Welcome to the Land of Twilight: What I did on my summer vacation part 2

When it comes to summer vacation road trips, teenagers are not pleasant. But, being the brilliant mother that I am, I was able to placate our darling 15-year-old by making a side-trip to an area she could relate to --- the land of Forks, Washington. Also known as the rainiest place in the country, allowing sparkly vampires to hide their true selves from the ignorant humans with whom they share a high school.

Our first stop on our vampire tour was Port Angeles, where we stopped in at the book store and the little Italian restaurant nearby. Calista felt silly posing in front of these places, but it was obvious by the non-interest on the faces of the people around us that they were used to seeing giggling teenage girls taking photos in front of these otherwise run-of-the-mill locations.



If you're not familiar with the Twilight series then none of this blog post is making any sense to you. I would not be offended in the least if you stop reading right here and went about with your daily routine. Seriously, go about your business because it's about to get really geeky.

Are the non-fans gone? Good, so now we can talk more about these places without fear of judgement.

This little town is actually quite lovely and it's hard to believe they found places seedy enough for the rough characters who hang out here. It was seriously Norman Rockwell on a much more modern level if vampires and werewolves happened to exist.

We were going to eat at the Italian place, but they don't open for lunch, only dinner, so we pushed on to Forks. The drive between Port Angeles and Forks was actually pretty breathtaking and hard to believe that Edward could take the trip at such a fast speed. Not just because of all the switchbacks, but also because it's just so darn pretty.

We reached Forks and were starving so we pulled into a quirky little diner, Sully's, that got into the whole vampire thing by naming it's specials things like "Bella Burger" and "Twilight Punch." I pulled out my phone and found a nifty little map of all the locations for the book -- it was actually put out by their Chamber of Commerce, which I found hilarious.

We stopped at the high school and of course the welcome to the city sign.



We then made our way into the local drug store where the sign outside claims that "Bella gets her headache medicine." We paid more than we should have for sweatshirts and trinkets (and of course our traditional souvenir spoon) and then we headed out to La Push, home of the werewolves.

We decided to let Calista drive for a little bit to try out her brand new learner's permit, but that mistake only lasted a few minutes when we realized the road was quite winding and we were getting scared stiff with her lack of driving skills. With Jayme back in the driver's seat, we were able to enjoy the quick little drive and even found the border line for vampires along the way.



La Push looked pretty much like I expected. A poor reservation community on the edge of a gorgeously scenic beach.



Calista left her own little brand of vampire humor when she wrote "Team Edward" on the bathroom wall of a heavily grafittied outhouse. My little rebel. She knows she's team Jacob all the way.

Tomorrow we hit the Oregon coast line -- home of some of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen.

Lisa On Location Photography

What I did on my summer vacation part 1: Seattle or Bust

With Independence Day behind us, most of us are in the full swing of summer. I had a slow June this year so we decided to make our summer vacation start as soon as the kids were out of school. We had ambitious plans of doing a west coast road trip but didn't want to drive the whole way. It's hard enough being in the same car with all three kids on short trips to Grandma's house, let alone a cross country adventure. So we shortened it some by flying to Seattle instead of driving. From there we rented a car and drove all along highway 101 and highway 1 down to L.A.

As a child I was fortunate enough to do a partial west coast trip with my parents but since I wasn't in control, there was a lot that was left off my wish list for sight seeing. So now that I'm in charge, I was able to choose our spots of interest. We started with Seattle, a city I've always wanted to visit and was very near as a child, but I still never got to see.

First glitch in the plans came when I arrived at the airport rental car place to find that the company I'd reserved a car with, Advantage, was shut down and out of business. The guy in the spot next to them said Thrifty had taken over all their reservations so we made our way across the way to the Thrifty area and were given a car -- at twice the cost of the one I'd reserved through Advantage. Doh! But the bigger Doh came moments later when I saw the car. I had asked for a "large" vehicle but what I got was not in my opinion, very large. The kids were cramped in the back and not happy about it. Mile one out of our 2,000 mile trek was just as difficult as the remaining 1,999 would be.

But we were in good spirits and excited to be there.

The first stop on our tour of the city was the underground tour to see the city's creepy remnants of the old underground city. That was beyond cool. Creepiness around every corner.



Then we went for a walk to see the oldest Starbucks and ran into some interesting areas along the way including this cool wall covered with gum. Thank you Roadside America app for telling me about that little treasure.



We ate dinner in a quaint little bohemian neighborhood and did some driving around some of Seattle's seedier areas, where I captured this thought-provoking image of some of the troubled people of the streets of the city.



The next day we drove up to Vancouver to get a little taste of Canadian life. I was bummed that I didn't realize until halfway through the day that this is the city where much of the X-Files was filmed. I would have totally been stalking out filming locations if I'd only planned ahead. But I swear I saw the sports stadium where Mulder met Deep Throat. I was really excited about that.

Our visit to the Seattle area only lasted two days. Sadly we had to move on if we wanted to get to L.A. in 10 days. There's so much to see along the way. The next morning we left for our Washington road trip and hit the land of the Twilight vampires. I'll talk about that tomorrow.

