Post 200! {reached my goal}

I had a goal to blog at least 100 times this year - and I've made it! It just makes me feel so darn good when I reach goals. I'm not a big New Year Resolution setter {too much pressure!} - I simply create lists of things I need or want to do over the course of the year....here are a few from this year:

Blog 100+ times
Year of the home makeover (in progress!)
Complete the studio {way done}
Do more creative things for me {not just work!}
Create more passive income opportunities
Ride my bike to work a few days a week {it's a little chilly for that at this time - but I did during the summer!}
Get our personal albums up to date {still working on this one}
How about a wedding album for us {we've been married almost 9 years!}

Now it's already time to make up my 2009 lists - for me, it's actually a process that goes on in Allyson's wonderland {my brain} for some time, before it actually hits paper....which means it's in progress or will be soon. But top on the list are blogging and updating my website {it's long overdue}.

I encourage you to start thinking like this quote and creating your mental lists for 2009 and beyond {we have 1, 2, 5 and 10 year lists}

"If you don't know where you're going....you'll never get there!" I don't know who said this.


Visual for the day.....A photo for my "rearview mirror" project, on a way home from a shoot last month:

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

We've been off-the-hook busy with final holiday albums and cards and weddings. It was so great to take a break this weekend and have my family visit.

Just living in this country we have so much to be thankful for. Even in harder economic times, so many are struggling and it breaks my heart. I've always been "miss optimist" {in fact some of my family members call me Pollyanna} despite when things are rough, life seems sunnier when we focus on the people and blessings we DO have, as opposed to what we do not have. Here's my "A" list of thanks for this season...

my loving husband
my sweet dog
good health
my family
freedom
Jill
Cady
my clients
gardening and the smiles it brings to my face when my plants grow and bloom!
talent
amazing light
flowers
deer
changing of the leaves
a warm fire in the fireplace to heat the house!

One of the lessons that has really been at the forefront of my mind this year that I'd like to share: the greatest joys and blessings in life come from people and things only God can give us....people, animals, plants....so really when outside circumstances seem rough, flip your thinking and be thankful for what you do have and the things money can't buy!

Thanks for reading...hope you enjoy my little family shoot, of my family!

Miss Ruby Jean....she's priceless!

my mom, with my niece and nephew (Jack) and of course, Coco the dog!
the whole family....
my sister and her "three" kids..

my mom with her furry grandson, Sgt "Gunny" Highway!



mi y mi mama...

The big 30

My first 30 years here on this beautiful planet...
I have to say, it's been a great time! I have SO much to be thankful for and am truly blessed. I thought I'd share some kiddo photos of yours truly:


My first camera! My parents just knew I was destined to be behind the lens!!

My "sissy" and I.

I have a ton of weddings I've been working on, so stay tuned, I should be rolling out some new ones here on the blog shortly! Until then, have a super weekend! ~allyson




San Luis Obispo Wedding

San Luis Obispo Wedding Photographer

Typical weekend!

Was not this weekend...
Traveling really takes it out of you, but then again, I always have these moments to look forward to and back on. I'm not a fisher-woman, but Dan loves it and I like to sit on the boat in the sun, so it works for us, and when we have free weekend time, this is what we usually love to do! I took these on my iphone...pretty good for a phone!

She's Crafty!

A couple of years ago, my friend Samadhy and I came up with the idea to try something new once a month, either we make something clever, like these night lights, or sometimes we cook, or learn a new project like candle making. All that's required is wine, food, friends and an idea! We rotate houses each month and the group is always different. We've been doing it for 4 years now and last night I got to host. We made these night lights with photos (of course), pretty fun, and they are great little gifts!

The Gman turns 2

My favorite puppy on the planet earth, Gunny Highway, is now officially a teenager! I can't believe how fast time goes by!

