Category Archives: Photography

Think Back Thursday – Signs of Spring

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I haven’t participated on the Think Back Thursday meme for a couple of months, what with the move. Last month Debbie the meme host did a feature on photo editing and I’ve never learned how to do that (or had any real desire) so I sat out as well. I’m back this week, though, and I certainly have pictures to share because the theme of this week is: Signs of Spring. I grab my camera at the first sign of spring every year so there won’t be any trouble finding pictures that fit the theme!

Here goes!

You may see an additional theme to these first few.

Screen Shot 2013-03-14 at 8.53.02 PMFirst picnic of, I’m guessing, 2008 – The girlie looks to be about 2 1/2 here.

Screen Shot 2013-03-14 at 8.41.24 PMFirst picnic of 2010 – “Scruffy Dog” always came to beg when we were out that year and this picnic ended with a huge me chasing her to her house because she took Morgaine’s teddy. Just days before we went to the cottage to give birth to the beautiful little fellow below.

Screen Shot 2013-03-14 at 8.43.15 PMAww, I love a spring baby.

Screen Shot 2013-03-14 at 8.36.31 PMFirst picnic 2011 – see how babies make you busy? Nothing fancy here. Lacking the colour of out normal platters.

Screen Shot 2013-03-14 at 8.38.40 PMFirst picnic 2012 – I could use a day that warm right about now.

The children are begging, begging for our first picnic of the year here but we have a little ways to go before that happens, but there were some signs of spring out there today (this afternoon is the past, right?)

Screen Shot 2013-03-14 at 9.09.16 PMWhat’s that? Bare ground and mud? Until yesterday there was no dirt to be found and then we had a major thaw and now, I think, we have spring.

Screen Shot 2013-03-14 at 9.08.54 PMPuddles and more (almost) bare ground!

Screen Shot 2013-03-14 at 8.35.21 PMMorgaine and Ruadhán had a wonderful mud fight last spring when Liam was away at spring camp. This may be a later spring picture and not a first sign of spring but there are no leaves on the trees and mud only seems to have this appeal the first few times of the year so I’m going with a sign of spring anyways!

I was going to post a bunch of photos of our trees/flowers in various stages of popping up, but I’m actually getting a wee bit tired from the two and a half hours we spent outside enjoying the first signs of spring.

I’ll leave you with this quote that describes today well:

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”

― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Think Back Thursdays – Things in Motion

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Today I am joining my friend,  Debbie, for Think Back Thursday. One day I will actually make it to this meme on Thursday but I’m glad that I’m actually getting it done as I meant to last week but somehow time just flew by.

This week’s them is Something or Someone in Motion.

Before we had a good camera. Morgaine was about 2 1/2 and I found her this nightgown for Christmas. She was so thrilled and was spinning and spinning!

Homeschool gym class! Morgaine was a little over three and it was our last fall in our beautiful Vaudreuil home. After a couple years of trying to grow grass from seeds, and ending up with weeds, we laid sod and the kids could final really enjoy the yard without worrying about pricklies. We took full advantage of it until we moved.

Morgaine playing with a sparkler on my birthday. Taken with a slow shutter speed. I love this effect. It is one of my favorite photos and it was a pretty nice birthday, as well.

Playing in the leaves last week. It was a really lovely morning when every felt just about perfect.

Lots of fun looking for photos this week as I actually went back and looked at photos I’d save on Picasa. The kids enjoyed seeing themselves when they were younger and we had a chance to talk about their memories from our old house. Maybe one day I will go back and look at photo albums to scan pictures for even older memories and stories to share!

I hope that you will join us at Think Back Thursday and share some of your photo memories, too!

Think Back Thursday ~ Close Ups

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I’m joining my friend, Debbie, for Think Back Thursday, her weekly photo meme. I have so many pictures that I take with the intention of sharing but never get around to it so this is the perfect meme for me!

This week’s theme is close ups and we were challenged to use the special features on our cameras to take the photos. I’ve actually been meaning to blog about some of the things that I’ve learned from using my new camera and this is a good theme to share one of my little tricks.

In this photo the lighting is very harsh and the image is not clear.

In this picture, a piece of white paper was held above the flower to diffuse the light. The detail is so much clearer. It is one of my favorite pictures.

The same day as the above photos where taken. My camera was new and I was playing around. I used a paper to diffuse the light again here.

I’d like to say that I was trying to get a picture of the fly but it was purely luck that he was in focus!

Close ups – Not only for flowers. Here’s Georgie Porgie, one of our rescued kitties.

Mikula wanted in on the action, too.

Berries from our yard.

I hope that you’ll think about linking up either this week (I’m late so I’m sure you can be too) or next at Debbie’s Digest. It is so fun to share photos and memories!

A New Passion

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Well, the passion certainly isn’t new but the ability to truly follow it hasn’t presented itself until this past week. I believe it was Wednesday when Mike passed me a bag from Staples where he’d gone to buy computer paper. Thinking nothing of it, I put it by my feet in the car and continued on our way. A few minute later, Mike asks, “Did I buy the right paper?”

I look at him and say, “I’m sure you did.”

We get out at another store and when we get back in, he asks, “Are you sure we got everything we need at Staples?”

“Yes, I’m sure you must have gotten everything.” I reply.

“Come on, could you just look in the bag?”

So I do, and there it is, the camera I’ve been dreaming about for four long years. It isn’t top of the line anymore. There have been a dozen newer models since but it there, in my car, is  THE DSLR camera of my dreams and I am over the moon! I get home and stick in on a shelf because I am terrified to take it out of the box. I look at it a couple times. I gingerly take the instruction manual out of the top of the box. Finally, at 11pm I brave pulling it out of the box. And, oh, isn’t is lovely. It’s everything I could have asked for. I think I am in heaven. I take a couple shots and they turn out just like I imagine they would. It’s unbelievable. It’s amazing. And it is so much FUN!

I won’t post too many photos here tonight, but you can be sure that I’ll be back with many more (there’s nothing like GOOD pictures to inspire a blogger….yes, I know what I said in my intro, but I guess I was lying….I’ll still be real and unscripted, though!)

I love photos where sun and shadows fall across the face but I haven’t figured out how to get them inside where the flash is too harsh and drowns out the sunlight so we had to take it outside.

Flowers, obviously. With the macro setting and paper to diffuse the bright light.

Shooting with a zoom lens but the children weren’t doing anything too interesting.

CATS!

 Tricky subjects, I must say.

I’ve set up a couple goals for myself and I’ve gotten a few books from the library so you’ll be seeing more of me fooling around with my new little gadget. I’d love to know what you think and hear any feedback you might have because I am very eager to learn and I am sure that there is so much more I could do.