Lisa On Location Photography

Gruene Mansion Inn is a No-Go for Photography {New Braunfels Photography}

I've been photographing the people of New Braunfels for quite a few years now. So I'm no stranger to Gruene. But many of us in the local photography community actually cringe when we hear a client request a Gruene photo session, not because we don't like it. Gruene is gorgeous. We don't blame you for wanting a photo session there. But so does everyone else. It's a common sight to wander the community of Gruene near sunset on a pretty day and see dozens of photo sessions taking place, both professional and amateur. You'll see photographers with full softbox set-ups and numerous assistants, you'll see amateur/semi-pros set up with their pop-up flashes and kit lenses complete with picture frame props and cutesy costumes, and then you'll see the family friend with their point-and-shoots and camera phones taking photos on their own.

It was no wonder that the people of Gruene Mansion Inn were growing weary. On any given day they could see dozens upon dozens of photo sessions on their property. I conducted some of them on occasion. It always made me a little nervous, however. I mean this is their property, and we're technically trespassing. But we were always respectful, always quiet, always tried to stay out of the way of guests. Eventually they started asking photographers to sign in before they came onto the property for a photo shoot. I was fine with that. I'd always thank the desk clerk and promise to be quiet, keep my stands out of gardens, stay away from the guests, everything they asked I was happy to promise and fulfill that promise.

It was only a matter of time before they started to charge a fee. That time came a couple of weeks ago. An e-mail was sent out to all the photographers who had signed in at their front desk. Now they were requiring reservations and a $25 fee to shoot on their property. You were granted a permit for one hour and asked to follow a few simple rules, the same ones we were asked to follow before. I applauded them. I said "good for you, it's your property, you have the right to limit photo sessions and collect a little money for them as well."

And I liked the idea that I was no longer intruding on their property. I would now be a guest who had paid a fee to be there.

So today I had my first session there under the new fee. I called a few days ago to make an appointment, my clients filled out their form, paid their fee and we were issued a tag to wear around my neck to show I'd checked in and paid. For the first time, I felt legitimate to be there. We were paying clients. Guests of the Inn, if only for an hour. But no other time, in the history of shooting there, had I ever felt so unwanted. We did a scene around the cute little swing area. Got some nice images, and moved onto the cool breezeway that's also so popular.



We quietly set up a shot. Yes I say quietly because we reminded each other constantly to stay quiet. But just as we set up, a maid saw us and put a trashcan right next to our scene (on purpose) and went into a room. We found it odd that she would do that. So we moved to another area nearby thinking she would come and move the trashcan. She came back out so we returned to the breezeway we wanted to photograph but not only did she not move the trashcan, but she put a bucket full of supplies down next to it, then went into another room. Knowing that we only had a set amount of time, we decided to just push it a few inches over so we could shoot our scene and then move on. We would put it back when we were done. No harm done. Just as we were about to shoot, she came out, and proceeded to fuss at us for moving her stuff. She was watching and waiting I was sure of it.

Those of you who have ever worked with me before know that I am polite and soft spoken. So I was taken aback by this reaction from her. I showed her our permit, we had checked in, we were allowed to be here. She wasn't impressed. She scowled. We moved on. We decided to try one more set up near the Inn. I thought I'd get my happy couple cuddling on the bottom of the stairs behind the inn.



But as soon as they sat down, a lady came out and told us to move away from the stairs.

Well that about did it. My client was left to wonder why'd she just paid $25 for an hour of time only to be fussed at multiple times for doing exactly what she'd paid to do.

So this is where I get on my soapbox. When you charge a fee to come onto your property for photography, you are making the photographer and the subjects your clients. They are guests on your property. As guests, they should be treated as such and not as intruders. We were not boisterous, loud or rude. We were not stomping gardens, disturbing guests or interfering with your business. As paying clients, we expect to get what we paid for. We decided to move on. We were only on the property a total of 30 minutes (even though we paid for an hour). We simply saw no reason to stay. Who wants to feel like trespassers.

My advice to the Inn is to treat this situation in one of two ways. 1) Charge a fee and welcome your photographer friends as guests. Increase the fee if you want to. I'd rather pay more and be treated with respect than have to deal with what I dealt with today. or 2) Don't allow any professional photography on your property at all. Just say no. Just don't deal with it at all. But you can't have it both ways. Don't take someone's money only to tell them No every step of the way. It left a sour note on my morning but taught me to Just Say No to Gruene Mansion Inn.

There are still plenty of beautiful places to shoot in Gruene without using the Inn. I do it all the time. And to prove it, I'll show you some.

























Lisa On Location Photography

The Treasures to be Found on my iPhone {New Braunfels Photography}

Most people assume I carry my camera gear with me everywhere. There's always a note of surprise when, at a party or out and about, a friend or acquaintance turns with surprise and says "what? no camera?" when something they deem a total Kodak moment pops up. But alas, no I do not carry my gear with me wherever I go. But I do have a camera with me most of the time. Probably the same one you have. The one that's on my phone.

