Some "fun stuff" and "pretty stuff" from our Yosemite Landscape Workshop

This last week has been so full of fantastic photos, I don't know where to start!  But a while ago (before I got sick, ha) I did promise more photos from the Yosemite workshop, so those will get priority.  Not to mention that they're pretty awesome photos of really awesome people in a thoroughly awesome park!!

First, you should meet the cast of characters (and yes, we are characters).  Here we are posing very seriously after dark on a ridge overlooking Yosemite valley.  (Unfortunately, I moved, so I'm kind of blurry.  But blurry is kinda my norm...so there ya go.)

And here's the photo I annoyed you all with last night on Facebook.  Don't you want to see what they were shooting? :)

Here it is!  We found this beautiful cascade as we exited the Park, on our way back to the Bay Area.  Perfect spot to work on blurred-motion, using neutral density filters to slow our shutter speeds.

The day before, we found a lovely mossy-green wall near lower Yosemite Falls and did a few portraits...here's Amanda! :)

She has great expressions.  :D

We found this beautiful late-afternoon rainbow in the clouds of mist below Bridalveil Fall...

Here's something that half bothers me, half makes me laugh.  Have you ever noticed this tree before?  It shows up in a TON of the images taken from the Tunnel View, near Inspiration Point.  You can often spot those goofy flat-topped branches in people's photos, over on the right side near Bridalveil Fall.  Next time you see a photo from this famous spot, check the tree!

Night view from the same spot...with my fisheye.  (Presumably that silly tree is here somewhere...just too dark to spot it!)

The obligatory crazy waterfall-hair self-portrait.  (Not too crazy this time.)

The students picked up on all my bad habits.  They take self-portraits all the time now...

...and they have a similar infatuation with sun stars...

...and they can frequently be seen taking photos of their feet.  Hahahaha.

They even do it when they have snowshoes on.

(We snowshoed partway out the Dewey Point trail -- it was a blast!)

Food makes us happy.

Erin is a true photographer...she'll do whatever it takes to get that awesome photo!  (This can't have been a comfortable position!)

Sometimes we use tripods...

...and sometimes, we use bag-o-pods.  (My faithful Tamrac Velocity 9 has served me well in this capacity for several years.  It's the real reason I carry a camera bag around -- to put my camera ON, not IN. Haha.)

(Sometimes we also use friend-o-pods, but I didn't take any photos of that phenomenon.)

We did lots of blurred-motion water photos:

...and stopped-motion studies.  This is one of my favorites.  I love these colors, and how the image caught the water's motion.

A pretty pathway at Happy Isles

This woodpecker was very busy making holes in the oaks in Sentinel Meadow.

The little guy (and his friends, I guess) have been quite industrious, as you can see...

Perched on a rock above the Merced River, Cathedral Rocks in the background...

I'd been trying to decide which highway to take home, and asking the Lord about it.  Finally decided at the last minute to take highway 140.  In true Father-who-loves-us fashion, God had a surprise waiting for us!  As we headed into the central valley, we came around a bend and there was a huge patch of stunning wildflowers.  (I think I'll post a few more in the Facebook album.)

We went to San Francisco that afternoon, drove down Lombard Street, and made good use of certain famous items for sale at Ghirardelli Square.  We finished the day on the Embarcadero with some "blue hour" shots of the bridge...but I'll save those last couple images for another post.

And the workshop ended.  And we returned home with many CF cards full of photos.  And we downloaded them all and were very happy.  The end.  ;)

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty...

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer
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Yosemite with Leah

Wow, this poor blog has been neglected lately...this week has been VERY full and I've barely had time to breathe!  My friend Leah came to California for a workshop by Dane Sanders, and she and I took a quick overnight trip to Yosemite.  It was beautiful there, as always...we came away with great photos, good memories, and hearts more grateful than ever for God's goodness to us.

We got there Sunday just in time to catch a lovely rainbow in Bridalveil Falls before the sun went down.  Such a sweet reminder of God's promises.

That night we did star trails...my "official" star trail shot of the evening is coming later, but for now, you can enjoy this one.  :)  It was one of a few 30-second shots before a couple longer exposures of 30 minutes.

One more long-ish exposure of Bridalveil, from just after sunset...love the way the water streams down so gently over the hard cliff face.  It's so soft and creamy.

It was great hanging out with you, Leah!  :D  Thanks for being an awesome friend!!

I'm heading out to pick up my friend Rob at the airport, then we're going to the rehearsal for Julie and Dan's wedding tomorrow...can't wait to photograph these fun people!  :D

- Kelsey Schweickert

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Rainbow

Well, I was going to post about the grand times we had last Thursday and Friday, shredding the snowy slopes at Heavenly with the tremendous Novotny family. But I think we'll delay that one a bit, because...

It rained all day yesterday.  Around 6pm the sun came out, and I looked out the window and saw an enormous rainbow shining in the sky.  Talk about gorgeous!  But I couldn't photograph it here at home -- too many trees in the way.  By the time I grabbed my camera stuff and headed for my car, the sun had disappeared and the rainbow was gone.  I hopped in anyway and zoomed off, praying that the Lord would bring back the rainbow.  Sure enough, by the time I got to the spot where I could shoot, there it was!  So...here are a few rainbows for you...and an assortment of other pretty things.  :)

God keeps His promises!

 

Of course, to get this ^ sometimes you have to endure some of this:

 

And your shoes and pants end up soaked, like this:

 

...because you have to go wading through waist-deep grass and mustards and thistles, all thoroughly rain-drenched.  And then the sun goes away and the rain comes back and you get dumped on.  But that's okay.  I found lots of pretty things!  :)  And the sun came out again...

There were some pretty purple mustards on the hillside, and well, you know me, had to photograph those too!

And some sort of yellow bush.

I love dogwoods!

And a funny little thistle. I didn't enjoy wading through a bunch of these guys on my way to find just the right
spot to photograph the rainbow, but once I was there I figured I might as well photograph the little thistly guys too. They are pretty.

Another rainbow shot...

If you look closely, you can see a red-winged blackbird having the time of his life up there in the sky, just goofing off as only a little bird can.  I'm sure he was enjoying the beautiful rainbow too, in his birdy little way.

And gradually the clouds cleared and the rainbow faded away...

And Kelsey trod the muddy little path back to her car and went home with a full CF card and a happy heart.  ;)

God bless you all!  May you rest securely in Him -- knowing that His promises never fail.

- Kelsey Schweickert


Discovering beauty...

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