The Photographer

Today Lilly had her first chance to use the camera she received for Christmas out in the wild.  Below are the results of her first ever photo shoot.

Shot number one.  Lilly found this handsome fellow in the parking lot.  I'm not sure who he is but I'm assuming he's a model of some sort.

Next Lilly saw a particularly nice hole in the parking lot fence.  Notice her dramatic usage of composition and lighting to bring the hole to life.

 Next up was a piece of plumbing that happened to be her favorite color.  It was pink, what more needs to be said?

We must have been followed around by a modeling group hoping for some headshots because the next thing we knew Lilly was taking photos of these fine looking people as well as their poofy headed offspring.

 Next Lilly captured these fine things that just happened to be the particular shade of yellow held in high regard by her mother.

 Who could go to the park with a camera without getting at least one duck picture?

 Next up was another family shot of the model mentioned earlier as well as the poofy headed offspring.

Again, this traveling pack of models just wouldn't leave us alone.  They forced Lilly to take yet another photo of them and their poofy headed little one.

All in all, not bad for a four year old :)

Trotting Like A Turkey

This Thanksgiving Lilly and I started what we hope is a new family tradition.  For the last several years a local running group has put on the Oly Trot, a 4 mile road race on Thanksgiving morning.  This year Lilly and I decided to take on the vaunted "Tot Trot" version of the race.  We took our preparations very seriously, as seen by the photo below.

With our support staff in place it was almost time to line up to begin the race.

An finally we were off!  With only a couple stops to chit chat we powered through to the finish.

It was quite a challenge, but well worth it as according to Lilly, despite a few folks in front of us, we definitely won.

Mt. Rainier

Today we decided to take a family trip up to Paradise and spend some time on the trails.  One uneventful drive and 45 minutes of searching for a parking space later we were at the trail-head and read to explore.

Soon we were working on way up towards the skyline trail.  Lilly always in the lead and Camille keeping herself entertained with the back of my head.

After a half mile or so we climbed up to a bit of fog but being the hardcore hikers we are we endured the mistiness and continued our accent.

Finally we broke out of the fog and right into the face of the mountain.  We stopped for a few pictures and enjoyed the view.

I think we may have finally found an activity that actually wears Lilly out.  There may be a lot of hiking in our future.

After a unusually quite ride home and a quick stop for some ice cream we were back home.

Photographer Jr.

The other day we entrusted Lilly with our little point and shoot camera for the duration of our car ride down to the Olympia Farmers' Market. See below for the results.

The first step out of the door.  If still photos came with audio you'd hear me gently advising her to stop goofing around with the camera already and pay attention to where she was walking :)

And we're in the car.  Apparently Camille thinks the camera is edible and wants some.

 

What's the first thing to do when you've finally gotten buckled in to your carseat.  A self portrait of course.

 

Success!

 

Camille still not quite in the mood to have her photo taken.

Camille still not quite in the posing mood

The camera survived and Lilly had a lot of fun so all was well.

CGC Terrapin

Yesterday the CGC (Coast Guard Cutter) Terrapin was docked at the port of Olympia and offering tours.  The Terrapin is a 87' cutter based in Bellingham, WA and spends most of her time rescuing boaters and enforcing maritime regulations.  For some reason the crew wouldn't let us shoot at anything as part of the tour but all in all it was a good time.

The Terrapin docked in Olympia

Chuck and Cathy with a Terrapin sailor.

Another shot of the Terrapin

After the tour Cathy was nice enough to help us with another shot at a family picture.  We had some success, Lilly almost sitting still once or twice during the process...

The Tornado never stops...

The stillest she's been in weeks...

Me trying to be artsy

Handy Lilly

Last weekend Lilly and I took a shot at bird house construction.  I figured we had a better shot at actually constructing a bird house if the guy in charge of measuring and cutting was only responsible for straight, rectangular pieces, hence our unique, flat roof design.

Lilly proved be a very apt holder of stuff in place, well, at least until she spotted a butterfly or something else slightly more interesting then holding pieces of boards together.

Dancing with the boards was obviously much more exciting then holding them in place.

I'm not sure, but I think I heard Camille chuckle each time Lilly got distracted and let go of a piece right as I was ready to nail it in place.

Eventually, we had a box-like structure with a hole in it!  A birdhouse like no other.

Everybody knows that the best place to show of a new bird house is on top of a parental figures head...

Pictures at the Beach

Last week I took advantage of us all being at the beach on a sunny day and went for a photo of my girls.  The final result is below (I'll remove the boat emerging from Camille's ear later via Photoshop when I'm feeling a bit more industrious).

Here is take one.  In this image Lilly is unsuccessfully attempting negotiate her way out of her temporary state of captivity.  Either that or she's become a gangsta rapper and is mid flow.

In take two Camille has grown a little bored of sitting still and looking pleasant and has found something to keep her little hands occupied.

In take three Camille has given her new toy a sturdy tug.  Notice that her sister is now slightly less amused with the situation then Camille herself.

Lilly and myself, well out of reach of the her sister's tiny but powerful clutches.

Lilly doing some beach running.

Oh, and earlier that day we got to pet goats, which is probably my 5th favorite thing to do.