My Friend, Green Lantern

Ok, this is so crazy random that I have to post.  I found this little gem in the draft folder of my old photography blog. I haven't looked at my photography blog in YEARS...literally YEARS.  The only reason I even stumbled upon this blog is because I am finally getting around to starting a blog to document our adventures moving to Singapore and exploring SE Asia.  This draft post made me laugh and smile - so naturally I just had to post it. So fun to see Carlyn, Grant, and Garrett in the pictures too - we all came out to catch up with Eric (aka Green Lantern). I sure hope he gets a kick out seeing these.



Kentridge High School San Francisco Choir Trip

I can’t believe how “chipper” these guys look after an almost 17 hour, all night, bus-ride! We basically started our day in the clothes we had slept in, our first adventure, The Alcatraz Tour!  

 I have always wanted to go to Alcatraz – so I was pretty excited. The audio tour was really well done – narrated by Alcatraz guards and inmates. 

 
Is it just me or does the Alcatraz flag look an awful lot like the tv show "Survivor" flag?

At first I thought “This island isn’t very creepy or intimidating”and then we started the tour. It was pretty amazing and really interesting.

This is a view from inside one of the solitary confinement cells. Linda wouldn’t come in with me.

 To capture the feeling I took the prison pictures in B/W. 

The view of San Francisco from the island is amazing.

Our next big stop for the day – The Golden Gate Bridge.It was an incredibly windy day – but almost everyone in the group attempted to walk across the bridge.  Maria was my buddy - speedwalking with her knee brace, what a trooper.  Many people crossed the bridge on bikes – I would look into doing that next time.

Dinner was planned for the Cathay House in Chinatown. Linda and I had read terrible online reviews about this place, which concerned us. Honestly – for such a big group it was great, the owner and staff were very, very accommodating. I thought the food was fine – I wouldn’t recommend the broccoli and beef though – that was reeeeeeeeallly salty.

2^nd Day of Adventure:
I think everyone crashed pretty hard the night before – so getting up early for warm-ups didn’t seem to be too much of a difficulty. By the way – Embassy Suites in San Jose was fantastic!The breakfast in the morning was HUGE…so much to choose from. If you asked for bacon they gave you 6 strips….it was awesome.

The choir did a great job and so we decided to reward ourselves afterward with IN-N-OUT burger. It was hard for me to believe that so many people had never had an IN-N-OUT burger! I’m pretty sure we created a few new fans.

After lunch we finally had a free afternoon to explore Pier #39 and the surrounding area. Everyone broke off into groups. Our group did a lot of shopping – and we of course stopped at Ghirardelli for our free chocolate. I also purchased a huge sour dough loaf (be sure to ask them for butter).  It was soooooooooo good.   Oh, and notice the photobomber in the picture below - nice one Maria! 

We found this Maze of Mirrors place on the 2^ndfloor of Pier #39. The guy running it was hilarious. We all paid our $5 (price of an all-day pass) and had a great time. I had fun trying to take pictures without flash and while “disco”lighting flashed in neon colors every few seconds. Robby was the best at scaring us – we never knew which one was really him.

Linda and Megan had their portraits drawn. We ended the day with dinner at Bubba Gump's on Pier #39. The food was great.

 3^rd Day of Adventure:

We got to sleep in and it was HEAVEN!! Then we headed off to Great America.   Again, I was worried because the online reviews were ridiculously horrible.  Honestly - I think everyone had a great time.   It was a beautiful sunny day and we made the most of it.   I suggested we meet up at the bumper cars at 4pm. Everyone showed up and it turned out to be a ton of fun.   I decided against bringing my “big” camera and just took random pictures with my cell phone.   The Awards Dinner & Dance were great – the food was great, they took 2^nd place in their division and they had a great time dancing with the other schools.

Overall – a great trip with a ton of fun people!

Chilly Chicks with Cameras

 My good friend (and running buddy) and I decided to head out to our running trail - only this time with our snow boots and cameras.  It was great to be out enjoying the beaufitul snow - especially knowing it will all be gone in a day or two. Sieze the day!

Laurel Creek Manor Wedding: Matt + Jamie

I just loved spending time with Jamie and Matt on their wedding day - what a fun couple! Their wedding and reception was held at the Laurel Creek Manor, of my favorite wedding locations. It was a beautiful September day, a little hot for the guys in suits, but perfect in every other way.  Matt & Jamie wanted to save their first look at each other for when Jamie walked down the aisle....I think that is so romantic!  Here is one of my favorites of Jamie - she is gorgeous inside and out! Don't you think she looks like Kerri Russell?



While I was with Jamie, my fabulous friend and second shooter, Kim Preston, was capturing detail images.  I love this bouquet image!

Isn't Jamie gorgeous? Oh Matt.....you are such a lucky guy!

What is not in the following picture is the window right above the girls - where Matt and his guys were in seclusion, so that Matt wouldn't get a glimpse of Jamie!

Then I let the guys out of the room and brought them to take pictures with Jamie. The guys obviously had no complaints about this.

Oh how I love a bride that can "ham" it up and have fun! 

Matt was patiently waiting for his turn while Kim captured some great images of him!

I especially love this image......Kim is such a fabulous mom and has a knack for capturing great images of children.

This next image I totally love too! Thank goodness for second shooters! Matt got to spend a little alone time with Mom before the ceremony. I converted the image to a black and white to bring out the emotion... I love it.

After whisking Jamie into her bridal suite, it was my turn to play with Matt and his guys. They were hilarious and I enjoyed every minute goofing around with them.

Okay it is only fair to say, Jamie is one lucky girl!!

Here was the moment that was so important to Matt & Jamie.....the reaction to seeing each other for the first time!  Kim and I did our best to capture both reactions at the same time........I love the result!

I love the way Matt is looking at Jamie.....and I love that gorgeous sunshine streaming though her veil!

I love this image that Kim captured, right after the ceremony......it is their first moment alone as husband and wife....well, almost alone!

Sometimes some one's camera flash is an unexpected and welcome addition to images.

The bubble exit....and so many more images to see. I will have the gallery ready for friends and family this week.