Teamwork

"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help."
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Candid

Composition 101: Use natural light to your advantage whenever possible.

Love is . . .

...ten beautiful girls who laugh at your jokes and want to be silly with you.

Joy.

Tired eyes. Sunburnt face. Joy-filled heart. The first day of Camp.

Soulful

"The eyes have one language everywhere."
-George Herbert

Almost A Picture-a-Day...

Camp = late nights. Forgive me. (Plus I don't like any of the pictures I took on Wednesday. ;p ) To make up for it, here are two of my favorites from Thursday:

Tuesday Tweaks

In which I share a picture that I edited or, "tweaked."

This is one of my favorite little models, my cousin Carter. Isn't he the cutest?

Before:

After:

I did this one on picnik.com I think. I'm a big fan of free. ;) I used the sharpen tool to get rid of some of the blurriness and I used the boost effect to brighten the colors up. Most pictures, especially ones of kids, look great with just a touch from this effect. It increases the saturation of the colors and works well with pictures of kids because it makes things just a bit brighter. (Some progams actually have a saturation tool. It's almost exactly the same thing, I promise.)

Composition 101: When taking pictures of kids, just keep snapping!

Macro Monday!

Yes, I know most every other day of the week is a macro day. But! I did warn you! I LOVE macro shots!

This little guy flew right in to my shot and became my new subject. He was a little ham! Okay, really he did not care AT ALL that I was even there. I finally just stopped and walked away because I had so many shots of him.

Composition 101: Patience and persistence always pay off.

Boy Cat

Boy Cat decided to be my model this evening! And by "decided to be my model" I mean I stuck my camera in his face over and over and even when he literally turned his back on me I kept at it until I was satisfied. =) He loved it.

CAMP!

Okay okay, I know I missed a post yesterday. But I did take pictures! I was just too tired when I got home to post them. And for good reason: Camp is starting!! This year I'm not working at camp full time which makes me a bit sad, but they're letting me help out a ton which is great.

A taste of how this summer is going to play out:

I can't wait. =D

Take Time to Notice

It's amazing the things you can see when you take the time to notice them.

I think I interrupted his dinner.

Composition 101: OPEN. YOUR. EYES.

Throwback Thursday

I took this back in February. It's one of my favorites because it turned out better than the idea I had of it in my mind. I set up a little "studio" of white printer paper under a desk light thing and put my little Olympus on the super macro setting. There were a few imperfections in the picture so I edited them out and I also brightened the color up a bit.

Compsition 101: Lighting is important. Take LOTS of pictures at different times of day and under lots of different lighting conditions to get a feel for what works. (I'm still working on this one myself!)

. . . Wednesday Wonderings?

Why is it that I only* ever see dudes driving around in those tiny smart cars?

Composition 101: Sometimes getting "the" shot can put you in some awkward situations. Get over yourself.

*After I had planned this post out and taken the picture I saw a woman driving a smart car!

Grace

I have wonderful, amazing, fantastic friends. I have been so, so blessed by the relationships in my life.

My dear Amanda Grace has a lovely habit of crashing at my place on her way to other destinations. That basically makes her a genius! I keep telling her that "2 seconds" isn't long enough, but we do see each other at other times and I love love love the little impromptu visits. =)

Don't let these pictures fool you. Usually we are freakishly photogenic when we are together. No joke.

Planting Community

There is a community garden near the house where I dogsit. I'd say there are about 15 to 18 plots in it. I saw it at the beginning of spring when all the gardeners were getting their plots ready and it was cool because each plot was at a different stage. Some were covered in weeds still, some were at various stages of being planted and, some even had some sprouts coming up. I went back today and it was cool to see the changes that had happened. These people all seem like pros, too. There were all different kinds of stakes and cages for tomatoes to grow on, one plot even had a little hoop house tunnel thing!

I really like the idea of a community garden (even though I personally have space for a "real" garden). I like garden-y things in general, and having an excuse to work outside is nice, but I think what is so attractive to me about a community garden is the communing part. Or at least the potential to commune.

