My funny, sweet baby Kira had her Preschool Graduation last night.  Way to go kid!  Next stop Kindergarten.....

My new backdrops from Bad Sass Backdrops arrived a week or so ago.  It was love at first sight.  They have great modern designs, beautiful color and are printed on a high quality canvas.  I ordered four new designs, I just couldn't help myself, and have a list of more I'd love to own.  You can check out Bad Sass here: http://badsassbackdrops.com . 

I decided to put the pink damask to the test with my in-house models.  They were happy to oblige since they had recently brought home their dance recital costumes and were ready to give them a twirl. 

After suiting up the girls, I paired the new backdrop with a white wood floor from Backdrop Outlet a little moulding from Home Depot and we were off.  Instead of just working with muslin backdrops, I now have the ability to approach the studio more like set design.  LOVE IT!

Here's how the set looks in action:

You'll be seeing more of this pink damask, it's a perfect go to for some beautiful color.

It's almost time to wrap up this trip to California.  We choose to spend our last day at Point Lobos Natural Reserve.  We've checked the tide charts and low tide is at 7:00 am so we get going early so the girls can poke around the tide pools.  It's pouring rain, but the anemones, snails and crabs are so cool we don't care. 

Point Lobos is also home to some very special cyprus trees.  Old Veteran (above) has staked a claim on this cliff overlooking the Pacific.  It's a challenge keeping my equipment dry in the rain, but the heavy clouds make for a nice diffused light perfect for capturing this old, weathered beauty.

Our last stop is a cove where Harbor Seals hang out, and because it's spring we have the pleasure of watching three mother and pup pairs swimming, sleeping and nursing.  An experience to treasure.

The next morning we say good bye to Big Sur and drive back to San Francisco in time for our flight home.  It will take me quite some time to sift through the thousands of images I've captured, to find the select few that will stand the test of time. 

It's tough to end this amazing trip, but plans are already taking shape for summer travels in Idaho and Montana, definitely something to look forward to.

If you've missed the beginning of this journey, you can find it here.

We started this trip on the coast, up in Point Reyes National Seashore, and after a brilliant week at Yosemite, we found ourselves back on the coast, this time a little further south in Big Sur.  Big Sur is my kind of place, sandy beaches, rugged cliffs, and crashing waves.  This image was created at Soberanes Point a part of Garrapata State Beach.  Garrapata is a place of staggering beauty, absolutely one of my favorite places in the area.

In addition to Garrapata State Beach we spent time at Point Lobos Natural Reserve, Pfeiffer Beach, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Beach and countless other spots along this amazing coastline.  You could seriously spend a lifetime exploring this area.  Above, the Little Sur River makes its way to the Pacific Ocean. 

Natural Bridges State Beach (above) is a little north of Big Sur in Santa Cruz.  We spent a beautiful day here watching the surfers and teaching the girls how to fly a kite.

More to come....

If you missed the beginning of this trip you can find it here.

On day three of our Yosemite stay, the forecast called for rain.  100% chance of rain.  So, we knew it was coming, we just didn't know when or how much.  The rain didn't start until rather late in the day.  Long enough for us to finish a fantastic hike up Yosemite Falls.  When the rain did come, it came heavy.  After about an hour or so of rather torrential rain, we decided to call it a day and head out of the valley back to where we were staying in the mountains.  As we drove out of the valley, we soon discovered that it was snowing heavily at higher elevations.  About 6 inches had already fallen, making the steep mountain roads nearly impassble.  And there we were, no 4-wheel drive, no tire chains, in a minivan with seriously balding rental car tires.  It wasn't pretty.

It was crazy, white-knuckle driving all the way, but we made it up the pass and were almost back.  The last half mile proved to be too vertical for our minivan.  It just could not make it that last uphill stretch.  So we parked, and walked the rest of the way in the snow storm.  ("Just think of this as an adventure girls!")  It was a real relief to arrive safely, but I was preoccupied with trying to figure out how I was going to be able to photograph the snow!  One of the biggest reasons we had come in the early spring was in hopes of snow.  So here it was, and I was trapped. 

We simply had to wait.  And wait.  And wait.  It was about 11:00 am the next day before the road back down to the valley was passable.  That lost time was SO worth it though, to find that it had also snowed at lower elevations reaching all the way down to the valley.  The view of the valley from Tunnel View (seen above) was absolutely breathtaking.  To come out of that tunnel and get a first glimpse of the valley covered with snow and the low storm clouds still clearing -  UNBELIEVABLE! 

The afternoon sun soon melted away the snow from the lower elevations, but the nights and early mornings continued to be very cold, typically around 20 degrees when I was out photographing at sunrise, so snow, frost and ice were common in the mornings.   

Another reason to come to Yosemite in the spring is water. The waterfalls are booming, the river is high and small ponds found only in the spring are full. I took advantage, spending the week capturing Yosemite Falls, Bridal Veil, Vernal Falls and reflections everywhere in rivers, lakes and ponds.  Here the Cathedral Rocks are reflected in a small pond only found here in the early spring. 