I have a story to share about "Gunny's Adventures" from Friday. We are having a good friend , Karen, re-do our bathroom cabinets and she was finishing up on Friday. I met her in the morning and think she only had about 45 minutes of stuff to finish up, so I went to off to the studio to start my day, asking her to go out the back door and leave Gunny on his porch when she left. Well, I can only assume he snuck-out, with her or before her, without her noticing, because at 12:30, about 2 and half hours later, and of course minutes before my lunch meeting, my neighbor called and Gunny was in her yard, but wouldn't come to her, instead he ran home.

Let me preface this with, our yard is very open and natural and we have no fence. So when I got the message I ran out of the studio with keys in hand to high-tail it home, you see, we live set-back on a fairly busy street, with people who drive WAY too fast! and have no fence, which is why he stays on the porch - don't get me wrong, he truly lives a life of luxury....you should see his view and "porch hunting grounds!"

So I pull up to the top of the driveway and peek across the gully and yard, at the top of the stairs, and what do you know, he's sitting on the very top step, just under the closed gate, as if he'd been there for hours. Normally when he wanders off, I have to physically go get him, which can involve getting poison oak too! The look on his face... "where have you been, you've locked me out of my kingdom for hours!!" He killed me with the expression - I am positive he made the rounds of west-side of A-town for two and half hours or more , pursuing all hunting and visiting neighbor dog's at his leisure. I couldn't have been a prouder mama, seeing he loves us and his home so much that he choose to come back! Needless to say, he's been exhausted after his "freed" day.

On another note, one time I couldn't find him, when he'd wandered off and I eventually called Dan to come home from the shop and help me find him. I decided to go through one of our neighbors yards one more time (few of us have fences), calling his name - I look over, he's sitting INSIDE my neighbors house, yep, he welcomed himself through the screen door and into her home for, well, who knows how long!

So ends the Adventures of Sgt Gunny Highway for the week...and hopefully for a while! Here are a few of his "2 year photos!"

Home on the range...Oregon

Last week my mom and I headed up to Oregon for a quick trip to visit family and the family ranch. In the summers as a kid, my sister and I would spend a lot of time up there, pretty much every summer up till hight school. I love to visit as it makes it feel like summer and brings back so many memories!

During our visit I had planned on shooting my favorite church in the whole wide world, located in the tiny town of Fox, population 9. I get out there on the first afternoon, and what do you know, my shutter breaks!!!! How this happened I don't know, and even though I was bummed, I was super happy it didn't happen in the middle of a wedding. So my friends at Canon are working hard and quick to get that back before our next vacation this weekend, yes August is vacation month for most of the world, so why not me too!?

I ended up using my little point and shoot for some shots, then we headed back to my aunt's. You might remember how I've written about going 100% with your intuition over the past few months? I woke up at 5am, determined to get my sunrise shots with my favorite little church (even if I had to use the point and shoot) and had this bright light come on in my head that said "Hey Allyson, why don't you try shooting with your camera upside down?!" I thought, now that's just silly, but I'll try it. What do you know, it worked!!! Because the piece broken on my camera was dangling down so if I held it upside down, it fell back into place after the shot fired. Now if that's not a sign that I should always listen to that little voice, then I don't know what is. It still did have some technical issues, like a major light leak right through the middle, but I found if I positioned that lovely extra light on something interesting, it kind of worked.

We came, we shot with a broken camera, we had freezing toes in my favorite flip flops in 40 degrees, and we conquered, the little church in Fox, at least the best we could for this trip!
Mi Mama!


The Strawberry Mountains













the new dock at the pond.

Until your next visit, AA, you get the booby prize photo posted!

4th of July

As I sit to write this post, I wonder what the 4th of July means to most of America. To me, it means a celebration of freedom, but when we distill that down, it should be a celebration of those who have fought for the freedom. I just want to thank all the men and women who sacrifice, days, years and lives to allow for me, my family and you, to walk the streets, play at the beach, run in the forest, completely free. It truly is one of the best gifts ever!
Enjoy your day, and be thankful.

