11-29, Maurer Family

You know you've hit the jackpot when your neighbors are more than friends, and the thought of either  of you moving just wouldn't be right.  We've moved around (....a LOT), and we've never been so fortunate to have neighbors like Mark and Dawn.  Our friendship began the first morning we were in our (empty) house.  We awoke (from our air mattress) to the sound of a humming outside.  We peered out the window to see a man snow plowing our driveway.  After coming from Maryland where we never saw the family who lived in the townhouse next door, we were amazed (and grateful!).  This was the beginning of our friendship with our next door neighbors-- a little give, a little take and always a smile with over-the-fence conversation.  We are so lucky to have this wonderful couple in our lives.   We hope they know how fortunate we feel to have created our home next to theirs, and how much we enjoy the way our lives have intertwined in the (almost) four years we have lived here in Colorado.  I was honored when Dawn asked me to photograph their family over the Thanksgiving holiday.  We enjoyed a fun afternoon with smiles and laughs as I did my best to capture the spirit of this wonderful family.  Thank you, Maurers, for the role you play in our lives and for inviting me to photograph your family.  You're beautiful-- inside and out!

11-19, And it goes on....

Well, how about that..... I've been holding off adding the text to this post because I wasn't really sure what to say.  My intention with this blog is for it to be more photography focused rather than "Isn't my little girl, cute?!" focused (but you have to admit.....).  I now, following the events of the last half hour, know what to say for this particular post:  I am once again a photography student!  There has always been a blur in my mind with the professional label.  I would have trouble saying I'm a professional anything until I know all there is about whatever subject is at hand.  Of course, you see the ridiculousness of that statement, right?  I admit, I do.  Nobody can ever know everything there is to know about a subject.  It's impossible-- especially in this technical age we live in where everything changes so fast.  So, I guess in my mind, a professional equals a perpetual student. Therefore, I'm thrilled to once again officially don the title of student.  I am enrolled in the New York Institute of Photography's Intensive Course in Portrait Photography (accredited and everything, how about that!).  I graduated from the Complete Course in Professional Photography in 2006.  I'm so excited to add another certificate to my wall (and no, I'm not kidding).  I love learning, I love exploring, I love growing.......... and I love that I'm doing it for myself.  No goals.  No reasons.  Just because I want to learn.   And, since all of my upper education has been conducted in or through NY, it only seemed fitting to go back to the school that helped me get started all those years ago.  As the intention of my Finding Focus blog has been to help me find MY focus, this chapter is on me and my continuing education.  Won't my son be absolutely stumped that I VOLUNTARILY signed up for studying and I'm PAYING for it?!  That must be insane through the eyes of a struggling middle-schooler.  I want to teach him that in life there are things you're going to have to learn and things you're going to want to learn.  I hope someday he finds his camera-equivalent and that the idea of studying will not be so burdensome.  So, as I introduce a few favorite pics from my latest session with my little girl, stay tuned as I work my way through my continuing education.  (Why is it I'm hearing a voice in my head...never a good thing to admit, I know.... saying "YOU TAWKIN' TO ME?!" LOL. Now if only I "had" to go to NY for this course would I be even more psyched!  Oh, how I love NY!).  Catch you all later. And if you're really lucky, I'll have my camera in hand.  Ha!

9-28, St. Mary's Glacier

"Let's go see the aspens!" I told my husband a few weeks ago.  'But the post title says something about a glacier' you might be thinking....yes, well, if you're along for the ride and you don't want to plan the day's outing, then you get what you get ('and you don't throw a fit,' as they say in preschool)!  This particular outing, I got a glacier and a few aspens.  I think it will become a new running joke between me and my husband......although I'm thinking he's thinking it's not a very funny joke!  I do appreciate his drive to explore our surroundings, his willingness to drive as we explore those surroundings and my desire to simply sit in the passenger seat armed with my camera.  I think he does feel a little bad that our outing was more about ice than leaves, but there's always next year's fall colors, I suppose.  I have to admit, being able to touch North America's southernmost glacier is nothing to trivialize.  But now that we've 'been there, done that', I'm still dreaming of the day I can walk a trail in a forest of aspen hearing their quaking leaves and seeing their beautiful foliage.  Maybe next year.......

