Here are snapshots from our snow-venture. They were all taken under natural light. Hope you enjoy them.

There’s nothing quite like soft powdery snow. Not only can you smash each other w/o harm… they break apart beautifully for photos. The photos below were at a small pull-out alongside the highway. Which is another resolution: Stop driving, get out and take photos.. instead of driving through only to say: “THAT spot back there would’ve been beautiful.”

Still unsatisfied with the locations we’d driven by, we kept driving and searching until… we had to pee… then we kept driving still. ;p And finally found a nice secluded pull-out with tall trees and fresh fallen snow.

With a little bit more walking we found a nice little pedestrian bridge! Another perfect spot to set up the tripod, yays!

Not sure what she was doing here, but here’s my take: She’s making like Wonder Woman… sitting on her invisible plane ready for take-off.

And with our toes freezing up.. it was a wrap. We packed lite… just a small bag of ornaments and our tripod.

You can see how soft the freshly fallen snow was in the photo below. Every little branch, large or small was blanketed with a soft layer of white. The details were amazing: how it clings onto the mossy trees and branches was just beautiful.

Oh yes… the main reason we even made the trek out to the cold. Here are the eventual photos we decided to use for our Christmas cards that were sent out to family, friends and clients. Thanks again for your love and support everyone.

Click through for the photos, autumn in NYC is awesome!!

Thank you again to Nyab La, Nyab Su, and Lori for making my 30th birthday a very memorable one. Let’s do another trip next year!! =D

Click through for some snapshots I took while trying to treasure hunt for the Alice and Wonderland sculpture and the Carousel…both of which are still on my list of Central Park must-see. I was delighted to see there was a skating rink (Wollman Rink) inside here too. WOW. This place really does have it all!!

So what did I do to celebrate being older and wiser (riiight)? See if you recognize these lines: These streets will make you feel brand new, the lights will inspire you, Let’s hear it for…..New York!! =p It was just a quick weekend getaway but it was well worth it and the fall colors made everything even more vibrant and lively. Thank you Nyab La, Nyab Su, and Lori for joining me on this adventure; it was an unforgettable trip…in more ways than one -packing gym shoes next time! Super love you all! =)

Click through for snapshots from our first stop: The Metropolitan Museum of Art!! I want to live there!! …but not in the mummies section. =/

Below are the trip details, book early to lock in your preferred date.

Appleton, Green Bay area: June 10 to Jun 23rd, 2010

St Paul and Minneapolis: June 24th – July 5th, 2010

Also, if you know someone who’s been thinking about it… please pass the word along. Thanks for your support,
Kay and Ty.

It was my first time at Universal Studios and I loved the Studio tour the most! I’m still in awe at how they pull everything off and manage to make it look completely real and authentic. We saw sets from all sorts of movies and tv shows. My favorite was Whoville even though it looked a little forlorn without any Who residents. We went on a grand total of 4 rides and spent the rest of the time going around snapping photos of one another (took the lightweight combo: Nikon D90 w/ Nikon 35mm/f2.0 lens)… good times as always! =d

Click on the thumbnails to view more pics!

On the upside, the Oregon Dunes kick some serious California hills butt!

It was a perfectly cloudy day when we dug our feet into the silky windswept sands of the spectacular Oregon Dunes. As it came into view, my face was literally pressed to the window with eyes all 0_0 when I saw the combination of sand and flourishing forests. Who was the genius behind that?! Of course it would be a woman, thank you, mother nature! It’s wondrous what happens when rock, wind, and water share a little time together.

“For nearly fifty miles of southern Oregon coastline, from the mouth of the Siuslaw to Cape Blanco at Coos Bay, the largest area of dunes in the country lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Coast Mountains. In places, the dunes extend 2.5 miles inland, and some are as high as 500 feet.” -duneguide

Sand can give you quite the resistance workout. We had fun hiking up the hills and even more fun coming down them! As always we had to grab a few natural light snapshots. =)

After exploring the sandy hills, we wanted to see what Oregon beaches were all about so we made another quick stop …with our lighting gear in tow this time. The beach we went to was covered with these marvelously smooth rocks that were stepping stones all the way to the ocean. We ended up using them as weights to keep the light stand in place. =D

Anyways, I’m looking forward to exploring Oregon more so stay tuned for updates! (I will keep a look out for waterfalls for you too nyab!)

Click through for our road trip adventure, more pit stops than a Nascar race… and of course our Avenue of the Giants photoshoot!

As you snake your way north along the 101 Highway, you’ll pass many small towns. Some are spooky and Amityville-ish (no thanks!), but others are quaint and Smallville-esque (Kay has a bladder the size of a peanut, so during our many pit stops I took the time to snap lots of pics.. including one of her outlasting the stench of a port-o-potty). I’m a dead man if I ever post that pic… so don’t even ask.

Anyways, taking this scenic route will add an extra hour or so of driving… but the reward at the end of the journey is more than worth it. Waiting for you is a stretch of clover covered forests of towering redwoods, some of which are well over 2000 years old. It’s aptly called:The Avenue of the Giants; a 30 mile alternate scenic route that takes you off the 101 and then guides you right back onto it. For most people, the magnificent Redwoods are a must stop and see… for picture whores like us, it’s a must-stop and shoot. Yays!

Truth be told, we had already planned for this shoot way back… it was a chance we just could not pass up, so we were pretty excited. That morning of the shoot, we loaded up the car… Kay got all done up… and we were on the road singing road trip songs so badly it made this year’s cast of American Idols sound pretty decent. *yikes* (you know they all suck this year!)

Here are the photos below, hope you like them as much as we enjoyed shooting them. Next stop? Oregon sand dunes! Check back soon for those photos.

We couldn’t get enough of the gorgeous spot we found; a giant fallen redwood surrounded by smaller trees as if they were mourning his end. Even more so, the floor was covered with thousands of vibrant clovers! It was the picture perfect location, we couldn’t have asked for more. Here’s some info and a few BTS shots.

Main light:
SB600 x 2 speedlights in a Photoflex medium softbox. The towering trees blocked the harsh sunlight to create the perfect shady spot. The speedlights were easily able to light up the subject. The lights were triggered wirelessly with RadioPopper PX triggers to allow us free range.

Edge light:
There were spots where the light broke through the canopy giving us an option to use as an edge light. Some of the shots above display this. The high overhead sunlight produced a harsh edge.. but as the sun lowered it become much softer. This is one of the reasons why the setting sun is the “magic hour” for taking photos.

Gear:
In an effort to get different shots, we used the Nikon D700 along with a mixture of prime lenses: the 35mm f/2 (wide sweeping shots), 50mm f/1.8, and 85mm f/1.4 (dreamy portraits). A wider 20mm-24mm lens would’ve been nice to try out… but that’s still on my “wish list” ;p

Click through for more Napa Valley snapshots.

More snapshots below. Next stop? Avenue of the Giants, Humboldt Redwoods State Park!

Click through for more photos.

Here are more snapshots of all the sight seeing we did. Next stop? Napa Valley!