The Birds of Paradise

The beauty of life is everywhere and this is something I am reminded of all of the time. Beauty is everywhere!!! Many of us just get so caught up in our day to day that often times we overlook the beauty of life that is right in front of us. Almost any scene that we see has beauty with in the scene but often we do not allow ourselves to envision it in a way which allows the beauty to come forth.

Heidi and I were recently in So. California. It was our last day and we had just gotten our Starbuck's coffee. We had a little time to kill but what should we do? We were in a strip mall parking lot right next to Carl's Jr. and there was garbage and broken bottles strewn about.

It was here that we found some "Birds of Paradise" just sitting and waiting for us. These are some of the coolest and most beautiful flowers I have ever seen. They look like they should be on a tropical island in the South Pacific or in the Caribbean but rather they were right next to a busy street and parking lot. We took out our cameras and had a little session right there in the parking lot. Looking through the lens, we could imagine being on a beach and hearing the sounds of the crashing waves. It was so beautiful and almost magical. The beauty of these flowers transported us away from a parking lot with Mickey's 40 ounce bottles and other garbage to a place of beauty and serenity even if it was only for a moment.

After our session was over, we had to get back to LA traffic and head to LAX to fly home. The whole drive I had the images of "Birds of Paradise" in my head and it made traffic seem more tolerable, it made the airport seem more welcoming and just put me in a better all around mood.

Remember to look around, envision your surroundings versus only seeing and know that "Birds of Paradise" are around us all of the time.

Real beauty is often found where we last expect it. We just need to open our minds and our vision....

Here are some from our parking lot session:

So. Cal Trip: Day 2 - OC Beaches

On our second day in So. Cal, we decided to cruise down the 1 from Seal Beach to Laguna and stopping to check out beaches along the way. This is a beautiful area and one can immediately see why so many people chose to and want to live here. There is also a lot of contrast along the 1, from the Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach to the upscale, posh cities of Newport, Corona del Mar and Laguna.

We made our way to Laguna where we got some sandwiches at the grocery store and headed to the beach for lunch. We love to relax on any beach that has sunshine, warm sand and gorgeous views so this made for a very pleasant afternoon. We then headed back to Huntington to meet up with an old friend from Denver University. After some cold beers at the Huntington Brewery, Heidi and I decided to hang out for the sunset on the pier. I know pretty cliche but we had to do it...
Here are some photos from our evening in Huntington

One of the best kids in the world....

Let me start by saying that we love Haylee like she was our own and she is one of the best kids that we know. We first got to sit our niece, Haylee Amaya, when she was around 3 months old and since then we have watched her on a fairly regular basis. We absolutely love the opportunity to spend time with her, and often, it's us calling her parents to see if she can come stay with us. We have gotten to watch her grow into a wonderful 4 year old girl and we are so lucky to have her in our lives. She is one of the best kids in the world!!!! We get to build forts, play princess, do puzzles, and she is loving books and school. Not only is she smart and fun but she is polite and well behaved. She was also one of my first models so she is used to me taking her photo. We love you Haylee Amaya!!!

Just before we left for So Cal last week, we got to spend a couple days with Haylee and here are some photos from our time together.

So. Cal Trip: Day 1 - Venice Beach

It has been quite a while since I have been back to Los Angeles. After the move to Washington, we would go back to visit family at least once a year but since most of our family has moved to other areas we have not been back in a long time.

Heidi and I recently had an opportunity to visit LA, and since Heidi had never been to LA, we had to visit Venice. We had lunch along the walk and had a great time people watching and shooting some photos. As we were eating lunch, we watched an artist across the walk from us that was quite a character. He engaged most everyone that walked by but not in an aggressive manner, rather to make people smile and to just have fun. We stopped by to check out his spray paint art work and got to talking. He asked where we were from and when I said Washington State he got even more inquisitive. It turns out that he grew up in Seattle and went to Garfield High School. So when we said that we lived in Wenatchee he knew right where we were talking about rather than giving us the blank stare of "what did you say?". Check out Tony B.Conscious if you are in Venice as he is a cool cat and a great artist. We also had the pleasure of talking with and photographing Harry Perry. Harry is the longest running street performer on Venice and quite a nice, well spoken man. Venice is a funny place!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Perry_(musician)
Here are some photos from our day in Venice.

Our niece Araya's first week...

Our niece Araya (A-ray-a) was born at 11:29pm on 9/9/09 in Wenatchee, WA. She has only been with all of us for one week but she has already brought so much happiness and joy. Here are some photos from her first week.

A Seattle engagement session with Jacob & Melinda

We recently had the honor and pleasure of shooting an engagement session for Jacob and Melinda in their home town of Seattle. This couple was so wonderful to work with because their love for one another made every location seem perfect. It also didn't hurt that they're a gorgeous couple and were up for anything. Thank you Jacob and Melinda for allowing us the pleasure of photographing you and we cannot wait to shoot the wedding!!! Here are just a handful from our session.