post processing, I try to keep my image as close to nature (natural) as I could -so no HDR here.

Looking at the images made me wish (so bad!) we had gone … alas, my protective instinct for my own young was much stronger than those of the grizzlies they encountered while romping around Denali Maybe when the kids are older, much older, I could brave venturing with them into brown bear country. For now, I’ll just drool over the photos you guys took.

p.s. : Shawn, more edited photos to come. I’ll burn and hand you a DVD copy of the edited images next time you guys are over

Before

After

Before

After