Last night I finished an editing project, so I let myself go have some fun with some garden photos before diving into the next big project.  :)  Enjoy...

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty... 

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer

Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook

Extravagance

Welcome to another overdue blog post -- the tulips have long since finished blooming, but they were so stunning, they definitely deserve some air time!

To my mind, tulips are sheer luxury.  They don't really come back (except for a few varieties) and they cost a lot more per flower than a couple packets of seeds.  They don't last very long in cut-flower arrangements and even in the garden the blooms are rather delicate.  But they are such stunning flowers that we can't help but plant them every year...I'm quite happy eating oatmeal a little more often so I can save a few more dollars for tulip bulbs.  ;)  Spring isn't spring without the riot of extravagant color that tulips bring to the garden!

Enjoy...

 

Such delicate, intricate striations on these petals...I'm sure there are no two alike in the world.

(Well, what can I say, the forget-me-nots were blooming nearby...and they asked very politely...so of course this sucker happily photographed them too...)

Ahhhh so pretty.  That just makes my heart happy.  Beauty is such an amazing thing for the soul!

Next up: senior session with the lovely Heather!  :)

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty... 

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer
Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook

Rest for your soul...

In spite of the post-Christmas doldrums, there’s something I love about January/February…it’s the time of year when I get to pursue some personal projects!  The photography business gets a little slower-paced, and I have a little more time to refresh and renew those creative juices.  Honestly, the whole slow-down thing hasn’t quite happened yet, at least not the way I hoped; I got sick a while ago with The Cold That Won’t Go Away, and for the past six weeks it’s intermittently reared its ugly head.  So I’m still catching up, finishing one last big (and wonderful) project—Austin and Jenna’s wedding.  (Stay tuned for more of their photos soon!)

Anyways, one of my lifelong simple joys, as you already know if you’ve followed this blog for a while, is the beauty and variety of flowers.  Actually it’s not really a “simple” joy.  They’re tremendously intricate.  And detailed.  And unique, and amusing, and whimsical, and comforting, and just…beautiful.

Growing up surrounded by the many varieties in my mom’s garden, it would be hard not to develop a special affection for these lovely expressions of our God's creativity.  Think about it—each flower was once just an idea in God’s head.  He’s showing us something about himself in these pretty little things.

So last Sunday when I was at my parents’ house, I took some time to wander around the garden and collect a few flower photos.  It’s been at least a month since I last did that, and oh my, it was such a treat!  A garden is a haven for the heart—a place where your soul can rest and drink in the refreshment of its unique beauty.  Hope you’re refreshed by these too…

 

 

It's Daphne time!  Love their sweet, citrusy fragrance.

 

 

 

Little blue rosemary blossoms

 

I popped my head in the greenhouse too...

 

Just look at this pansy-face.  Doesn't that make you grin?

Till next time, friends!  :)

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty... 

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer
Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook

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
Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook