If you bring bread, they will come...

Kara had been wanting to see Duck Creek and FINALLY had a little time off over Memorial Day weekend. We thought to bring bread with us this time, which was totally worth it! The swan geese really showed off! Got lucky and caught some of that early evening light with no shadows too. Aren't these birds magnificent?!

Tiger's Eye

Bob does a great job picking out flowers for our patio pots. This one has a cool name, huh?

Depth of field assignment...

Today I'm posting homework from my beginning photography class. We had to shoot 3 objects at varying distances from the camera, always focused on the center object. We were to use 3 different aperture settings to observe changes in DOF. It was kind of hard to be creative with this one...I tried several different sets and this was my favorite. (I know there are more than 3 objects on the board, but I wanted it to look like a real game!)

f/4.8
f/11
f/32

Not very exciting, but I like the die's reflection on the board and how its shadowed side adds dimension.

There's nothing sweeter...

...than a little girl and her daddy!

Whiskers are fun to touch...

Love how she's engaged with me, but he only has eyes for her!OK, not my favorite shot, but it cracks me up! Is there any doubt these two are related? Every feature but the ear matches (including the hairline)! All Hannah needs are glasses and a goatee! :)

...and her All-American family

Yankee Doodle girl...

Hannah finally discovered her feet....SO fun!

Model in red...

I've been wanting to shoot some portraits of Kara for the longest time, but she's been SO busy. Thankfully, she decided she wanted a new profile pic for Facebook. Yay!

And the winner is...

I'm lovin' the light in our front yard in the late afternoon...

Foodography...

We had a great time celebrating Memorial Day and our anniversary with the kids... And yeah...we're ALL about the food! (Wanted to try more shots of this but, as you can see, food was nearly done and Bob was ready to get it off the grill)!

Happy Anniversary to us!

The kids surprised us with a gift from Great American Cookie! SO yummy!
Obviously, I didn't take this (and I'd rather stay behind the lens), but here's a shot for you Mom...Yep, we're gettin' old!

Sweet feet...

Thought I'd try a couple artsy shots. Experimented first with Hannah on her tummy, but was not overly happy with those. Her feet were always kicking and, tho' I could "freeze" them, they were never in a "good" position. Inspiration finally struck to have her relax on Jenny's lap. I love these...but then, I love ALL things Hannah!
I shot this one in monochrome. Kim or Lisa...do you ever do that? Or do you prefer converting to black and white in software? Not sure I know how to make the best conversion, but probably won't shoot monochrome again as I forgot to change the setting back and missed some stuff the next time I used my camera. Duh....

Happy Father's Day!

We tried on two different days to get the perfect shot for Father's Day. Can I just say that babies are challenging to photograph??? Hannah couldn't quite sit up yet so our outtakes include her:

• falling over
• slumping so you can't read her onesie
• not looking towards the camera
• pulling off her bow to eat it :)
  

Yeah, we took a lot of pics! :) Got plenty of her smiling...cute shots too, but this was our favorite...oddly enough, the test shot. Go figure! (Just wish I hadn't cut off her elbow). Jenny had a mouse pad made for Nathan with this....
Now, if you haven't already, go hug your dad or call him and tell him you love him! Bob and I lost our dads years ago and we miss them! I'm so grateful for the men in my life who were and are great dads!

First shoes...

Hannah has absolutely no need for shoes yet, but these were too cute to leave in the store. Summer, here we come!

Presenting the Gold Medalist!

...if napping were an Olympic event!

(Guess I should cut her some slack, since she's about 16 years old). Which version do you like better?

To Russia with love....

Our daughter Kara and a team of musicians from several churches leave today for Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg) to partner with other believers there. They'll perform and spread the message of hope in Christ! They hope to post updates to their new prayer blog for each of the 10 days they're gone. Thought the blog needed a pic for the header, so I took this with some stuff from home...and yay! They liked it!
I barely managed to get one shot of Kara, Christina, and Joy as they left. Took a cuter close up, but wanted you to see Kara's cello travel case (a.k.a. "The Coffin"). Do you think she put enough signs on it? :) It's sad she can't rent there and yeah... she's wishing she played the flute!! This case is about 18 inches deep and has another 2nd hard shell case inside...(plus styrofoam, newspaper, soft rags). Awkward...cumbersome...HEAVY!!! It's her first time to stow a cello in the cargo hold...she usually books an extra seat. Hope it survives! Mom, it's a school instrument her district trusted her with. Grateful it worked out as the mission insurance could replace it, if necessary, but couldn't come close to replacing Kara's.
If you'd like updates, check out the blog at http://2010russiamission.blogspot.com/.

Ready and waiting...

I walked by the guest room after Hannah went home, saw her toys and thought they looked a little sad. They live a colorless existence when she's gone. :)

The observer...

