5 20 07 An interloper

Or, you know, a bug :)

I was trying to practice a bit more with my lens and snapped this rhoddendron in front of our home. I didn't notice the busy bee inside until I was editting later. Too bad I don't have a macro so we could see him even better.

Two of the girsl playing at grandma and grandpa's. They had a pajama party so Momma and daddy could ccelebrate their anniversary- yay! K is playing in the rubble left in the wake of a violent t-storm this week. S is simply making a wish!

5 19 07. Anniversary Bouquet

My Dh is terrific. He is my buddy, my lover, my friend. We laugh together and love our daughters together. we get annoyed with each other and tease each other. We don't always get it right. But undeniably, we love each other and trust each other and will spend the rest of our days holding hands and laughing.
Happy anniversary, my love!
*Well, except our anniversary was yesterday. I couldn't really be present with posting on our day, now could I? ;)
These pictures don't do justice the magnificence of the bouquet my love gave me yesterday. But they are the few that I like the most. Oh and the third flower is what my "crown" was made of for the reception. I wore my Great Grandmother's chapel length veil for the ceremony- that needed to come off for the outdoor, very muddy, exceptionally fun wedding recpetion afterward.
Cheers to all! TFL!

5 19 07 Sisters by the stream

This spot is a place I used to go to think, play, escape, write and overall just "be". It is a small stream that babbles its way along across my parents property. It is beautifully shaded, and is always teaming with life and activity. I swear the sun dances when it meest the water on this stream. It gives me immense pleasure to see my children captivated, feeling the call of the water just as I did.

Not sure which crop I like better. Any thoughts? Anyway, it's my post of the day. TFL!

5 18 07 Some flowers

I've gotten out of the habit and just need to post again. The rose is very, very photoshopped. I was playing around with the texture/vintage thing. I'm not sure how I feel about it, to be honest. The lillies were bought on Sunday and were closed so tight, I didn't think they'd open. But they did, just in time for our aniversary :)

I took the lillies inside in front of sheer curtains- and added "screen blend" layers.

TFL!

Got her!

My oldest is the typical run from the camera kinda kid. But we had a guest- the class teddy bear- and so she actually posed. Well, sat and looked at the camera. That counts, right? I ran noise-reduction (the filter on PS) as at an ISO of 800 it had a significant amount of noise. Not sure what's going on there, will have to work on that some more.
Anyhow, this is what I got. I think I overly smoothed her skin, but I kinda thought it looked glamerous-ish. Is it plastic skin, or does it look good? I'm not objective anymore...
TFL!

5 12 07 Family

I love these two together. S was playing her "I'm shy, no one but Daddy will do" thing at a family party yesterday.

I'm still pretty much only using my 70-200 2.8 lens~yum. This is just about SOOC; I cropped slightly, ran defog, sharpened, and just for fun added a vignette. I also addded a color pop/channel mixer layer for a little boost. TFL!
***Editted to add*** I was mistaken- looking back at this pic, last night as I editted about 60+ pictures- this photo was intially underexposed. I bumped the exposure by at least a stop in ACR.

5 11 07 Grandmas Rule!

Grandmas rule, as we all know. Our grandmas attended grandparents day for K at her school. It made her day to have her grandmas there with her. Thank you so very, very much!

5 10 07 Nonna's visit

You are such a good sport, Nonna! It made our day that you came so far for such a brief visit. You show us over and over how important we are in your life.

5 9 07 Cheers for ice cream!

Love this messy, messy face.

5 8 07 Weather

Not much to say, except I like the texture of this cloud. And the color rocks, in my *humble* opinion.

5 7 07 Practice, practice, evaluate...

I'm still practicing! The learning curve is absolutely there. I'm getting sharp and crisp- once in a while. I'm working on patience...for those of you who have been hanging around two peas long enough, you may recognize my title as wise advice from Paul on learning something new.

***okay. I'm going to elaborate on the learning curve part. Please DO NOT read this as whining. I know exactly how lucky I am. And I am extraordinarily grateful. I thought my struggle might strike a chord with others who are working on mastering something new, too.

I know this lens is sweet as all get out. But I think I've achieved tack sharp about ten times- out of five hundred shots! I just want to get someone who is willing to sit for me so I can really see what this baby can do, and really learn it. Learning on moving targets is just plain challenging. And I have practiced on things that stay still- but- I don't really want this lens for still life, KWIM?***

There. Now the above are ones I'm willing to share. It's coming. Slowly. But coming.

5 6 07, one more- I can't resist

Okay, I know she's falling off the edge of the world with way too much tilt- but look at this photo with my new lens! Yay!

5 6 07 I GOT A NEW LENS!!!

DH surprised me with an early Mother's Day/anniversary gift. I got... a 70-200L LENS!!!!!!!!! WAHOO! Here is the very first photo I took with it-boring, but crisp. The first is SOOC, the second one is editted. I spent all day yesterday playing. There is a bit of a learning curve, but so far I'm happy with it. Hey, I can use this lens inside, at night! Amazing.

