Scavenger Hunt Sunday 05.26.13

Hello!  It is time for another Scavenger Hunt.  In all honesty, I didn't take many photos this week.  I attended two funerals and was busy with other things, so my camera got neglected.  Until Friday when I photographed a newborn.  However, despite my camera neglect, only one of my photos this week is from the archives.


{vacation}

Not exactly a vacation, but the kids and I went to a local lake for a few hours last Sunday.  They liked seeing the sailboats out on the water.

{food(s)}

Just a snapshot of the jelly jar pies we made for the Staff Appreciation Luncheon we hosted at our school earlier this month.  They were a big hit.

{sound}

We got to enjoy the sound of Keira's spring concert Thursday evening.  And a miraculous thing happened ... I left my camera in the car and didn't take a single photo!  I never get good shots in the school auditorium anyway.  It was really nice to just sit there and listen to the music.  Keira had a small solo part in one of the songs and did great!

{texture}

I bought this furry fabric for just this reason ... to photograph this sweet little girl (and hopefully more babies).  She's eight days old in this photo.  Isn't she precious?!

{anything}

And since I could choose to show anything, I chose to show another one of the baby.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to visit Ashley for more great Scavenger Hunt finds!

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 12.02.12

Hello!  Happy December!  I'm soooo glad November is over.  It was kind of a rough one with so much sickness in this house.  But we are all feeling better now and thankful to be past all that.

This week's Scavenger Hunt items were all acquired on Saturday.  I kinda forgot about it until then, so I scrambled to get them all.  But I managed.  :)

{missing}

Most of the leaves are missing from the trees these days.  But that just opens up the view to this pretty lake.

{numbers}

I took advantage of an offer from Shutterfly and got a free calendar (only paid shipping).  I love it so much, I decided to order two more for Christmas gifts for the grandparents.  (If you are reading this, pretend to be surprised, k?)

{purple}

I bought some artificial flowers a while back for the fall season.  They are purple, burgundy, and olive green.  I really like them, though I still prefer fresh flowers.

{music}

I wish I could share with you photos from the symphony concert Doug, Keira, and I went to last night, but photography isn't permitted there.  But believe me when I tell you it was wonderful.  I'm so glad we bought season tickets!  Instead I give you a piece of Keira's violin music.  Textured with a couple Kim Klassen textures (music lovin' and something else - I forgot to write them down).

{bracelet}

I don't own a lot of jewelry, because I just don't wear it much.  But I did pick up this bracelet at a craft show earlier this year.  It is one of my favorites.

Thanks for popping in!  Be sure to swing by Ashley's for more great Scavenger Hunt photos!

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Gone fishing

The weather was crisp and cool, fall-like, in fact.  A nice reprieve from the sultry August temps we've been having.  Doug was actually home on a Saturday.  The first in a few weeks.  We wanted to go do something fun as a family.  Instead we loaded up our gear and went fishing.

We went to a local lake where we don't usually have much luck catching anything, but it is close by.  

And we didn't catch anything.

Although Doug did catch one little bluegill.

The rest of us mostly just caught this ...

Seaweed and algae.  This was the pretty lore I was using until one cast thrust it out into the lake never to be seen again.  

Shortly after that I lost interest in fishing.

So I picked up my camera and searched for other things to photograph.

Nick eventually got tired of not catching any fish and decided to catch snails instead.

I joined in on the fun.  Besides snails are much easier to catch than fish.

Once we caught about 40 snails (that now reside in a container on our front porch), we headed to the other side of the lake.  Perhaps all the fish were hanging out over there.

But, alas, no fish to be caught on that side either.  We did see some geese though.

And some HUGE snails.  Nick decided he needed to bring one of these big guys home also.  He also lives in the container on the porch with all the other little snails.  Who, by the way, are about to multiply into hundreds of snails.  There are tiny egg sacks on the backs of a few.  Oh boy.

Alex ventured too far out and got stuck in the mud, so Keira was nice enough to help him get out.  I think Nick was supervising.

As much as he and Alex fight, Nick really watches out for his little brother.

I was telling the kids that Alex getting stuck reminded me of when I was a kid.  We had a swamp on our farm where we would go catch frogs and tadpoles and whatever else we could catch.  I walked out in it one time in my boots and also got stuck.  My dad had to lift me up out, leaving the boots behind.  I don't know if we ever got my boots out.  

It was fun growing up on a farm.

          

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Photos by Keira

Keira is taking on online photography class this month with Candice Stringham through jessicasprague.com.  It is a photography class for kids that I thought would keep her occupied, entertained, and challenged in something different this last month before school starts.  She is only four days in and is loving the class.  

She is using my old Nikon D40 since we our old point and shoot got broken by the other future photographer of the household.  {ahem}  :)  Of course, that means I need to share my lenses with her, which, so far has worked out okay.

I've had fun looking through her photos each day so I thought I'd share a few with you.  (She took the photos and I edited them, most with minimal editing.)

We went to a local Farm Show (aka fair) on Monday afternoon/evening where she took this.

