If you know me at all, you also know Uncle Bill. He finds his way to my writing pretty regularly. Well, I was lucky enough to spend a couple days with Uncle Bill and one of those days was the day before my Birthday. We had quite a day. We went grocery shopping and picked out all of the most delicious looking goodies. We approached the checkout and Uncle Bill went to each line looking at the cashiers. Uncle Bill does not pick the line he will join by the length of the line. He picks his line by the friendliness of the checker.
We got back to his home and made a scrumptious meal of pizza and beer. We made snickerdoodles. Uncle Bill is an engineer and his job was to smoosh the perfectly round balls of dough into 1/2 inch discs. Uncle Bill leaves nothing to chance. He left the room and came back with his measuring stick. I LOVED it. Lemon drink in one hand and measuring stick in the other.
After dinner Uncle Bill sat down and told me all about what his life was like when he was 28 years old. Uncle Bill was born in 1917, so you can imagine that his experiences were pretty different to anything that I have experienced. He told me in perfectly lucid detail about the conversations he had had and the people that came into and out of his life. It was a perfect evening.
Today is my Birthday. I have had a perfect day surrounded by family and have loved every minute. Life couldn't get any better. I just hope that when I am 92 years old I can remember my life experiences as clearly as Uncle Bill remembers his.
I have done so many Shasta updates that I feel like my boys have been feeling a bit neglected. They have grown so much since they were kittens and it is high time they make an appearance on the blog. This is Frankie with his game face on. He is 15 pounds of purring perfection and is mad about playing fetch.
And this is Linus, a svelte twelve pounder. He is the mischievous one, almost always causing trouble. These shots were taken when I got my new light stand and was playing with off camera lighting it in the house. It isn't easy to convince a cat to sit still long enough to pose for a photograph, but I manage to get a few.
One of these days I would love to have the space to set up a studio. Not only would it be nice to have the option of bringing clients into the studio, but the pet photography would be so much fun! The furry critters in our lives become so much a part of the family that it just makes sense to include them in the family photographs. And animals are so quick to move around that it would be great to have a space where I can control the lighting and be able to focus more on capturing each of their unique personalities. Yes... one day.
Here is a little creepy crawly that introduced himself to us just in time for Halloween...
calisoga longitarsus, photography by Sara Atkins Photography.
How about that for a visitor? I can't believe I stood in one place long enough to capture this image. This last weekend while staying at my parents place (to shoot an amazing wedding, images soon to come) I thought I saw Shasta moving out of the corner of my eye. It turns out it was this enormous creature. We think it is a Calistoga longitarsus, also known as a false tarantula. It is a California native and is one of the 'small' mygalamorph spiders. Right, small. All I know is that it makes the floor boards creek when it walks and it is creepy. Actually, the only truly creepy thing about it is that it was in the house. I would probably have thought it was a great find if I didn't have to think about hall of his brothers and sisters waiting for me in my bed. After seeing such a huge spider I was pretty certain that I had spiders crawling on me the rest of the weekend. It didn't help that Shelly's husband, Jamison, kept pointing out those phantom spiders on my shoulders.
Haha. Thanks for putting the penny down for reference. That is one big spider! Yuck!!
(11.30.09)
It is time for a Shasta update again! These images are from when I was in Prunedale just before going to New York. I spent several days with my favorite four legged friend and loved every moment. If you are a friend of mine on facebook you have probably gotten a few snippets of Shasta's latest adventure. My parents went on a short trip to Austin, Texas and Shasta decided that she would go on a trip of her own. She has some serious separation issues and I am sure she was just trying to find my parents. I got a phone call letting me know that a nice person found her and was holding onto her until we could have someone come get her. So last night was a bit of a scramble trying to make arrangements for her. Bad dog.
Shasta, photography by Sara Atkins Photography
As you can see, Shasta has gotten quite a bit bigger since we first found her. She has put on a full healthy coat and her weight is just about normal. Most of the sores she had are healed and she is happy as can be.
'Shasta, lets go!', photography by, Sara Atkins Photography
Shasta is an amazing trail dog. When I take her running, if I get out of her line of vision and call her name she comes bolting towards me. It is fun to see her hit a full sprint.
A ride in the Car, photography by Sara Atkins Photography
She has come to love riding in the car. Poor Sophie (my mom's dog) gets stuck trying to squeeze in with Shasta's enormous body.
Morning Play time, photography by Dedie
The next few images are of our morning play time. My mom took these and captured our relationship pretty well. I expect you to ignore the fact that I am in my pj's, my hair is un-brushed and I am a bit of a mess. When I am at my parents place, I can't help but play with that furry mutt first thing.
Love Session, photography by Dedie
Good Girl, photography by Dedie
It is amazing how quickly Shasta has become attached to me (and me to her). When I go to visit my parents she hardly leaves my side. She is constantly wanting to crawl into my lap and keeps a sharp eye on my car and is sure to be in the passenger seat if I pick up my car keys.
My buddy, photography by Sara Atkins Photography
When I have to leave it is such a struggle. I know she is with my parents and is so lucky to have a big yard and another dog to play with. My parents adore her and take amazing care of her. But, I can't help but to feel like a teenage mom leaving her kid with the grandparents. Poor Shasta looks so sad when I start packing the car to go. It breaks my heart.
Big Hug, photography by Dedie
Working, photography by Dedie
But
we do enjoy the time we have together. You can see that I am working in
the background, and of course Shasta is right by my side.
Here is the thing about being addicted to photography, it can be expensive. Really expensive. But, when I get a new toy (in this case a beautiful macro lens) I feel like a little kid on christmas morning. I can not wait. I need to get out and play with it NOW! I just got a new macro lens and I have been LOVING playing with it. Shooting macro makes you look at the world in a completely different way. I thought I would share a few images that I took with my new lens.
I started with a shot of one of the many new buds on my lemon tree. I have yet to get an actual lemon off the tree but she (yes it is a she) is blooming like mad. If all of the buds did eventually turn into lemons I would be up to my neck in citrus. Lemon meringue pie... lemon chicken... lemon bars.... lemon sorbet. Endless possibilities.
The fragrance that the flowers on my little tree provide is wonderful. Intoxicating actually.
Then on to Bruno, our guard spider. He is busy keeping all of the aphid and other parasitic insects off of my beloved lemon tree. And he is doing a pretty darn good job. Thanks Bruno.
Next, a blossom from a succulent plant that I have been trying to kill for the past two years. No success yet. The little plant is determined to withstand my neglect. Poor thing.
And I couldn't shoot around the house without sneaking in a photograph of at least one of the boys. If you haven't met him, this is Linus. Sure, he looks innocent. I can assure you that he is all trouble maker. And I am pretty sure he has a stack of kitty crack hiding in the house somewhere. His newest thing is to out of no where do a backflip off the wall. He is a nutcase.
After shooting a bit around the house I decided to take my adventure out side. I walked along the Bay Trail and found a sweet little feather.
And finally, a little bit of landscape photography with the new lens. San Francisco peeking through the fog and you can see the Bay bridge to the left of the city. Not a bad place to live.
WOW, Sara, I can't believe your uncle is 92, he looks great! I love the story about the measuring stick and the cookies, too funny!
(12.06.09)I know! He is an amazing man! And engineer through and through!
(12.06.09)WOW, I haven't seen Uncle Bill in YEARS! He doesn't look like he's aged much in the last 15 years (or however long it's been)! I'm so glad you were well-celebrated by your family, Sara...your life is worth celebrating.
(01.10.10)Thank you Jen. You should see Uncle Bill, he is as vivacious as ever. I adore him. A.D.O.R.E.
(01.14.10)