families | photo j

October 20, 2009 by JiaYing

Look back: Skaneateles

I started out in photography on the journalism track, telling stories through pictures. This story is about a woman named Candy who works at a dairy farm in Upstate New York.

Looking back, I'm amazed how open Candy was, letting me photograph her work and her life. In school, they teach you that photojournalists are supposed to be "flies on the wall." But let's get real -- who can ignore a click-click-clicking shadow following you everywhere? I'm grateful for the opportunity she gave me to make these pictures, and also for the glimpse she gave me into the hard work at a dairy farm.

Candy yanks on chains around the baby's legs to help a mother give birth to her first. The calf died.

cow1

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October 5, 2009 by JiaYing

Discovery Park

Seattle was blessed with a beautiful fall Sunday, sunny and breezy, perfect for a walk. After living in the area more than four years, I visited Discovery Park for the first time. Chris and I hoped to spot a cougar, but the closest thing we saw was a lady in a WSU hat. A bald eagle flew directly overhead, low, while we sat at the beach. My initial reaction was, "It looks just like the eagles in pictures!

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September 27, 2009 by JiaYing

Paradise

Chris and I took advantage of a rare day off together to visit Paradise on Mount Rainier. The alpine meadows were blooming a brilliant red.

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September 24, 2009 by JiaYing

Zig zag shadows

When the wife and husband team Weiss/Manfredi designed the Olympic Sculpture Park, they had to find a way to navigate across Elliott Avenue and railroad tracks.

Their graceful solution is a walkway that zig zags over these obstacles. You can see the pattern from the air, and also echoed in the late afternoon shadows on Elliott.

September 24, 2009 by JiaYing

Morning light

I'm an obscenely cheerful morning person. (Hard to believe I worked the night shift for almost three years, when I'd regularly stumble home after 1 a.m.)

I love watching the sun rise. First pink, then gold streaking into my kitchen.

September 22, 2009 by JiaYing

Men of Jambool

Photographing software developers isn't quite the same as photographing a couple in love. Nonetheless, the Jambool guys obliged me with their GQ best. Team San Francisco was in town, the perfect opportunity to make a group picture.

We walked three blocks from their office in Pioneer Square to Seattle's City Hall, all clean lines and open public space.

Who says Seattle is cloudy and gloomy? It was hard to keep our eyes open with all that sunshine.

I stopped on James Street to catch a bus home, while the guys headed to back to, um, develop more software.

July 21, 2009 by JiaYing

Protected: Ferry ride to Bremerton

July 20, 2009 by JiaYing

Protected: Zoom!

May 24, 2009 by JiaYing

Protected: A morning at the beach

May 10, 2009 by JiaYing

Jake’s senior pictures

Understandably, Kathy was a little worried about the two people driving around in her Honda. One was her teenage son, Jake, with a learner's permit; the other was me, a city transplant who hasn't driven in three years.

Jake drove back to the house without hitting anyone, and I got a great tour of West Seattle. It was the most beautiful Saturday in weeks, the perfect day for doing senior portraits.

Jake is headed to Eastern Washington this fall. Look at that blingin' tassel!

Jake suggested this picture against the concrete wall along his driveway. I like the way it turned out. We did get some funny looks from Kathy, who pulled into her driveway to see me sprawled out flat on the ground to make this picture.