Dan pulled out his old camera.  I’m pretty sure this camera came along with him when we moved in together in 2000.  He picked it up, turned it on, and snapped a photo.  The batteries still worked.  Film may be a little grainy after all these years but I’m guessing images will still turn out.  Just so simple.

At the same time, my daughter recently made the statement that we don’t have any baby photos of her.  We do have some on the walls and more than we can count on my computer.  We have fallen really behind though on keeping a printed photo album like we did for years and years.  Mackenzie will be four in less than a month.  I last updated my printed album when she was about 3 months old.  This is something that I definitely believe it and will get back to… this winter.

I just found it very interesting because there is a little part of me that misses film.  I do love the ease and instant gratification of digital though.  This isn’t meant to be a which is better post actually.  Just a reality check to remember to make prints.

Clients buy digital packages a lot these days.  I strongly encourage clients to at least do the little upgrade to include printed proofs in their package.  In fact, I sell the printed proofs just slightly over cost because I really really want everyone to have them.  So whether it be personal shots taken with your iphone, or professional photographs, I encourage you to make some prints, even 4×6 for an old fashioned album or photo box.

There is just something about sitting down and flipping through a book…

Here is a personal photo of the beach at Manzanita, Oregon, on a foggy morning.

I handed my mom my Nikon

(at least it was loaded with a short prime lens), and she did a great job in capturing this moment.  So here I am… sandy, windblown, messy hair falling out of a french braid, sunburnt, and no makeup.

If you have a baby, you know that leaving the house is no longer a quick thing. At the crack of 9:15 we finally made it out of the house. We were hoping for much earlier. We stopped for breakfast, and then took highway 6 out to Tillamook. About 30 miles from Beaverton the crying started, and we began to wonder why we tore a happy toddler from the house.

The weather was beautiful as we parked and headed inside. I thought Mackenzie would be so thrilled to see plates of different types of cheese to try and an abundance of flavors of ice cream. I guess I don’t think like a toddler! The blue ropes on the line for the cheese samples were way more exciting! The photo op cow with a farmer cut outs was quite a hit too. We had fun, and it was a good excuse to eat ice cream for lunch!

Here’s a quick cell phone photo.

I have only once before driven up highway 101 from Tillamook to Seaside. In my head, it was about 15 miles. Perhaps I should have checked the gps. After driving 20 miles we saw a sign “Seaside 26″. Luckily at the same time the little one’s eyes were closing in the car seat, so my mom and I enjoyed a scenic trip up the coast.

We pulled into the parking garage at Seaside, and Mackenzie woke up as we were putting her shoes back on. She must have smelled the ocean air because we had instant smiles. After layering up, we walked to the beach to find the swings were gone for the winter. I think I was more disappointed than Mackenzie. She just toddled about in the sand holding our hands.

Eventually we heard “I’m cold”, which is not something she ever admits to. We made our way back to the boardwalk, and to find some food. Some dancing in the Beebop burger place, and a couple rides on the carousel wrapped up our day. As we walked to the car, she said “stay beach stay”.

A lovely sunset over the beach in Lincoln City

Seeing a sunset during our vacation was a bit difficult since it’s normally baby bedtime. This one night we took Mackenzie in her sling napping on a walk to the beach, while her grandparents met us by car. It was so cold and the wind was whipping but it was a great sunset and a fun memory. We wrapped Mackenzie up in Grandma’s sweatshirt for the walk back up the hill.

(These pics are a bit grainy since I forgot my tripod. It’s a great example of what happens when the ISO is pushed all the way up to 1600. I normally wouldn’t do this but but sometimes it’s important to have the memory captured even if it’s not the technically the best photo.)

I have been told many times to expect to spend more time running my business than to doing photography and I am really finding this to be true. Luckily, I really enjoy all aspects of it. Okay, not all, keeping spreadsheets of finances is certainly less than exciting. Time management is also a very interesting aspect. It is very easy to get lost and realize way too much time has gone by. How come I never had this problem when I was employed by someone else? The clock used to seem stuck on 10:00 am!