Wine Tasting Tour

For my birthday this year my friend Jen and her husband Jeff invited me to join them on a wine tasting tour through Golden Wine Tours of Ann Arbor. I had no idea there were so many vineyards around the Jackson/Ann Arbor area and I grew up there. I should have known. The van picked us up in front of The Real Seafood Company after we had our fill of tasty appetizers and a glass of wine. They drove us to Sandhill Crane Vineyards where we were offered the opportunity to try anything on their extensive list. I sampled all of the reds and a few of the dessert wines. Thanks to my hosts I brought home a bottle of Sandhill's Sugar Snow dessert wine made with maple sap. I have already enjoyed a glass or two as a nightcap, very tasty.

We were then whisked off to Lone Oak Vineyard Estate which is a less commercial operation from Sandhill and much more quaint. The owner doted on us as she told of how she and her husband sold everything to purchase this plot of land and start their own vineyard. She poured a sample from each wine on the list and described how it was made. I think the tasting room could use a decorators overhaul but other than that the experience was lovely.

Next on the tour was Chateau Aeronautique a unique winery located in an airplane hanger. This winery has all the characteristics of a man cave with it's florescent lighting and its mixture of 80's rock band and jet plane posters. I enjoyed the tour of the wine cellar with its smell of fermentation and its red stained oak barrels.

We ended the night back at The Real Seafood Company with a delicious meal. Funny, I don't think anyone ordered alcohol, I guess we had all had our fill by that point! It was a fun and tasty way to celebrate a birthday. Now I'm off to have another glass of Sugar Snow.
Anyone want to join me?

Elusive Light

I need to add a little something to my last post regarding my lack of a photography community. I first want to say that I don't believe everyone is selfish with their photography knowledge. It's probably much more likely that I have a hard time asking for help. I wouldn't want anyone to feel like I was using them or putting them out in any way. I actually had a great first experience with a fellow photographer. I met my friend Missy when we went to her house to have our first family photo's taken when Eli was a year old. I was already interested in photography and had been taking tons of pictures of Elijah but none of them were that great. Who am I kidding? They were awful! I wanted more out of my camera and had no idea where to start. I approached her to see if she's be interested in teaching me and she was! I had taken a class in high school and another in college and had read a bunch of books but I could never understand the balance between my aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Something about my session with Missy made it all click and things finally started making sense to me.
So now what? Where do I go from here? How do I push myself to become a better photographer? I would love a mentor, someone who would not only push my as a photographer but also be there to help answer my questions about the business side of things. Until I find someone I'll just keep practicing and reading. Here are a few shots from today. I had a time of solitude out of my house and away from things. I went to a local park and as the sun was setting I took out my camera. I love watching how the evening light affects the world around me, even something as simple as a weed.
Thanks for listening,
Lindsay

Sandhill Crane Vineyards

Some friends took me on a wine tasting tour as a early birthday present this weekend. This was my favorite shot from our tour, taken at Sandhill Crane Vineyards in Jackson, MI. The rest of the pictures to come later this week.
Lindsay

A day at Binder Park Zoo

Jeremiah had a day off from work this week and we decided to use it to take the kids to the Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. We had a good time but I think John Ball Zoo here in Grand Rapids is better suited for my kids. We did a LOT of walking and in a number of the exhibits the animals were hidden in the back and hardly visible. The best part of the entire zoo was the giraffe exhibit. The kids are still talking about being able to pet the giraffes.

Now that my time is a little bit more my own I've been pouring myself into my photography. I am still such a newbie as a professional photographer and I want so badly to learn and grow. I think it's hard to ask other photographers for help because sometimes I get the feeling there is this unsaid issue that you might steal clients. I wish that I had more of a community or a mentor who would push me to grow but I don't, so I've been scouring blogs and websites and trying to go it alone. I recently stumbled onto Elizabeth Halford Photography a photographer who loves to teach what she knows. I'm learning a ton of great stuff from her archives. In one of her posts she talks about being a "luck photographer" and during this trip to the zoo I felt like one. A luck photographer is someone who pushes the button and hopes for the right results. I felt like I could do nothing right. I had the wrong lens on my camera when we got up to the giraffe exhibit and I couldn't seem to get my shutter speed and my ISO correct. I got more and more flustered as we sat there with tons of people crowding around and I was unable to get the shots I had envisioned. I was frustrated! It's times like these that bring me back to reality and show me how far I have to go and how much I still have to learn. But as my best friend likes to say "You are good at what you practice," so I think I'll keep practicing. 

Father's Day

To my Father who shaped my childhood,
Thank you for the years of sacrifice.
Thank you for the hugs when you came home from a long trip.
Thank you for letting me share in the things you enjoy like your old records, singing along to Journey with the stereo so loud we bothered the neighbors, and river fishing in the Kenai.
Thank you for teaching me Algebra, how to drive (or how not to drive), how to shoot a "fade away" shot, and how fascinating it can be to watch cars go round and round on the race track.
Thank you for always protecting me and always respecting my opinion.
For these things and for many others I am beyond grateful.
Thank you for being my Dad.

To my husband who has helped shape the person I've become,
Thank you for the ability to always make us laugh no mater how upset or frustrated we are.
Thank you for getting down on the playroom floor as soon as you come home from work to build lego ships, wrestle or throw the ball.
Thank you for patiently and enthusiastically reading the same book over and over until the pages have been worn thin.
Thank you for working as hard as you do to support us so I can live my dream of being a stay-at-home mom.
Thank you for having the ability to say you were wrong and not hold it over us when we're in the wrong.
Thank you for making the commitment to be there no matter what and for sticking by that commitment.
You are an incredible father.
For these things and many more I am so thankful that you are the father of my children.

With love,
Lindsay

Ladies Night

A weekly tradition for these ladies. They gather over food and drinks and share life. The invitiation was given to join them last week. The experience was not unlike a night spent with my own community of women. Thank you for letting me in and accepting me as one of you. I feel honored to have entered that sacred space and left overwhelmed by the experience.