Above is my special belt buckle I wear, well a lot, but mostly for days like today, don't ya dig it?!

Oh yeah, I'll be posting the lucky winner of our contest early next week!!

lucky number 8...

Did you know that the number 8 is one of my favorite numbers? probably not, but it is. Today is our 8th anniversary and it's 2008! Most certainly the best 8 years of my life, thanks to my best friend and husband. I kid Dan I planned our wedding for 2000, so he would never forget how many years we were on.....I have to admit, after being together for 15, yes 15 years, it helps to have the calendar years go with the actual wedding years. I thought you'd love to see some snaps of the "early years" so here ya go, no shame, we all have photos like this somewhere!

Check back tomorrow for a beautiful wedding Carmel Valley!

some shots for me....

On our way up to Ashland I saw a couple of spots that sparked my eye for a mini photo safari - that's what I call it when I "shoot for myself." On our way out of town we stopped at one of the spots, an old train depot.

I don't really know if we were supposed to be roaming around there, but a guy who worked there has a Jack Russell and liked Gunny, so that saved the day and Dan chatted with the guy, which let me cruise around and shoot a bit. Gunny is like a "get out of jail card" - he's gotten me out of a ticket or two, because he's so darn cute and got me into this spot to shoot!








If you're a photographer and reading this, take my advice, take the time to shoot for yourself periodically, shoot subjects you don't normally shoot. It's good for you and good for your clients!

Banyan

I had to take some photos of Banyan while we where here. We hadn't seen him in about 2 years and he's changed so much. He's such a cool kid....and his expressions, too fun not to shoot! Here are just a few I got of him while visiting:



he's into some kung fu or karate kid stuff....

at some point, you just give in and become a kung-fu master as well ...
The last night we were there, the light was absolutely incredible, as we were waiting for the BBQ to be done.... it was so awesome I had to climb to the roof of the fort in my pink travel slippers....you know you want a pair! Here's what I got from where I was....sometimes you just gotta deal with what you have!

Ahsland, OR

Doesn't this sign just say "road trip" to you? Well, we thought so, so we hopped in the car and drove up to Oregon.We made it up to Oregon and are having a great time. We're visiting some friend from our high school and college days. We've had some awesome thunder storms, a nice change of pace from the heat we usually have at home this time of year.

When we left last week, I decided that we needed to have a photo project along the way, it was quickly established as "rear view mirror" photos....so FUN! Well it's at least fun for me, Dan probably has a different opinion, but he loves me for my geekness. The only problem with this task, is that I usually ended up taking most of the photos while I was driving...CHP would probably not be very happy about that, but hey, we made here!





We went for a hike through the forest, which really reminded me of my Santa Cruz days.
Gunny likes to hike.
the next day we went bowling, I was kicking some booty until my arch-nemesis caught up with me! and it wasn't my 5-year old buddy, Banyan.

On the way home I saw this really cool fence, well it's really cool in someone else's yard, it wouldn't go with my house! but it was totally fun and I had to share it.
Dan & Gunny on a walk / ride, on the "kool bike."
Had to stop bye my favorite knitting store! I could spend all day in a store like this....so much creativity and beauty in the different textures and colors....gotta love it!
Banyan and his silly expressions.
one last photo from the drive up. I'll post more once I download the next batch!

Spingtime at French Camp

Gunny Highway is in full force this time of year, throughly enjoying the sunshine and more rural areas we live near...occasionally assisting at photo sessions like this one (images from session coming later), and hanging out with good friend, Turbo. It's a dog's life, I tell you...

grams

So today, while I was going around hanging my signs for our yard sale tomorrow, I saw a lady across the street walking with a cane, she looked pretty old. I felt it in my heart (more than once within a minute or so) that I should ask her if she'd like a ride. I've really been practicing going for my instincts this past year, so I rolled down my window and asked if she'd like a ride. It didn't matter where she needed to go, after all, I was simply hanging up yard sale signs for Saturday, and she was quite old walking in the heat, I didn't have anything until my shoot at 4pm.

