Initial Photography's photo blog
8:51 AM 6/24/2008
Dad and Daughter’s Weekend
This last weekend James and I took Sidney and Siena to Fort Canby (a.k.a. Cape Disappointment State Park) just south of Long Beach, Washington. Originally we were going to make this a camping trip, but at the last minute we became aware that we wouldn’t have the best weather for spending 2 days on the coast with 2 little girls. Luckily James was able to rent us a tiny cabin that helped keep us a little dryer.
The girls didn’t mind staying in the tiny cabin, as far as they were concerned they were getting to sleep in a play house (it kind of felt that way for James and I too). The girls enjoyed playing on several different beaches, viewing the wildlife (raccoons, deer, and pelicans), and hiking to the North Lighthouse.
Despite the on and off wet weather, it was a fun weekend for all.
Here are the pictures, enjoy!
-AKG
Dad and Daughter’s Weekend
This last weekend James and I took Sidney and Siena to Fort Canby (a.k.a. Cape Disappointment State Park) just south of Long Beach, Washington. Originally we were going to make this a camping trip, but at the last minute we became aware that we wouldn’t have the best weather for spending 2 days on the coast with 2 little girls. Luckily James was able to rent us a tiny cabin that helped keep us a little dryer.
The girls didn’t mind staying in the tiny cabin, as far as they were concerned they were getting to sleep in a play house (it kind of felt that way for James and I too). The girls enjoyed playing on several different beaches, viewing the wildlife (raccoons, deer, and pelicans), and hiking to the North Lighthouse.
Despite the on and off wet weather, it was a fun weekend for all.
Here are the pictures, enjoy!
-AKG
3:46 PM 6/18/2008
Updates?
Wow, has it seriously been over 10 long months that this page has been left in a state of complete neglect? At least I can assure you James and I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth. For the most part we have both been busy with family (especially our daughters pictured left). I have also been playing with more advanced blogging tools as a possible alternative to the current Initial Photography Updates page. Both James and I have been learning to use new cameras: I got a new Nikon D200, then just to out do me James got a new Nikon D300.
However, you should expect some interesting stuff from us over the summer. I have two trips planned to the Southwest to photograph Mesa Verde, Sedona, Grand Canyon, and Arches National Park. And James has a new daughter planned.
So stay tuned…
-AKG
Updates?
Wow, has it seriously been over 10 long months that this page has been left in a state of complete neglect? At least I can assure you James and I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth. For the most part we have both been busy with family (especially our daughters pictured left). I have also been playing with more advanced blogging tools as a possible alternative to the current Initial Photography Updates page. Both James and I have been learning to use new cameras: I got a new Nikon D200, then just to out do me James got a new Nikon D300.
However, you should expect some interesting stuff from us over the summer. I have two trips planned to the Southwest to photograph Mesa Verde, Sedona, Grand Canyon, and Arches National Park. And James has a new daughter planned.
So stay tuned…
-AKG
1:01 PM 8/9/2007
Seafair 2007
This last week was another great Seafair; the pinnacle of summer in Seattle!
This year I got to spend a little time practicing on my Blue Angel pictures before the big day. My friend Vigil and I went out on top of a parking garage on the University of Washington campus and snapped away as the planes flew over (the picture to the left was my favorite of the bunch).
Saturday was the Magnolia Children’s parade, an annual event for our family. This year I think the parade was bigger than ever!
Sunday was the hydroplane races we from the Marti household as they hold their family reunion that we crash every year. This year we went without the children (Siena thinks the Blue Angels are “too noisy and kind of scary”). Since we we were without children we were able to join our friends out on the lake later, where all the craziness was going on.
You can find all the pictures here.
Enjoy!
-AKG
Seafair 2007
This last week was another great Seafair; the pinnacle of summer in Seattle!
This year I got to spend a little time practicing on my Blue Angel pictures before the big day. My friend Vigil and I went out on top of a parking garage on the University of Washington campus and snapped away as the planes flew over (the picture to the left was my favorite of the bunch).
Saturday was the Magnolia Children’s parade, an annual event for our family. This year I think the parade was bigger than ever!
Sunday was the hydroplane races we from the Marti household as they hold their family reunion that we crash every year. This year we went without the children (Siena thinks the Blue Angels are “too noisy and kind of scary”). Since we we were without children we were able to join our friends out on the lake later, where all the craziness was going on.
You can find all the pictures here.
Enjoy!
-AKG
6/29/2007 10:26 AM
Nadia's Baptism
Again, I’m two weeks behind in posting my updates. June 16th my youngest daughter, Nadia, was baptized by Father William Treacy at Camp Brotherhood in Mount Vernon, Washington. Nadia was baptized along with her cousin’s Micheli and Natalie. Just over 8 years earlier Kathy and I went to Camp Brotherhood for our Engaged Encounter (pre-marriage counseling).
You can find all the pictures here.
