with Lorelle and Brent VanFossen

Author Archives: Lorelle VanFossen

Lorelle VanFossen is one of the top bloggers in the world, and host of the Lorelle on WordPress, providing WordPress and blogging tips for bloggers of all levels. A popular keynote speaker and trainer, she is also editor, producer, contributor, and official disruptive thinker for Bitwire Media which includes WordCast, Making My Life Network, Stories of Our Journeys, Life on the Road, WordCast Conversations, and the very popular WordCast Podcast. She is also author of one of the first books on blogging, "Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging" and the recently released ebook, Social Media for Crafters: Covering the Basics of the Social Web. Taking Your Camera on the Road, founded by Lorelle, is one of the oldest personal websites in continuous existence in the world.

My Not-So Secret Passon for Tea

I’ve always been a tea nut. Not just any old tea, but exploring all parts of tea – my own way of tea. I first explored tea through the herbals, seeking improvements in health and energy. Along the way I ran into the legends of Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and other history, recipes, and ceremonies around […]

Time Counts

I’ve been helping Noah Weiss with his WordPress.com site and found his article on countdowns triggered a memory for me. There are many forms of countdowns in our lives. Counting down as a warning, to prepare for launch, to time a game. There are also many ways to count up, counting to ten to control […]

Letter to Those Desiring a Career in Nature and Travel Photography

On a regular basis I get emails and comments from students attracted to the photography bug. To them, photography represents the exotic, exciting, and adventurous. While there are some aspects that involve travel, adventure, and excitement, for the most part photography as a hobby is fun. Photography as a business is hard work and boring. […]

Water Droplets on Sheet Web

Just as there are many types of spiders, there are many types of webs. A favorite of ours is the sheet web. Lying flat across plants and grasses, Brent and I are impressed by these diligent web makers as they work on the horizontal rather than vertical. Our front “yard” filled with knick-knick, Oregon Grape, […]

Backlighting Devil’s Club Overhead

Traveling to Seattle, a friend and I went to the John Bastyr School for one of their health and herbal festivals. A nature walk through the forest next to the campus intrigued me. It was incredibly informative, discussing how to use plants in the wilderness for medical treatments and health. The Pacific Northwest forest was […]

Love Letters of Wood

A text and a chat alerted me to Brent getting way to excited about sharing something with me. I was driving, so it had to wait until I was in a safe place. The alerts on my phone instructed me to check my email for a love letter. This is what I got. Lorelle: I […]

Flash Isolates Natural Subject

This dried thistle head in the Painted Hills of Oregon caught my attention with its textures and lines. I’ve always loved thistles, alive and vital with their fluffy tops, and dried out cone-like structures of mystery and pattern. To isolate this thistle, I used flash to force the background to go to black. The flash […]

The Mystery of the Stargate Coasters and the Pears

This is a story about the mystery of the Stargate Coasters and the pears. The story begins with Stargate episodes on Amazon.com. It probably begins further back, but that is where I will start. I’ve been having trouble sleeping for the first time in my life. My mother, once a chronic insomniac, continues to be […]

Exploring Painted Hills in Oregon

A few years ago, my mother and I went on a genealogy romp through Oregon trying to track down the records of my family. We swung out into Eastern Oregon to one of my favorite nature parks, Painted Hills. I’ve photographed it for many years. Here are a few of the choice images from that […]

Are You Still Paying for International Phone Calls?

According to a recent Harris Interactive/Rebtel Research Study, smart phone and web users are idiots and spending money they don’t have to call internationally. Despite the number of free web services available to make international calls, US smartphone owners are shelling out close to $37.8 billion a year to keep in touch with foreign contacts. […]

Snow on the Road

I love driving in the snow. Yeah, I know that most people freak out, but I’ve always been calm and cool when driving in winter conditions, even extreme. I know what I’m doing and I have total confidence in my abilities. What I don’t have confidence in are the other people. I was thrilled when […]

Photographing the Moon Eclipse 2008

It was freezing cold outside. And dark. Not the kind of dark that just comes with night but the dark that happens when the earth passes between the sun and the moon. It was February 20, 2008, and I was in our new temporary home in Gaston, Oregon, an hour west of Portland, in time […]

Where the hell is Lorelle?

Like a game, Lorelle bounces around the world and the web. Here is a new listing of all the places where you can find Lorelle, and hopefully she will recover from speaking in third person soon. Lorelle on WordPress: This is now considered my “main” site. It covers all things WordPress, blogging, web publishing, and […]

Finding Vegetarian and Raw Food Sources Near Beaverton, Oregon

I’m finally starting to explore our new neighborhood near Hillsboro, Oregon. My new quest is to find healthy and organic local produce and natural foods stores, and some good ethnic groceries so I can eat with healthy recipes from all over the world. Here are some resources I uncovered on the web to help me […]

Lorelle’s World as of April 12th, 2012

The following is a snippet of Lorelle’s online world published weekly. Lorelle VanFossen published Lorelle’s World as of March 30th, 2012.