Alyssa

There are a few beliefs that I have adopted in the last 8 months. One is that there is no competition, it's just something we create in our minds. This is a truth that has been so freeing to me as a photographer. The other truth is this. What you give out, you get back multiplied. I've had amazing photographers share knowledge with me, and I've done my best to share everything I can with others who seek guidance. I took a new photographer shooting with me and also did some photoshop workshops and I feel like I got so much out of the experience. It was amazing how together, with each of our strengths, we created something bigger than the both of us. I came home that evening beaming, I had so much fun, and can't wait to do it again.

Here is the quote from the Law of attraction. Something I live by now.
"Since every request is granted there is no competition.
Each point of view matters. Every request is granted and as this amazing universe unerringly expands, there is no end to the universal resources that fulfull these requests. And there is no end to the answers to the never ending stream of questions. And for that reason, there is no competition.
It is not possible for someone else to receive the resources that were meant for you, and you cannot selfishly squander resources that were intended for someone else. All desires are answered, all requests are granted and no one is left unanswered, unloved or unfulfilled. When you stay aligned with your energy stream, you always win, and somebody else doesn't have to lose for you to win. There is always enough.
If someone is not receiving what they're asking for, it's not because there is a shortage of resources. It can only be that the person holding the desire is out of alignment with their own request. There is no shortage, there is no lack, there is no competition for reources, there is only allowing or disallowing of that which you are asking for."

And now some shots of the Lovely Miss Alyssa


I call this the Blue Bayou shot. She was nice and humored me and jumped her way into the tiny island in the middle of the creek. And I did some photoshop doctoring. I should really write down what I do because I couldn't quite duplicte it a second time. I got close, but not exact. I played with the blending modes on several versions, and tweaked the hue and did a crazy hybrid. I probably should use adjustment layers, but they slow me down and make me crazy.


A sort of teal version. These may or may not work, but hey, it's fun to play!


She wasn't looking, so I fired away.


Downtown Brentwood using my 80-200, which I am trying to use more. Cropped sensors just make that lens a little tricky sometimes.


The grass really was that green.


I always try to get a close up eye shot. The mom's love this one.


This was my first experience with photshop CS4's black and white. You can adjust every color for black and white individually. Ah-Mazing!


She was so shy, so any candid relaxed shot I could slip in there, I went for it.


I learned that with the 80-200, it doesn't even matter what your background is. This background happens to be a cottage behind an Italian restaurant. For the record.


And that is the Italian restaurant, but not the 80-200.


Slipping in more candid. She wasn't a fan of the hat, but her mom was. So argument over. I think she looks amazing. She was a gorgeous subject and very sweet.

Aria and Megan

My foto phriend Ethan came into town, so we set up a workshop day just for fun with Aria and Megan. I've never actually tried for sun flares in any of my photos, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Here is is at f22. I'll have to play some more soon.


I love shooting in Livermore. It's a developing wine country. It's not just in Napa anymore. This park we went to was surrounded by vineyards. We hardly even set foot into the park, we were just steps from the parkinglot but had so much fun with area up front we didn't get to explore much.





I like this one.


I've been dying to shoot at this little wine tasting store front. It's a cute little brick building with wine barrels and a courtyard. I'm glad we did this. Ethan was fun to bounce ideas off of. I need to do more days like this to help keep it fresh. I think it's time to go back to the NCPP meetings too. (If the baby would be good to daddy while I'm gone.)


I look at this kind of shot and think, "the brick, the wall, the pose...it's been done a million times". It's time to go way outside the box. I'm tryin'. But the girls loved it and were happy with the shots. I just get bored with the same old shots.

I got Lightroom. I am not proficient on it like I am with photoshop. I need lessons, or I need a full weekend with just my computer.

Sam

This is Sam a good friend of my photo buddy Ethan. She came out from Brentwood and I met her at the bart station. I was so excited to go shoot in Livermore that day since I'd driven by so many times, drooling at the awesome downtown locations. I had been dying to shoot over there since I moved. So from bart we drove out to Livermore and it was a complete mad house downtown. It was wall to wall people and cars. They had blocked off the streets for some festival of some sort. Who knew? So...we made an honest effort, found a parking space forever away and did a few shots not in the location I was hoping for. But it worked out anyway. It forced me to drive around think outside the box. I found some locations I never would have found otherwise. Like the Alameda firehouse. We ended up in downtown Pleasanton.

Making do with a tiny patch of grass across from Safeway, thanks to that no good festival!


Stumbled upon the firehouse.


Probably wondering about this location. I confess...This was a hybrid of a different location (Brentwood) and a little mini park location across from Safeway. Throw "across from Safeway" on the end of anything and it makes it sound so glamorous.


Earlier in the day I picked up this chair. It's 90 years old and from Austria. I got it at a garage sale. He just gave it to me. I think he wanted to get rid of it. I actually didn't want it, but I turned around and he was stuffing it in my car..along with a parrot and two goldfish.




Sam has traveled to India through her church group, and India means a lot to her. This quilt is from India, so it's a little tie in to something that is important to who she is. And that's the only personal tie in I was able to pull off.


Under the hose drying shelf at the firehouse. I love high school seniors. They're on board anywhere you want to put them.

Erica

This was a shoot with a client who made quite a drive out to me. That was really nice. As you can tell, she was tall, (really tall), and beautiful, and a lot of fun to shoot. This was my first ever shooting in Pleasanton. I'm still learning the area. But we went downtown, to a cool little trail off of Bernal and to a beautifully landscaped area inside a...wait for it...business park.