Life According to Shaz

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Photography

After sending the this link out this morning to practically everyone on my email list, I received many compliments on the pictures, and many comments on what a good "photographer" I am. It's flattering really, and I will say, that I never give myself enough credit for actually being "skilled" in this area.

Admittedly, I tend to spend a lot of time looking for the right angle, the right lighting, and the right "everything" to make the picture come out perfect (just ask my kids who are probably sick of me saying to turn left, look up, look down and Ryun who probably stood for hours this weekend just watching me take pictures). I even seek out opportunities that I know will provide good "picture-taking" moments (like getting up at 5:30 in the morning on vacation just to get pictures of the sun rising over the mountains).

Still, I wonder how anyone could actually take a bad picture when presented with such beautiful opportunities as I have had in the past. I know it happens, and I know there are people who don't take the time that I do, but I am in such awe of the beauty that it is almost beyond my comprehension how someone could not take the time to get the picture, "just right." There is a difference between just going out and snapping a picture, and going out and paying close attention to the detail (the lighting, the camera angle, the timing etc). To each his own of course...I am only trying to point out how intensely I feel about this, how truly passionate I am about it.

Life and nature provide many, many opportunities to capture the beauty of it all, and I don't intend to let a single moment of it pass me by.

Weekend In The Mountains

There can't be anything more difficult than getting back to "real life" after a vacation. Not that there is anything wrong with "real life" but "real life?"

It's not this.

I wonder if people who live in areas like this for any length of time still appreciate the beauty that surrounds them every day. Myself, I find it hard to believe that I could ever, ever get sick of a view like this.

The sun set over the mountains, changing their color, making them look like some sort of a water color painting.

I got up at 5:30 in the morning with the intent of capturing the sun rising over the mountains. I had no idea how truly beautiful it would be.

This was taken just before darkness descended, giving the mountains and the water a purplish tint, which I am not sure was captured well in this picture.

I took 120 pictures in all, none of which could possibly capture the peace and beauty of the mountains. As I said to Ryun though, even if the Lodge was located in the middle of a barren wasteland, the service and kindness of the staff still would have made the trip worthwhile. It was exemplary, and really like nothing I have ever seen or experienced before. I let them know as much when I filled out the email survey we got upon our arrival home, asking about our stay.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Gone, Baby Gone

For the weekend anyway. Tomorrow, Ryun and I will depart, sans kids, for a weekend getaway to Vermont, courtesy (well at least in part) of Mom and Dad. We will be married for 10 years tomorrow, and if memory serves, this is the first time that our anniversary falls on Memorial Day Weekend, as it did the year we were married. Our wedding was on a Sunday.

Ten years flies by like nothing. It seems impossible that it could really be that long, or that we could be 10 years older, or that Emily will be 11 next weekend.

Mother Nature has decided to bestow upon us the gift of good weather which was quite generous of her indeed. We will be staying at the Trapp Family Lodge, which we have visited in the past, but never stayed. It has been 9 years but I can remember being in awe of the beauty then. I am sure, with my newer and more mature appreciation of wildlife and nature, it will increase tenfold on this trip. Aside from the weekend away with Ryun, the part I am most looking forward to is soaking in (and of course taking many photos of) the beauty that will surround us.

Rejuvenation, here I come!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Most toddlers...

...would enjoy reading a story like this:

But when you're a toddler who has two older sisters that are *obsessed* with a tv show from the late 80's?

You read this instead.

And yes, Saved By The Bell replays on The N every night. My kids? Yeah, they totally think Slater is HOT.

The Saved By The Bell Scrapbook? Courtesy of my sister Heather, who found it my parents house a while back.