Nadia's Baptism
Again, I’m two weeks behind in posting my updates. June 16th my youngest daughter, Nadia, was baptized by Father William Treacy at Camp Brotherhood in Mount Vernon, Washington. Nadia was baptized along with her cousin’s Micheli and Natalie. Just over 8 years earlier Kathy and I went to Camp Brotherhood for our Engaged Encounter (pre-marriage counseling).
You can find all the pictures here.
3:45 PM 6/28/2007
Cabo Mexico!
Yes, it took me over two weeks to get around to write this up... but I'm still recovering. From June 6 to 12 my wife and I went to Cabo Mexico to attend the Shannon/Wunder wedding. This was our first big trip since my daughter was born in 2003, this was the first big trip without any children, this was the first trip to Mexico, (etc, etc, etc. This trip was a big deal for us). We stayed at the Cabo Surf Hotel; a boutique surfers hotel just West of Cabo San Jose. We partied, surfed, ate some of the best food we've ever had, partied some more, did a bit of exploring, did a lot of sitting by the pool, and we partied.
Needless to say, I took hundreds of photos of the entire weekend, and you can find them all here.
Cabo Mexico!
Yes, it took me over two weeks to get around to write this up... but I'm still recovering. From June 6 to 12 my wife and I went to Cabo Mexico to attend the Shannon/Wunder wedding. This was our first big trip since my daughter was born in 2003, this was the first big trip without any children, this was the first trip to Mexico, (etc, etc, etc. This trip was a big deal for us). We stayed at the Cabo Surf Hotel; a boutique surfers hotel just West of Cabo San Jose. We partied, surfed, ate some of the best food we've ever had, partied some more, did a bit of exploring, did a lot of sitting by the pool, and we partied.
Needless to say, I took hundreds of photos of the entire weekend, and you can find them all here.
4:50 PM 6/23/2007
Sheesh. Its been over 3 months since James or I have I’ve added anything to this part of the site and yet so much has happened: I got over 1000 negatives I found in an old shoe box scanned through Scan Café (most I still haven’t uploaded, incidentally the picture is an old photo of me from a Halloween party that got scanned), I made the switch from PC to Mac, I switched from Photoshop Elements to Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom, James and I started a new project to photograph the bridges along the Lake Washington Ship Canal, Kathy and I took a trip to Cabo San Jose Mexico for a wedding, and My youngest daughter got baptized along with two of her cousins. All this and no posts for 3 months, so I will try and do some catch up work over the next week or so…
-AKG
Sheesh. Its been over 3 months since James or I have I’ve added anything to this part of the site and yet so much has happened: I got over 1000 negatives I found in an old shoe box scanned through Scan Café (most I still haven’t uploaded, incidentally the picture is an old photo of me from a Halloween party that got scanned), I made the switch from PC to Mac, I switched from Photoshop Elements to Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom, James and I started a new project to photograph the bridges along the Lake Washington Ship Canal, Kathy and I took a trip to Cabo San Jose Mexico for a wedding, and My youngest daughter got baptized along with two of her cousins. All this and no posts for 3 months, so I will try and do some catch up work over the next week or so…
-AKG
10:42 AM 3/19/2007
The Alpental Randonnee Rally
So this last Sunday was Alpental’s annual Randonnee Rally, and Scott Schell and I got to photograph the whole thing. It involved around 65 people attempt to be the first to skin up to the top of the Alpental Ski area and then ski down (racers actually had to go twice). There were even some world class racers from as far away as Slovakia participating.
(For those of you unfamiliar with the sport, here's where you can find a quick description.)
The course was steep, with one section requiring climbing a ladder and this made it a lot more fun to photograph. However, after watching the racers it’s clear that I would need to do some serious conditioning if I ever wanted to participate.
The weather conditions were questionable, with drizzle switching to ran, and fog and eventually giving way to sun as the race ended. It made it rather challenging to keep my camera gear dry while still getting some good shots.
After the event, the schwag give away was amazing: back packs, sleeping bags, jackets, tents! At one point I thought the give away nearly caused the race weary participants to riot as the gear was thrown out.
Here is where you can find all of the pictures, enjoy!
-AKG
The Alpental Randonnee Rally
So this last Sunday was Alpental’s annual Randonnee Rally, and Scott Schell and I got to photograph the whole thing. It involved around 65 people attempt to be the first to skin up to the top of the Alpental Ski area and then ski down (racers actually had to go twice). There were even some world class racers from as far away as Slovakia participating.
(For those of you unfamiliar with the sport, here's where you can find a quick description.)
The course was steep, with one section requiring climbing a ladder and this made it a lot more fun to photograph. However, after watching the racers it’s clear that I would need to do some serious conditioning if I ever wanted to participate.
The weather conditions were questionable, with drizzle switching to ran, and fog and eventually giving way to sun as the race ended. It made it rather challenging to keep my camera gear dry while still getting some good shots.
After the event, the schwag give away was amazing: back packs, sleeping bags, jackets, tents! At one point I thought the give away nearly caused the race weary participants to riot as the gear was thrown out.
Here is where you can find all of the pictures, enjoy!