It gets exhausting always being the one who's expected to photograph every moment. But because I am who I am and I can't let those moments go undocumented, I often pull out my trusty iPhone to capture those silly moments of daily life. My problem, however, is that they tend to stay on my phone for long periods of time. Imagine my surprise a couple of weeks ago when I attempted to take a photo only to get the message that my memory was full. What? I have to get them off my phone now?

So I downloaded finally and what I found was a treasure trove. That phone was packed with more than a year's worth of cool stuff. "How did I miss all this?" I asked myself. There are so many blogable moments here. So many cool things and fun shots. I can't believe all this was in my pocket the whole time!

So I went through and uploaded just a small sample of the treasures on my phone and I did have a hard time at narrowing them down. I love them all. I treasure them all. And I won't even mention all the cool videos my Boy took. I know he likes to borrow my phone from time to time to "make a movie" but I had no idea he was a total Speilberg!

So here you have it. My top iPhone images of the past year.



This one is my son after his coolest haircut ever. Needless to say it didn't stay this way for long. But it did grace the welcome screen of my iPhone for the better part of a year.



This one is too awesome for words. My son took up Taekwondo and decided to hold ninja lessons in our front yard for a while. Every day he'd rush home, as would the kids in our hood, to congregate on the lawn for another day's lessons. It was magical.



This is a fun one of Jayme at one of his science fiction conventions. We took it to make our oldest child jealous. She didn't want to come to the party. When she found out there was a giant dalek there, of course she was insanely jealous because who doesn't want to hang out with one of these things.



While up in Dallas for the above-mentioned convention, we made a side trip to the American Girl store at the request of my sweet then-12-year-old. It was a red-letter day for her.



Her older sister, however, thought the moment was worthy of her best eye roll ever. And I captured it all with my little iPhone.



This one is the sweetest that I found. My Boy hates kisses so I took advantage of him falling asleep next to me watching television. I made sure to take a selfie with the iPhone to prove to him that I did in fact kiss him while he slept. He wiped his cheek when I showed him even though it was hours later.



This one was taken at Texas School of Photography in May 2013. It's me and my favorite second shooter, Laura during one of the after hours parties. What a fun time.



This is the breakfast in bed I got from My Boy for Mother's Day last year. I'm so glad I snapped a photo of it.



Aw, this is one of my favorite. It was taken that same day on Mother's Day. I attempted to take out the trash at the condo on the beach we were staying at and The Boy jumped in and took it from me pronouncing that it is Mother's Day and his mommy would not take out the trash. I'll treasure this photo forever.



It's Baby's First Job! My girl just got her name tag for her very first summer job. I missed her helping me out on sessions, but I was so happy she was able to work another real job and earn some extra money.



This is me and my girls at a San Antonio Missions baseball game last spring.



Oh here's a funny one. This is at the dentist's office after I told The Boy that we weren't quite done yet. His sister was still in the chair for a while longer. I think he was ready to leave.



My baby girl was pet sitting for some friends and made a new friend. This kitty became a model for our Humane Society calendar later because of how she won our hearts.



This was right after I did my own page for the Humane Society calendar. I decided to go fill up my car with gas in full retro wardrobe and hair and makeup. Not a single person looked at me twice. My daughter was teasing me on the way home so I wacked her with this rubber chicken. That's how we roll.



This was taken at the San Antonio Museum of Art. It was a nice day with the kids. I saw them sitting in this window and thought it was so beautiful, if only I had my camera. So I took out the iPhone and still did okay.



Another priceless family moment. My girls squabbling over the front seat. Nice.



It's me and my girl and my sister at the Maroon 5 concert in Austin. How could I possibly carry that big bulky camera with me to this? I'm so glad I have this photo!



It's County Fair time and my boy loves the fun house!



This is my Boy at Freebirds with his Harry Potter wand that he made out of foil. I hope it's still there and didn't get removed. He'll be so happy to see it preserved forever on the wall.



We arrived a little bit early to an engagement session near an old church so we decided to explore the cemetery.



Halloween carnival time!



We finally got the keys to the new studio so me and January from Diamond Divas and Becky from The Bargainista got sweaty and dirty to get it ready for move in. Fun times!



It's Christmas tree time!



We stopped by to see the Girl Scout house before they closed it down for good. It was a sad moment and we saw that other girls were writing their memories on the wall so my girls added to it. Priceless.



My girl got a kick out of the way somebody scratched "Hogwarts" into the back door of the mall. It was a Kodak moment.



This is one of about a hundred selfies I found of my daughter. She likes to take my phone during sessions and clown around while I'm working with the clients. I love finding her little presents on my phone. Usually she'll change the image on my main screen for me.



The Golden Girl herself on a monorail in Orlando.



It's me and The Boy taking a selfie on the Dumbo ride at Disneyworld.

So that brings us up to speed. I shared more than I wanted but it was a really cool year. I hope I don't take another year to download all these images from my phone. I hear there's this cloud thing that will help, but I'm a little behind the times on that. Maybe next year.

Lisa On Location Photography