She hesitated and said she felt odd taking a ride from me, but I insisted (after all, my instinct told me so!) I took her about 4 blocks to the print shop, which made photo copies. She told me she is 96 (holy crap, I hope I can walk when I'm that age, much less be alive!) and she got out of the hospital 5 days ago!!! I thought to myself, "what in the good Lord's name are you doing walking to get a photo copy?! " I was relieved to have taken heed to my instinct. She has one family member in the area, her son, he is in the most northern part of Alaska at the moment (for 3 months) she shared with me, working on a project.

I guess I am sharing this with my blog readers to encourage you to be open to your instinct, you never know where it will take you. I was rockin' out to my favorite 80's music tonight, listening to "man in the mirror" (yes, Michael Jackson) and this story came to mind.

Really when all is said and done, my yard sale means squat in eternity!!! but the ride for this lady and what I might be able to share with her, if she has no belief, might make THE difference of ETERNITY for her!!! That is certainly worth my time, not to mention more valuable than my yard sale.

I don't know what her beliefs are, but most likely, she's closer to meeting the big "G" than I am, so I might as well take a chance and help her out while she's here, who knows, maybe she's here on earth until she hears what WILL make an eternity's differenced for her! And if not, I'd certainly hope someone helps my 93 year old Grams if they see her walking down the street (which I hope she is not!).

Blessings and have a super weekend ~ don't forget to be inspired by those instincts!
xo
allyson


Above is a shot of our Grandma Meigle, such an amazing woman in Christ ... (not to mention, she's gotten me out of two speeding tickets!!! ~ she must have SOME connections =)

Happy Easter

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Some days when I'm in a particularly good mood in the mornings - which is extremely RARE! - I sing this song to Dan to get up. Most days he's up way before me showering me with so much happiness and new made up songs (sometime rap songs) I could throw up! Yet somehow, the pillow I put over my head eases my urge to go anywhere far from the down-filled goodness I sleep on, so I deal with it until I am again whisked away into the sleeping beauty bliss I SO enjoy!

It always seems like God makes Easter and Christmas especially glorious days. I can't think of the last time we had a cloudy or rainy Easter or Christmas. This year was no different. After our adventure in Napa we headed to Dan's family in Rescue, CA for a little relaxing time. We enjoyed our nieces, Lily & Ella and their pretty little dresses, fancy shoes and let's not forget the challenging easter egg hunt the hippity-hop bunny left to be discovered.

How we go from celebrating Christ's resurrection to bunnies and colored eggs is beyond me, but Lily is four, and like all my four-year-old Sunday school kids, she knows what's it's all about - Jesus! (that is there answer for all the questions I might ask on any occasion)

Here are some Easter egg hunt photos and our annual family portrait, complete with the dogs and jeep!


Isn't Lily (4) adorable and incredibly photogenic!
Ella (2) and her grocery basket full of good things from the big bunny...

Maddy....
The whole damn fam....
Little Greg, Big Greg (dad) & Danny
PS I've been having some blogging troubles, but think it's now resolved, I have so much to share, but it's time to go home to make desert for the dinner we're going to in Cambria, so check back tomorrow (wednesday) and they'll be more!

For Dog lovers only....

So if you haven't figured it out, I'm on a dog kick with these posts. I just found it funny that I've had so many shoots lately with pups in them!

So on that note, of course, I had to post a few of my superstar Sgt "Gunny" Hwy, I guess these could be his year and half portraits!


Yes, he's really as sweet as he appears....most of the time. It's pretty hard to resist this face:



ready to play...

A classic dog portrait...

I was reading a business magazine recently and came across this article..."Business Lessons I've Learned From My Dog." These creatures have lessons to teach us, I truly believe they are given to their masters to teach the lesson that person might need to know! Here we go....