-AKG
3:18 PM 3/16/2007
The trip to the East Coast
On Tuesday night I got home from our first big family trip of the year: 6-1/2 hours on an airplane, 4 hours in a minivan, and we were in Norfolk Virginia. The purpose of the trip was to visit my sister-in-law, Debbie and her husband, Mike and their new baby Micheli (who is 12 hours younger than Nadia).
The trip included visits to 3 states and one district, numerous landmarks, one battleship, two lighthouses, one very long bridge, and a day in our nation’s capital. Outside of the state of Manhattan and Long Island, I have never been to the East Coast so this was all new for me.
The most interesting part was doing that much traveling with a 3 year old and a 3 month old; I wasn’t entirely sure I would survive. All things considered Siena and Nadia did really well. I hope to go back again, but I might wait until my daughters are a little older before I do this again.
Here are all of the pictures.
-AKG
The trip to the East Coast
On Tuesday night I got home from our first big family trip of the year: 6-1/2 hours on an airplane, 4 hours in a minivan, and we were in Norfolk Virginia. The purpose of the trip was to visit my sister-in-law, Debbie and her husband, Mike and their new baby Micheli (who is 12 hours younger than Nadia).
The trip included visits to 3 states and one district, numerous landmarks, one battleship, two lighthouses, one very long bridge, and a day in our nation’s capital. Outside of the state of Manhattan and Long Island, I have never been to the East Coast so this was all new for me.
The most interesting part was doing that much traveling with a 3 year old and a 3 month old; I wasn’t entirely sure I would survive. All things considered Siena and Nadia did really well. I hope to go back again, but I might wait until my daughters are a little older before I do this again.
Here are all of the pictures.
-AKG
10:44 AM 2/20/2007
The Shootout in Seattle
I had a really good time this last weekend meeting up with a bunch of professional and amateur photographers for Sunday shootout at the Pike Place Market.
Fellow smugmug/dgrin user Ben posted to dgrin about a blog entry on local wedding photography
Corry Paris's site about a dwf photo shootout at the Pike Place Market.
James and I, along with other fellow smugmug/dgrin users Ben, David, and Wendell met up with the dwf posse for two hours of trying to get the best photo. For the
shootout the whole city was available to us, but with all the activity at the market, James, Wendell, David, and I decided to stay in and around the market. One of my favorite sites was local musician Reggie Miles
playing the hand saw!
When the shooting was done we all met up for a couple of beers at the Pike Place Brewery.
Even though I don’t think I got any award winning photos, I had a lot of fun and I look forward to getting to do something like this again.
Here are the photos James and I got.
-AKG
The Shootout in Seattle
I had a really good time this last weekend meeting up with a bunch of professional and amateur photographers for Sunday shootout at the Pike Place Market.
Fellow smugmug/dgrin user Ben posted to dgrin about a blog entry on local wedding photography
Corry Paris's site about a dwf photo shootout at the Pike Place Market.
James and I, along with other fellow smugmug/dgrin users Ben, David, and Wendell met up with the dwf posse for two hours of trying to get the best photo. For the
shootout the whole city was available to us, but with all the activity at the market, James, Wendell, David, and I decided to stay in and around the market. One of my favorite sites was local musician Reggie Miles
playing the hand saw!
When the shooting was done we all met up for a couple of beers at the Pike Place Brewery.
Even though I don’t think I got any award winning photos, I had a lot of fun and I look forward to getting to do something like this again.
Here are the photos James and I got.
-AKG
5:37 PM 1/27/2007
Seattle's new Olympic Sculpture Park!
I went to the new Olympic Sculpture Park last night (Friday) with Kathy, Siena and Nadia so that I could scope it out. I couldn't believe how senic the park was, every direction you looked was incredable! To the South, Mount Rainier, to the East the Space Needle, to the West the Olympics.
This morning at 7 AM I returned and brought James with me. I now freely admit, 7 AM was probably too early, since James and I wandered around in the dark freezing until there was enough light to start taking pictures.
You might also notice the watermark. Sorry about that, but after a friend of James and mine said that we really need to start watermarking our pictures because even he is stealing them all the time, I finally had to do something.
Hope you are able to enjoy the pictures despite the watermark.
Here's where you will find more of the pictures.
-AKG
Seattle's new Olympic Sculpture Park!
I went to the new Olympic Sculpture Park last night (Friday) with Kathy, Siena and Nadia so that I could scope it out. I couldn't believe how senic the park was, every direction you looked was incredable! To the South, Mount Rainier, to the East the Space Needle, to the West the Olympics.
This morning at 7 AM I returned and brought James with me. I now freely admit, 7 AM was probably too early, since James and I wandered around in the dark freezing until there was enough light to start taking pictures.
You might also notice the watermark. Sorry about that, but after a friend of James and mine said that we really need to start watermarking our pictures because even he is stealing them all the time, I finally had to do something.
Hope you are able to enjoy the pictures despite the watermark.
Here's where you will find more of the pictures.
-AKG
