Since recovering from our surgeries, Lori and I have been trying to go on more walks around Ferndale to get back our stamina. It’s been hard because the weather has been so cold and wet, but on the days that it hasn’t been pouring we’ve tried to get out for at least a short walk.

On these walks I never fail to realize just how lucky we are to live in this beautiful town. I also usually curse myself because I don’t bring a camera. I need to get back in the habit of always carrying a camera with me, even if it’s just my little point and shoot Pentax.

Today’s walk I grabbed the D80 on the way out the door and took a few pictures of two of my favorite local barns.

The first one is the Becker’s barn, which is still in use. It is very distinctive for it’s roof (which sorry to say, I don’t know the architectural term for this style of roof) and of course the barn red color makes it stand out from the green of the pasture and forested hills.

This second barn sits across the road from the Catholic cemetery. It’s using the latest technology, green roofing.

After last Sunday’s performance I took the archive photos for the Ferndale Repertory Theatre’s production of Man of La Mancha. The set, designed by Daniel C. Nyiri, is one of the best that I’ve seen at the Rep, and makes great use of the limited space on their stage.

The costumes, some of which were designed and constructed by my wife Lori, were also excellent. (Yep, totally unbiased review)

You have one more weekend to catch this entertaining musical. The songs brought back a lot of memories of my dad singing them. Man of La Mancha was one of my parents favorite musicals, and I grew up listening to my dad dreaming the impossible dream.

Photos from Man of La Mancha can be ordered from our web site.

The last shoot I did before Lori and I left for our surgery was a maternity session with Becki. Now that I’m back to work, the first shoot I did was with her 5 week old baby, Kaden.

I love photographing babies because they are so expressive but you have to be quick. Talk about mood swings. You also have to be ready for the unexpected, especially when the diapers come off. Becki was a great sport even though Kaden used every opportunity to soil her clothing.

But the best thing about photographing babies, is that you don’t have to worry about retouching double chins, and winkles.

Two years ago when we last had our booth at the fair, I met Nicole Ghidinelli, as she was one of the Dairy Princesses working at the Humboldt Creamery booth next to ours. Having our booth next to the Humboldt Creamery of course meant free ice cream was just a short walk away, and during one ice cream excursion I spoke to Nicole about photographing some cows for some stock photos.

I was pleasantly surprised when she called me up a few weeks ago and inquired about having a large family portrait made on their dairy. I met with Nicole at the studio and went over some basic ideas but I wanted to see the ranch first so we scheduled a pre-shoot visit, during which I met Nicole’s grandfather, Albert. On meeting Albert I instantly thought that with his full beard and 80+ years of character, that he would be an interesting subject to photograph.

Nicole and I walked around their ranch and we selected an area that would provide a nice view of the hills behind the cows in the field.

Two weeks later I returned for the portrait and was surprised to find a clean shaven Albert! Seems his family didn’t like his beard as much as I did. Oh well, it’ll grow back and then I can take another portrait of him.

We first started out in the field with a group shot of Albert, his three children, Tom, Marjorie and Mike and all the spouses and grandkids. That was followed with different subgroup portraits. While photographing the different groups, I loved listening to the banter going back and forth. The cows also provided a lot of entertainment, and it appears that even cow communities have divas.

After we finished with those portraits I wanted to get some photos of Albert over by the barn. There are things you can do photographing a man in his eighties that you can’t do with a woman of any age, such as accentuating every wrinkle. Albert was a fun subject and even with the serious expression I asked for there was still that twinkle in his eyes that revealed his pleasant nature. I’m not sure if living on Pleasant Point makes you pleasant, or if it got that name because pleasant people live there, but I can say I had a pleasant morning at the Ghidinelli dairy.

This weekend the Ferndale Rep closed out their production of Jekyll & Hyde. We caught the performance earlier and it was marred by a microphone that was being very ill behaved. Unfortunately, the crackle from the mike was so loud and distracting that I found myself taken out of the story and I left at intermission.

When I went back Friday night to take photos for the production, I was pleasantly surprised that even though I was busy taking the photos, I enjoyed the production quite a bit.

Of course the best part was the costumes, since Lori was the designer for several of the women’s outfits.

Better late than never. That’s what Amanda said when we recently shot her senior pictures. I thought she was planning ahead for her 2010 graduation, but she never got around to getting photos taken for her graduation this year.

She wanted to have her photos taken in the forest, so we headed down to the Avenue of the Giants. I was hoping to catch some fog in the morning but just a mile from our target the sun burst from the fog. I’m pretty used to working with the changing weather in Humboldt county though, so I knew we’d still have opportunities for good pictures.

She brought along a few of her favorite outfits, including her prom dress, and we brought along a vintage skirt from Lori’s collection. We enjoyed a leisurely walk through the forest, and it’s times like this that really reinforce my love of what I do. It’s not too bad working on a Saturday when your office is a redwood forest.

After we finished the shoot in the grove, we headed back up the Avenue. In Pepperwood we passed a fruit stand that had a sign in front advertising blackberry popsicles. Knowing how much Lori loves popsicles and blackberries, I glanced over to her to see if she had seen the sign. Her expression told me she had spotted the sign as well, so I quickly did a u-turn. The popsicles were delicious, and if you’re heading by Pepperwood, do yourself a favor and stop for some.

The proprietor of the stand also pointed us towards a great old walnut tree that I’ll have to use for a shoot someday.

If you are a graduating in 2010, now is a great time to have your senior portraits taken while the weather is so nice.

This week my studio was rented for a couple of hours by a video production team to film the latest series of Harper Ford commercials. Without giving away the plot, you’ll recognize the commercials by their use of a plain white background.

It was actually that plain white background that landed the job, as I had photographed Trevor Harper’s family last year on a white background and he remembered it when it came time to film his commercials.

While I was expecting to just be there while they filmed I ended up getting put to use in one commercial as a VAL (Voice Actuated Lightstand). I almost got my voice in the commercial but I think I’m going to end up on the cutting room floor because they decided it would be easier to add it post. There go my hopes of huge royalties to fund my retirement.

My studio is available for rent for both photographers and videographers. Rates vary depending on whether you just want to rent the space or the equipment as well. I’m also available to assist or coach. Please contact me if you’d like to find out more about the rates and specs for the studio and equipment.