This is Budley

Isn’t he a cute golden retriever? He is a member of my friend Robin’s family up at Blue Skeye Ranch. I was going through some images today I took up there and I wanted to share this photo with you. He is so very sweet and a very good boy. He gets along with everyone and is a joy to be around. Robin has three other dogs and they are all very good. I took this photo along with many others the last time I was up there. I will be up there again in less than two weeks to shoot photos Robin wants to do as a fund raiser for breast cancer awareness, an important cause. Isn’t he a sweety? As you can probably tell, I literally layed flat on the floor to get this photo!

Budley up at Blue Skeye Ranch…

Well, I met with Carol today to discuss the calendar Robin wants to do. Carol was real good at playing devils advocate and came up with a lot of good questions. I hope Robin calls me soon so we can go over all of the details. We do not have a lot a time and will be rushed to get it done in her time frame. But it can be done and we will do it! Carol and I had lunch at Super Mex today. I haven’t been there in a while and the chicken burrito was great! It seems Willie and I used to go there about once a week, but times have changed and I think it has probably been close to a year! Have a good evening!

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Two Great American Paint Horses

This is Blue Eyes and Roxie. They live at Blue Skeye Ranch with my best friend Robin. Are they not beautiful horses? We saw three horses walking on the trail behind the dog park yesterday and Kyla got very excited. She wanted to go to them but there was a fence in the way. May be one day I will be able to take her to see Robin’s horses. She sure would love it! I don’t know what Robin’s four dogs would think of it though!

Blue Eyes and Roxie…

Blue Eyes was Robin’s first horse. She brought him home from Montana. Then when they moved up to the ranch they kept adding and now there are seven! That must be so much work. She is lucky she has a lot of help! Meeting some friends for a photo shoot tomorrow morning. Another friend of ours, Merle, is going to join us. He wants some photos of his red 1962 Impala taken. We haven’t seen it before but I am sure it will be nice. I would like to go up to the mountains for a few days. We’ll see how tomorrow goes or maybe Sunday. Have a good week-end!

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A Rough and Tumble Cowboy!

This is my nephew Geoff at Blue Skeye Ranch. I believe this was his first time on a horse and he was such a good sport. This is the second photo of Geoff this month! He is a champion race car driver competing in the VARA  (Vintage Auto Racing Assoc.) circuit around Southern California. I have shown other photos of him in his MG Midget at Fontana Raceway. He is a great young man along with his girlfriend Randi. We all laughed so much – it was a very fun day!

Remind you of Gene Autry or Rhinestone Cowboy?…

Another great day today here in Huntington Beach. The weather was a little warmer. I was looking at the school schedules at GWC and CCC for the Fall to see what I can take. I cannot decide if I want to take Flash again or try Illustrator again but with a different teacher. I took Illustrator several years ago so I could use a refresher. Larry wants me work on a family crest so that could be my project. I am going to lunch on Thursday with my friend Carol. We have a lot in common (photography, school, the dogs, etc.) which gives us a lot to talk about! I love spending time with her!

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A Great Looking Couple!

I was going through the 1,200 photos from the wedding of almost two weeks ago, and came across this photo of my nephew Geoff with his girlfriend Randi. You have seen him before in his MG Midget racing around the tracks at Fontana Speedway. Both of them were in the video I posted from the VARA races. Aren’t they a sweet looking couple? They are both so cute! Randi is a grammar school teacher and her students are very lucky to have her! Hopefully she will not become a victim of our “Terminator” Governor’s budget cuts!

Randi Clark and Geoff Monise…

I have some great pictures of them at Blue Skeye Ranch riding the horses. Geoff had never been on a horse before and he was a great sport! My brother Frankie has two great sons – he is very lucky! Geoff and Randi have been together for several years and Willie had the audacity to ask them when they are getting married. They replied in two years. Well, hopefully that will happen and there will be another new member of our family, even though she already feels like  a member of the family. I guess that is enough family stuff for a Friday! Have a good week-end and please come back tomorrow!

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My Best Friend For Life

I have known Robin longer than anyone else in my life (except my older brother Frankie). Her mother and my mother were best friends before they married our fathers! We were born seven months apart (me being older). She is mother to Lori, the beautiful woman you have seen two other portraits of this month, and grandmother to Makenzie and Rachel, who you have also seen this month. She has six other grandchildren. I do not have one! C’est la vie! I hope she likes the photograph!

