It’s been two long years since I’ve seen Leila (here are the pictures from our last visit).  Since then, she’s come into a new little brother, Cole!  He is just about the most laid back little boy I’ve ever met.  I had another great morning goofing around in the backyard with the family, and here are some of my favorites from the day.

Digital Camera magazine published another of my images this month.  It’s an image taken from my last big vacation.  We went snowboarding (Serene skied…poor thing) in Zermatt, Switzerland.  What a fantastic trip.  If you want to relive it as much as I do, click here to see my full post from the trip.

Spending time with Amanda, Paul, and their two sons wasn’t just a great time on a beautiful day. It was also a high school reunion! Amanda and I went to brother and sister high schools, and we had seen one another exactly once in the last 20 years (even though we’ve lived within 30 miles of one another for most of that time). Thanks to Paul and Amanda for introducing us to their two adorable boys and for their wonderful hospitality.

Wow. I just received a digital spread of one of my images that was included in Journey magazine last fall. The image was taken near Ocean Beach in San Francisco and ran in the Sept/Oct edition of the Journey, a AAA travel magazine. I didn’t anticipate how exciting it would be to see 1) a full page and 2) a published image of the place where I live, but what a rush!!! The original image can be found in the “Where” section of my website, Dana’s Eye Photography. Thanks to Lija M. for making it possible.

Those of you who know me well know that I like my camera magazines. A lot. Reading them is one of my favorite things to do when I am in full relaxation mode. And my favorite magazine of the many that come to my doorstep is Digital Camera World. So, I was thrilled to see one of my images published in the latest issue! Even better, the image that they chose is among my favorites and hangs in my living room. It is of a busy Manhattan Street outside of Radio City Music Hall on a soaked and blustery January day. Looking at old pictures always triggers memories for me…almost as much as listening to music. I love that I can remember exactly how I was feeling and what I was thinking while I was trying to get that shot (it took about an hour to get right).  Thanks to the folks at Digital Camera World for sharing the image with their audience and continuing to publish such a fantastic magazine.

This weekend officially marks the end of another year of photography. I moved my 36,000 images shot last year to the archives and made room for the 2012′s. But I absolutely love exploring the past 12 months and sharing some of the images that I really liked, but didn’t manage to share at the time. So, here is the product of a quick glance at some of my favorite images from 2011 that you never saw. Thanks for visiting!

Living in the Bay Area has lots of advantages, and shooting on the water in December is definitely one of them. Photographing Laura and Connor was so much fun. Connor has an incredible imagination and loved having his picture taken. And if this mother and son don’t look like twins, I need emergency Lasik.

Yesterday, after brunch in West Oakland, we spotted what we thought was an amazing piece of art. So we did what any normal people would have.  A 30 minute photo shoot.

On a recent Saturday, I spent my morning with Violet, the adorable daughter of Sam and Wendy.  Violet definitely knows what she likes.  On this particular day, we practiced getting Thomas the Train to shoot bubbles from his smokestack and perfecting the sand-to-water ratio for her castles.  She barely even noticed the camera.  It was perfect.  But Violet definitely knew just how to turn on the charm for the lens when she wanted to.  Thanks to Wendy and Sam for inviting me into their home and introducing me to their beautiful daughter!

The ADCOLOR Awards celebrated its 5th anniversary in September, and for the second year I was able to photograph the 3 day event in Beverly Hills.  It is so hard to put into words how incredible this organization is. Congratulations to Tiffany R. Warren (ADCOLOR’s founder), the ADCOLOR team, and this year’s honorees, which included George Lopez & Spike Lee.  As you’ll see below, I also had a chance to meet Dule Hill, and as a HUGE fan of The West Wing, that might have been the not-so-secret highlight of my weekend.  A couple of friends will attest that I kind of nudged them out of my way when I spotted him.  Ahem….I had to get the shot, right?

Caren and her husband, Evan, brought the family west for an early fall break.   We all met up at the Stanford Quad and romped around like we owned the place.

About two weeks back, my dad cycled from Portland to San Francisco.   On his last rest day we caught up on the Embarcadero over lunch and under sunny skies.  I feel really lucky to have such a healthy and happy father who can still bike circles around me.   I also really like showing him off on the blog, because dad gave me my first great camera, a Nikon film SLR, way back when I was in college.  It’s really cool that now I get a chance to help him out with his Canon G12.    But I still cannot explain the shoes.  Maybe I’ll appreciate them more when I’m older.  But I doubt it.

I am so excited about this post!  And not just because I love the images.  But also because of the people in them.  Zaw is a very close friend and roommate from business school, and he is engaged to the wonderful and gorgeous Charlaine.   We kicked off their engagement shoot in San Francisco…in our limo, of course (C&Z like to go BIG).   From there we cruised up to wine country, limo-lunching on the way.  I had a great time catching up and working with these two.  They absolutely adore one another (as anyone who reads their FB posts can tell).  On our way back down to the city we stopped to capture a few shots whenever the mood struck.  The day ended at sunset under the bay bridge, where Zaw proposed to Charlaine earlier this year.   What a fun and inspiring day!  I’m not sure a picture could do justice to how in love they are, but I definitely loved trying.  Congrats,guys!  I’m definitely looking forward to the big day.

I have always liked celebrating my birthday with a little travel.  This year’s destination was Portland, Oregon.  Serene planned a great weekend and wow, what a great town!  Gorge-ous sights, some of the friendliest folks west of Minneapolis, great food (Pine State Biscuits is amazing…the soundtrack is even better than the food!), and unforgettable signs.  Signs??  Yes, signs.  I cannot imagine why I wouldn’t visit at least once a year.  Loved it.

Michele and I hadn’t seen one another in over a year, and we finally found time to get together this weekend.  Who knows when I’ll see her again (read “I HAD to bring my camera!”)?  Lucky for us we got a table near a window with some awesome light.  Dinner was great, but not nearly as good as the chocolate shakes!

Serene had never been to Huddart Park, and I hadn’t been in at least 7 years (which is almost like never having gone), so we decided to check it out yesterday afternoon.  Grabbing my camera bag was kind of an afterthought.  Really happy that I did.  Our 6pm walk was full of two things: bloodthirsty mosquitoes and some amazing light.  Here are a couple of my favorite shots of the day.

A few pics from a recent weekend in Boulder, CO.  What a beautiful place.