• Always greet customers with excitement and enthusiasm, even when you just saw them three minutes ago. They never grow tired of thinking they are the most important thing in your life.
• Don't confuse your tail with a goal worth chasing
• Sleep as many hours a day as possible, but always be ready to play when the chance arises!
• Don't be afraid to get dirty; in fact, relish it.
• When the big folks are feasting, if you now to work things, you'll be able to feast too!
• Barking a lot is annoying, so don't do it often. This way when you do bark, people will spring to attention.
• Don't bark at the mailman. He's been know to have a treat in his bag. (my UPS man carries treats for Gunny!)
  
• Biting someone never leads to anything good.
• Continuously learning new tricks keeps you young!
• The joy is in digging the hole, not in hiding the bone. But it's also reassuring to know there are a few bones hidden.

Ok, So back to number 3 - we're off to the snow for the weekend!!

Mission Accomplished : New Studio Photos

So, as many would be, we completed the studio the day of the grand opening. Grand it was. We had a terrific turnout, delicious food, delectable truffles and many wonderful moments. Here are a few shots my sweet husband took at our opening (I for once set the camera down...imagine that!)

my mom is in the middle of these lovely ladies, Heidi & Karen...
Fine food by none other than Trumpet Vine Catering
Our friends. clients and family enjoying......
Papa Magda
Mama Magda

Here are a few photo of the space finished, I have plans for a couple of changes, but for now, it's complete! All "A" style....

At some point I will shoot a video to post. The outside of our building is completely amazing! Hopefully in the near future....

Until next time - which I promise will be sooner than last time....allyson

I confess

Many days I do feel like the little white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. And I wonder, how can I simplify, streamline....not get so distracted all the time?! Some would say - Bag it, Better it or Barter it - which I do apply whenever possible.

But on another topic, I used to be an avid goal writer. Over the years my goal writing dwindled as I was consumed with running multiple businesses and being a wife. BUT the good news is my goal writing has returned! Do you know that I found an old goal sheet from about 7 years ago and everything on the list had been accomplished?! Keep in mind, this was a goal sheet I LOST! I wasn't exactly keeping tabs on if I was working towards my list. My goals lists can be as far out and girly as you can imagine to pretty serious future goals, but it's amazing what happens when you write it down.

So this year I've taken my long lists (1yr, 2yr, 5yr, 10yr lists) and planned them with Dan - who had stuff to add....and wouldn't you know it, they've already started to materialize - opportunities etc. Another thing I've done with the lists is to break them down and put deadlines on them....and then write the tasks on a special calendar with the tasks. Each week I have a couple of actions I need to take to get things moving and accomplished....and it's working! Putting this studio together in time for the grand opening is a lot of work - so basically I had no choice but be organized, but on the upside, I'm getting a lot done and being very focused.

Just thought I'd share. Here are a few quotes from famous people, mostly I don't know who they are from, but they are worth reading:

"A goal written down, is a goal half met" - I think this was Good Ole' Abe Lincoln

"Goals are dreams with deadlines" - I've been applying this one!

"Fail to plan, plan to fail" - so true!

Hopefully this was a bit inspirational to you and maybe you'll try it. Don't forget - "If you don't know where you're going, you'll never get there!" - another famous quote by someone important.

I'll be back soon with my last wedding of the year, engagement photos, new website (!), new logo and yes, more baby photos - where do all these babes come from?!