What a cool way to meet people! And then, what a cool way to forge relationships! And especially in a place like this part of Maryland where community-building doesn't usually make it on to people's priority lists, let alone on their top-ten list.

These people share space and materials, they have at least one similar goal, and they have unique opportunities to work with one another and help each other out. And they can literally plant seeds of community in each other's lives.

I like the idea of community gardens.

Composition 101: Adjust your viewpoint to add a unique twist to a subject. Perspective, perspective, perspective!

Side-of-the-Road Sunday

Composition 101: Adjust your view point to add a unique twist to your subject. Persepctive, perspective, perspective!

Someone

Today I discovered an amazing new (to me at least) show on TLC. It's called Spouse vs. House and it's about couples who think they are getting to do a remodel/redesign on three rooms of their house but then they are split up and only one of them (so far it's been the man) gets to do it and they can't see each other or even talk for three weeks. No contact of any kind. For three weeks.

I was really touched by some of the details the men try to add just for their wives (especially the one guy, Ed) but what really got me was how glad they all were to see each other at the end of those three weeks. I think every single couple I saw mentioned something about how they had never been apart for that long before,and they definitely had not gone that long with out communicating. When reunited, they didn't even want to talk about the remodel at first, they just wanted to touch each other, drink each other in.

I don't think I can say that I really struggle with being single. I'm actually okay with it for the most part--I don't really feel that I have a "ticking clock" and I don't think about it all day every day or anything like that. I mean, some days are harder than others but generally, I'm fine. Today was one of those harder days I think.

I think it would be really nice to...have someone. I'm not entirely sure what that means or entails, but I do think it would feel nice.

Oh, well. I guess first I need to work on being in places where I can even just be around guys. I've actually been really missing having guy friends lately too. *sigh* Work in progress.

Side-of-the-Road Saturday

I'm really starting to enjoy pulling over somewhere when I "see a shot" as I'm driving. Not necessarily safe, but oh so fun!

Composition 101: Look at those leading lines!

More Practice

She didn't really cooperate... But look at how cute that nose is!

Making my mark on Allie and Carl's new house. ;p I think maybe it made a mark on me too... Oops!

More Flowers

Photo-A-Day, Day 2!

Really it's Day 1 because today is the day I started posting, but I took the picture in the previous post yesterday. So.

I'm still working out how to use my camera and this is a "practice shot" that ended up working really well. As anyone who has seen more than one of my photos knows, I like macro shots. I really, really like macro shots. I take lots of pictures of flowers and bugs (when I can get them to hold still long enough) but maybe one day I'll be less boring.

I'm having to work out the differences between taking a macro shot with this camera and taking one with my old camera because the lenses are so different, but I'll get it soon.

Photo-A-Day?

I just got a new camera (my first DSLR!) on Monday and I took it over to the Winegar's for a show-and-tell session with Allie. Carl came home and I showed it to him, too. He suggested I start a photo-a-day sort of thing like their super cool friend Kristy now that I have a new camera. I have admired Kristy's photography for a long time and I told him that I'd thought about doing some sort of photo-a-day (and I've even mentioned it on here before) but that I wasn't as good as Kristy is and I wasn't sure if I could commit to taking/uploading a picture every day.

Now, if you have met Carl you know that he is a super sweet guy. He followed up my lame excuses with, "I think I would look at a photo of yours a day." He went on to say it would be a great way to practice my hobby/skill. I was flattered and I also think he has a really good point. When learning a musical instrument one is supposed to practice everyday to improve and that rule certainly applies to other skills.

So. I'm going to give it a try. Here goes.

James. I love him with a very large part of my heart. His beautiful eyes, his smile, his sense of humor, his patience. I feel so blessed that I have had time to get to know him as well as I do because I'm not sure everyone can see the amazing person I know is inside of that body.

This portrait is the first "real" picture I took with my new camera. It's a little dark, but I didn't want to edit this one.