Roller Derby Portrait Session

Last week I posted a preview from my Roller Derby themed portrait session here.  Its taken me soo long to go through all the pictures and pick ones to post.  And being really sick with the flu this week put me even further behind.  But I'm finally done and ready to show them.  If you've been following me you'll know that I've never really done portraits before and its my goal of the new year to learn portrait photography.  I've been getting my friends to volunteer to pose for me and since my friend Tracy is training for the roller derby, I thought it would make for a fun session.  Her little dog, Bentley, came along and posed for a few shots as well!  I already posted a "what I learned" about this shoot when I posted my preview so you can check that out if you're interested.  Let me know what you think and what your favorites are!

Are you in love with Tracy's pink skates? You can get them at Moxi Roller Skates and at Urban Outfitters Online!!!!

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Top 5 Finalist AND a Stylish Blogger? Who, Me??

I've been home sick for two days and while I thought this would leave me with tons of time to play with pictures on post on my blog, in fact it left me with time for lots of napping and no energy for anything else.

But I had to mention that Allie Reid picked me as a top 5 finalist for this picture here:



If you have a chance, please go here and vote for me! I could use them!!


Also, I've been awarded! I've been given a blog award by both Jesslyn Amber and Creatively Sensitive!!

The rules...share 7 facts about myself and then pass it on to 5 other stylish bloggers!

Ok, here goes...

1.  I work on a TV show in LA.  We are actually not allowed to talk about any sort of behind the scenes info on any blog, website, or social networking site.  So I haven't really mentioned it before, but trust me you've all heard of it!

2.  I love Dexter, House, Modern Family, Community, Glee, Nurse Jackie, Mad Men, Law and Order SVU and Grey's Anatomy---yes, I have eclectic taste!

3.  I once went to Bali (an island in Indonesia) and had my palm read by the medicine man Ketut Liyer, the same medicine man featured in the book and movie Eat Pray Love.  I posted a photo of it here.

4.  I've read Hamlet at least 4 times.

5.  I can recite "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe by heart.

6.  My favorite types of food are sushi, greek and mexican.

7.  I love to cook and get a lot of my recipes from The Pioneer Woman.

Ok, and now I have to award 5 other blogs, so, in no particular order, I award....

1. Snapshots by Michelle

2.  Meghan Bob Photography

3.  Living with the Lowry's

4.  {My} Perspective

5.  Sereina Charise 

Don't forget to pass the award along! And can I also mention that I can't believe I have 64 followers! In just a few shot months of doing this? I'm so touched and I love reading all of your comments!

And as soon as I'm back to 100% I promise to post the rest of the pictures from my Roller Derby Photo Shoot!

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Brittany and Dakota

I mentioned yesterday that after my Roller Derby photo shoot I also took some pictures with my friend Brittany and her dog Dakota.  Dakota has been very sick lately so I was glad to be able to give Brittany some good shots of her.  And Brittany was thrilled to see Dakota get a burst of energy and have some fun in the sand.

What I Learned
-Dogs (or any animal) will never EVER do exactly what you want them to! Fast shutter speeds and continuous shooting modes help!
-That "golden hour" of light right before sunset can sometimes be a little TOO golden.
-Its easy to spend so much time concentrating and hurrying and getting the right shot before the dog moves, that you completely ignore your horizon lines or your composition altogether! I had to severely rotate and crop a lot of these shots!




























And because Wednesdays is "Black and White Wendesdays" here in blogging world, here's this shot again, in black and white.

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More Sunsets and a Small "Dakota" Preview

We got such an amazing beach sunset Sunday when I shot my Roller Derby themed portraits,  I can't help but post a couple more! These were taken in Long Beach, CA and you can't really see it, but on the horizon in the distance, right in between the two palm trees, and in between the shipping cranes is the smoke stack of the Queen Mary!

I also mentioned that I took pictures of my friend Brittany with her aging dog Dakota. She has tumors and has been in a lot of pain but in an amazing moment, right at sunset, this old girl got a burst of energy and ran and jumped and played in the sand in a way Brittany has not seen in years. I have sooo many pictures from this shoot to go through still (and tons more Roller Derby ones I want to post too,) but here is just a preview of the amazing Dakota and her burst of engergy.

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