Nature: El Matador State Beach

El Matador State Beach in Malibu might be my new favorite beach. Not only is it amazing to shoot at, but I love the little tide pools and all the creatures that live in them. I got there a little early last week to shoot the Beattys so I had a few extra minutes to explore and take some pictures just for me, which I haven't gotten to do much of lately. It was a nice change of pace and I absolutely love the pictures!













This little guy was sitting there staring at me for a good 5 minutes. He was such a good subject!

Macro: Hydrangea

Yesterday Doug came home with some exciting news! He won the award for Teacher of the Year at the school he teaches at! I'm so proud :)

As part of his award he was given a cute little hydrangea plant, which I confiscated and called my own the second I saw it. It's just so pretty! And plus, my Macro needed some practice and there is no subject better then a pretty plant!













I haven't done ring shots in awhile, so I thought I'd do some!

More Macro

I was going through my photos in Lightroom, and I noticed I missed a macro photo from my post the other day! And it was my favorite one! I <3 Macro!

Nature: Deer

A couple blocks from where we live, the mountains meet the street. And sometimes if you get lucky the wildlife meets the city. Usually in Southern California the wildest it gets is squirrels. But at the top of this street the deer from the local hills like to come down an put on a show.

I had seen two boy deer when I drove by earlier and when Doug mentioned taking the dog on a walk around the neighborhood I couldn't help but bring my camera in hopes that the deer were still there. Unfortunately the boys weren't around, but six of there girlfriends were!

They were amazing. I could practically walk right up to them and pet them! They were just so beautiful!

Macro

I thought I'd do a little something different this week, so I played around with some Macro shots. Enjoy!







I've never done textures before, so I thought I'd give it a try! Thoughts?

Nature: Hike

Doug had been pestering me for weeks to go on a hike with him in our local hills. First I was sick, then I had to work, then something else came up. This last weekend came and it seemed like we finally had some extra time to go! Plus we are dog sitting for my parents, so we had a fuzzy friend to go with us! (Warning: There may be tons of puppy photos over the next two weeks. I can't help it. She's just so cute and knows how to smile at a camera!)
We decided to start out on a trail that I had been on once. Doug tried finding it on every trail map of the area that he could find, but it just didn't seem to exist! But that didn't stop us! We were going to try it anyways.
After a couple wrong turns we finally found the correct trail. I blame the fallen tree!


I remembered from the last time that this trail led to a waterfall. Well, with this being Southern California and all, this is all we found:


Doug decided that he would try and see if there was anything above the "waterfall", but since I didn't feel like killing myself or the dog on the cliff, we did a puppy photoshoot instead :)












Isn't she adorable?


Doug survived his journey up the cliff. He found nothing. Too bad...

Planting: Nature

A few weeks ago I was at Target. I love the dollar section (or is it called Dollar Spot? I've never known it's real name). Every time I go to Target I check out this section. In the spring they carry seeds with mini pots and dirt pellets and pots and mini watering cans. Last year I lived with my parents, who would have freaked out if I brought another green thing into the house. I had a basil plant that Doug gave me along with some sort of succulent I was given at a convention which sat in the bathroom window. Apparently basil needs more light then I was giving it and so it grew all tall and skinny and dead looking. 

Basically I think I have a green thumb, but I tend to kill things. 

Anyways, back to Target. So when I was there, I couldn't help myself. The little Zinnia package was calling my name. And so was a cute, perfect color green, pot. And some extra dirt pellets. 

A week later I had this: 

Yes, I'm proud of myself. They sprouted and are still alive. No flowers yet, but I'm trying. 
I almost killed it's little friend in the left bottom corner. FYI: if you buy the kit from Target, don't keep it in the mini pot! The roots just can't handle it! Buy a real pot. I learned that one the hard way.
I'll keep you updated on it's progress. it's already doubled in size since this pic so it shouldn't be to long until I have some pretty blooms to show you!
If you were wondering, I'm totally sick and wasn't able to get out and take any cool pics this week! This is what I get for having a teacher for a husband. He brings me all his kid's sickies!!

Yosemite: Mariposa Grove

After the photography walk, we ran back to our tent cabin to pack and head out. If you were wondering what a tent cabin looks like (like I was before we went), here's a picture of ours:

The walls are canvas, with a real door, and a bear box outside where you keep everything that has a scent to it in. Like everything: Shampoo, toothpaste, lotion, food, makeup, etc. Everything that has a scent has to go in the box.

And here's the inside... on our way out... which is why it's a little messy...

Then we were off and running! On our way out of the valley we stopped by Fern Springs, which is right next to the road. If you drive by to fast you might miss it, but lucky for us our tour guide on the first day of our trip pointed it out to us.

Next, we headed to the Mariposa Grove which is right inside the national park. It opened the day after we got there so we were able to visit!

Since my legs still hurt, we only went to the Grizzly Giant and back.



The trees are gorgeous! And huge!





Some of the "branches" are bigger then most trees... just wow.



The hubby in a tunnel tree

Me in a tunnel tree

If you ever have the chance to visit Yosemite I highly recommend doing so. Each time of the year is totally different and unique, you'll never experience the same thing twice.