Through the eyes of sisters - Topic: Flight

This week my sister chose a lovely topic again, full of possibilities.  I saw so much that would make a good subject but could not stop the speeding train that was my life this week and take a photograph.  I saw a young boy flying a kite on the beach with his golden lab running like crazy chasing seagulls who themselves took flight whenever this high-on-life canine got too close.  I also was in Boston and saw this incredible wall painting of birds - that would have been good too.  My sister did an amazing job, here is hers:

I love the suggestion of the movement of the basketball player with soft blurs, I like the anchor trees and the hoop - it all works - GREAT job.  Heids is doing a photography course and has a paying job lined up so will soon be a professional.

In the end, I snapped a few photos before school this morning.  Ryan has been folding paper planes - remember those phases when you were in school?  The marbles, the games, this one week and that the next.  Well, now its origami.  Here are his little hands at work - while his dad was yelling the bus had arrived:

And here is the result:

The bus had left at this point, and I was in my red plaid pajamas on the front lawn taking photos for my sister - that's commitment!  And speaking of commitment, Ryan has so much faith in this particular plane - and it does fly better than any of the others - he made a video for youtube, so I am including that too even though we recorded it on the fly a few weeks ago and not specifically this week.

That would almost be all for me this week, but I did happen to catch the 'flight of a flag' as I was delivering yesterday - through the car windshield while I was driving and it came out pretty well so I am including that too and signing off this week - the crazy is not over yet and I have a long to-do list to attack!  See you next week - it's gonna be a fun one!

Through the eyes of sisters . . . Topic: Water

I chose the theme this week and had all these grand ideas about running taps or photographing our cat, Dudley, who loves loves loves water, especially if it drips on his head - strange boy.  We are also surrounded by ponds, lakes, streams (especially now that it is spring and all the snow is melting) and of course, the sea, and we still have some snow and ice around so the possibilities were endless.

My sisters picture is impressive, she was on the beach with her kiddie winkles and after a storm the waves were particularly active, so were the surfers.  Of course, when they knew they were being photographed, they really put on a show!  Sigh.  I can't wait for our beach weather - I guarantee you there will be not a surfer in sight, being in a bay we don't get waves even though the seas off our coastline are what was responsible for the movie 'Perfect Storm'.  Back to Heidi, I loved her choice, it holds the promise of summer: 

My picture this week is from a neighbors pond.  We went to feed her horses for her as she was away for the day and her fish were particularly active and making all kinds of swirls and ripples.  Anybody looking at the photo could be forgiven for thinking that I dropped something into the water, but no.  Just goes to show you, not everything is what it seems, and you can never know the truth just by looking at something, sometimes there is more going on beneath the surface than we realize which is almost always the case with people don't you think?

The other thing that I realized is that these beautiful ripples and swirls reached every inch of the pond, no part was left unaffected as they moved across the glassy top which holds another truth I guess, in how the affect of an action spreads and knows no boundaries, touching every corner of our pond.  So I think it is important to be kind to each other.

I also took this picture, I loved all the woody earthtones, especially in the water, and the depth of the picture with another puddle behind the first:

And speaking of layers (you are getting a lot of pictures this week, but there is honestly A LOT of water around just now), I loved, loved, loved the layers of this one, the lake, the grass, the brush, the trees, the sky . . .

And finally, last one I promise, I took this one last night.  It was already late - 6:30pm and already Thursday Heidi's time so I debated for a full 10 seconds on the legitimacy of a photo since it needs to be done by Thursday, but since it wasn't Thursday yet by me I decided it was a gray area (mind the pun).  As I said it was late, it was snowing (growl) and I was on a busy street and I got hooted at - but it is such a desolate, sad looking place that I wanted to capture it, even in rush hour traffic on a busy street in the snow in the dark.  

As it was taken on my point and shoot, I think it could do with a run through photoshop to give it better contrast, but again the depth of the picture appealed to me.

That's me for this week, my sister chose the topic for next week and I can't wait, I am going to have such fun with it and it is such a whimsical, uplifting topic - can't wait to get snapping!

Through the eyes of sisters . . . Topic: Round

This is our first post, Heidi and I, and she chose a lovely topic with so much room for interpretation.  I love the photo she took:

A New Zealand fern, a new leaf unfolding as their new life unfolds too, delicately, with lots of promise.  I took several photos, but I think this is my favorite:

In one of our farmers yards they have this pedastal, with this blue glass ball on it.  I am always admiring it, and I loved the reflection of the fences, the house and even on the far right, my new van.  Funny thing is that no matter where I stood, I was always in the middle of the ball and so to is it in life.  We are the center of our own lives and everything in it is contained within that ball, but I also found truth in the reflection - what we see or experience everyday from a conversation, a single word, a gesture or a coincidence, is always interpreted through our own colored glass, with our own emotions, and based on what our current situations are.  How we feel about something depends on what you see reflected in that ball at this very moment.  Maybe the gypsies knew a thing or two afterall.

Here is  another of my other pictures:

It is Saint Paddy's day after all - but this ball is quite funky.  You can't see in the daylight, but one half of it glows in the dark and the teachers at Ryan's school use it to show the kids what you are seeing during different phases of the moon.  So the ball is round, as is the moon, which spins round, orbits round the earth, which also spins and orbits round the sun - and from here we get cycles - days, months, years.  You don't get more ROUND than that!