5 5 07 Playing with parameter settings

I played around with my parameter settings; I increased the in-camera contrast, sharpness and saturation as an experiment. These are SOOC and editted. I still had to edit to get the picture as I want it, but this made a difference. What do you think?

5 4 07 School social worker

I love working in a school. I like working with young children; school is where the children are! I have all the related perks of school, it's true. But I also work in a place where children already are, the families are connected and the staff are all united in the shared love of working with children. It's a great place to be. Plus, the school I am in is small- giving me two more benefits. One, I can name almost every child as they walk in the hall; second, the numbers are small enough that I only work three days a week. Although I'd love to work full time, my little one is only two. So, it has been a blessing to have these extra two days to be with her.
TFL!
**The badge idea was thanks to Janice's post. Her pic is much better than mine, though. ;) Thanks for the inspiration.

5 3 07 My profession

I am proud to be a social worker. It is a difficult, demanding job that requires many different skills and abilities. It is, as originally developed, a job dedicated to assisting others during tough times at the beginning of the 20th century.

It has evolved into many different facets, including therapy and mental health, care for the elderly, care for children and famillies, the work force, the downtrodden, the homeless, the person who is having difficulty right now making ends meet. We work in schools and prisions, shelters for the homeless and victims of dometstic violence. We help people struggling with alcohol, drugs and other afflctions. Hospitals and nursing homes. Housing. Healthcare and medication. Food.

It is an amazing profession. I care and nurture, teach, network, advocate, support, provide therapy, attend life milestones. I help celebrate success and mourn loss. I sometimes advise, and often counsel. I am empathic, but I come home to my own family intact. I create strong boundaries, but I cry with a child who has lost her mother.

I have worked in a school with special needs children, a mental health hospital, in a community service agaency helping adults with mental illness to obtain housing, food and mental health care; a mental health clinic for children and families, and a program working with preschool children whose families are homeless.

I have learned amazing things about each person I meet. My profession is a privledge. It is a responsibilty. And it is one I am proud to identify myself with. I am a social worker!!!

The picture above is from anotepad that I keep at work. A dear friend gave it to me one Christmas, and I just love it.

If you made it through all that, kudos to you!

I am lucky to work in a small elementary school, in a small suburban community. I'll talk more about that tomorrow.

It makes me a bit sad that most people don't know what social workers do. they have visions of children and elderly being removed from their homes, over worked social service caseworkers, etc. Mostly, we are portrayed as overworked, callaused and stingy. I don't get it.

Anyway, just a little public service information that social workers are in many, many places helping many, many, many people.

May 1, 2007 On being Momma

What I do?
I am Momma. My older dd asked me, "Why can't I call you Sara?"

My answer was, "Because only two people in the whole world are important enough in my life to have the privledge to call me Momma."

I spent my whole life collecting moments, the savory pieces of emotion, memory, experience, heart ache. Tastes and flavors. Smells. Treasuring the lilac that leaves a scent so strong it can hurt- and then in a whisper is gone.
The imprint of a warm sun on my face. The smell of choclate. The power of a wave pulling me to sea. The incredible smallenss of standing under a star filled sky. Or the tears filling my eyes to overflowing seeing the majesty of Leonardo's work in the Vatican.
Spending an afternoon beside a brook, listening to the stories it has to tell.
Watching a small child with an elderly relative. Or stranger.
Hearing another's story.
Sitting in the grass and letting it tickle.
Finding a "good spot" in bed, on the sofa, on the beach.
Seeing an old friend.
Seeing a love lost.
Seeing your lover.

Feeling God's hand in your life, helping you choose right.
Knowing your friend needs you. Missing my grandmother. Missing my friend. Missing.

The spark that comes from creativity. The power of knowing you have made a difference. The buzz after performing an act of kindness. The bigger buzz when it is anonymous.

The struggle of self preservation, and empathy.
The gift of wonder.

All of these I gather in my heart and soul. For I know they will help me be the mother to you I want and dream to be.

This is what I do outside of photograghy.

What Else I do...

...outside the world of photograghy is the theme this week. For today- relax. Photograghy is a way for me to relax. But- sitting in my chair, hanging outside, having my trusty glass nearby of the beverage of the moment~ this is me today. Soaking up the sun, listening to my children play, saying hello to neighbors are all a part of my world.

HHCC is always welcome.

4 .29 .07 Da and the Grouchy Ladybug

I couldn't resist snapping this when I stumbled across this scene. Not to say Da is old~ well, maybe... just kidding Dad. All HHCC is welcome. I had played with the exposure and brightness on this in ACR- I'm working on getting the hang of exposure when using my flash! As always, defog and sharpening for web. Gradiant map layers for my conversion. TFL, and hope everyone is having a great weekend!

An old love

This qualifies as "old". This is one of the first things I saved up to buy all by myself. It cost a whole $30 back when I was in 6th grade. He is beloved.

My children now play with him, as you can tell by his attire.