Jenny recently read a description of various baby personalities and it was so obvious that Hannah is The Observer...generally passive, but taking in every detail of life around her. She especially LOVED sitting outside on G-pa's lap that day! This was the first time I bothered to take the white balance off auto.....SO worth it for these warm colors even in shade!

Cheap toy...

A few weeks ago Bob and I got to babysit Hannah for 12 hours while Jenny and Nathan chaperoned Kara's students at 6 Flags. We had a BLAST!!! I got such a kick out of Bob. He rarely lets anything interfere with his outdoor work (He once mowed the lawn on Christmas day...It was embarrassing!) On this day, he stopped his work every time Hannah was awake...I could not have wrestled her away from him if I had tried. :) At the end of the day, he said "You've been able to spend so much time with her, but I think she finally knows me." SO sweet!!!

Who needs expensive toys when you can play with G-pa's finger?
Yay for grandpas who get down on the floor to play! And boo for low light that forces me to use flash! (ugh!)

...and Consequences...

Still lying awake when Bob's alarm went off at
Yeah...I can't eat like I used to back in the good ole days when I had a gall bladder and the caffeine content in that ice cream didn't exactly help. Are you wondering why Bob was getting up that early? Taeger by birth...it's in their blood. Taegers by marriage? We don't really get it! (and yes...this is a re-enactment. Even tho' I wasn't sleeping, I did NOT get up at that hour to get this shot!)

Truth...

I can't believe I ate the whole thing!

to be continued...

Lone purple...

Bees...

There were TONS of bees in that field...TONS...loved this one's eyeballs and how the sunlight caught his wing..
I'm sure I have no business cropping to THIS magnification and know I'm losing some quality, but can't help being fascinated by the details we can't see with the naked eye..love how his legs are packed with pollen...

Butterfly chase...

One of the most important lessons I'm learning is that, when you see something interesting, you can't just go off shooting willy-nilly! Check your camera settings first! A few weeks ago, I noticed a field of wildflowers on the way to PT, so I came back later with my camera. I started out with some wide angle shots in the shade, then spotted a butterfly and got so excited I chased him into the sun (shooting of course). My first shots were hopelessly overexposed. Below was my best attempt to salvage. I think it took 8 phases of editing to restore even this much color (can we say persistent?)...Sad I missed getting this right, 'cause he never sat still and opened up for me again. What a beauty tho'...even with his blown out highlights! (Wish I'd planned a shallower DOF too).
How much prettier he is when properly exposed...
And he was nice enough to fly into the frame when I shot the flowers...If only these were sharper (yeah...it's hard to avoid camera shake when you're chasing a butterfy!), but I LOVE the color!

The "pacifier"...

Yep...her only comfort was Jenny's finger, tho' she's not teething. (Yes, I know it's not sanitary, but hasn't EVERY mother done it?) Wish I had included more in the frame, but I still love this...that chubby fist, pouty lip and those gorgeous baby blues!!!

So NOT a happy camper!

Hannah is usually such a content baby, but she woke up early on a recent Grammy Day and napped fitfully here and well...you get the idea. Then, she had to suffer the indignity of pictures as she progressed from a priceless pout...(Lisa's bird could perch on that lip!)...

to a single tear...
to a full-blown meltdown!

Tomorrow I'll show you the only thing that would calm her down...

Evening Reverie...

KC is such a lady! (I need some new subjects, but this one is always available!)

Kara wins!

...but I should probably disqualify her since she was with me when I bought these. :) There were several good guesses ....lamp, candlestick, salt shaker... This was another challenging object to photograph. I wanted to capture the iridescence of the mother of pearl without blowing out all the highlights....best I could do (purposely underexposed and used a polarizing filter). These are a favorite of mine...totally unique...antique...made in Paris...Now, don't you want to spritz on some expensive perfume and head to the opera?

Now what is THIS?

Couldn't resist one more guessing game (last one). What is this?
Play along!

Close, but no winners!

Kim and Lisa were both close when they mentioned tassels. I forgot about the tassels in our kitchen and you're right, Kim...they do look similar. Lisa, the close up texture reminds me of crochet too. I had a hard time getting a shot of this that I liked...tried a bunch and this was my favorite. I know Bob wondered what I was doing!! (Love the reflection of the tassel, but not the reflection at the top)...
Thanks for playing along! One more guessing game tomorrow!

Guessing Game

I've been going through Kim and Lisa's archives and thought their guessing game with macro shots was fun. Check it out here: Kim's question http://picsbykim.blogspot.com/2009/05/can-you-guess-what-this-is.html and answer http://picsbykim.blogspot.com/2009/05/traci-wins and Lisa's examples htmlhttp://lisacphotography.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html (top 2 pics) and http://lisacphotography.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html (scroll to the bottom). Thought I'd try a couple of my own.

Can you guess what this is?
I'll post the answer in a day or two. And remember, it's no fun if you don't play along! :)

Yellow rose of Texas...

Hands down, favorite image of the day...oh, the beauty of God's creation! (Took this for you mom...know yellow roses are your favorite!)