As our week in Yosemite came to a close we had to take the girls out to the Mariposa Grove to see the Big Boys.  It was a cold, grey day with a few stray snow flakes trickling down, but we had a great time exploring the grove.  There are over 500 giant sequoias in the grove, some estimated to be over 3,000 years old. 

We've had an amazing time at Yosemite, but now it is time to pack up and head to the coast.  It's Big Sur or bust.....

If you missed the first California trip installments, you can find them here, and here and here.

Now that we've settled in at Yosemite for the week, it's time to visit some of my favorite spots in the valley.  This image of El Capitan in the morning sunlight was taken from Cathedral Beach, definitely a top spot.  It’s just a really pleasant place to hang out by the river, and hey, the view's not too bad.  My girls loved it here too, plenty of rocks to throw into the water ("hey you two, knock it off, you're ruining the reflection") and sticks to poke around with.   

During the summer months, places like Cathedral beach can be busy and crowded.  But at this time of year, in the early spring, you can have it all to yourself.  Magic.

It was a very windy morning and huge puffy clouds were blowing by, perfectly, as if I’d ordered them up.  I wanted to capture the motion of the clouds so I went with a long exposure, carefully timed to capture cloud movement but so that the trees wouldn't be a blurry mess.

If you missed the first two California trip installments, you can find them  here and here.

I had the priviledge of photographing Annie this past weekend to commemorate her first communion.  We did the session at her home and that allowed us to do a series of natural light images around her home in addition to using the backdrop and lights I brought with me.  I love the authenticity and character that photographing a person in their home adds to the images. 

Thanks for a fun session Annie, I hope your first communion day turns out to be as special as you are.

We arrived at Point Reyes National Seashore late in the day yesterday (more details here DTW to SFO) Today is our one full day to take in as much of Point Reyes as we can.  When you arrive at Pt. Reyes, you'll likely be greeted by cows.  Lots of cows.  Cows and fog.  Lots of fog.  It's an interesting combination, if not a bit eerie at times.  Since it's early spring there really aren't any people around just cows and the fog rolling through.  The area is jam packed with historic ranches where dairy farmers have been producing milk, butter and cheese since the late 1800's, pretty cool. 

After admiring the cows, we head to Drakes Beach.  Time to get to work.  While the girls played in the sand and ran screaming from the waves (water and air temps are only about 50 degrees) I started looking for likely compositions.  For the last few years I've spent a lot of time photographing the desert so I really wanted to challenge myself with something new, the ocean. 

Little shore birds kept me company, while I worked on images like the one below.  The heavy gray sky wasn't helping me out much, I'd have preferred either some seriously ominous storm clouds or a blue sky with some white puffy clouds floating through.  But nature doesn't work that way and so you take what you get and do what you can.

Later we checked out the Point Reyes Lighthouse, appropriately drapped in fog.  At this time of year they typically spot 60 or 70 migrating whales each day as they swim by returning north for the summer.  The solid clouds and fog meant no sunset to shoot so after a full day it was time to hit the road. 

We head about an hour west to Sonoma, the heart of California's wine country.  We had a great dinner at Mary's Pizza Shack in downtown Sonoma, walked around a bit and hit the sack.  OK, well, I guess I'll have to admit that we stopped for ice cream at Ben & Jerry's too.

In the morning we paid a visit to the Gloria Ferrar winery for a tour and wine tasting.  The winery and surrounding vineyards are stunning, so much history here too, the staff was amazing and made us feel at home.  After our tour of the vineyard and wine caves, we hit up the sparkling (it's really only called "champagne" if it's from the Champagne region of France).  We dutifully sampled about 8 different bottles (my memory may be a little fuzzy here) and would have moved on to the stills but the road to Yosemite was calling us.

We spend the afternoon driving west, on small quiet roads, passing wind turbines, farms and fields, winding through green hills and slowly making our way to Yosemite.  Just before entering the park on CA 140, we stop for a burger at Buck Meadows.

Though we've nearly reached the official park entrance we're still a long way from the valley.  It's getting to be close to sunset, which will be a little before 7:30 tonight.  We calculate whether we can get to any of the valley views before sunset.  Sunrise and sunset are typically the most important times of the day for me.  It is when probably 80% of my landscapes are created simply because the light is the most beautiful.

We make a run for it and capture these quick moments in the last light of the day.  I'm so glad to be back in Yosemite, it has been 12 years since my last visit.  Where does the time go?  We're going to settle in for a full week here and I can hardly wait to see what a Yosemite spring has in store.

Our first view of Yosemite Valley, a last ray of light highlights Bridal Veil falls.

A classic view of Half Dome and the Merced River.

The very last moments of light for the day.  Half Dome.

More to come....(here)