Flowers, "She's FINALLY HERE!!!!"

Flash back four years ago... (looking for a digi pic from that time frame has made me realize 1~ my baby has grown into a totally different young girl... 2~my photography has grown, too... 3~I love that I used to date my pictures so I can readily figure out when it was taken... 4~ I need to scan in some film pics of K at this age in her dressups. I don't appear to have any, other than actual dresses- yes, this is a dress she is wearing- from that time digitally. But Great Scott, Batman- I digress!!!)

Four years ago, K fell in love with Barbie movie, "Fairytopia". For those not blessed by this particular experience, I can tell you that Elina lives in her own flower home, Peony.
I wish I had a picture of my young princess to go with this post- she was 3 years old, dressed in her pink ballerina dress up, ballet slippers and probably a purse or some other finishing touch. I know this, because she LIVED in that particular ensamble for about a year.
Anyway, when I was in Walmart getting my annuals, I noticed peony bulbs. Knowing nothing about them, I decided to treat my princess to her very own peony. We just knew our very own fairy would happily move in.
What we (I) didn't know is, it takes four years to mature into bloom. Ugh!
So, without further ado, our first bud of the year...

...has blossomed into full regal, magical beauty today!!! Oh, the joy and excitement.

All taken with 100 mm. Bud 5.29.08; blooms 5.30.08

1/125, 3.5, ISO 500

1/320, 5.6, ISO 250,

1/160, 8, ISO 250.

All run with strong contrast curve in ACR;

defog and screen light layer at low opacity.

First bloom with "cloudy" WB,

second with "shade".

Thanks for looking!

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Flowers (5)

The before and after... a zinnea bud

and bloom.

1/80, 2.8, ISO 400. Manual. Defog, increased contrast, crop.

1/100, 2.8, 100 mm, ISO 500. Manual. Defog and clight crop.

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A different view of gerberas

These daiseys are pretty from every angle. The color is so sunny and happy-

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Gerbera daisy

Ahhh. Now that I've planted my flower boxes on my little deck, I love sitting out there in the morning with my morning coffee. It's a little slice of peace and happiness, waiting for me at the beginning of my day, and there greeting me when I return home. My flowers, tomatoes and herbs almost never fail in bringing a smile to me. Ahhhh.

This one I popped the color; for some reason it's fairly muted when I upload.

1/125, 6.3, 100mm; manual.

The color is showing up a little wonky, not too sure why. This is SOOC, with defog and crop (strong contrast curve in ACR). IRL, it is a VIVID orange. thanks for looking, and CC always appreciated.

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*flowers*

Yay, I'm going to love this week's theme, too!
Unfortunately by the time I finished planting today, made and ate dinner, washed the kids and myself and got them to bed, it was dark. Oh, well.
Here's two from our last visit to Nonna and Poppy's house. I believe they are both apple tree blossoms, but I might be wrong.

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Happiness is...(6) *sniff*

"M". It's been 19 years growing up together~ and yes, we met when we were 19. So I've known you half a lifetime. You set my heart on fire, most especially when I see you playing with our children, working with your Dad, helping your Mom, advising your sister. You know me better than most other people on the planet, and you love me anyway. I may talk your ear off, and want to process my thoughts and feelings. You may be the quiet one. You are the strength to keep me going when all the roles I play at this point in my life crash into each other. You patiently wait, and help me put the pieces together. I love laughing with you. I love holding and being held by you. I cherish every day we have; raising our family, supporting our families, creating a life for our family that we can be proud of. And I don't tell you often enough how proud I am of you. How I watch you struggle to keep discomfort at bay so that the kids can still jump on your stomach, just for fun. How I watch you methodically deconstruct a problem, so that it can be solved appropriately. How I know you love me, even with all my craziness! And support my ideas, even when I get carried away. I love you, Buddy. You are my best friend, and I am happy to be creating this family life with you.

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Happiness is...(5)

Getting to be a Mommy for the day! In a perfect timing sort of way, I happened to be off from school today (a give back from lack of snow days! Ha!). And it just so happened to be K's school "recital"- two first grade classes put together performances based on information they had learned about Hawaii. It was too stinkin' cute!!! It is amazing how well they did, and how much they had memorized. It was a glorious day to be a mom.
I wish I could post more pics, but won't post pics of others' children.
And my contribution to the calss party. It was super easy, and got rave reviews by kids and moms alike!

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Happiness is... (4)

...being able to play with something beautiful, and create something new. This is one reason why I don't want to make photography into a business. I love to play with art, not have to worry about if someone else likes it or wants it or want a change to it, etc. It is fun to experiment, and either love the result, or shrug and walk away. I love the ffeling of pride and fun in the "doing"- taking the picture, loading it (did it come out as I'd hoped/ Did I get it?), and ultimately playing with it in pping. Bringing out the best in what I saw. So you can see what I saw. I love that!


These are blooms on my newest addition to my little garden, a gift on Mother's day. I wish I had a little more wiggle room on the full bloom on the right, but a dead bloom was just plain in the way. I wish I'd seen it when I was framing the shot! But I'm otherwise pleased with how this shot came out.

SOOC- (with same ACR as below, and defog)

My play.

ACR- strong contrast curve, increased contrast slightly.

