Two Cultured Mofos Go to Church

In a recent trip to the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Roy and I picked up a book that details the historical landmarks of Riverside. Our plan is to try to visit as many of them as we can before we move away (whenever that may be), in an attempt to get to know the history of our town a little better (and because we are dying without culture here). Last Saturday evening, we walked down to the First Congressional Church of Riverside.





I fully expected to just photograph the outside of the church, but we were quickly approached by the caretaker of the church, who offered to take us inside and show us around. We eagerly agreed.

The chapel area was full of remnnants from a wedding that morning.



I loved this cross hanging above the altar. It contains a whole lot of interesting religious symbology.



Joe (the caretaker) took us into this sitting room and showed us this giant stained glass window of the Virgin Mary. When we walked across the room, her eyes followed us. Totally creepy.



Piano detail.





Then we went into the Sunday school classrooms. I really liked them, as they all featured murals and paintings done by kids. They were so different from the plain and boring classrooms that I sat in for my CCD classes as a youth.























Joe let me take a picture of him.



And then we bade Joe good-bye. On our way home, we were behind this very cute couple for awhile.



I love seeing old people hold hands. It's cute.

Our first outing to make ourselves into more cultured mofos was a greater success than we originally anticipated, thanks to Joe.

Things That Make Me Go "Wow"

This is a collection of cool things I've come across lately.

1)



2) I found this on Kari's blog. Hilarious.



3) The Head Project!



(Image by the ever-so-lovely and talented Elle Moss.)

4) Things I've seen around town that have made me smile:





5) Angelina and I embraced our inner dancing queens when we saw Mamma Mia! today. What a great movie! I haven't been able to stop dancing yet. I'm even dancing as I write this. Just in case you've been living under a rock, here's the trailer:



6) Jenn showcased her radness when she sent me an edible arrangement as a thank you for taking her engagement pictures. Yummy, pretty, and incredibly thoughtful! Thanks so much, Jenn!





I have (what feels like) a bazillion posts in progress, so I'm going to try to catch up on those this weekend.

A Golden Afternoon

Back in June, we met our amazingly awesome wedding photographer Crissy at the Morey Mansion for our one-year anniversary photo shoot. It was an extraordinarily hot day, but we made it through and got some gorgeous photos. Well, Crissy got the photos - we just did what she told us to do.












Thanks for doing such an awesome job, Crissy!

The Story of the Eye

Today I had a full eye exam, which was necessary to complete before I have my surgery next Friday. Of course, I had Roy take pictures of my fully dilated eyes when we got home. The results were cool (and kind of creepy, too).





I am so looking forward to seeing the world in a new way.

Monday, Fun Day

Not.

Practically everyone in my office is gone, attending the company's annual conference. This means that it's really quiet here, which can work for or against me. So far I'm reserving judgment, probably because I'm too tired to really have any coherent train of thought.

I've discovered some cool things online, though.

-This week on today is pretty, Sheri is posting blurry/abstract photos she's taken and has invited her readers to play along. This was my contribution for the day:



I took that picture just a few minutes before Mandy and Paul's wedding ceremony began. It's all of the guests, totally blurrified and totally cool.


-I saw this picture today on Vazaar, one of my favorite photo websites, and cracked up.




-lauren {elycerose} is up to her old tricks and producing some awesome new work!




One hour to go, and then I'm out of here!

Mamarazzi School, Day Two

Today the Mamarazzi School workshop focused on editing in Lightroom. I've been using Lightroom for months now. It's so easy. I didn't know a lot of things, though, so today was very helpful for me. I edited some photos of Tyler (who is easily the most adorable baby in the world) using my new-found knowledge.














Let me know what you think of the pictures. I'm open for any comments or constructive criticism.

And now, for my full review of the workshop.

When I signed up for this workshop, I had only recently acquired an DSLR camera and hadn't even gotten close to using manual mode. I registered as a beginner and didn't really take into account how much I was going to learn between then and now. So, most of yesterday was a review for me, as I stated yesterday. I did learn some things, but the fact that I knew most of what was being taught was a little frustrating. However, I don't think anyone is to blame for that.

I think the laid-back nature of the workshop also compounded my frustrations. We spent a lot of time just hanging out and socializing. We only shot Tyler for a little while, and had we known we were going to be waiting around so much, another person could have also brought their kid along so we would've stayed busier.

I really enjoyed talking with Sarah, though, and I like her down-to-earth approach to photography a lot. There's no pretentious "I'm an artist blah blah blah" stuff going on with her. She's real. She's definitely disorganized, but she kept it real.

Today was better, but I wish we would have spent at least some time shooting. It's hard to spend a beautiful Sunday cooped up inside, staring at a projector screen. Sarah went through all of Lightroom, and I really appreciated that. I definitely have a different approach to editing and workflow that I did not have before.

All in all, I enjoyed the workshop, but I don't think it should have been as expensive as it was. I also think that we could've done everything in a day. I am happy to have a few more tricks up my sleeve, though!

Mamarazzi School, Day One

Today was the first day of the two day Mamarazzi School workshop in Orange County. We learned how to shoot in manual mode, spent a lot of time taking pictures of a giant stuffed tiger, and spent some time shooting our host's son's pictures. I am reserving my final judgment of the workshop for tomorrow when we're all done. So far, though, it has been a lot of review, but I was a total rookie when I signed up for the workshop back in January/February. I have since learned how to shoot in manual mode, as well as other tricks of the trade. Still, I have picked up some cool skills that I might not have otherwise.

I've decided to save my pictures of Tyler (our adorable nine-month-old model) until tomorrow, but here are some I took today of random things.



I took a gazillion pictures of this stuffed tiger.







This is probably one of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken. I don't know, I just like it.



A very overexposed flower, but sometimes it's the way to go.



Sarah (the photographer leading the workshop) taught a few of us how to use our 50mm f/1.8 lenses as macro lenses. Seriously awesome stuff. I heard about this technique months back but couldn't figure out how to do it. But now I know (and knowing is half the battle).

Anyway, here are a few pictures I took using that technique. The blur doesn't bother me one bit; I think they look great.









Once I got home, I decided to try it on a certain cat's paw. It worked!



I'll be back tomorrow with a full review, as well as more photos!

August needs to be awesome.

This morning I found a random grey T-shirt hanging in the closet. I had no idea who it belonged to, and neither did Roy. At any rate, I put it on and am now wearing some unknown person's T-shirt today. (It's clean, of course, and fits surprisingly well! I'm thinking that it could belong to one of our neighbors, since we share the laundry room.)

I think life is a lot like the grey T-shirt. You just find random, out-of-place things and make a home for them in your life. It's all about being compromising. Me, I'm trying to be more flexible in realizing that life isn't always going to turn out exactly as I have planned it.

That said, the first half or so of July was great, but there were some really downer moments in the second half. I think I'd like the good and bad stuff to be more evenly dispersed in August. That would be cool.

August has the potential to be super awesome. I'm having my vision corrected, will be going to court for my name change, and am attending the Mamarazzi School workshop in Orange County. By the end of the month, I will be free of corrective lenses with some more photography skills and my married name at last!

There are definitely worse things that could happen. Happy August, everyone!