Every Day Things

 Thank goodness for Shutter Sisters! I'm not sure I'd ever get the pics from our trip blogged without their prompts the last two days. Today's theme is "every day things." Certainly the expected highlights of our trip were the wildlife but while "hunting" the elusive creatures of the wild, I found my eye drawn to these images. I imagine they are "weeds" and "pests" to most but since they don't live in my backyard, they are beautiful!

 I love the delicate curling lines and the feather softness of the "fluff." Wish I was more well-versed in plant parts so I can better describe what I find so alluring!

This last was a capture on the side of the road at Custer State Park in Montana. We stopped just for this flower . . . if you've been to such a place where people expect to see some amazing animal around each bend, you'll remember how people pull over just to see what you might be seeing! Kinda made me giggle. :)

I hope to tell the story of the "epic road trip" in the next couple of days. It was such a amazing experience as only a family trip across five states and 3,000 miles can be!

Golden Light

We're home! Two weeks and over 3,000 miles later, we have safely returned and begun to settle into our routines. I have so much to share but in response to today's Shutter Sister's prompt, I had to share perhaps my favorite pic of the trip. It was taken on Flat Head Lake, Montana while riding in my Uncle's boat. It was certainly a new photographic challenge to try to capture birds in flight while standing in a bobbing boat! This is a beautiful bald eagle that we first spotted perched on a snag. As we got closer and the angle of the lens changed, I was thrilled to see how the light changed, the flare, the color. It makes my heart happy!

Close to Home

How fortuitous that the Shutter Sisters prompt for today is to look Close to Home for photo inspiration . . . I think this is the first photo I've taken in at least two weeks. Just busy life, busy brain and busy children to keep me otherwise occupied. As I was cleaning up in the kitchen, I was struck by how pretty my faucet seemed. There was a bit of rare winter light coming in through the window. Much to Sis's amusement, I got out the tripod and fiddled around with a few pictures before returning to stove cleaning.

This morning, I am meeting a friend for chocolate and a camera talk and walk. I hope to have pictures to share or at the very least, bring home a little dose of inspiration to get me snapping this week!!

Grow

Ok. Moment of truth. Shutter Sisters posted a challenge for the New Year of picking ONE word to "influence" and "shape" the entire year. Picking the word was easy -- grow. I want and intend to grow in so many ways! Of course there is the new practice that I want to grow. And there are friendships and community that I want to grow. And I want to grow my skills in creating balance for myself and my family. 

Now that all sounds well and good, you say, but what's with the pictures? Well, there was this other Shutter Sisters entry about allowing yourself in front of the lens rather than always being the safe and invisible photographer in the scenes you shoot. Guilty. I have a love/hate relationship with my body. Don't we all? Some lucky gals are comfortable in their skin and have a certain confidence that makes them beautiful and sensual. I want that! I want to grow into loving myself and living whole hearted.

So the first photo was my not-so-courageous self-portrait. And then I took a day or two to work on my nerve and tried again. I like it. It makes me nervous that I like this second photo. And more than a little nervous to share it. This is what it feels like to grow. Uncomfortable. Nervous. Wanting to go back to safety and the known.

In what ways do you want to grow and stretch this year? I'd love to hear :)

Early Spring

Just a quick salute to Spring and ShutterSisters . . . Spring has sprung in the Northwest. And every year I worry that perhaps its too soon and that frost will come and kill the fragile buds and blooms. The little willow in the backyard, pictured above but a pictures from last year, has the tiniest, greenest little leaves. Oh, so sweet. The sun has been our and the bulbs are up. My heart is happy, happy, happy:)

Nurture

This month's word at ShutterSisters is nurture. I haven't found enough time in recent weeks to spend with my camera but yesterday, inspired by this word and my beautiful children, I took my camera out and watched for opportunities to capture their sweetness with each other. They do plenty of squawking and hollering but there are plenty of moments of tenderness, too.

Lots of fun ideas percolating this morning . . . hope to take a walk with the family at the water front. I've been meaning and wanting to go down there with the camera and today's the day. Crossing my fingers that the weather will hold. And hubby and I are thinking about doing a collaborative blog. Still giving that thought and when we've hashed out the details and the vision, you'll hear more!

Create

The word of the month at Shutter Sisters is create. And it has been inspiring to see the images that others have been coming up with . . . beautiful and amazing. Art has been a biggie around our home for some time now. Hubby and Big D both got drawing pencils for Christmas and a typical Saturday or Sunday morning finds the whole family at the kitchen table creating in one way or another.