"St. Mary's Lake and Glacier"

"Colorado Contrast"

"St. Mary's Glacier"

"St. Mary's Lake"

"Glowing Aspen"

"Pine/Aspen Contrast"

"Filtered Aspen"

9-13, Day Trip to Vail

The wonderful thing about this blog is that it closely resembles the winding, mountain roads we traveled on this day trip to Vail.  My photographic pursuit seems to be on a path all its own heading in one direction at one minute and 180 the next.  Then before I know it, it's done a complete 360.  My original course was landscape photography because I loved to share it through my photo cards.  The 180 represents my pursuit of portrait photography.  The 360 is obviously back to landscapes and cards.  I'd like to think I'm guiding this journey, but like a car following a winding road, I feel as if I'm a passenger along for the ride.  Maybe this entire journey is teaching me it's ok to see shades of gray (or blue, green, yellow, red, orange.......) and not the black and white in which my personality tries to restrict me.  I spend a lot of time soul-searching for my passion and my talent, and I just haven't found the answer yet.  And that, I suppose is the answer.....there isn't just one.  So, enjoy this ride on a beautiful end-of-summer day in the mountains of Colorado.  

"View of Jacque Peak"

"West Tenmile Creek"

"A-Basin Ski Area (Summer)"

"Loveland Pass Overlook"

"Loveland Pass Contrast"

The colors of the approaching fall.

The ground-cover bushes at 11,000'.

7-13, Scenic Highlights

It has taken me several weeks to sort through, edit, back-up, name and add the photos I've taken during our recent road trip to the gallery on my As Eye See It website.  I feel like I'm finally 'there', and they are now interspersed in the albums on my website.  Now, the fun part-- looking through them again and figuring out what ways to use, show and share them.  I love to make slideshows with my photos, so that's a definite must.  I originally started my business as a means to sell my photo cards, so making photo cards is also on my list.  What else?  I'll have to think about that.  I'm grateful for what the trip revealed to me-- a renewal for my love of landscape photography.  I've been pretty selectively focused on people and portraits over the past few years.  It feels nice to actually come full circle to what sparked this love in the first place.  And the great thing about a circle?  You can keep going around it!  Yes, as my slogan states, "people, pets and places"!   (Hmmm......gotta get on that pet part.....) You've seen these photos in my recent posts, but I wanted to share with you my personal favorites that highlight our adventures.

"St. Ignatius Mission"

"Mission Mountain close-up"

"Puget Sound Sunset"

"Puget Sound Sailboat"

"Glimpse of Deception Pass"

"Bridge Architecture"

"Deception Pass Filtered Sunlight"

"Chair in Lavender Field"

"Sequim Railroad Bridge"

 To see these photos in their albums or additional photos on my website, go to:

 As Eye See It website

7-12, Sequim, WA

If you think of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, you might not necessarily envision fields of lavender.  The town of Sequim is located in what is known as Washington's 'banana belt'.  The temperatures are more mild and the region receives less rain than it's other wetter, Puget Sound counterparts.  It's a beautiful area made even more so with the expansive purple fields.  Our recent vacation took us to Sequim, but we missed the town's annual Lavender Festival by one week.  Really, that's ok.  We were able to enjoy the atmosphere minus the crowds of people.  I highly recommend this area to anyone who needs to take a break and breathe in the aromatherapy of fresh lavender.  There really is nothing like it!

He's not purple, but he's equally majestic.

Another side attraction in Sequim is the Railroad Bridge Park.  This place is a natural oasis.

I think this is what the songwriter of "America the Beautiful" had in mind when he wrote those verses....