Walk like the animals...

She had not quite figured out walking yet and I got a kick out of this mode of transportation. Silly girl!

Listen...

She LOVES music! She'll sign "music please" every day because she likes background music while she plays. :) You can see that she doesn't bang on the piano, but listens carefully to each sound...trying out different registers. Recently, I had her in my lap while I played a few songs. She happily did all the motions. So cool that she recognized them from the melodies without anyone singing words.

Surrender...

Shot for the challenge of "sadness":

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and then, when you have accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake." -- Victor Hugo

Sadness... What a difficult concept to photograph! All of us have our own story of deep sadness, too complex to adequately capture through a lens. I can't imagine how to portray the private pain that is "sadness". I chose instead to focus on what I discovered through my own most intense season of sorrow... There is a treasure in the trial. Through painful experiences we come to learn what is really important, what is true and real, and who we can trust and rely on. In the wake of personal tragedy, my heart was consumed with questions. It was my "mission" to understand why. What I learned is that some questions won't have answers this side of eternity. But, somewhere in the journey, "why" lost its importance. I know Who healed my heart. I trust Him and it is enough. There is great peace in that, which I tried to represent through the one green leaf.

However narrow...

Shot for the challenge of "narrow". This is one of my faves. I really love experimenting with focus and dof.

More bench shots...

Having too much fun!

Don't you wonder what she's thinking?

No sitting allowed...

There is a group on flickr known as Bench Monday. You can only post bench shots on Mondays (duh), but here's the twist....no sitting on benches allowed....only standing. :) There are some pretty creative shots in this group. I get a kick out of the conversations about what constitutes a bench too! At any rate, here's my first Bench Monday shot. Nothing like little curly baby toes!

Everything is beautiful in its own way...

Shot for the challenge "In the mirror". I know you must think I've gone crackers shooting all these toys! In my defense, it's hard to come up with a new idea every day! :) I at least tried to put a little meaningful description with this one. lol.
This started as a little joke, but it got me thinking. Let's face it...we spend too much time worrying about the things we perceive as imperfections. In reality, those are what make us unique. Psalm 139:14 says; "I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Good words to remember. My friend has a modern variation of that on a sign in her kitchen. It says "God does not make junk!" We are God's masterpiece, so it's time to believe it and embrace who we are.

Inspiration...

When my student arrived at her lesson one day in these shoes, I knew I had to get a picture of them. So I crawled around on the floor for a few minutes, while she played one of her pieces for me. Let me tell you it's LOUD under the piano when someone's playing! :) Later, I decided to enter it in the group pool for the Shutter Sisters photography blog, on the off chance that they might use it for their One Word Project. The word for April was "Inspiration" and it seemed to me that sparkly shoes like this would inspire any student to play better. lol. And ta- da... They used it! So cool....
Here's the link to their blog: http://shuttersisters.com/onewordproject/2011/4/29/inspiration-by-pianogram.html

Good question...

Shot for the challenge "confusing". This is one of my new little students. Turns out he's a pretty good actor! lol! I took a similar picture of his sister that day. I'm kicking myself that I didn't put them together in a diptych with her wondering about boys. :)

Rain, rain, go away!

Shot for the challenge "tilted horizon". Had hoped to shoot some landscapes that day, but the weather didn't cooperate. Was really disappointed till I thought about trying this at the elementary school down the street. Have to say, I really love this shot.

Treasure...

Shot for the challenge "treasure". This cross was a gift from my friend Judy. I love it. I was aggravated that day trying to get my shot, because the wind wouldn't die down. Turns out, the movement totally made the shot. Go figure! (Explored)
"We hold this treasure in jars of clay, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested...( 2 Cor 4:7-15)

I'm such a faulty, cracked "jar of clay"...I fail continually in my service to Him, but I'm so grateful for these words. Tho' I'm hopelessly flawed, inside I carry the treasure of hope in the power of the One whom even death could not conquer.

M, M & M, pt. 3

Final faves...

Kinda cheesy, but I still like it, especially the color and the light. Haven't decided if it bothers me that the post isn't straight. Because of where I was standing, if the couple is level, the post is not. lol...

Thought this was hilarious. I think they were discussing whether or not Little M's doll should be in the shot. :) Love the daddy's laugh lines...

M, M & M, pt. 2

More faves...

M, M & M, pt. 1

I had an opportunity to shoot portraits for a young family a few weeks ago. The mom is someone Kara met at her apartment complex. And yep, their names all start with M! Their little girl is almost 4 and it took her a little while to warm up to me. By the end she was telling me what to do tho'. :) Thought I'd share a few of my faves. I tried experimenting with some new ideas.

This didn't turn out exactly as I hoped. My plan was to have little M walking towards me with her parents in the background. This was at the beginning of the session tho' and she wasn't too keen on that idea. So, I asked her if she'd like to walk towards her parents instead. I still like it tho'...especially the light.

Love all that green and how the light fell.

Asked the daddy to hug little M and she spontaneously reached out to squeeze her mom's nose. SO glad I caught it!

Whee....

Love how she clapped her hands every time Jenny lifted her up!

Big girl walking...

On this day, she was completely obsessed with walking. It was all she wanted to do. At the time, she would only walk if you held both of her hands. Happy to say that when we babysat yesterday, she was taking as many as 10 steps unassisted. She was so proud of herself, doing her Frankenstein walk (arms out) between Bob and me. We would count each step aloud and she got more excited with each step. Bob threw her up in the air every time she came to him and she LOVED it. So...much...fun!

