I looked up from my office window and saw my neighbor, the whole family, were keeping themselves cool by resting on the tree branches.  I thought: Man! Don;t they look content!

with their mother:

‘this guy is getting to my nerd!’

‘now I am really pissed!’

And there a few from Gold Creek Pond, from my escape the city heat but the pass was 92 degree hot trip:

Last Saturday I was fortunate to team up with Seattle Metropolitan magazine and other prominent sponsors to cover the first Brotherton Family Fun Fest held at Brotherton Cadillac in Renton.  It was a special event benefiting The Moyer Foundation Catch a Cure for Cancer.  It was a fun event for kids with a great cause.  I had such a great time photographing it!

Sponsors: Brotherton Caddillac, Seattle Metropolitan, Great Wolf Lodge, Seattle Seahawks (Gals, in fact), The Moyer Foundation, Zevia, Albert Lee, XBOX360, Clowns Unlimited, Renton Fire Department, etc.

part of the job, no matter how hard it might be:

Lisa and Christian’s wedding was held at the beautiful Woodmark Hotel in Kirkland last Friday.  Nothing was spectacular but everything was sweet and intimate.  Lisa and Christian have come a long journey before their union.  It’s a celebration of love, respect, and family among family members and close friends.

Best wishes Lisa, Christian, Justin, Jayne, and Declan!

Vendors:

Venue - Woodmark Hotel and Spa

Officiants - Pat and Kent, A Heavenly Ceremony

Microsoft may be the number one and has tons of products we use daily.  But I am sure we all have experienced issues with their software or operation system and felt helpless.  And when there is an easier, faster, cleaner alternative out there, some of us can’t wait to move on.

I recently listed my bz with Google, Yahoo, and Bing’s local listings.  It only took several minutes to do it online for Google and Yahoo.  Bing would send me a letter.  A month later I received it and was instructed to type a web address to complete.  Then a typical Microsoft experience:

First I tried my default browser Firefox and was told there is a security certificate problem and was warmed someone may try to steal my data.  Can’t do it.  Huh?!

Then Safari.  Nope, We Microsoft don’t support it.  You’d better install IE or use Firefox.  Sorry, Mac!

Knowing Firefox won’t work, I used my wife’s computer which still runs Windows.  Again, I was told the secure certificate was issued for a different web address, and again I was warned that its an indication to fool or intercept my data.  Ouch!  IE did give my two options: don’t do it, or continue (Not recommended), with a big red ‘X’ mark next to it.

I ignored the warning and actually completed the listing, but again felt quite annoyed by MS.  Why do they always do these stupid things hitting their own feet?  So narrow minded too.

I am so glad my Windows days were so far behind me, and there are so many good open source software we can choose.

Moral of the story?  If we don’t provide a pleasant and easy experience for our clients/customers, we will be dumped!

Here a few images of humpback whales from my recent Alaska trip.  Not very spectacular.  I was hoping mare splashing and jumping, but these giants just easily went through their morning business.  What I learned is that these whales swim 6,000 miles from Hawaii to Alaska to feed, then int the fall they go back to Hawaii, where they mate and give birth and basically don’t eat.  And with that, the cruise ships stop coming to Juneau, and the ‘local’ gift shop owners close their shops and go to the Bahamas.

Fay Bainbridge State Park is tucked at a quite cove of the island and that’s where I met Mei-lin, David, and their two lovely daughters Elise and Ilina yesterday morning for nice family portrait session.  Mei-lin and David were married several years ago and I had a great pleasure to photograph their union, but at that time they still lived in California.  Recently they moved back to Washington state to be close to Mei-lin’s family and I was pretty excited to have an opportunity to meet their two daughters.

To get the shots, we simply walked to the beach and let the two girls playing with water and I got some great family interaction images, and from time to time, I will ask the whole family sit together and make some family shots.  Fortunately we were able to have some very nice images before the girls were getting tired of me :-)  Enjoy!

We took a week-long break to Alaska, sort of, on a huge Norwegian cruise ship.  I said ’sort of’ because the trip will only take you to the very southern part of Alaska.  The cruising part could be relaxing if you could find a nice spot and have a good book in hand.  I brought two books with me but barely touched them.  I was either searching the whale or waiting for the right moment of sunset, but most of the time, my son was with me, so there goes the book deal.

The most memorable parts were the trip up through the fjord to see the glacier and a scenic train ride.  I joked about got to visit Alaska before the glaciers were gone.  Well, depending on what you believe in, the glaciers are retrieving.  The journey to the glacier was amazing, and even more amazing was how the captain operated this huge ship inside the narrow inlet.  When he made a 180 degree turn at the end of the fjord, I was sure the ship will either crash into many big icebergs or bump into the cliffs.

The train ride started off from Skagway into the White Pass in B.C., tracing the old gold rush trail.  The scenary was breathtaking.

The ports along the way were kind of disappointing as they are all cruise ship dependent and the same gift shops everywhere.  Juneau was a surprise…so small and not much of going on.  And I didn’t spot Sarah Palin.

docking

outsiders and local

dock for big and small

drying my wings

economy

roadside phone booth

free ride

iceberg

glacier

into the pass

into a tunnel

you are kidding

picture town of price rupert

fishing boat

prince rupert sunset