Mom

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Photography: Women Are…

“If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?” —RuPaul

For the month of May, my model was my lovely momma. We decided to include her best friend, Olive, in the photo shoot and I’m so glad we did. My mom is a lover of animals, loyal to those who are kind to her children, and a bit silly. She knows how to make me laugh, is always there when I need someone to listen to me, and loves me more than anyone else on Earth. I credit my mom with giving me my resilience, a childhood filled with animals, and being my number one fan.

My mom lives in Washington now where she and her dog can take daily hikes in the woods, her favorite thing to do. While she was here for my daughter’s graduation, I had to get her in the woods for some photos. This little spot filled with oak trees and a few wild flowers was perfect. This shoot included way too many burrs in our clothes, a tiny bit of rain, and a lot of giggles.

Thanks mom for being a light in this dark world. I love you more than you’ll ever know.

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What makes you proud?
My kids and grandchildren make me very proud! 

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What makes you feel brave?
When I’m out walking in the woods with my beloved dog Olive.  

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What gives you hope?
Looking into the eyes of my granddaughter and grandson.  I hope for greatness for them both.

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I’ve got over twenty photo shoots under my belt now and I’m starting to find my stride. I’m currently on a trip to Vegas with my daughter and her best friend, and leaning into a more documentary style. I’m experimenting with leaving the images a bit grainy, editing less, and exploring more with composition. I’ll be curious to see what others think of those images when I post them, and what you think of these. I also did very minimal editing on these, and I think I’m starting to find a sort of style I like. Let me know what you think, and check out the others in this series if you missed them.

Thought you might enjoy some extra photos of Olive. I’m particularly proud of the first shot as you can see the trees reflected in her eyes.

  • These were taken with my Olympus E-M1 MarkII, using a 14-150mm lens and edited with Lightroom Classic.
Proof of silliness!
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Photography: Harvest Moon

Today the heat subsided and the clouds arrived. I went in search of you. I found sunflowers, pumpkins, cornfields, and a bridge. You peeked out for a minute from the clouds but then ran from me. That’s okay. I don’t need to see you to love you.

Because I’m still in love with you
I wanna see you dance again
Because I’m still in love with you
On this harvest moon
—Neil Young

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I visited Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm with visions of taking a photo of the full moon over a cornfield, but the clouds didn’t cooperate. Instead, I had a lovely evening with my mom. I hope you enjoy these images and let me know if you have a favorite. As always, all photos were taken by me with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW.

My sunflower mom. I love you.

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Photography: Astoria, Oregon

“It’s OK, you’re a Goonie, and Goonies always make mistakes.”

When I was a small child I’d always watch “The Goonies” when I was sick or sad. It was my comfort movie and I can practically recite it for you word for word. This week I moved my mom from northern California to a small town in Washington very near Astoria, Oregon. When I found out it’s the home to several filming locations for “The Goonies” it felt right. I’m sad and I need my comfort movie.

After taking two days to drive here and get my mom settled in her new place, we spent the day exploring all the filming locations around the area. We had deep conversations about our connection and my mom told me she was proud of me. It feels like a big moment in my life. We always want our mom, but she needs to do this for her.

“Don’t you realize? The next time you see the sky, it’ll be over another town. The next time you take a test, it’ll be in some other school. Our parents, they want the best of stuff for us. But right now, they got to do what’s right for them. Because it’s their time. Their time! Up there! Down here, it’s our time. It’s our time down here.”
—Mikey, The Goonies

The jailhouse from the opening scene. It’s now a museum filled with artifacts from the film.

I was just a wee bit excited! “Out in the garage, ORV, four-wheel drive… …bullet holes the size of matzo balls!”—Chunk

Chester Copperfield’s wallet, the skeleton key, doubloon, and a Lou Gehrig baseball card.

They had Data’s complete outfit including his pinchers of power! Data is played by Ke Huy Qua who just won an Oscar for my new favorite movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

“Yo. Hi guys. How’s it going? This is Willie… One-Eyed Willie. Say hi, Willie. Those are my friends… the Goonies.”—Mikey

“Goonies never say die!” The actual house. It was less than a minute from our hotel.

This is the window at the beginning of the film where Chunk presses his pizza and milkshake against the glass to watch the police chase the Fratellis.

The building is now a bowling alley and was closed but we all took turns reenacting it on the outside. Isn’t my mom cute?

This coffee shop is featured during the opening scene when Rosalita is crossing the street.

The Flavel House Museum is where Mikey’s dad waves to the kids when they are riding through town on their bikes.

It’s an interesting and slightly creepy house. My daughter did some research after we left and found out they left out some big parts of the family history.

What a thrill to stand here.

Beautiful beach. Not sure if those are the rocks that lined up with the doubloon, but I choose to believe they are.

My daughter and mom.

After our Goonies exploring we visited two spots my mom loves.

Flying together down the path in the wild winds.

  • Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW