Rewards

For the last 10 weeks I took an amazing class: Karen Russell's Snapshots of a Good Life. This class was bout using my camera to take photos of my family; documenting the little stuff that happens between people. She covered using my camera, composition, depth of field, shutter speed, caring for my camera, holding it correctly, exposure and more. This class dealt mainly with taking photos of people. It was not a how to do portraits in a studio kind of class or landscape or night photography or macro or any of the myriad of other kinds. This was perfect for me because I really do only take photos of my kids, their friends, things we do.

There were assignments every weekend and I was able to complete them. Some of them took a while. I had to do them multiple times until I felt that I had understood the concept involved and was able to turn in my assignment. One of the more difficult assignments for was was using exposure compensation and dealing with back lighting. Back lighting is when the light is behind your subject causing your subject to be underexposed (or darker). I have struggled with that many times and yesterday when I took the kids to DQ for their reward I was able to apply what I had learned. Yahoo!!!! Now I know that there are technically other things wrong with the photos but it is coming along.

Why are the kids getting a reward? Well, I bribed them. I would have them pose for me over and over again so that I could master a technique. Some times they were quite willing and other times they just didn't want to. Buying them their own blizzard at the end of class was the perfect reward. And I had a little reward too. They were eating their blizzards and I was drinking my diet Pepsi. We were talking, laughing, listening too each other. There was an older gentlemen behind us, and I noticed him watching us. When he was done he came over and complimented the kids on their behavior. I almost started crying. Now I know my kids. And we sin just like everyone else and we have our good days of behavior and our not so good days. It just feels good when someone says something positive. I think that the kids enjoy it too. We all need encouragement sometimes and I appreciate it when it does come. Am I bragging, maybe but just want to share that rewards come in many different forms and hope to pass on to others what one little phrase can do for someone. So if there is anything you can compliment another for do it. You just never know how that can affect another person.

Siblings & Friends

(This is one of my favorite photos of these two. There are catch lights in their eyes, reflection of light from the windows. When they looked up at me facing the window they had catch lights, but with their backs to the windows they didn't have catch lights. )


It seems like I get this question a lot. Are they twins? No they are not twins, they are little less than 2 years apart. Job is older. Sometimes though they just seem like twins.


(They can be so goofy with each other - very spontaneous.)


They just have a special kind of relationship. Actually Job is the cement that binds both Isaac and Lona together. He relates well to Lona and he also relates well to Isaac. Every night Job or Lona ask if they can sleep with each other. Lona doesn't like being alone and Job is afraid of nightmares.

(I absolutely love this photo of Job. He seems mysterious and thoughtful. Lona unfortunately is out of focus. I may change this to black and white and have it more grainy)

So they cuddle and we move them. I had a photo assignment to finish up and had Job and Lona pose for me. I was exploring direct light, indirect light and indoor light. I was looking for catch lights and how the direction of light affects photos. I am sad that my class is over. 10 week flew by and I just love all the information that I've been able to have access to. Slowly but surely I'll improve.


(Perspective photography is fun to do. I had the white balance wrong. Every light has a shade, some are warmer than others, our eyes automatically adjust to it but our cameras don't. Changing the white balance on our cameras allow us to counter act some shade of light so they seem more natural to us. The cool color in this photo though adds to the creepiness of the photo.)

(More goofiness - they were just cracking up the whole time. It was hard to get them to look at me so I could complete my assignment but these photos just show their relationship better than when they are looking at me.)

(I really like how grainy this photo is too. )

(These last two are just fun)

Dance part 2: Woods

(Thank you John for taking the time to photograph me with my daughter. It's not often that I'm in pictures and having a photo of a motherly daughter thing means a lot to me.)

Today was Lona's last dance recital. We had friends attend last night's recital which I was extremely thankful for. Being out here we do not have family around that can participate in things like dance recitals. This is one of the sadness of not living near family. I asked someone from church and she brought her grandson and girlfriend. Imagine a 20 something guy and gal coming to watch our little Lona. She may be our "world", "Daddy's little girl" but to others she is just a little 6 year old. So when people take the time to watch something like ballet it makes my heart happy. Then out of the blue, my very good friend called and asked to come to the recital. I picked her up along with her daughter and we had a wonderful time. Afterwards we went for coffee at Woods.

(Photo courtesy of Lona: she's outside looking in using my camera.)

Lona was hyped up on sugar and the excitement of the performance.

(Lydia, great catch lights in Lona's eyes! Love the story in this photo.)

Of course she did great today too. I love having good friends.

(Photo courtesy of Lona)

Lydia, I appreciate your interest and friendship towards Lona. I hope someday Lona can do that for a little girl like you have done for her. Thank you.

Dance

Today and the next two days will be filled with pink tights, tutus, make-up and bobby-pins. Lona's dance recital is Friday night and Saturday. The Friday night performance is booked but Saturday's performance is still available. It is at 3:00pm at Nooksack Valley Performing Arts. We have been working hard for the last four months to prepare for this. She has learned so much: Arabesque, Balancé, Chassé, Croisé, croisée, Glissade, Pas de bourrée, Plié, Relevé, and Tournant are some of the dance steps that she has learned. It is fairly low key. Dance practice once a week from October to March with breaks in between. The dance instructor teaches it out of a shop at her home and it is only $140 for the year. I thought that it was fairly reasonable. Lona loves it and has made some friends in class and is always asking to have them over. I'm having fun with the dance. We come home from practice and I run through the routine with her. Last year she performed on Friday night and then got really sick that night and missed the Saturday performance. Bummer, we had bought a cd of the performance and they taped it Saturday so she wasn't in it. This year they are taping the Friday performance and we bought it again. Today we started getting ready around 2:30. Gel the hair, wrap it in a bun, put the flower in the hair and put a hair net in. Apply make-up. It takes a long time to put mascara on a 6 year old. Then into the costume. Finally, get Isaac set up (check his blood, make sure he's ready for soccer), and out the door we go to spend about 2 hours at rehearsal. Sometimes it is great to have it all about her. Most of the time it is all about Isaac or about Job.

Let's just say...

that there are days I HATE diabetes. Yesterday was one of those days. Isaac's been having high numbers the last few weeks with soccer. The other day he complained about his set not feeling good, but we were going to be changing it out the next day so we'd take care of it then. At 3:00 he checked his blood sugar and his blood sugar was high so we bolused him (gave him some insulin). At 5:00 he was over 500. He should have gone down but didn't. So we pulled off the set and puss came oozing out. Gross. I squeezed and even more came out. I squeezed again and more came out. I was planning on just soaking it in salt water to draw out the infection, but since he's diabetic I had him check his ketones and he was moderately high. Called the after hours doctor and then a not so quick trip to the ER. John had soccer practice for Isaac's team. I dropped off the kids at a friend's house and took Isaac in. We checked in and immediately Isaac's vitals were taken and he was given a room. Then we waited, then paper work, then we waited, then a nurse asked us questions. We had already answered the questions but it is always good to double check. Then we saw a doctor. Then we had an ultra sound. Yup, there was more icky puss under there. No, you can't use salt water because an infection sends his sugars up too high. So, we treated it. They numbed him up and cut him open and squeezed blood out of him. John won't have done well. Next they packed the wound they made with a cloth strip and put a gaze pad over it and sent him home (after 3 1/2 hours). We stopped at McD's for dinner. Thank goodness we had brought a book with us. I think that helped our sanity. John said that he had a hard time caring about soccer practice which I can understand, but it would not have been a good place for him. The needle that they numbed Isaac with was quite long and to watch someone slice into your boy is hard and watch them squeeze blood out is hard. Isaac is sore today and we will be giving him some tylenol for the pain. I need to look at his dressing and place a band-aid over the incision. Tomorrow I think we're having a short version of school. Isaac is off to a birthday party and needs to have the packing taken out before the party.


The blessings of this ordeal, we were able to be positive about diabetes to a nurse whose friend's son was just diagnosed. We were able to tell about the blessings of meeting some great people, about learning responsibility and eating healthy, and that he still plays sports and eats ice cream from time to time. Another blessing was that Isaac and I were able to spend some time together (not in the best place) but we were still able to talk and pray. There are always positive things in each situation. One of our favorite verses during times like this is "Be content with what you have, because God said, "Never will I leave you, Never will I forsake you." This may have become our family motto.

(not the best focused picture but the best of all the kids)

Yesterday was our last day to go ice skating. It was bitter sweet. Sweet because it is another thing I can let go of during a busy soccer season. Bitter because I think that yesterday was the funnest day and the kids are finally getting the hang of it. Each child had a friend along and that was so nice. It freed me up to help the ones that needed help. One child had never been skating before and it took time before he got the hang of it. I think if he went a couple more times, he'd be right with all the others. When I started in January all the kids had problems and hugged the wall. It is easier to work with just one than three at the same time. Thank you Marie for inviting us to ice skate that first time. We became addicted quick. We've all improved in skating. Isaac is much more comfortable and is able to skate quite a bit faster. Job no longer skates with his feet on the side and Lona can keep up with her friend. I even learned a new trick. I can skate backwards. I want to go again just to keep up with these new skills but think that it is almost impossible with what is before us. Also I was going to take tons of pictures to celebrate our last skate outing but after five pictures my battery died. Bummer and I forgot to put the other battery in the bag. It was being charged. Oh well.

Practicing Portraits

I love seeing photos of people against a brick wall. For Isaac's and Job's team, I think that I'm doing the photos so I took them out to practice. Job hasn't had that pleasure yet but he will. This is a south facing wall. But we haven't had much sun and I'm still learning about catch lights in the eyes.

Here is what we came up with.

I had Karen critique this. First he is too close to the back wall and it is a distraction. Also the light isn't right. Part of his face is shadowed.

I think that there is too much wall in front of him. And he looks uncomfortable. OK, there was rain and wind when we did this.

I think this one is much better. The brick wall in front is smaller but still leads the eye to Isaac. The face has more light on it, but still no catch lights. I'm even with him. Maybe a reflector would work. I think maybe the ball should be held in his other hand. I'm wondering about the knees. I kind of cut them off. Should I have stepped back another inch to include his knees. Maybe. (Afternoon light - 4:00)

Lona, I like how the evening sun (all of 5 minutes of it) is illuminating her. This is right after dance practice and at the same wall. Again I cut off her knees but with all the tutu I don't think it is very noticeable. Her face is well lit and there is light reflecting off the wall. Kind of glows. Hair is distracting.

The wall isn't straight. I should make the lines very vertical and horizontal. I should have shot with a little higher view point, not much but her head and the back ground are too much at the same height. Light is hitting her lower on her body. Close to 6:15 pm at night. Hair is out of her eyes. Definitely deserves a blizzard at DQ for helping me with my class.

Say this staircase at the Grange on the corner of Hannegan and Smith. Stopped to take a photo. My ISO is too high. Forgot to change it. I think it would look really cute in black and white with just the tutu in color. I like the angle of the railing and her arms. I would love to take two to three girls in tutus around Bellingham and Fairhaven someday for a photo shoot. There are a couple of grungy buildings that I think would be fun backgrounds for girls with tutus. Have to do this soon or they would be too old to do it.

Sibling Rivalry

These two are best friends and worst enemies. Actually they are great friends. Since soccer season has started we have started soccer training at home. The kids still have their chess work to do but soccer has become more important. So today I sent these two outside and "made" them play soccer. For the first 15 minutes Isaac took shots on goal, Job being the goalie. Job wants to be goalie so he needs practice. Isaac will be mid-fielder and needs practice with his accuracy. Then for the next 15 minutes (of which my camera and I were part) they played one on one. There was a point that Job was a little disheartened but we do allow using the shoulder.

He did snap out of it and then went head on with Isaac. Job at times can be faster than Isaac, and he does put forth a lot of energy to compete with Isaac. A little competition between brothers can be a healthy thing. You just have to know when to pull these two back.

Job

Today was a different kind of day. There were intermittent periods of sunshine and heavy rains. I thought great I can kick out one part of a photo assignment that has to do with sun. I might not have this opportunity for a long time. The objective: Find some shade (you can't have shade unless there is sun) and take pictures with catch lights in his eyes. Well we haven't seen that large glowing orb in the sky for quite some time so I brought out my daughter and all she could do was squint. I don't want squinting I want catch lights. We tried four times with Lona to no avail. Then after Job's friend went home I hauled him outside, still to no avail. So I worked on the indoor part of the assignment. Lona told me that taking pictures was boring and she didn't want to have anything to do with it. UUUUGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!

My neighbor graciously loaned me his reflector and I stuck Job on the floor of the living room and took pictures. Here are the results.

My thoughts: Look from all angles, where is the light coming from, what part is dark, are there any mergers, am I following the rule of thirds? Is my aperture set right, what about my ISO?

Job's thoughts: Can I use the laser from the DVD player I took apart to attach to my communicator watch to reveal the secret message I wrote with lemon juice?

My thoughts: I've followed the thirds rule. The light is evenly hitting all parts of his face. I haven't cut off anything important. My ISO and aperture looks good. Maybe I should think of another view point.

Job's thoughts: Will my Mom notice if I take apart her camera and that really long lens. I think I can build a microscope from it.

My thoughts: I think I need to increase my aperture so that Lona is in focus. I'm using the reflector and have great catch lights in their eyes. Love this. My subject is filling the frame. So far so good.

Job's thoughts: GET ME OUT OF HERE. SHE'S TOUCHING ME!

Lona's thoughts: I love teasing Job. He rocks my world!

My thoughts: OH, I'm going to get a great candid shot!

Job's thoughts: Don't you Dare try to kiss my cheek. I'm going to have to pound you!

Lona's thoughts: Come here Job, giggle giggle giggle.

My thoughts: I've got catch lights and he's facing the window. Afternoon sun but this window lets in great diffused light. Shoot, why didn't I off-center him? And does he have to make that face?

Job's thoughts: Is this finally over. I need my Legos.

Night Lights

I've been taking a candid photography class for the last 7 weeks. Yes it has been 7 weeks. I can't believe it. I want to take it again or want more of it. I am hooked. There has been some stuff that has taxed me. Some assignments that I'm trying to wrap my head around. I only have two more weeks before class is over. I am missing parts to all my assignments that have yet to be turned in. I've been thinking about them, studying the material and just trying different things. One part of my assignment is shutter speeds. I've done the first part of the assignment and want to redo it, but there is another part to the assignment that I haven't even tried. So I talked to John and he agreed to drive me to the nearest overpass so that I can take pictures of the overpass. I shot the whole thing in manual. I didn't put it on auto, or on any of the creative zones. I was excited. These pictures are extremely grainy but I'm OK with that this time. I see the pictures in the magazines of the blurred lights on a street and everything else is crystal clear, but this was my first time.

I'm going to post my settings for these photos. This is just for my reference later when I go back to review my blog. This might be my favorite one.

Shutter speed: 5 sec. Aperture Value: f/16 ISO: 1600

Shutter speed: 3.2 secs (how long the shutter stays open), Aperture: f/14 (that is how narrow the lens opening is), ISO: 1600 (that is how sensitive the camera is to light).

Shutter speed: 3.2 sec, Aperture: f/14, ISO 1600

Shutter speed: 5 sec. Aperture: f/22 ISO: 1600

Now I think that I like the pictures better that have the longer shutter speeds. I also think that I would like to try focusing on the other side of the road. The side that the cars are driving away from me. I like these shots due to the fact that the road kind of converges in the distance. I have no idea what the blue lights are in these pictures. John thinks that it might be lights reflecting from the airport. It might also be dirt on my lens reflecting light. That is more likely the case. I'll have to try again. I'm wondering if earlier in the evening would be better or right before sun rise. I wonder if I can decrease my ISO. I'm wondering if I should change my composition and either be more right or left of the road. Is my eye drawn into the photo by the moving lines or right through the photo. Can I pick up more details in the clouds? My teacher primarily shoots photos of moving people but she has so much insight as to what makes great composition. I'm going to ask her all of these questions.

I would have shot more but it was cold outside and a police officer stopped by the truck to see if anything was wrong. We weren't out there for more than ten minutes. What would go through your mind if you saw someone carrying a tripod with something dark attached to it, at night on an overpass? Does it seem suspicious in any way? The police officer was very nice and commented on how it was a good night for it. He wasn't outside. I'll try again later. My next thing I want to try is setting my tripod in the middle of a merry-go-round and taking a picture of one of the kids while it is spinning, so that I blur the back ground. It's just be rainy lately and the one day it was nice I had a doctor appointment. We may do this even if it is rainy so that I get a photo critique in before class is over.

Christmas in March

Today our school was rudely interrupted by the UPS guy. This is how excited the boys were. My mother bought them a present for Christmas and then later was told it would be shipped in February. The boys didn't forget and every day in February they anxiously awaited the mail. February came and went and no package. March was quickly escaping them and still no present. Finally today, the long waited for package arrived.

They desperately agreed to some photos first and then tore into the package.

This is Job's very astonished look over the whole present.

They have a "club" with the neighbor girl and she has convinced them to put their money in for club dues. The dues will be saved up and then communicator watches will be bought. My mother had bought these watches back in December. The come with an ear plug and microphone and can transmit up to 1 1/2 miles away. So much for club dues.

This is a picture of a very happy boy.

Do you think we could get any work done? Of course, they just couldn't use their watches until their school work and chores were done. I use all the carrots I can.

The Petting Zoo

Last week a dear friend invited a bunch of people over to her house. Mind you she was/is days away from delivering her own bundle of joy into this world. But that didn't matter. So away we went to the petting zoo. She even had frog eggs for anyone who wanted to take them home. This to me is nothing short of amazing. I couldn't imagine doing this. When I showed up with a van full of children, her little dog just started whelping puppies. This was a new term for me but I like using it.

So not only did we see baby goats, baby rabbits, parakeets, and chickens but we were able to view a 20 minute old puppy. Wow!

OK, I don't know where my brain was that day but it wasn't on photography. They aren't in focus and they are underexposed. I could have fixed all of it by upping my ISO (which just means making my camera more sensitive to light) but I didn't. I could have fixed the underexposed photo by changing the exposure compensator on my camera, but I didn't. I could have changed the focusing by holding my camera correctly but I didn't. What was wrong with my brain? This week seems much better so far. I think that I just forgot everything I have been learning for the last 7 weeks. Gasp. Class is almost over! So here are a few of the better shots.

Lona desperately wanted to bring a bunny home. This is her "please Dad" look.

Why couldn't I nail this one. All this little princess wanted to do was kiss the bunnies. Doesn't this bunny look like she wants to be kissed?

Sorry, Jennifer, I couldn't help taking this photo. You just look too darling not to photograph.

Don't all blond haired toddlers look perfect with a baby bunny?