We’re getting close and we’re so excited to see Kaya become the big sis.
Here’s to my beautiful wife and all she does carrying the weight. Literally.
This photo was created with a single off-camera light with a softbox. (Oh yeah, and a pregnant lady too!) I love the creativity that emerges out of the constraints of a single light.
Only 3 more to go before we get the basketball team together 🙂
Here’s a little snapshot I took of the eroding walls directly above Siyeh Creek in Glacier National Park. I’ve bought into the “as seen by our human eyes” landscape shots more and more. Don’t automatically put your wide-angle lens (24mm, 17mm) on in the great outdoors. Take in what your eyes see at 50mm. Yup – 50mm is about equal to the field of vision of a human eye. That’s why many people just love the “feel” of a 50. I personally love the way the Glacier wall is prominent, and huge, while it is accented with the coniferous trees below, and not a touch of sky above. And yes, these are BIG walls, but they seem even bigger if they can’t fit into a camera frame! [click on image to enlarge any picture] Continue reading
I can’t wait to meet our newest bun in the oven. My peace around this next stage is understanding where Kaya fits in – the big sister, the inspiration, the teacher. Kaya, our only child, is hitting amazing notes of language development, taking kinesthetic leaps, and starting to interface with the world around her as a sentient-cognitive being. It’s an unbelievable process witnessing her mind develop, transition and emerge. The process has been brisk. It is also warming; it has also presented up the Buddhist ideal of the “beginner’s mind”, or shoshin. This is shoshin: 初心 – as written (by computer) in Japanese.
There are lots of ideas, books, theorems that have been born in the womb of this quality. You can read your cerebellum blue about the idea. You can meditate the idea into a form and quality you desire, but I believe that you will fall short until you engage in the empirical experience. There is nothing greater than acting on what you believe. The way to discover shoshin is to be a parent.
If there’s a magazine in the Bay Area that seems to sing to my skill set and interests, it is Bay Nature. Bay Nature is an organic journey into all things natural that shape our landscapes and inspire the people who live in them. Everything from redwoods, to tiny rare annual plants to mushrooms to the people who help conserve the resources live in this regional magazine. Its the whole ecosystem, the anthropocene at its finest. (I just learned to embrace this word at the 1st ever Society for Conservation Biology Congress in Oakland at which I spoke on some of my ecological work in the Oakland Hills and beyond)
Mirror Lake, Yosemite – a favorite summer getaway.
I’m just excited for Friday and some relaxing times with good friends and family coming up in the next few weeks. Life is rad – rally hard!
Click on the image to get a larger view of Mirror Lake and a wild summer carrot.
Many of my wedding photography appointments have been initiated with “We’re getting married and, so and so recommended we talk to you.” And I can’t imagine a better way to start things off. There’s no pretense, only a conversation. I don’t apply for any awards on Martha Stewart’s Weddings or the Knot so no one comes in expecting a $10K photography extravaganza that may be on the cover of some wedding association magazine. I just talk, listen, dream, collaborate, plan, and shoot. The results are pretty rad. (Or so the couples say!)
My wife makes amazing happen regularly. And yes, it is a noun.
She helps create a positive environment for kids that allows them to reach their potential and become the next leaders to break glass ceilings and brick walls alike. This is a quick post to celebrate the 4th ever graduating class of seniors from an East Oakland revolutionary charter school named Lighthouse.
128 miles.
12,000 vertical feet.
3 major Bay Area landmark summits.
1 day.
This is Alt.
I often get asked why I do weddings. I mean after all, conservation and nature photography comes a far cry from gowns and bouquets. Or does it.
When Adam and Maya rode up to the engagement session on bikes, I knew instantly knew they were going to be awesome. Although a bit camera shy at first, I can’t imagine a better engagement/lifestyle session. By the end of our walk in the park, I can truly say that they are the quintessential Oaktown couple – creative, passionate, and real. They’re getting married this weekend and I bet it will be fun!
Lech Naumovich Photography 