Tawharanui Beach

Pukeko

A common native bird in New Zealand

A Few More Photos from Matakana

Kiwis, (what New Zealanders call themselves),  take their recycling seriously!

I don't think I've ever seen duck eggs for sale before.

Have your tools sharpened while you watch.

A quaint village store.

Colorful steps.

Major Eye Candy

WHATIPU RESERVE BEACH

Monday was a holiday, so we took off with our friends to visit some of the beaches on the Tasmanian Sea side (west) side of New Zealand.  I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing the never ending beauty of the coast and ocean views just minutes away.  Around every bend is a breathtaking vista, one after another after another forever, and each unique in its own way.  This day we saw beautiful black sand beaches, craggy cliffs, and volcanoes covered with lush green foliage set as the backdrop.  At the end of the day I was truly on visual overload.  When I downloaded my photos to the computer I couldn't decide which beautiful scene to post to remember this day, so for the next few days you'll see some of my favorites. 

Sunset at Takapuna Beach

One day after work we hurried home to get my camera, then walked along the beach until after sunset.  This beautiful beach is a 5 minute walk from work and a 10-15 minute walk from our flat.  Did I mention how lucky we are to be in such a beautiful place???

(For a couple of my first sunrise photos at Takapuna, click HERE)

Hamilton, New Zealand Temple

Aglow in golden evening light, this beautiful temple sits atop a hill like a sentinel, watching over miles of vibrant green country landscapes.

OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE!

I feel like I'm in a dream where I suddenly fly away from my life, surroundings, daily routine, familiar faces, and then wake up in a foreign land.......  Oh wait, that actually happened!!!!  

The past 2 months have been incredible, in what I've seen, what I am learning and what I am doing.  I'm just now beginning to tread fast enough to keep my head above water. I'm hoping that soon I'll be posting here again, and visiting your blogs, too.  Just so you know, I'll post some of my favorite photos here, but to read about our adventures and see more, follow me HERE.  We've already been to some beautiful places, and that is easy because there are photo ops around every bend.  Here's one:

It was a dark and moody day, but the sun peeked through briefly.  Hard to believe everything is so beautifully green at the beginning of winter.

The HIGHS and the LOWS

Dear Family and Friends,

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activities as we are preparing for our departure to New Zealand.  We've had a ton of medical tests, dental work, VISA paperwork, as well as attempting to arrange our personal and financial affairs while we are gone for 18 months.  During this time we have also had special training to help prepare for our responsibilities and work.  It has been a HIGH point in our lives as we have had so many wonderful experiences.


As sometimes happens, however, we have had a LOW point at the same time.  Jeff's dear father, the honored patriarch and leader of our extended family, passed away early this morning of old age.  He was 94.  I have not known a finer man.  A gentle, strong, loving, spiritual, faithful, intelligent, determined, hard working man, who has been the perfect example of manhood and leadership to our family.  We respect him, we love him, and we honor him with all our hearts.  He will be deeply missed, but in our religion, we know he lives still and is now rejoicing as he greets family and friends that have gone before, and we know he will be waiting for each of us when it is our turn to join him.

  Chester "Chet" Lavoy Larsen

Chet and Jeff (my husband)

Chet & Mary Ellen (last year's birthdays)

P.S.  In the next day or so I will post some of the experiences of the past few weeks on Our Kiwi Krossings.

THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME IS HERE!!!

I think the following 3 photos are the only photos I've posted on this blog that I did not personally take, but this is a 'visual' blog so I need you to see what I see in my dreams and will soon become a reality:

My husband and I will have the privilege and opportunity to spend 18 months in beautiful New Zealand and the Islands of the Pacific.  To be specific, we will be representing our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as Public Affairs Specialists in the Pacific Islands International Public Affairs Mission.  Our home base with be in Auckland, New Zealand, but we anticipate spending most of the 18 months traveling and meeting people throughout this area.  We do not yet know the extent or scope of our responsibilities, but we do know our primary mission will be to make friends and relationships with the people in these areas in an effort to foster mutual respect and discover ways we can serve and contribute in their communities.  Our backgrounds have given us experience in public relations, and we will also receive training before we leave.   And we will be leaving on April 11!!  Not very much time to get our affairs in order before leaving for a year and a half!!  We are both thrilled and terrified at the same time, but mostly thrilled!  

Our days will be spent serving the people in the areas we are sent and this will be our focus and work, not photography.  My camera, however, will not be left behind and I hope to document all of the exotic places we visit and especially to capture the cultures and lives of the people I know we will grow to love.


As you might imagine, blogging will now take a back seat to preparing for this amazing adventure.  I will visit you all when I can, and give you updates on our progress from time to time but will not be blogging regularly.  But when our adventure begins, I will keep you all updated on what we are doing, who we are meeting and what we are seeing.


I know many of you are not too familiar with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Mormon), with the exception of knowing of some of the more famous ones (The Osmonds, Mit Romney, Steve Young, David Archuletta, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and if you are a college basketball fan, you've definitely heard the name Jimmer from Brigham Young University); and I'm also sure you've heard about all the wacko groups that claim to have ties to the Mormon religion, (which they don't).  The most important thing for you all to know about the Mormons is that we are Christians.  We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  He came to earth to atone for our sins and be resurrected so that we too, will live again.  If you have a question about the Church or how we came to be able to 'serve a mission' for our church, as we say, ask away.  I'm happy to answer any and all questions.  In fact, I'll answer one before it is asked.  No, we did not get to choose where we will serve.  There are many ways young men and women and senior couples, can serve.  We can suggest what we would like to do, but when we put in an 'application' saying we would like to serve, we are expected to serve wherever and in whatever capacity we are called.  But as it turned out, Jeff and I have been given our dream assignment, and so we are anxiously looking forward to the next 18 months with both fear and faith.....but mostly faith!

 

February Desktop Image - Bryce

Early Morning Sun Breaks Through the Storm Clouds

Here is my February Desktop Image for you to download, enjoy and share, but please do not use for commercial purposes.  Just click HERE, then right click to set as your desktop image.  It should fill your screen and not be pixelated or blurry.  Let me know if you need help. 

Tech Talk Tuesday - Showing Scale

Have you ever tried to take a photo of a vast landscape or a really tall mountain, and are disappointed because your picture is not nearly as impressive as how the scene looked in person?  Size is often hard to capture in photographs.  One way to help your viewers see how BIG something is, is to put a person in the composition to add scale.  Here my grandson Owen is helping me show the size of this huge arch.  Below is my favorite shot of this grand scene.

Elegant Emily

Even More Beautiful on the Inside!

This is one of my three lovely daughters-in-law.  You wouldn't think so by the glam shots I took, (which were my idea), but Emily is very down to earth, in addition to being sweet and kind and fun and smart.  I am very blessed.  All my sons picked perfect brides!

Sunset Sunday (kind of) - Golden Gate Bridge

Colors In My Mind

For those of you new to my blog, I need to mention that I make no secret of the fact that my work is a blend of photography and artistic editing.  Often I do very little editing, but then there are times when I go hog wild!  Depends on the subject, the photograph and/or my mood!  I love to use HDR, textures, actions, numerous photo editing programs and techniques.... all possible in this amazing digital age. 

This photo is a case in point.  I loved the simplicity of the composition, but with a plain, boring sky, it was just, well, too plain and boring!  So I made it into a sunset!

Golden Gate Bridge - Getting the Shot

Reflections

Most serious photographers will tell you that a great photograph is the result of time spent deciding on the best composition, which lens to use, what the exposure and DOF should be, etc., etc.  This is true, that most great pictures look effortless, but in reality are the product of skill and art.  

