August 30, 2007
Honestly- do you like this?
August 25, 2007
On her own path...
She makes me laugh at least once a day.
She can be so sweet and empathic, she makes you wonder.
She can be so headstrong, she gets herself in more trouble doing it the "hard" way.
S. is a smart little cookie, and funny. She also has a good throwing arm (cool!). If I envision K. as a future cheerleader; then S. is the one on the teams K is cheering!
I really have no idea how this journey on her path will go; I only know it's going to be bumpy, that I probably haven't been on one anything like it, and we are going to have a lot of fun!
I'm not going to give technical info on this pic, as it had to have a LOT of psing. I had to adjust the exposure, fix the horizon and crop out the distracting background. There's just something about her, maybe her "updo" hair, the way she is walking, or the dog-carrier pocketbook she carrying that just made me think of her as older...and that path ahead of her. It's good to sit back every once in a while and think about the big picture. I have faith that we will all end up in a great place. I have faith that she will find a way to go along that is unique. I have faith in God to give us all the patience and strength to guide her as she finds her way.
TFL!
August 23, 2007
At the park
It's K, my oldest dd. She's my dreamer, my girl of faith in all that is magical, all that is beautiful, all that is special about this world. She is a kid who can charm you within moments of meeting you. She has a few obstacles ahead of her in the world of learning. But I have faith that with all the supports available to her (and there are many), she will achieve great things.
I have faith that the whole world is open to my little girl.
I have faith in my child as a person.
And I have faith that even when she is at her worst and driving me crazy, she and I will grow into wonderful girlfriends as she grows into womanhood.
August 21, 2007
Maybe hope as well as faith.
I have a very small deck off of our townhouse, and no yard. But I love being outside. Part of being outside is growing flowers. I have four flower boxes with flowers on my railing and one flower pot; two big tubs with tomato plants, and another two big pots with basil on the floor of my deck.
In the limited space we are allowed to plant in the landscaping, I have a lilac bush (a year and a half old), a two year old peony, and this year I added a rose bush. I'm a reckless gardener who sees something that would be just right, check the tag to see if it can stand the FULL SUN our little bits of garden has, and go with it. If I run into an issue, I simply research later.
Okay, so gardening is a fun hobby. But there is something very, very special about growing life out of the dirt. Food to nourish my family (well, supplement our nourishment, anyway) and flowers to give a bit of privacy to our deck, and to provide us the joy of having beauty to look at each day. It humbles me to serve my God and my planet by growing living things. It gives me faith in our earth, it gives me faith in the circle of life, and it makes me feel great. Can you really ask for anything else from a garden, no matter how small?
Okay, now after the RANT thread, I'm offering this up for HHCC. I am not easily offended and know these are not spectacular. So CC away!!! (please).
Settings: 10D, 50 mm lens, (1/80 for the gerbers, 1/100 for the roses), 3.5, ISO 200. RAW. Natural light. I'm not POSITIVE about my edits, but I THINK this was the deal:
ACR: boost contrast, change wb. PS: light screen layer, probably @ 20%. defog. crop. sharpened and resized for web.
THanks for looking, and am interested to hear the cc!
August 20, 2007
Just a little faith in me...
I can feel the world melt away when he sits with me, when he grabs me into an embrace every time we are near, when he sits and laughs with me.
We've become adults together. We met at 18. I've learned that in difficult times, he has my back. I've learned that when we are out of synch, although it feels awful, it passes us by. We know. We just know.
I have faith in you and me. I have faith in us.
It is a precious gift to be married to my best friend.
I snapped this last night literally just pointing and shooting, trying to get a feel for my flash/diffuser and the complicated relationship between them. I have got to dig out my flash tutorial DVD again, and relearn the important stuff. But I loved this shot when I opened it. I did very little to it- I probably should sharpen it more for the web- but it just spoke to me. He thinks he looks p'd off; I see the ever so slightly turned up corner of an almost smile. But his eyes are just so perfectly expressive. I swear I can see until forever in his eyes. They are, after all, the window to the soul, are they not?
TFL!
August 19, 2007
Just a campfire....
My princess
When we were up for the engagement party at my in-laws, she was in her glory. She has this dress up, which she put on herself. She then drew beautiful? :) tattoos on her arms and face. She used tulle that had been part of some of the presents, and created the ensemble above. She posed for me as above- I wish she would let me pose her, and move her away from you know, the light ploe, the electric switches, move the other chair out of the way...
but I take them as I can get them. Because this photo screams with K's personality out loud.
TFL!!!
August 18, 2007
A day in the week...
Feet. Notice the dress, and the plain ol' shorts. That's pretty typical of them.
I don't know if it is Momma goggles- something about this one appeals to me. the color bugs me though. I ran a soften color action, I tried b/w, sepia, color saturated... none of them looks quite right. So I settled for soft color. What do you think? TFL!
August 17, 2007
the kids are getting big!
Posing (her idea) with the toothfairy box, the tooth, a magic star that was her gift to the tooth fairy, and a corner of the apple that made it all happen.
S. decided yesterday that we needed to take her doggies for a walk. She was the Mommy, and I was the Daddy. Our walk around the neighborhood was a "field trip". She then decided it was an Army field trip...I don't know why. But she full enjoyed her little game of pretend.
Making a wish!
Just for fun, a pic snapped with her new "pup". She got three shots yesterday (poor kid) which in our house means she gets a toy. She picked a puppy that she can be a vet to- and that drinks a bottle, and has sounds as he whines, barks and licks us.
TFL!
August 6, 2007
A few favorites from the camping trip
August 5, 2007
1st annual Cousin Camping Trip
August 2, 2007
Up to july 4th....
This is my parents' yard, looking through the woods, over the stream and out toward the neighbors. They are called smoke bombs, right?
This is S with my mother's only sister. I wrote about her before, but quite a while ago now. Bad exposure, but I was really winging it. Shoulda gone auto as I didn't really want to miss the relationships and action and stuff. Oh well.
And this, is "my Buddy". My uncle was so great with the kids, both he and my aunt wanted to relate with them. So they both went out of their way to connect with both girls. But there was something special about S. and my Buddy, as she came to call him. Uncle Jim, she still gets excited and asks if you're going to be at grandma's house!
Miss K. decided to stop pouting and to go have fun, already! I love the color and smoke and her own little sense of style in this one- notice her wearing Mom's crocs!
Dh is really a good guy. He loves to entertain the kids, and family too. He is, though, very into things that burn...
TFL! And thank you for the feedback yesterday. I will continue to play with those shots.