One Camera. One Lens. One Photo a Day.

Kate during playdate with Eva…

Another rainy day here in So Cal.

Kate had one of her BFFs Eva over for a playdate and they were all into princess dress up and hair styling today.

Here Kate adjusts her Disney princess ears during the afternoon playdate.

The Great Deluge Continues…

This is another day we have been pounded by rain here in the OC.

The last time I remember it raining this much was in 2005 (at least to the best of my memory).  That year California was pounded with rain in January and all that water caused a huge mudslide in Ventura County at La Conchita.  I’m certainly hoping that this year’s rain doesn’t cause devastation — though it’s certainly had an effect on the folks here.

Coming back from an appointment in Anaheim, I had the camera with me.

Seeing the weather like this took me back to a trip I made to Cape Town back in 2002.

It was winter there (our summer) but it was like this…socked in with rain, truly dreary.

Sitting in a bus with a group of travelers that I was documenting, I decided to put the camera up to the window and see what would happen.

This was back in the relatively early days of digital and I was thinking about making photographs that I would never have even probably attempted had I been shooting on film cameras.

I would put the camera and lens up to the window and just play…play with focus, play with color balance, play with exposure…just seeing what would happen when the variables were changed.

I still looked for things that struck my fancy whether it was a lone tree, or a cool pattern from a car that we passed while riding the bus.

The results were surprising and while the working methods were somewhat careless (maybe carefree would be a better word), the point was to push beyond making photos that you would normally make.

Today that came back and though a bit trickier while driving on the roads (don’t try this at home), it was still a fun challenge to try to make something interesting with what was available — and in this case a very rain-soaked road and the Christmas trees decorated along La Paz Road in Mission Viejo viewed at  1/8th of a second.

Sparky gets doused…

It was all in good fun, as he and Kate took their baths after dinner tonight.

Unless he’s really tired (and he was before dinner, just cranky) he really tends to roll with the punches that Kate throws at him.

When we try to reign her in because we’re concerned that she might be playing too rough with him, he just laughs and it only encourages her.

I thought this would be the case with the water being poured over his head, but nope, he loved it, and it would have continued if Mom hadn’t pulled him out of bath and put him to bed.

They do have a special relationship and we’re grateful for that.

Another leaf photo…

I know, that’s three leaf photos this week…hey, it’s raining and this was a cool leaf .

Kate, with her princess umbrella…

Sorry, it’s been kind of recurring theme this week — but we’re dealing with rain and lots of it (with much more to come).

We were actually able to get Kate into her jacket and bring the umbrella — though moments after this photo was made, she closed it and gave it back to me announcing she didn’t want to bring it since she wasn’t allowed to bring it in with her to school…and then promptly took off for the car.

Leaves on top of the 4Runner…

I was heading out and loading up and noticed this collection of leaves on top of the car.

I thought the contrast was interesting between the hard metal and the soft natural.

The rain has been knocking the leaves off the trees around the neighborhood making it feel truly like autumn.

Siblings, waiting room…

I love this moment of the two kids as they wait for Sparky’s 15 month exam with Dr. Ball.

They were engrossed in a Disney DVD being played in the waiting room and this was fleeting, but worth remembering.

I thought an image made from his exam (or his shots) might be the photo for today and while I liked them, I thought this was something that I haven’t seen before (hopefully it won’t be the only one!).

Leaf on Windshield…

As I was heading out late this afternoon, it was awfully dreary.

I hadn’t had much of a chance to photograph today, but still brought the camera with me.

I’m glad I did as this little persistent leaf (it hung on for quite a while even after I started to drive away), made an interesting photograph made through the windshield looking out late in the day.

Sleep Over Buddies…

Eva and Kate sit at the top of the stairs at Erin and John’s where Kate will be for another sleepover.

You have to love it when they rush up the stairs excited to get up to Eva’s room to…read.

Kate in her cleaning mode:

The little girl has been on a bit of a tear lately.  Spending time cleaning throughout the house — often enlisting her friends including Eva who was here last week for a play date.  The girls proceeded to “clean” the downstairs bathroom, leaving soap trails on the photographs and frames in there as well as using just about every piece of toilet paper in the process.

Here she keeps an eye on her brother to make sure he doesn’t get in the way of her work.