There are, however, many exceptions to this rule.  Just ask a childrens' portrait photographer or a photojournalism photographer.  Sometimes, getting the shot itself takes precedence over composition or settings or art.  I remember an experience from a week long photography workshop I took, taught by National Geographic Photographer Joel Sartore.  (Incidentally, he is fabulous both as a photographer and an instructor, and this was an experience I will never forget!!)  Anyway, he was showing some of his work, and if I remember correctly, it was a photo of an event in a rodeo where the action was fast and furious.  He took an amazing shot which looked like he was almost going to be trampled by the action.  While most of us were admiring this shot, someone in the class raised his hand and commented that the horizon in the background was crooked.  Joel had a great response that I can't remember, but the gist is that sometimes something will make a photo great even if it is not technically perfect or has other flaws, or even if it is a quick candid catching a great moment in time.

I thought of all this when I took this photo.  It was a quick shot through the windshield of our moving car, directly into the sun.  And, yes, I had to do a ton of editing to even get it presentable.  Whether because it is through tinted glass, or into the sun, or through fog, or because I was using a polarizer, or whatever...... I ended up with a weird shade of green/blue and some banding in the sky.  But somehow it works for me! 

Phriday Phun - Golden Gate Bridge

I Left My Heart.......

Wouldn't it be PHUN to be in San Francisco with that special someone right now???  I guess the next best thing is either to plan a romantic getaway, (a Valentine's Day surprise maybe?),  or relive memories of a past romantic interlude.  (Be sure to see Scott's comment on my last post about a special photo of a very special trip to San Francisco.)  If none of that is possible, then I hope you will enjoy San Francisco through the lens of my camera.

Golden Gate Bridge

MISTY WATERCOLOR MEMORIES

Whereas London Bridge in Lake Havasu should not be on anyone's 'bucket list,' (IMHO), Golden Gate Bridge should be on everyone's list.  Actually, if possible, photographing this beautiful place should happen more than once in a lifetime.   Truly a photographer's dream location!  It is a magical place, ever changing... moody with mist one minute, romantic with a golden sunset the next, then something surprisingly different a minute later.  Here the fog was gently rolling over the land looking like cotton candy as it reached up to the sky.  I'm trying to pretend I'm back there as I avoid looking at the gray, snowy views out my window today.  I'll post some more of my misty memories of this bridge during the next few days.  

Tech Talk Tuesday - Making the Sun Your Friend! (plus a bonus!)

A LOVE -HATE Relationship!

If you are an outdoor photographer, you probably have a love-hate relationship with the sun.  If you are a portrait photographer, you know that bright sunlight produces harsh shadows and 'raccoon' eyes on faces, and blown out high lights where you don't want them.  If you are a landscape photographer, you know that bright sunlight produces flat, lifeless images.  As a beginning photographer, you learn to avoid the sun, because more often than not, the pictures taken in the sun look like......well, they look awful, so you avoid the sun shots.

As you grow in experience, however, you learn how to control and tolerate the sun.  You try to shoot on lightly overcast or foggy days, or for landscapes, you try to shoot in the 'golden' hours with the help of polarizing filters, lens shades,  etc.  For portraits, you use scrims to block the sun, or direct its intensity away from your subject, and you look for locations to place your subjects where they are in the shade or at least out of direct sunlight.  The sun is the boss!  

And then at some point, you stand up to the sun, and and look it square in the eye....(on second thought, don't do that!).....  and say something like, I'm not going to let you bully me around any more, or force me to stop shooting during most of the daylight hours when I'm awake and want to enjoy my photography hobby!   I'm going to be bold and use you as part of my artistic canvas and I'll be the boss!  This of course means being creative and stretching yourself to think of different compositions where the sun adds to the image rather than detracts.  