Mama Mia! | Santa Rosa

Our good friend from high school, Aaron, and his wife had baby Mia this summer.  She's a complete sweetheart and a happy little gal, we got to hang out on a trip up north just before Christmas...here are her 5 month portraits:

San Luis Obispo Portrait Photographer

San Luis Obispo Wedding Photography

Everrett turns one | Cayucos

Tina & I met when we were 7. We've been great friends ever since. From being munch kins in the Wizard of Oz in elementary school, to being tap dancers and dirt bike buddies, till now, we've had a lot of laughs and good times. It's really fun & special to have a friend that you've known for such a long time, and over so many stages of life and crazy to think that our kids will share a similar experience. Everett was born just over a year ago, as you'll see, he has lots of expression for such a young guy. He's very sweet too, well, at least for now he is, we'll give him a few more years on that and see what happens!
LOVE this shot of him eating sand!
Obviously they are a fun family - must be where Everett gets his personality!Gunny Highway got to come on this shoot....he was in a few photos too! I think this one is my favorite.

Meadow | Spark Life Design

Here are Meadow's most recent photos....isn't she sparkly?! We were going for a bit of a rocker look and I think we achieved it!

I met Meadow and her beautiful daughter - who stars at the top of this blog, bet you can pick her out - about a year ago when she asked me to shoot her headshot for her business, Spark Life Design. Since then I've had the joy of getting to know her professionally and personally and I can see why she does what she does.

About 8-9 months ago I was beginning to feel "empty" from my work. It's easy to say that this might not ever happen to you, and it might not, especially if you do what you truly love. But going on 9 years in the business, my feeling towards what I do had changed for some reason and more disturbing, I could not put my finger on it.

I still took beautiful photos that couples & families cherished and loved, but for me personally, something was missing. It was hard for me to believe that this was the case, because I am living my dream come true, and successfully. So I felt that there had to be some reason I was feeling this way.

Meadow helped me rediscover why I do what I do (which I knew all along, but had lost my path you could say) and to bring back the joy, along with fresh new vision. Caution you photographers if you are reading this - "burnout" can happen to you! - without you ever suspecting it. If you don't take care of it, it will take care of you.

Anyhow, I don't need to drag out the story, but Life Coaching really opened up my mind and energy in amazing ways. I highly recommend it, even if you just need a fresh perspective!

Hey if it works for Oprah, it will probably work for me!

Blessings, Allyson


PS I just re-read this entry and it sounds a bit salesish - So I thought I should clear the record - I wrote this all on my own, with no solicitation or benefits from anyone - it's all true!

Time for a rewind?

So earlier this week Dan (my husband) called me while I was in the middle of a big project with not enough time to talk or brain function available to think about what he was calling me about. I basically answered him in a snotty tone (yes, yours truly can get a little nasty every here and then) and we hung up angry.

Then my aunt called and I told her I was upset etc....and she said, "you need a rewind!" I said what's that? She said you move back in time to the beginning of the conversation and start over.

So I called Dan back and we had a rewind - for the first time in almost 15 years! wow, it worked. Just thought I'd share with you, even when you've been together forever and know how each other communicates, sometimes it doesn't go so smooth and you might need a rewind!

Oh Canada!

We had a fantastic and refreshing trip to the Canadian Rockies last week. From the lower end of the parks (there are 3) in Banff all the way up to Jasper, the scenery was absolutely breathtaking and the weather was perfect. We walked on a glacier, hiked, went up to mountain tops, saw the third tallest mountain in N America - which, by the way, produces it's own weather system - drove quite a bit and last but not least in my book, went down waterslides, (which made me feel like a 10-year old again) and sat by the river with my best friend. Simple Pleasures!!!

Here are a few photos from our trip - I only took a few, hehe!The continental divide...
Mountain goats...
Dan with his cousin Jeff...
hiking...
Jeff & Jen...
Kayaking on Lake Louise...
Driving...
Dog lake...
On top of a mountain - there is a glacier in the background...
resting on top of the mountain...
self portrait standing on a glacier...formed with ice from up to 400 years ago!
dan + I

"Little" Henry

Dan and I spent about 7 years in the town of Santa Cruz, CA. That's where we went to school, got married and started our careers. One day on his way to happy hour at the Santa Cruz pier on his bike, he rode past a cute 2-bay auto shop - I know it's hard to imagine a cute auto repair shop - but this one really was!! He decided to stop in and ask if they needed help. Well, it turned out that they did, and so began the start of Dan's automotive technician career and the start of our friendship with Henry & Lisa Carter and their family. This little guy below is named Henry after his Papa or grandpa Henry. He's a pretty fun & funny little character. I shot these while up in SC a few weeks ago.....