Yesterday, while I fiddled on the computer, hubby and Big D sketched while Little Sis played with stickers and an endless supply of paper. Side note: what does one do with the billions pieces of paper that are "gifts" from their children? We admire and then slyly dispose of them except that then they dig around in the trash! We have kid art displays that we try to refresh but that is simply not enough to contain the volume. And when you receive 20 pieces of the said art in a single morning, it can be a pit challenging.
When it comes to drawing or just about any other art form (barring photography), this mama is all thumbs. So my contribution to the family artistic endeavors has been a box of 96 colorful crayons and a book of prism designs to color. I love watching the combinations of colors take shape. And I love the big box of crayons. I guard is zealously from my grubby fingered children who are also fascinated by the large array of colors, never mind their own significant supply. Theirs is not as pretty now that the wrappers have been ripped and the crayons are at various stages of breakage.

I love the my children are growing up appreciating beauty and developing their own artistic skills. Big D is truly gifted, drawing images that amaze me given his age. And who knows what hidden skills Sis may have. I've read somewhere that all children believe they are artists early on and as the grow older, they become self-conscience and doubtful of themselves. When asked as older children, most will deny that they are artists. My hope is that we can continue to foster the joy in creating and the confidence to continue doing so.

Evidence of Winter

In our neck of the woods, winter is marked by rain and the occasional day or two of snow. But this Christmas, we had the whole gamut of winter weather! Beautiful frost with sun-filled mornings, drippy rain and a surprise snow storm. Oh, and I failed to mention our most notorious winter weather, the feared ice storm. Thus far, we've avoided this driving disaster this season . . .
Christmas morning, hubby and I snuck out of the house in search of wintery photos. Some these were no further than our backyard.
The frost was heavy and wonderful. I was looking for sun and frost together . . . but the sun was doing his work quickly.

I'm glad that Paige over at Shutter Sisters invited us to show proof of winter in our photos. Today is dark and damp and the pictures are a refreshing reminder of the beauty of winter!

Favorite Images of '09

It has been a year . . . since my hubby bought me my camera, since I participated in a beginning digital photography class at the local community college, since I began exploring my creative potential. Only a year! This seems like an opportune time to reflect on where I began, what I've learned and what I hope to accomplish in this coming year.
Apparently, my organization system has improved over the course of the year! In the early months, there is no clear way to identify which photographs have been processed or even which were considered keepers. After various attempts of getting things straightened up, my current system, though not perfect, is much easier for me to use! One of my goals is to do a better job of both organization and backing up my files . . .
Initially, I shied away from people pics. They were harder to predict and it took me so much time and brain power to figure out how to use the manual functions - by the time I got it together, my subject (aka fickle child) had moved on. Now my challenge is to take portraits indoors with natural lighting . . . and still be focus! Lots of time to work on that with the winter months.
Initially, my only concern was getting a good picture but my definition was fairly broad. At first, it was to be in focus with the correct exposure. Then I began to be deliberate in my use of aperture and shutter speed to create the photo in my mind's eye. Still have a long ways to go! Goals I've set for myself include working my way through Peterson's Understanding Shutter Speed and task myself with assignments to practice. Perhaps I should make that a blog project . . . . I'd also like to participate in photography club in town and take a class. I think that's more than enough to keep me busy in 2010!

ps: inspired by Shutter Sisters and Gabrielle Kai

Christmas Bokeh

We had a little pre-breakfast fun today in Christmas pj's. The furry friend is "Jingle," a musical moose. Or is he a reindeer? I was inspired by today's post at ShutterSisters, explaining how to achieve glorious "bokeh bubbles," to steal Sarah's apt descriptor.
I'm loving the possibilities that all the twinkly lights present . . . And adorable, excited children. Now the only problem is that they don't sit still! My skill with the focus on my 50mm prime is still somewhat deficient to the task. But I had an aha moment about the wonders of masks and the sharpening!
Here Christmas Moose has his own moment of fame. He's been my son's pal since he was a wee toddler of about 18 months. His batteries never seem to run down . . . Little Sis had made him her "pet" this year and he has been to and from school multiple times. And woe be unto which ever parent forgets to retrieve him at the end of the day!
These last two are repeats from earlier in the season -- still my favorites thus far!
I'm packing my camera with me today as we attempt to finish up some shopping and visit with a friend and her adorable baby. Ah, it feels so wonderful to be settling in for some quality time with family and friends. When I feel my need to form to-do lists and get anxious about the baking and cleaning, I remind myself of my desire to really relish the holidays this year. Its time to recuperate, for myself and my family. Cheers!