When I took a portrait class last year, the instructor told us and showed us how he loves the sun and uses it to produce stunning images with spectacular high lights bouncing off the model's hair and clothes, accompanied by soft fill light to produce beautiful lighting on her face.  Ever since then I have looked at sunlight in a different way.  Yes, it is true that the hours around sunrise and sunset produce the most beautiful light possible, but that time is not the 'only show in town.'  Below are two cases where I've used the sun instead of avoiding it, and I think they both work well.  Once in a while it is fun to use sun flare instead of avoiding it, as in the first image, and creating silhouettes with unusual shapes by shooting directly into the sun, often makes for an interesting image.  Another little hint here, although these are not HDR shots, often a stunning HDR image results from placing the sun in your series of exposures.  (See below for a little bonus discussion.)

 

Here's a little bonus discussion for Tech Talk Tuesday.  Remember, I like to compose pictures that show a perspective or view that most people would miss if they were walking by the same scene as I was looking at.  This means you look at your 'subject' from all angles and points of view to find something interesting and different, that catches your attention, and will catch the attention of your viewers.  We all know about getting high and shooting down, or getting low and shooting up, but I didn't realize the concept of shooting low to the max until a few months ago when I accompanied a wedding photographer on a shoot.  Some of the most unusual and beautiful shots she took were from a very low position, angling up.  Now you may think she was sitting on the ground, or even lying on the ground.  Not so.  While standing, she bent over and held her camera at arm's length, an inch away from the ground and pointing it up to take her shots.  When you think about this, you would say, but how could she do this and look through the viewfinder or even at the LCD screen???  Well, she couldn't and didn't.  It takes practice and a ton of shots to get the subject just where she wants in the frame, but she just aimed in the general direction.  Because one doesn't often see photos from ground level, (and I mean ground level), looking almost straight up, many of her shots were fascinating.  (This would be a phun experiment to try on Phriday Phun.)  My point of view on both of these shots is unique from what most people would see, and I think it makes them more interesting.

Winter Desert

A Bit of Winter Color

I had to look pretty hard to find some color, but I managed to find a few little flashes to remind me that this landscape will look very different in a few months.  I can't remember what this plant is called, except that it starts with a 'c', but with the many I saw during my traipsing through the desert, there were about 3 growing close together that had a couple colorful tips. 

"London Bridge is Falling Down".....

........ and then was rebuilt over a bay at Lake Havasu, Arizona

There have been a succession of bridges called the 'London Bridge' built over the River Thames for more than 2000 years, all being distroyed and replaced because of disrepair or political upheavals.

In 1014, during one such upheaval, (according to tradition), the bridge at that time was destroyed by Norwegian prince Olaf, in a successful bid to divide the defending forces of Danes who held the city of London, thereby regaining London for the Anglo-Saxon king.  This has been thought to have inspired the nursery rhyme, "London Bridge is Falling Down."

The bridge just prior to the bridge photographed above, was the 'old' medieval bridge and had 19 arches, shops build along the bridge, and gatehouses.  It is often mistaken for the bridge a ways away that had towers.  The southern gatehouse was a notorious place in London's history as the severed heads of traitors were impaled on pikes and displayed there.  This 'tradition' started in 1305 and continued for 355 years.  At one time in 1598 there were over 30 heads for 'commuters' to view.  After 600 years, this bridge had to be replaced. 

The 'new' bridge, (above), was engineered by John Rennie and opened in 1831.  As the years passed, this became one of the most congested and heavily traveled roads to London.  The bridge was widened to accommodate the heavy traffic, but that weakened the foundations, and so it had to be removed and replaced.

The bridge was purchased by Robert P McCulloch of McCulloch Oil for $2,460,000.   He then paid n additional $2,700,000 to have it transported and rebuilt at Lake Havasu City, in the middle of the Arizona desert.   It was dedicated in 1971.   McCulloch felt he needed an attraction to draw investors to his new 'retirement' town out in the middle of 'nowhere'.

In my humble opinion, if you are thinking about traveling to Lake Havasu just to see the London Bridge, don't waste your time.  The only thing that was impressive when we were there was the beautiful sky.  Well, you might be impressed if you like dessert and trailer parks!  And when I say desert, I don't mean the beautiful Saguaro cactus type desert.  However, if you live where the winters are cold, and you want to be a snowbird, this area might be for you.  Between Lake Havasu City, and Yuma, we have never seen so many RV resorts, trailers, fifth wheels, motor homes,  and campers in our lives!!  Our son in law tells us that in the little town of Yuma, there are over 23,000 trailer spaces and the population doubles in the winter.  And in the summer when they all go home, many businesses just close up.

