I took our photo early this week and sent it off. TUM photo - check! Had I waited until last night I could have captured the lovely grey mist that wrapped itself around everything and softened the landscape. But then again it was also quite wet and cold, so maybe not. Me first:
Like I said in an earlier post, I am not driving myself crazy with photography magazines and experts - so, given my circumstances, I like it well enough. Claire up next:
Just lovely Claire. Truly. It should be the cover of a novel! And finally, Mariette:
Mariette didn't love her picture and decided to call it quits before she got fed up. I think it is lovely, nice angle Mariette. (Don't feel bad, if it were me I probably would have smashed the plate in a tantrum!)
And finally, Linda joins us again! YAY! Here is her pic, my sweet niece wrapped in a grey towel:
And yes, we are jealous. A hot summers day, and swimming in January. Sigh. I could tell you that we are in for a dusting of snow tonight, but I don't think that will have the same effect, well, maybe on it would on Kayla Fern!
Well, that's it for this week, next week we go to dream land . . . I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight . . .
Well, the die has been cast and we have the themes in place for 2013. I don't want to start 2013 with all sorts of promises - but I have been feeling for a while that I need to put more effort into my photographs and stop relying on my iPhone so much. I was doing splendidly with this hobby a few years back, but the more I read, and the more I learned, and the more photography magazines I poured over the more frustrated I got. I started getting gear-envy. This remote clicker, that lovely flash, diffusers, lens ring lights, fancy tripods, beautiful lenses and then . . . sigh . . . camera bodies. My camera body is probably about 7 years old now, which is old for digital camera technology, and I started to outgrow the functionality it offered.
In addition, I haven't had access to my own computer for years and once the photos are in the camera, I didn't have anywhere to put them, and I didn't have decent enough software to play with them either. And I didn't have time. Eventually, about two years ago I put my camera away in the back of a dark, dark cupboard.
It is only recently when I took on an assignment for a friend and dusted my old trusty off that I realized how much I have missed it. And how much I do enjoy taking photographs. So I have brought my old friend out of exile, and have decided that I should just enjoy the process, and play with composition and light and subject matter - which is where the art really comes from anyway, and just enjoy it. That being said, in a promise to myself to try and spend more time playing with the hobby, here is my shot this week:
It's a start. It was taken in my kitchen amidst the coffee rings on the un-wiped counter and breadcrumbs while I waited for the kettle to boil. I took this one too, although it didn't speak to me as much:
We do these sugar crusted cranberries here, I wanted to make some and photograph them because they are so pretty, but these fake plastic berries - definitely not cranberries - on a $2 Christmas wreath is as close as I got.
And finally, I had to reboil the kettle twice more because I got carried away:
And this one . . .
My husband eventually did get his tea, and I think I may have some Christmas card prospects for next year!
Back to our theme, Mariette also found herself in post-Christmas mode I guess, her photo is just gorgeous!!! Mariette, if you have a lot of these left, put them in a ziploc bag, smash them up and bake the crumbs into sugar cookies, you won't be sorry:
And Claire, so very nice to have you back. Here's wishing you peace and love in 2013:
Next week won't be as sweet, or as colorful, but it presents a delightful challenge! No more books or magazines for me. I have decided my camera and I are going to voluntarily excommunicate ourselves, I am not going to read a darn thing and I am ignoring the experts. I am going to let the subject matter speak to me, and the light, and I am going to just enjoy taking pretty pictures and getting reacquainted with my old friend.
A while back I included the story of Sandra in my blog about husbands and children. Today I received the very sad news that she passed away yesterday.
I feel so deeply sad.
She fought a very hard fight, she earned every extra day she spent with
her husband and daughters, she fought for every extra hour. Sandra was an inspiration, and her story speaks to how privileged we are to feel as though we have forever, and her passing serves as a reminder that we should not take forever for granted.
Hold your babies close tonight, enjoy your snuggle with your husband, and let's honor Sandra's memory by cherishing each moment we are privileged enough to take for granted, and each minute, hour and day we do not have to wage a war to be a part of.
Sandra was an amazing woman, I heard her roar . . .