Six little words...

So hard to say (especially those first 3 words), but so effective for healing and mending broken relationships. Shot for the challenge of "mended". (Explored)

Worship...

Robin's beautiful salvia plant. Pretty much SOOC except for the addition of the quote. In case you can't read it: "To pay homage to beautify is to admire Nature. To admire Nature is to worship God." (author unknown) I love the colors and the super shallow dof from the macro. (Explored)

Something fishy...

My daddy's money clip...one of the few possessions I have that belonged to him. (Shot for the challenge "Something fishy" -- Explored). I like how worn the clip is and I love what it represents...that he was a follower of Jesus. (Explored)

A little pencil...

Shot for the challenge on "humanity". Geesh! Some of these topics are hard! I really like how this turned out tho'. It's based on this amazing quote by Mother Theresa, one of the greatest humanitarians of all time. "I am a tiny pencil in the hand of a writing God who is writing a love letter to the world." (Explored)
In case you're interested, the link to my flickr photostream is http://www.flickr.com/photos/53354298@N05/. Photos can be opened up to full screen there. Wish blogger allowed larger format photos. Sigh.

The many faces of Hannah...

Ta da! Pictures of Hannah's Easter dress...finished just in the nick of time! I had so much fun shooting her portraits that day and couldn't choose just one. Love how these show her serious AND her funny side.

5 teeth and a dimple....rare for her to show all of that in a pic!

Little lady...

Wish she'd looked at me in this shot, but I like how perfectly she's holding her rubber ducky and showing off her dress. BTW, she LOVES this little antique rocking chair!

monkey girl...

The eyes have it...

I've admired macro eye shots for a while and wanted to try one. Got my opportunity for the challenge on "I've never shot one of these before". This was fun. If I were to try it again, I think I'd pay more attention to the detail in the reflection...possibly try to position the subject so the reflection would fall in a different part of the eye, or or at least duck so my elbow's not sticking out in the reflection. :) Still overall, I thought it turned out pretty cool.

A small speckled visitor...

I've been wanting to shoot a ladybug ever since I got the macro, but I never see them....never! Well...Judy and I saw one at the arboretum, but I didn't get a clear shot. Bummer. Imagine my surprise when I learned that they actually sell ladybugs at our birdfeed store. Yep, a have a little tub of them sleeping dormant in the fridge. I can release a few every couple of days as natural pest control in the garden. AND, of course, I had a little fun shooting them. Geesh....it took 50 shots to get this one good one though. They are TINY and once they wake up...pretty quick too. I love this shot! (Explored)

Seriously??

OK Lisa, have to admit this squirrel is making a pest of himself. He is such a glutton! I really wouldn't mind him eating our birdseed if he didn't camp out on the feeder for 30-40 min. at a time, eating ALL of it. We had to switch to safflower seed to discourage him. It seems to have worked, but we're not getting as wide a variety of birds either. (Explored)

Sooner or later the bubble bursts...

This is total nonsense, shot for the daily challenge on "whimsy". Just thought it was fun. The description said "Relationships all have their ups and downs and this one is no exception. Harry's fear of water is really becoming an issue. I hope they can work it out together." BTW, in case it's not obvious, these are miniatures. To give you an idea of scale, the bubbly "tub" is a cereal bowl. This is Hannah's favorite little rubber ducky. She carries it around all day when she's here. :) And I just think Harry is too cute!
I'll be real obnoxious here and brag for a minute. Flickr has a section known as "Explored" where they post the 500 "most interesting" photos of the day. Most interesting does not mean best. It has more to do with which photos receive the most attention based on number of views, comments, faves and some secret computer algorithm. At any rate, this one and 8 others hit Explored recently. Considering they estimate more than 350,000 photos are uploaded every day, that was an honor. I think it's largely because our challenge group is very interactive. I'm learning a lot from others' comments and viewing their work.

Smell...

This was a fun day for the challenge, because there are so many great things to shoot that smell nice. I got a little carried away and tried 3 things. Decided to get artsy with the first 2 and add texture. Have to say I'm equally fond of the 3rd image which is SOOC. I couldn't find my micrograter and had to use the regular one, but I still like how it turned out.

50mm

105mm macro

Tea for two...

Cracked under pressure...

Shot for the daily challenge topic of "stressed". This is one of Kara's teaching violins. The bridge is not actually anchored to the instrument in any way. It's held in place by the pressure of the tightened strings. If it's not properly alligned, it can warp or even break. This bridge has been retired. It's worthless now with that piece missing. But I thought it made a nice picture. Still lovin' that macro. Using it quite a bit too!

Eyes of the innocent...

My fave of the bluebonnet pics even tho' you can't see her face. I love those little curls. On a whim, I decided to go vintage with this one.

Bluebonnets, pt. 2...

Well, we did it....took our first bluebonnet pictures ever. Can't believe I never did this with my own girls when they were small. Thankfully, there's a nice patch of BB over on Greenville, across from the cemetery. Hannah was not thrilled about sitting in the flowers, so to keep her happy we asked her what the monkey says. She's signing monkey here and making monkey noises. :) She was also very interested in all the cars driving by and the homeless man who walked by with his dog. "oof".... :) I'm not thrilled with these pics. My white balance was off and nothing I do seems to make it much better. Oh well. We can try again next year.