NOT a Phun Phriday........

for this bad boy, who met up with........

these hombres!

Saguaros at Sunset

The Saguaro cactus, (pronounced Sawarrow), is a magnificent plant and I can see why photographers travel great distances to capture their unique, unusual and diverse shapes and characteristics.  Each one has its own personality.  They are sacred to the Native Americans who treat them with the same dignity and respect as they would their brothers and sisters.  Indeed, they look very human, especially at twilight when it is easy to imagine them taking on human form.

The Saguaro is a very slow grower, maybe only an inch a year, and they don't start growing 'arms' until they are over 20 years old (according to a park ranger).  They can grow to 50 feet tall, and those with more than 5 arms can be 200 years old.  They have a smooth and waxy skin with ridges of 2 inch spines.  Night blooming white flowers appear in May and June and secret a sweet nectar in its tubes that awaits fertilization by cross pollination with the help of birds, bats and insects.  If fertilized, fruit develops and ripens just before fall and is eaten by all desert creatures and was an important source of food for the early Native Americans.

Photographers can test their composition skills as they view and capture these beautiful plants from unique angles to emphasize their individual character and personality.  I had a wonderful time, but after seeing photos of how beautiful this area is in the spring when this desert comes alive with color, I must go back again! 

Saguaro Winter

Winter in Saguaro National Park produces muted shades of browns, greens, rust and lavender, warmed by early morning and late evening light

Textures, shapes and size are what makes photos at this time of year interesting

It is a beautiful, but very hostile environment.  EVERTHING, and I mean everything, seems to have stickers or thorns, from huge needles to little tiny slivers you can't even see, but you certainly can feel.  Even though I was careful not to touch anything, they must be able to jump out and attach themselves because I'm still picking out slivers!

The size and shapes of these Saguaros are magnificent.  I will give you a little more information on them in my next post. 

Meet Barrett Jay

Barrett Jay

(Nicknamed "Baby Bear" for now, and Jay is for Michelle's grandfather who passed away 2 years ago)

The last day of our Arizona trip ended with a phone call from Michelle saying she was in the hospital because Barrett decided he needed to be born 3 weeks early.  We kept in touch via cell phone as we drove for 10 hours to get home.  Jaron and Michelle described a pretty exciting birth.  Michelle was not feeling any pain until they broke her water, and in less than an hour, and with no medication whatsoever, Barrett made a grand entrance.  And when I say 'grand', Jaron describes the event by saying that after only 2 pushes, he "shot out and was practically airborne, and the doctor barely made it into the room to catch him!"  He is a beautiful baby and definitely looks like he is a brother to Gavin and Sawyer, but maybe looks a bit more like Gavin.  He weighed 7 lbs. 3 ozs. and was 20 inches long.  He had a little bit of trouble breathing for the first few hours, but now is doing fine.  Below is a quick snap in the hospital.  I'll take a 'formal' newborn portrait in a few days. 

This makes our tenth grandchild, and we feel so blessed!!!!

 

Sunset Sunday - Saguaro National Park

Saguaro Silhouette at Sunset

Just returned late last night from a lovely trip to Arizona.  Will catch up and post photos of our trip soon!

More Maternity

BABY THOUGHTS

Phun Phriday - Maternity Shots

"Girls just wanna have fun", so Michelle and I decided to do some corny, funny shots.  (Jaron played along!) What do you think???

They usually don't pick out a name until the baby is born, so we thought we'd give them some suggestions!

This is the cutest ultrasound photo I have ever seen.  Can you see his little hand waving at the camera?

Just in case there is any question that Michelle is pregnant!

We are very excited about the soon to arrive special gift!!!