This was a lot of fun to do, it brought back a lot of memories...especially how his nose used to be leather covered- but I rubbed it so often, it has worn/torn away. TFL!

You and Me...

Hello, Mini-me!!! I wish I had a profile shot of myself for comparison. Maybe that'd be a good challenge. And then maybe one of K and M and then I could make a storyboard...

It isn't so apparent in this photo, but this little imp is physically my mini-me. I love this photo, my six year old dd-K took it for us. She's coming along as a budding photo-bug, isn't she? Yeah, I wish all of my chins hadn't made it in- and that my hair wasn't in a ponytail. But I have made the decision recently that I need to allow my presence be documented as a part of my family- not just the one always behind the camera. And as I don't care if a photo isn't perfect, but captures the moment for those I love in my life, then Damn! if the same doesn't go for me too! I do not want to be a missing momma that the girls can't recall as they grow...not that I'm planning on going anywhere!
Steppig down now. Just wanted to shout out what I've been thinking lately. TFL, and HHCC on the first photo is very welcome.

Sisters sharing the path

Yup, I'm cheating- this is from Tuesday. What do you think of this? I find it all sorts of symbolic- two sisters on the same path/road, taking it their own way...yet, together. I hope this is a metaphor for their relationship for the years to come.
Settings: 1/250, 6.3, ISO 800. 50mm. ACR: adjusted color noise reduction, and lum. smoothing.
Thanks for looking, and HHCC is always welcome!

Grandma's serving platter

This goes back a few generations- 4, I think- which is what makes me cherisg a small silver serving dish. The grape pattern has always intrigued me. My grandmother used to have a Wedgewood set that was a gorgeous blue- with a similiar relief pattern on them0 but in white. I remember these dishes from the formal dinners in my grandparents' dining room- Grandpa was a formal kinda guy. It reminds me of being surrounded by all that family history, the way you could see the sunset from the dining room window, how you could look out the window on the side and see some silly decoration my grandmother had put out to cheer up the "waiting bench"~ Gram ran a nursery school for 40 years that was an addition built on to the house, connecting through a breezeway~ The Last Supper hanging over the buffet, the blue wallpaper, the swinging door like a real restaurant to the kitchen; how I first heard about the Grateful Dead during a Thanksgiving dinner in that room- how my husband had the opportunity to be a part of those traditions before they morphed into what we have now that "GG' has left her home.
I remember the endless jokes about how dinner was ready when the smoke detector sounded, how when it was time for pie my dad nad his siblings got up and got straws to make their point (I'd kill them!!! :) ). About how Thanksgiving was about remembering loved ones who passed on (it was an anniversary of a family member's death), how the mini tv in the kitchen- b&w with rabbit ears- was kept on just low enough that one of us could know when to go in and check the football score. How my cousin and I always did the wish bone at Thanksgiving.
I remember so vividly going into this room- surrounded by old furniture that held family "treasure", and just looking at all the glass. I remember feeling kinda reverent almost. YOu could take one step into that room and understand immediaelty how family tradition is. ABout how my family treasures passing along memntos and heirlooms, to keep those that have gone before us alive.
If you made it all the way through this novel, GOOD FOR YOU.
This was snapped quickly on a pillow under my den light. The only real mod I did was to boost the contrast +50 from +13. Settings: 1/50, 2.0, 800 ISO. This shot made me want a good macro lens...

Fairy Shadow

*I* believe in fairies! I was lucky enough to "catch" this one's shadow on our sheers- but she flew away before we saw her! :)
HHCC is welcome!

*smirk*...and there's nothing you can do about it!

This photo screams- HA! It's Easter, I'm at Great Grandma's, and I can eat all the chocolate she gives me, and there's nothing you can do about it!

-I swear, if you knew her, you'd believe me. Or, just look really closely. It's all there.

Settings: 1/160, 3.2, 800 ISO. 16-35 mm lens. PS- crop, defog, sharpened and sized for web, as well as a color boost with channel mixer.

3 13 07 Unadulterated joy

Do I need to say more???

Gotta love the first day that begins to feel like spring. She was too excited to search out her rainboots, and settled on her snow boots- wrong feet at that!

The color version was a little monochromatic- the only color was her brown pants, and the yellow parking lines. So B&W seemed just right. I'm not sure I love the framing, but hey, I got the capture- in manual, nonetheless!

Settings: 1/1000, 5.0, 200 ISO. 50 mm lens. Boosted contrast; otherwise, defog, sharpened for web and (obviously) converted to B&W.

Thanks for looking, and as always, HHCC is always welcome.

3 9 07 Determination

This isn't the best picture- I was in a bit of a rush. But- this growth on my rubber tree amazes me. my youngest poked a hole in this leaf last summer. But look what happened! The tree, life found a way. It's so symbolic of the power and strength of life and just plain determination. I hope you find it inspiring too.

3 7 07 She's not too old yet

Just when I was getting sad that she's getting so old...she dresses up and pulls out a ballerina bear to play with. Whew! There's no rush, little one.