The funny part of this story is that just today we had a kid stop in who is on the same path as Dan was, and while he wasn't on his way to Happy Hour for the $1 margarita's, we hired him just the same!

New Prop!

If you know Dan and I, we like cars! So when we had the opportunity of this lovely old metal beast, we couldn't turn it down! It's a complete restoration project for us, but we're quite excited about it. I'll be blogging the process as we go along.

First things first, when your husband is a tech, all he cares about is the engine, how it sounds and how it burns out. So naturally, the first upgrade was the cherry bomb exhaust. Stop by anytime after work and you can participate in the burn-out contests we have regularly in the shop parking lot, if you miss it, you can always see the evidence on the asphalt!

We got a newly re-built motor, thanks to our good friends at Water Star Motors! The car came running, but we soon found out it needed a valve job, so a rebuilt motor will save Dan some major time!

Our long-term plan is to restore the car, but in the meantime I plan on using it for photo shoots! So if you have one coming up or are planning a session with yours truly, let me know, I'd be happy to make arrangements! To my loyal blog-fans, I've been having trouble uploading photos to blogger, hence the delay between posts, I'm pretty sure I've figured it out, so hopefully I can be more consistent from now on!

Flying!!

Dan had a birthday last week, and I planned a surprise. On Sunday morning we went flying up and around SLO county. Our friend Tim, is a pilot and has a plane. We've never been up and I thought this would be a memorable time to do it. So we went up up and away into the sky. It was SOOO fun and really quite peaceful. Being up that high in a plane that small really makes you remember how little we really are! I shot some footage on my super 8 camera too, can't wait to see how it turned out!! Here are some photos....

This was a view from above the Cuesta Grade....you can see the some of the sister mountain range
The birthday boy...

Can you find out house? Probably not, because you can only see our driveway because we have so many trees!!!
I wouldn't mind Hearst Castle being my house...


your's truly self portrait

Dan getting his flight lesson...

Mexico!

Mexico!
I'm so very excited to be heading down to Baja to the small town of San Vicente. We usually go
about once a year with our church. In the past Dan and I have taught classes, he teaches welding and I teach computers, and then we go to a labor camp and do a short program for the kids.

Below are kids from one of the labor camps 2 years ago. The families that are in these labor camps come from deep down in Mexico. The corporations that run the camps bus the families up to Baja. The families want to come because they can make $9 a day versus $2. For the months they are at the labor camp, they stay in a 12x12 room with a dirt floor and tin walls and roof. Plus if you're 9 years old, you can work and get the wage of an adult.

This year I'm down with the women's ministry team. We're going to put on an outreach to the local women of the town.

Being down here puts life into perspective. We truly are so rich to live in the US. Serving others in the name of God is truly a rewarding experience!

Bijou!

I had this vision for a photo shoot and made it happen. As you can see, Bijou was the perfect subject. It's so fun to do shoots "for myself!" I always walk away inspired with more ideas and more creative energy. The end result of these little escapades such as this is, is that I become an even better photographer for my clients, because I am constantly staying fresh, not getting static and always moving forward. Enjoy these images! and if you'd like to see more, watch the SLIDESHOW

Special thanks to Camilla, Scot & Bijou!

Sandra & Richard

Sandra & Richard wanted to have their photos taken in our beautiful neck of the world before they up and moved to Richard's home country of England. We discussed their shoot and decided on a beach just north of Cambria. Well, we got there and it was just absolutely windy, I don't mean a little breeze here and there, I mean like torrential winds!!!! We tried taking a few shots, and decided to try another day. We agreed upon Santa Margarita Lake.

