Late summer I received an offer at MiraCosta college to teach an Illustrator class in addition to the Photoshop class I was already teaching. The offer was made just a couple of weeks before leaving on vacation. This left me very little time to prepare for a new class. I knew it would be a big challenge, but I said yes anyway. I’d been wanting to teach this class for awhile.

After 7 years teaching for UCSD Extension I made the tough decision to end my tenure. I taught my final class this past Fall. I’m thankful for the opportunity, experience and friends I gained at UCSD. It’s there that I discovered my love for teaching.

I made it a routine to photograph the Russell sculpture out front of the building before the start of each quarter. Over the years I captured it about 1000 times. Here are a few from 2018.

My first course is an Illustrator techniques course titled Coloring Artwork. I worked hard on this, and had significant anxiety in the preparing stages. I learned a lot about what it takes to create a course, and my own fortitude to see it through.

The LinkedIn studio is first-rate. I felt like such a pro with my own recording booth, and dedicated producer. Then midway through the second day of recording, the campus was closed due to possible flooding. All of the authors and production staff moved to a hotel in Ventura to finish out the week. I literally recorded the majority of my first course by myself, in a padded hotel room. It was stressful, but ultimately manageable. Upon finishing I instantly knew that any future recording opportunity would be markedly easier.

I taught three sessions of the same hands on lab, Telling Compelling Stories with Lightroom and Adobe Spark. It's the same workflow that I am using here to create this year in review story. Images are organized and edited in Lightroom, and then placed in a web page using Adobe Spark.

My lab was BYOD, (bring your own device), which created challenges beyond a typical lab with provided computers and files. All attendees needed to come prepared with images already imported into their Lightroom account. Adding to the challenge was the option for them to use a phone, tablet or computer. I’m thankful for my TAs who managed the multiple platform challenges effectively. Most of the reviews I received were positive. I look forward to a chance to do it again.

I don't do a lot of portrait photography, but when the Victorian Roses asked me to photograph their club, how could I say no? I spent a long day on rural private property in East San Diego County photographing the women, horses and carts. The experience was rewarding. I'm honored that they trusted me to capture their beauty.

Sedona was the first trip of the year. We went in February to celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary. Sedona is drivable from San Diego, and an amazing place to visit. Somehow we had never been there before. It was the perfect location for a long getaway, romantic weekend. We were treated to snow on day 1, followed by sunshine on day 2. Sedona is gorgeous. I'd like to return soon.

The LinkedIn recording studios are in Carpinteria, Ca. about 30 miles south of Santa Barbara. I traveled by train from Oceanside for both trips. In March I rode all the way to Santa Barbara and rented a car there. When I returned in September, I rode the train to Carpinteria and walked to my nearby hotel. Both trips gave me an opportunity to explore the surrounding areas in different ways. I absolutely love it there.

I traveled to New Orleans in June for the CreativePro Week conference. I’ll admit to spending as much time exploring the town as I did sitting in conference sessions. For me the week was a perfect balance of networking, spending time with friends, making new friends, learning, and exploring with my camera. I’m glad I got to see New Orleans. There were things about it I loved, but a week was more than enough time to spend there.

We stopped off in NYC on our way to Italy at the end of July. It was a fantastic two days spent exploring areas that were new to us. It’s funny how the time spent in Italy pretty much overshadowed the time we had in New York. I almost forgot all the fun we had in NYC and the things we saw.

I can’t remember why we thought it would be a good idea to fly a “red eye” to NYC. Maybe we forgot our ages, which is something we try to do frequently. Our room wasn’t yet ready when we arrived, so we headed out on foot to see what we could see. We visited Saint Patrick’s and MOMA, before checking in to our room for a nap. Later that night we saw Wicked on Broadway.

The Women in Creative Photography group meet monthly, but because of my teaching schedule I missed most of the meetings for 2018. Fortunately I was able to make it to the photoshoot held at Border State Field beach. Horses + beautiful model + ocean = spectacular day of photography.