A slight color pop (my own)

purple rust texture (my own)

crop.

I wish I could find my camera settings, but Browser is not cooperating with me tonight.

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Happiness is... (day 3)

Driving home into a gorgeous sunset. I had my camera with me, and was riding with my family and inlaws back from a family party. I decided to try to capture some of the amazing sky. This is pretty much SOOC, except a bit of cropping and defog. Even riding at +60 on a highway, God's goodnight kiss to us is something remarkable, isn't it?

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Happiness is...

...being "rainbow hunters" with my girls! We were so excited to find this one outside our home yesterday when we returned from running errands. Happiness is teaching my children to look at the world around them, and to take the time to savor the joy of the moment.
And happiness is having the moment last long enough for me to run inside and get my camera, so I could capture our find.
And happiness is being able to share it. Happy day, everyone!
My settings were: 1/800, 9.0, ISO 200. 100mm lens (it was on my camera when I grabbed it!). Basically SOOC, except: defog and cropping. Thanks for looking!

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I know this is old, but...

...with the theme being "happiness" this one jumped out at me! What could be happier than a little one "hanging" out in the woods on a beautiful day with both of her parents to herself? For Little S, nothing else!

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For you...

Just for fun. My girls were really grooving on the dandelions last week! Although her expression is a little puckered, I can't help but love the bouquet she picked for me on Mother's Day.

Happy Sunday!

1/125; 4.5, ISO 200. 100mm lens.

Not overly sure what pping I did to this, though I'm fairly sure I increased the contrast quite a bit. I may have decreased the saturation a bit in both ACR and pping; I had a little clipping in her dress. CC is always welcome :)

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"Catchlights"

From last weekend's family party. This image blew me away, because it was late afternoon, inside, without a flash. I was so excited when I opened it!
This is a picture of one of our cousins and her terrific daughter. D is one of those folks where I can step into her kitchen and feel immediately comfortable. We can laugh, realte on the parenting stuff, and talk out the things that happen in life as we go along. Our girls have a nice, easy relationship too. Sadly, they live a distance away so our gatherings usually occur infrequently. I suspect it makes us appreciate when we do get together even more.
My settings were: 1/40 (can you believe that was hand held???); 2.8, 100mm lens, at 1250 ISO AV mode.
I did a strong contrast in ACR, and then did a defog and crop in pping. I believe my edditing includes a light color pop, and ran a noise reduction filter (although this really wasn't noisy, I like the softening effect on the skin).
And I've got to figure out how to copy the EXIF so I'm not writing all this stuff down! :)
I may be slightly off in my descritpion of pping- I've editted almost 45 pics from last weekend between last night and tonight!





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Mom

"Mom"

It's been a while since I've posted about my mom.

She lives by and practices the Serenity prayer:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

I have the unique privledge of having worked with my mother for a year. So I had the pleasure of seeing how much respect and appreciation others have for her too.

I mena, she's my mom. I think she's amazing. No, I know she is amazing.

She has this amazing ability to remain centered and calm in the midst of chaos, to see the "big picture" and to summarize it back succinctly, as well as diplomatically. Her counsel is sought out by many friends, as well as family. And all the while, she listens with respect, letting you know that you matter.

This is an amazing gift to the listener. And it is a great talent of my Mom's.



Mom has taught me so many great life lessons. Like to have the courage to be true to myself, even when it means standing alone.



Question what you are told, sift through with what you know, and take from it what is useful, helpful and meaningful. Leave the rest.



Others' feelings don't have to be yours to take as your own. Everyone can be mad, hurt, sad, etc. You can hear them without taking it as your responsibility, or your fault. Just be. Often anger just needs to be released. The solution is sometimes just giving opportunity for voice. Listening without engaging doesn't make me weak; it makes me reasonable.



Listen to your heart.

I was brought up to think through the whys of my values. To listen to what my religion taught me, then to ask why and how. Those are not traits frequently found in a Catholic girl. It helped me develop a very strong sense of faith, as well as spirituality. When I am overwhelmed, I need quiet to refind my center, to allow what I know to be true to come back to me.



My mom also taught me how to be bored. We spent long summer afternoons ding N O T H I N G. Not camp, sport or other organized activity. Not all summer, but for periods. I learned to take a walk, let my mind wander, to create things to do, to let my imagination soar. I learned to be okay with being by myself, and to be okay with down time. I don't need much to keep me happy.



My mom taught me to treasure the heart treasures. A good friend, making the world a better place one small thing at a time, leaving a person something positive after being with them, finding the good in each person, finding the good in every interaction (well, almost every one), realizing that all of us are just doing the best we can at the time with what we have- so be careful with judging others. Mom taught me the heart treasures, helping others, making someone's time a little better, a little easier, a little more fun is why we're here.



My mom is the definition of a good friend. A good wife and mom. A good Christian. And an amazing woman.











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Wishing you...

~Wishing you a Happy Mother's Day~!

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Poor Kid!

Yesterday my childhood neighbor, now an oral surgeon, pulled FIVE of K's teeth! My poor kid!!!

The teeth

The well medicated kid

She was such a trooper. She was thrilled that her Dad and I got her a Nintendo DS; she spent all day yesterday playing an "Little Mermaid" game.

My heart! Poor kid!!!

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