Robin with Roxy at Blue Skeye Ranch…

The Dodgers are losing badly today! Maybe tomorrow will be better. I absolutely have to finish my VARA video today! It is due Tuesday night and I am being forced to use Windows Movie Maker. It shouldn’t be too hard. I just couldn’t get my version of Photo To Movie to work the way I want it to. It has worked for other things so I won’t complain. It looks like the weather will be pretty mild and in the 60’s and low 70’s for the week. Willie is happy, the dogs are happy and all is right with my little world!

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Blue Skeye Ranch

This photo is from Sunday afternoon at Blue Skeye Ranch (Robin’s house). Lori is walking Wanda from the corral to saddle him up for horseback riding. She ran each horse around the corral for several minutes to burn off some of their excess energy before going for their ride. I got tired just watching her! This photo was taken with my telephoto lens and they were walking pretty fast. I like the late afternoon sun shining through the trees and their hair.

What a beautiful late afternoon…

Today is another gorgeous day, especially after it being so hot yesterday and Sunday. The dogs got their haircuts today – they look so funny! Kyla was finished first and Donnan did not recognize her – he growled and barked at her! I will get some pictures of them to show you. Which reminds me of something:  I would like to know what kind of photos you would like to see on my weblog. Do you like the flowers, the beach, the dogs or what? I appreciate you looking at my site but if you could help me with this I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you in advance!

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How Many Horses Make a Herd?

This is rather an unusual photograph for me, but I love it and I had so much fun shooting these photos. I have several hundred we took that day. This is at my friend’s Robin and she had two of her grandchildren and two neighbor kids chase the horses so we could get some photos of them running. This is one of my favorites and that is why I am sharing it with you. I thought she had six horses and it seems she has added another one! How does she do it? Aren’t they beautiful creatures? I have never been into horses but I really enjoyed being around these. Please let me know what you think of this image.

Beautiful horses running through the meadow…

I have many, many photos I can share with you. All of her animals are very photogenic, even the chicken! It was a fun morning and we are going back next Sunday for  a celebration of my mother’s birthday. My brother’s will be there along with their families so I am really looking forward to it! I have not worked on my slide show of the VARA races in over a week so I need to concentrate on that this week. I have not been getting much support from Photo to Movie. I may need to find another way to do it. Have any of you used Windows Movie Maker? Someone told me I should try that. We’ll see. Have a nice holiday Sunday!

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A Very Pretty Young Lady

This is another photograph I took at Robin’s house yesterday. This is her granddaughter Rachel. Isn’t she attractive? She was playing a card game with her father and her cousin (who was beating them both very badly). I was sitting across the room with my telephoto lens holding it without a tripod. There is a little camera shake, but I like the photograph and I wanted you to see it. There are many more I will be able to share. I hope you like this one as much as I do.

She looked up at me and smiled in the middle of a card game…

I was busy today doing some images for a client’s web page. They are done now so that is good. I emailed a contact sheet for the ok then they will go on a disc. Larry and Shelley are leaving tomorrow for Mammoth so they will not be around for the week-end. I think there are a couple of new TV shows on tonight so we may check them out. I will have another busy day tomorrow. I still need to download and go through the photos I took yesterday. That is going to take a while and I know Robin is anxious for them! Please let me know what you think of my last two portraits! Full moon tonight – check it out!

 

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Expanding My Portfolio to Include Portraits

My alarm went off at 6:00 this morning. We headed down the 405 and 5 freeways to my friends house off of Ortega Hwy. She lives on a private road in a private community of horse properties. We have been trying to get together to do this for sometime now. Willie and I took hundreds of pictures of the horses, dogs, chicken, cats, doves and grand kids. I took this photo of my friends daughter.  I think it is a very good start for my new venture into portrait photography. I like candid shots of people. I like this photograph.

Lori is a very beautiful woman…

My class went late last night. I didn’t get home until after 10:00 P.M.  I have my other class tonight so I know I will really sleep well tonight! With all the photographs I took today, there will be many I will be able to share with you. I have been thinking about changing the theme on my blog. Maybe instead of black I should go to a white background. I look at them a lot but I am timid about trying a new one. I would appreciate any constructive criticism on this image. Have a good evening!

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