So a few weeks later we met at the lake and went out on the boat to some of my exclusive locations. We had a great time. They love dogs and we happen to bring Gunny - who likes to randomly go swimming we discovered - his boat days might be limited.

We really clicked with Sandra and Richard and they wrote us the nicest thank you...

"Allyson & Dan,
Thanks for the rock star treatment during our photo shoot last week. It was above & beyond our expectation. You two are really special. We wish you both all the success to reach your dreams. ~Sandra & Richard"

We think you two are special too, and yes, you're rock stars. Shine bright in your new home town of Lanchester, Englad!
Cheers!
Allyson

Morro Bay on the boat

We got together with some of our very good friends the other night over in Morro Bay. Matt & Karen have been our friends since we lived in Santa Cruz and when they moved down here we were thrilled! They live in Morro Bay on their boat, Esperanza - she's a beauty, that has seen many good times!

After we enjoyed some time on the boat, watched the sun go down, debated the new studio and had a glass of wine, we left to go to dinner. I couldn't help but to take a few shots from the dingy, such a different perspective and the clouds and the sun's reflection were simply stunning. These images were meant to be seen small as I had to shoot at a super high ISO since Dan was rockin' the boat and the current was really strong. But the amazing part is that these images were taken hand-held, at like 1600 or 3200 ISO with a dragged shutter.

I like each of these for different reasons...
this first one is cool because you can see the motion of the current at the bottom of the photo and I love the reflection of the clouds just above the current area.
this one I like for the different colors of light from the dock and other moorings. On a techny note, these color appear many different colors because "not all light is equal." The camera sees light different than our eyes, for instance, tungsten light (normal light bulbs) are very yellow, flourescent light is very green, halogen light is whiter. Digital photography has a feature called white balance, which compensates for these different kinds of light. It's actually a really great feature of digital because with film, the only way to get properly exposed colors in photos was to use filters, or a flash, which is yucky light in my opinion. OK, enough nerdy photo talk...
This one is super cool because of the perspective with the foreground and background and the reflection of the power plant in the water.Matt...
Bye the way if you ever need a contractor, Matt's the guy to call, his work is superb and he's a great guy to have around in general....he's not a flaky contractor like so many are!His lovely wife, Karen...

My Danny Boy...

Awesome sunset!

On my way home from a shoot last night, I observed a truly marvelous sunset. Here are some photos taken from my car window while driving down the 101, yeah, I'm a real photo nerd! Pretty soon the CHP will be putting out ad campaigns for "Don't shoot and drive"...hehe

As I was looking at these images, I thought it might be interesting for my readers (I know you're there!) to talk about JPEG shooting versus RAW. I'll try to do this without getting too techy....hopefully you'll find it interesting!

Professional cameras have the ability to capture imagery in a few different formats, the most common being JPEG. A JPEG is a completely finished file. You can make adjustments to the brightness and contrast by opening it in Photoshop or another after-capture type program, but each time you make adjustments and open and close the finished file, you loose a bit of image quality.

I prefer to shoot in RAW. RAW files are unfinished - meaning they do not have the .jpeg extension. Since they are unfinished, we can go in and make any adjustments necessary - shooting RAW gives the ability to adjust the exposure by up to 2 stops, adjust the white balance for different lighting conditions, adjust the contrast, color saturation and the list keeps going.

Shooting RAW offers a lot of pluses for the end product, but it does take more time to process. I believe there is major upside for the little downside we call time, and that is the quality. RAW files capture millions of more colors than a finished jpeg file. This makes the file size larger and the quality premium!

Below you can see both files types - can you guess which is JPEG and which is RAW? the last one is "digitally enhanced" in photoshop.

So there you have it, a mini photo lesson on why I prefer to shoot RAW and why it's better. Some may argue, but I know what offers the best quality and even if it takes a bit more time in the post-production, we like to give our clients the best!