Change of Plans

I was dressed for dinner, make-up on, hair down with natural curl on display. Supper was at six, at some restaurant I just "had to" try. Then his dad lost his keys and he had to deliver the spares about 40 minutes out of town. And her cell phone died and she needed me to stay home so she could use mine to get it re-connected.

And so, as so often happens with plans in life, all our expectations did a 180.

"Well, what do you want to do now? The fair is in town. There are tractor pulls..."

"Is this something I should bring my camera to???"

Just like that, I was in leggings and a tank-top, hair pulled up into some kind of mess at the back of my head, tennis shoes on my feet, camera bag in hand, and we were off into the smokey evening to the Josephine County Fairgrounds for something a little different.

My technical masterpiece of the night: 

That's not post-processing: that's some serious panning skills right there!

We spent the rest of the evening at the fair, playing prize games, enjoying rides I hadn't been on in 20 years, and finally getting my first taste of that american delicacy: the elephant ear. Back at home, we played cards until the wee hours of the morning, and I was reminded to be grateful for the pretty spectacular people in my life, even when plans go astray, and no matter what it is we do with the time we spend together.

Head For The Hills

Most of  my summer trip to Oregon was shrouded in smoke from the fires burning all around the town and down into California. Air quality advisories strongly suggested staying indoors, and a fine layer of ash covered everything that saw any time outside.

On August 12th, though, there was a break. The sky cleared and the sun shone down on a town that had almost forgotten what a blue sky looked like. I took advantage of the day to see Grants Pass from an angle I had had yet to explore: Cathedral Hills Park.

There are plenty of trails in the park, most of which are suitable for mountain biking or horseback. I headed in and aimed for whichever branch would take me "up".  From the top, you have a fantastic view of the southside of the town, but the coolest thing I noticed was the trees:

First of all, they're red.
Secondly, the bark does this weird curly thing, and it makes for some really neat effects!

Moving on...

 
A treehouse!
There were slats nailed to the trunk to serve as stairs, but I dared not climb.
Instead, I got a bit artsy with a pen I found in my bag.

Another side trail. Which way to go?

 Turns out it was a loop, so that works.

By evening it looked like the smoke was rolling back in, and it made for some pretty dramatic skies.

These were taken from someone's driveway.

Someone's DRIVEWAY!!!!

I enjoy Oregon summers, though it breaks my heart to be stuck inside due to the smoke every year. It was great to be able to escape, even if it was just for one afternoon - to make a break for it and head to the hills.

The Big vs. The Littles

There are times as a photographer when you're just in the right place at the right time.

 

There are other times when it's a foggy day on the coast and you're relaxing with family, with minimal expectation of much in the way of magical lighting or WOW moments.

 

And sometimes, those two times come together.

 

Like the epic episode of

Jeremiah "The Big Kid" vs. The 4th Generation: "The Littles"

 

 

Round 1:

 

 

Game.Set.Match.

 

Round 2:

 

The shakedown.

The takedown.

 

And the assault.

 

New champions declared, with a unanimous decision for The Littles in the second round!

 

Kids These Days

I'm not a "kid" person.

If you know me at all, this is something you learn about me very quickly.

When it comes to photography, however, there is nothing I enjoy shooting more than small, carefree spirits, unhardened by adult experience and uninhibited by self-consciousness in front of a camera.

I spent most of our 2018 annual campout on the coast chasing around the youngest generation of family members - each with their own unique personality and distinct characteristics that I hope I was able to capture during our few days together.

When I first arrived, there was only Lula.

She was busy.

Very busy.

But it didn't take much wandering before I found clues to the whereabouts of the other children.

Lo and behold: a group engineering project underway on the shore!

Turn my back for a few minutes...

...and come back to this!

Micah, Zaylee, and Asher all wanted a turn, too!

   

Then it was back to the building project.

Well, for most.

 They were sand from toes to top by the time they were done.

Bunch of hams.

As the afternoon waned, they discovered The Log.

The Balance Beam.                                  The Pirate Ship.

The Launch Pad.

 

The sun was starting to sink before their hungry bellies got the best of them.

Campfires in the evenings...

and games and crafts in the afternoons.

The traditional trip to the Prehistoric Gardens just up the road wielded claw-grip dinosaur heads.

There were bubble gloves for everybody...

...Emily and Dillon stopped in with lazer tag...

...and there was another trip to the water's edge.

But for the most part - perhaps the best part - was that these kids were able to entertain themselves, with no electronics and a minimal amount of fuss.

(The phone's a toy that served as a visual determination of who was "It" in a lively game of tag.)

 As for getting them all to hold still?

Not gonna happen.

This is actually a composition of about a dozen different shots, down two kids who had gone home before the photos were taken. It's all part of the fun of hanging out with them darn kids these days.