Tuesday evening we went to a park where the boys played in the creek for a while and Keira and I played photographers.  I took this picture of her in action ...

while she was taking this picture.

She was using my 55-200mm lens.  I love how the flip flops got kicked off so she could concentrate on the task at hand.  :)

Wednesday we went to a local lake where she had lots of fun photographing different things like the sparkly water ...

After she took this one she was so excited.  She said, "Mom, look!  I got bokeh!  Oh, yeah!"

I was impressed by this shot.

And this one.

She's really just learned the basics from the class.  How to hold the camera properly, holding the camera level, the different modes on most cameras, vertical vs. horizontal, filling the frame (close vs. far), focusing, and eliminating distractions.

Oh, and did I mention that she's shooting in manual mode (with a little help from me, of course)?  Oh, yeah!  That's my girl!  Truly, she is probably already way more advanced than what she's learning so far, but since I love Jessica Sprague's classes, and this one was inexpensive and fun, I asked her if she'd like to take it.  Plus, did you know that once you take a class on her site, you can access it forever?!  So if Keira needs a refresher, she can just log in, find the class under My Classes, and read as much or as little as she wants.

Okay, this was not intended to be a commercial for Jessica Sprague, but I do love all the classes I've taken so far.  :)  I have a couple more of her classes to take but haven't taken the time to do yet.  Just one more thing to add to my list once the kids go back to school.  :)  That list is getting pretty long!

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Week 31 in Pictures

Whew!  We made it through a whole week without anyone getting sick ... without having to leave the house unless we wanted to.  :)  And we even managed to throw some fun stuff in too.

We have Alex's follow up appointment at Children's Hospital on Tuesday.  Then hopefully he'll be cleared to resume normal activities.  He's been asking to ride his bike a lot since we've been home.  We might just have to hit the bike trail Tuesday evening.  :)

We also have some fun stuff planned for this week as long as the weather cooperates.  We are really looking forward to spending some time together as a family.  Our local farm show is this week.  We go every year and always have a good time.  I entered some photos into their photo contest again this year.  I'll post them later in the week.

Anyway, let's look at last week's photos, shall we?

{Sunday}

My brother's cow had her calf so we went out to see her.  She's just one week old in this photo.  She was feeding and her mama gave her a big lick on her face right before I took this photo.  Isn't she adorable?  I love her little tongue sticking out!

{Monday}

I planted some other bulbs this year so now we have purple and yellow gladiolus flowers along with the red ones we already had.  I love the deep purple of these!

{Tuesday}

I finally got a photo of a bird nest with an egg in it!

{Wednesday}

Another beautiful butterfly I came across this week.  And, of course, I had the wrong lens on so I couldn't get real close like I wanted to.  :)  The color palette consists of colors I managed to find in the butterfly's wings.

{Thursday}

The kids and I went to a local lake with some friends from church.  While there I got to teach one of the teenage girls how to shoot in manual.  We walked around looking for something interesting to photograph and came across these hibiscus growing along the lake.

{Friday}

We have lots of sunflowers blooming right now.  Some are about 10 feet tall!

{Saturday}

Okay, so I have lots of butterflies and flower photos this week.  :)  This Tiger Swallowtail was loving my liatris flowers.  I sat outside and enjoyed watching it flutter around for about 10 minutes.  It stayed longer but I was getting too hot.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous week!

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 08.05.12

Time for another Scavenger Hunt!  I wasn't sure I'd make this one, but I scrounged up some photos, even if they are a stretch.  I claim poetic license all the way!  :)

This week's items are Going back in time, Something just for me, Best part of my day, Night & day, and Look up.  And here are my interpretations ...
{going back in time} I went back two years ago and found this photo from August 5, 2010.  Our first Monarch butterfly.  The one that started it all.  That summer we ended up successfully raising 34 Monarch butterflies!  Looking at this photo also reminds me of how much I've learned about photography and editing in the past two years.  Sheesh!
{something just for me} At the lake the other day I was teaching a teenager from our church how to shoot in manual.  (She has the same camera I do.)  We were walking around looking for something other than scantily-clad people (who really shouldn't be) to photograph when this beauty happened by.  I believe God brought him our way just for me.  :)
{best part of my day} While we had fun at the lake, probably the best part of my day was showing Alyssa how to shoot in manual.  I love teaching people how to turn that dial from Auto or P to M.  We probably both have this same photo on our cameras.  I'm still waiting for her to turn in her homework.  :)
{night & day} Or in this case day & night.  :)
{look up} Some of our sunflowers are nearly 10 feet tall!  You really have to look up to see them!
Thanks for stopping by!  I really hope to have time to visit blogs this week, but with PTO meetings, doctor visits, and school shopping, plus some fun stuff thrown in there, I may not make it by until later in the week.
Be sure to head over to Ashley's for more great Scavenger Hunt photos and to find out what to look for this week.  Make it a great week!

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Photo of the Day: October 7

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/320s, 18-105mm lens on Nikon D40

The kids and I came across this man making his way across the lake while we were on a nature walk this evening.

   


Misty picked this photo as her favorite for the week!  Thanks, Misty!

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