my weekend, in pictures!

The tall one woke me up early with kisses Saturday morning. Full of energy he suggested a walk down to dim sum. We threw on some clothes and headed outside. We quickly realized that the AIDS Walk was going on in about an hour so we wandered over to Volunteer Park to see the festivities and check for interesting photo opportunities.



I immediately spied this cute little boy chasing after a squirrel. Once I converted it to black and white his dirty little face really came out, but it's adorable. His family were all wearing shirts that were a variation of his that said "for my uncle Brian". What a loving and accepting family!



The tall one suggested just walking with the crowd since they were heading down 12th anyway. I thought it'd be fun to get a shot of the crowd so I lifted the camera over my head and took a shot, which ended up being the tall one's eye level exactly. It's amazing that he's able to see the above view when all I see is the back of people's heads!



We walked, saw the cutest puppies ever, a shirtless DJ who had set up his turntables on his front porch with speakers blaring (I'm sure his neighbors loved that), and enthusiastic participants with orange pom pom's that I contemplated stealing before breaking off from the group at Madison to continue on to dim sum.



I'm not sure why but other than the hum bao and the yummy honey prawns I didn't want to eat much. We walked back through downtown, checking out the library (mostly because as we passed I mentioned I'd never been in there without a hangover) and then stopping off at his place before heading out to meet his friends.



The tall one's friend is throwing together a last minute wedding and asked him, me and her bridesmaid to go with her to scout outdoor locations. We went from park to park, finally deciding on Carkeek Park because of their fire circle. I spent most of my time taking pictures and trying to compose shots in my head while not freaking out about shooting a wedding at night...lit by candles and a camp fire....and all the participants will be wearing black. yikes. The above shot is actually at Golden Gardens and was taken with my iPhone.

After dinner at CPK the tall one's friends tortured him with a trip through the mall. As much as I loathe the mall it was kinda fun to go shopping with girls, and especially these two girls. Both are very opinionated and tell it like it is. I was given dresses to try on and my opinion was asked for on things they were trying on. I know it's silly, but I so rarely do girley things so it was nice. Plus I'm really honored that in just a few short months they've taken such a liking to me.



We passed out exhausted early on Saturday night and awoke to a lovely Sunday morning. I wanted to go hiking, but I honestly haven't been in quite sometime and I'm not working out at all so I knew it was going to be a struggle. I picked Rattlesnake Ridge because the tall one had never been up there and it's only 4 miles round trip. I still was huffing it and my legs were jelly like by the time we got up to the top. Ugh, I'm a shell of my former hiking self.



Of course the ledge was crowded, and there were quite a few teenagers up there so it was loud. One of the kids even had music playing out of his cell phone, which I nicely asked for him to turn off. I don't do well with crowds when I'm on the trail. I get judgmental, grumpy and sometimes a little disgusted. I knew there was going to be a lot of people up there so it was silly of me to be feeling those things when I was the one who chose a very popular hike, so I tried to keep it in check. I hope it worked...the tall one is very accepting of my grump so I never really can tell. I loved this shot though. It's almost like he's superimposed on the image. I am Giant Man! I will eat your babies! I can squish you like bug!

I was super duper sleepy after getting home from the hike and making dinner so I called it an early night and he went home to do laundry. After a 45 minute nap I sat up wide awake and realized it was 8:45 and I wasn't tired at all. I texted the tall one who had realized as he was walking home that he had monday off and suggested we go night shooting. YAY night shooting!



We drove over to Discovery Park so I could practice shooting in the dark. We painted the trees with light, sat in the big field, he helped me time the shots, we chatted about nothing and there were kisses and big warm hugs. He's fun to go on outings with.

I learned a little more on this outing and I've found it's nice to shoot close to the city. The ambient light is helping me to learn as it allows me to do shorter exposures. We were doing 5 minute shots so if the light was too much, too little or in one case you could actually see me painting with the light, then I could adjust it and try again without too much of a wait. I'm still learning though, I'm noticing a lot has to be done in the post processing stage so it's neat learning that as well.

And, um...well, yeah. That was our weekend :-) I told you it was in pictures. Me not so good with the writing, yes?

edit:

Also, the same photo in black and white...which do you like? Do you like either? What makes you like it or not like it. Help me out here kids!