Maxxis

Tire detail on Justin's new bike. Justin is the general contractor on the remodeling project in our new house.

Cassette

A closeup of the gears on Justin's new downhill bike. Not shot in B&W or altered in PS.

Justin's Bike

I loved the circular look of the derailleur and gears of Justin's bike s it lays in his pickup truck bed. I also thought it is cool that the shot has a B&W appearance even though it was shot in color and I didn't do any Photoshopping to change the color levels.

Self In Grohe Showerhead

The past two days we've been picking fixtures for remodeling we're doing on our new house in Portland. Ordering bathroom fixtures is a tedious, time-consuming process with lots of waiting and no place to sit. While endlessly poking around the plumbing supply showroom and looking at everything for the 12th time, I noticed this dinner-plate-sized Grohe showerhead on display. I took about ten shots in the thing, arcing my head up and back. This was the only shot with a generally decent composition. I think it's funny and not your usual self pic.

Cub Scout Friends

I love the feeling of this photo even though, technically, it has a lot of problems. I love the happiness and camaraderie of Zack and his friends at the Pinewood Derby.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

From the Pinewood Derby last night. My grandson, Zack, his friend, and my SIL, Erik, line up cars for the first heat.

Pinewood Derby Car

My grandson, Zack, raced this Beaver Car in his Cub Scout Pinewood Derby tonight. Cool car. It was very fast and well designed. Zack won Third Place overall!

Sold!

Our buyer has removed all restrictions on the house purchase! The SOLD sign went up this weekend!

The Flying Wing

I took this photo at the World War II Air Museum in Palm Springs, California in February, 2006. My husband and I were very lucky and happened upon a speech by Brigadier General Robert Cardenas (Ret.) (http://members.tripod.com/derekhorne/cardenas.html) who was the first test pilot for the Northrup YB-49, Flying Wing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_wing). Following the speech, the air museum gave a demonstration flight of this small size, Northrup N9-MB Flying Wing, from Planes of Fame Air Museum, Chino, California (http://www.planesoffame.org/menu.php).

Pew and Window

This photo is from a trip I made last year to La Purisima Mission with my friend Dawn. I felt drawn to the feeling of the light coming through the window by the wooden pew. The shot was completely 50/50 before editing. PSE4 was able to help me even out the contrast between the bright window light and the dark, church interior. Still, the shot needs something, I think. Perhaps an inflatable priest reading his bible.

Wall Mural With Iron Scroll

The decor at Sol Y Luna is so well thought out and executed! http://www.solylunarestaurant.com/ I recommend all Angelenos rush there to enjoy the food and ambience! Did I mention they have a strolling guitarist who plays for you while you eat?

The main dining room includes a full wall mural of which I've made art of one end. The painter is Miguel Castillo. (I looked for his website or other credits but couldn't find any.) From the restaurant website: A colorful wall-length mural by artist Miguel Castillo depicts famous Mexicans Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, Frida Kahlo, Pedro Infante, Luis "El Gallo Giro" Aguilar, Maria Felix, Mario Moreno "Cantinflas," Agustin Lara, German Valdez, Adalberto Martinez and Dolores del Rio. They appear to be looking at the dining room patrons with approving eyes.

Sun Chair

I LOVE these dining chairs at Sol Y Luna! Woof! All their chairs have a large, carved wooden sun detail. What I like about this shot, which I couldn't see in the dim light of the restaurant, is you can see details of other suns through the spaces of my sun. Cool, huh? (You may have to double click the photo to make it large enough to see the other suns.) I shot this in existing light so the reflections you see are from the camera's eye trying to get a fix on the subject for auto-focus reasons.

Sol Y Luna

The water glass at Sol Y Luna. I've been wanting to go to this restaurant for a long time. During the house fumigation, I'm staying about five blocks from it on Ventura Blvd.

Fumigating

Our house is a very, very, very fine house!

Tented

View of our Gross Avenue house under the big top.

Peligro

Had our house tented today for termite abatement. Doh.

Corbin Bowl

One of the iconic neons on Ventura Blvd!

Arnie on Alert

There's a new cat in the neighborhood who taunts mine. Arnie's keeping a close eye on the intruder.

Lemon Drop

I've been trying to make this photo for awhile in various restaurants. This time I got both a bubble and a lemon.

Hide In Plain Sight

My tabby, Malibu, feeling safe in the laundry basket. She's a tricky one to catch! Most shots I take of her are blurred--like this one.

It's Spring!

Flowers everywhere! More poppy's from my neighbor's yard. I loved the sunny, yellow color.

Trumpet Vine

The Trumpet Vine on our patio arbor bloomed this week. The flowers are gorgeous! Unfortunately, they will be destroyed next week when we have to have our house tented for a termite abatement. It's part of getting our house ready for escrow. I feel sad but I decided to document these beautiful blooms before then.

Sean's Dandelion Ring

My daughter-in-law made Sean a dandelion ring while they were playing in the yard. His "Gan-pa" helped him model it for my hand series.

Dandelion Ring

Another in my hand series. My daughter-in-law made a dandelion ring for my grandson. She agreed to model it for me.

Ripples

My house is full of packing boxes and this roll cardboard. Great texture, shadows and light.

Palm Leaf With Shadows

Taken on a walk around the block. I thought this might look interesting in black and white so I made a second version below.

My Neighbor's Poppy

From my walk around the block looking for spring flowers.

MugPii2

Local tagger's "signature" on the sidewalk near my house. I felt intrigued by the flow and balance of the characters. It makes a wonderful artistic graffiti composition.

Exit Lost Hills Road

Having fun shooting in traffic on the 101 West coming home from a movie. This was the only shot that had any interesting composition. I love the sign! (My husband was driving.)

Sold A House!

No April Fool's! We sold our house on Gross Avenue in West Hills. We've been here 11 years and our leaving feels bittersweet. We're looking forward to new travels and new times in Oregon. However, we'll miss family and friends we've come to know and love in California.