Kalaloch: Our Home Away From Home...

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"At the beach, life is different. Time doesn't move hour to hour but mood to moment. We live by the currents, plan by the tides and follow the sun."
-- Unknown

"Dwell On Your Dreams"

This video was posted on facebook by a friend. (Love facebook!) Anyway... It's absolutely beautiful. Here's the scoop:


"A sneak-preview of life's coming attractions for the "mighty" year of 2010. Courtesy of our friends from the Unknown. All quotes are from the December 2009 edition of "The Sedona Journal". The track is called, 'Amazing' and the band is 'One Eskimo'."

Wow... Speechless.

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“The key to change... is to let go of fear.”
-- Rosanne Cash

It's the Not-So-Beautiful That's Most Beautiful...

I try to stay away from editing too much. To me, a photograph is supposed to be (to quote Carrie Latet) "a memory in the raw." So to completely smooth over every line, crevice, blemish, or distortion would be to, in my opinion, distort the photo. Tarnish the memory.

Or posing. That's something else I try to avoid as much as I can. When I shoot a subject, I want to see ALL of that subject. Not the person's "best" side or most practiced "I'm-ready-okay-shoot" stance - a stance that he or she would never really take unless posing for a photo. And I don't care to see people's forced smiles. In fact, I'd rather hear their laughter, see their frowns, revel in their emotions, and catch them in their purest of moments. Those precious, intimate type of moments when they think no one else is looking.

Why? Because... That's. Who. They. Really. Are. And I like to see people as they really, truly are.

I'm interested - as I've always been - in the truth. And, to me, photography is a way of capturing the truth. Er, well, at least the truth as I see it. To preserve a memory is the greatest privilege. It's not something I take for granted. I appreciate each image I'm able to capture, each fleeting moment I'm able to immortalize with my camera.

The absolute beauty of life is that it isn't perfect. We as human beings aren't perfect. What actually makes the world so appealing, so raw and fascinating, is the contrast. Pitching the not-so-beautiful against the beautiful. So when you come to me for photographs, my goal isn't to make you look like a different person. My ultimate and only goal is to make you look like you. To bring to the surface who you really are, and allow you to see for yourself what a gorgeous Being you've become - imperfections, goofy faces, and all.

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"A Ming vase can be well-designed and well-made and is beautiful for that reason alone. I don't think this can be true for photography. Unless there is something a little incomplete and a little strange, it will simply look like a copy of something pretty. We won't take an interest in it."
-- John Loengard, "Pictures Under Discussion"

Spring Fever

While winter in the Pacific Northwest is a bit (okay, a LOT) more mild than the Midwestern winters I knew and grew up with, it still has its downfalls. (Or, should I say its downpours? Har, har, har. I know, I know - a weak attempt at a joke...) Rain is common year-round in the Seattle area, but so much more so during the winter months. And granted, while the temperature never really dips below freezing, thirty-seven degrees can still be frigid - especially if you're not used to it.

So, with that being said, Spring Fever has hit the Sorbe house - hard. And, after pushing our clocks ahead last Sunday and adding an extra hour of light into our world, our enthusiasm for the change in season has skyrocketed. It seems the only thing we can think about is getting outside and exploring - hiking the Cascades, puttering along the beaches, relaxing in the San Juans, kayaking around Whidbey Island, road-tripping down the Washington and Oregon coastlines...

Mmmm... I'm getting goosebumps.

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"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'"
-- Robin Williams

Sophia: University of Washington

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"All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this - as in other ways - they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it."
-- John Berger

Sneak Peek: Sophia :)

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"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Attitude

"...Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, gift, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes."

-- Charles Swindoll

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"A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart."
-- Johann Wolfgang Goethe, from "Faust"

Beautiful Home. Beautiful Family. Beautiful Life. :)

Chris and I were on a high after our session with the Kelley family last Sunday. They welcomed us into their home and, by graciously giving us a glimpse into their world, allowed us to capture a few precious moments of their life together. Their obvious love for life and overflowing happiness instantly seeped into Chris and I - we found ourselves fixed with permanent smiles throughout the rest of the day.

In fact, I was so uplifted that, on the way home, I turned to Chris and said, "Okay, I think I've just added two little girls to my vortex... Yes, I think we should defintely have two instead of one." And I'm sure that comment will give several people a high of their very own. ;)

** Mustaches from Whisker Works. :)
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"A happy family is but an earlier heaven."
-- George Bernard Shaw