365 Project -- #141-147

Here it is, Memorial Day morning, and I'm working on my blog...  This week is "Convention Week," and I'm going to be super busy, so I'm using today's "vacation" to get my post up.  What a blessing to have already input the images a few days ago!  Then, it's off for a senior photo shoot downtown Chicago, home and laundry, and of course--homeschool convention preparations!

For last week's images, I rounded out the "old" and brought in the "new"--the "old" being our Florida vacation, and the "new" being our life back home in the Prairie State.  Here we go...

I love "freezing" water in time!  I took so many shots of waves when I visited the beach each day.  This is one of my favorites.

[141] May 21 -- Frozen wave

I posted this previously, since I like it so much.  And it deserves a spot on my weekly 365 Project post, too.  It's the moon, taken on manual exposure, ISO 100, bulb setting at 50 seconds (I counted it off in my head), F16.  If you didn't see my previous post, try to spot the two meteorite trails at the top of the image.

[142] May 22 -- Moon vista

On our last day, Joseph and I enjoyed the sunrise before heading back to the beach cottage to pack for the two-day drive home.

[143] May 23 -- Sunrise on the beach

Back home, I spent some time in my gardens--when it wasn't raining, of course.  Love love love my macro lens!

[144] May 24 -- Coral Bells "Marmalade"

[145] May 25 -- Coral Bells "Black Beauty"

[146] May 26 -- Columbine blooms

[147] May 27 -- Fly on brunnera

An abrupt change from "summer" to the reality of spring!  I enjoyed having that week of summer, but I'm also thoroughly enjoying an Illinois spring (except for all the rain/storms).  Have a beautiful week!!

Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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How Blessed!

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;

No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

O LORD of hosts,

How blessed is the man who trusts in You!

Psalm 84:11-12 NASB

Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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Reflections on Vero

Mid-May.  What a crazy, hectic time to take a vacation, with upcoming graduation, homeschool convention, and college-in-the-fall preparations filling the bulk of my time.  Did I mention I have a photography business, too?  ;)

But this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us, since Lori and her family invited us to go.  They reserved a beach cottage on the Atlantic Ocean, and let me tell you, it doesn't get any more "on" the ocean than that!  Because I grew up on the Atlantic Ocean, the longing for sea breezes and crashing waves was once again rekindled, and that longing was fulfilled for one glorious week.

Ellie came along with me--of course!!--and the photographer in me was compelled to capture all those fleeting memories and treasured times with friends and my own family.  The special week brought much-needed refreshment for the upcoming busy-ness of life at the end of a school year.  I wanted to share my favorite artistic shots here, because I'm in a reminiscing mood, and because I simply want to share them with you.  :)

Since both Fernando and I had to remove our rings for fear of losing them in the ocean (which I almost did), I figured I'd experiment with them and my macro lens.  I love the below photo, and the heart shape the rings form.

Moonrise -- in case you wondered!

If you look closely at the above image, you can see two meteorite trails above the moon.  The more visible one is directly above and slightly to the right of the moon, and the other is above and to the left of the moon, trailing off the image.  Now, below are the sunrises.  :)

A moonrise, a sunrise...  And on the last morning, my sweet Joseph and I walked to the beach to enjoy our last Atlantic sunrise of the week.

The day dawned bright and cloudless, and it seemed like a sign of hope for my son and his future.  As he sat there on the beach, looking around, I captured several things--the nature of being autistic and alone, not recognizing the glorious scene before his eyes, but also HOPE for his future.  Hope from the Lord.

It was a splendid way to end our vacation, and begin a new chapter together.


Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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365 Project -- #134-140

Well, we're home.  A little over a week ago, we left a cool, breezy Chicago and headed south.  And east.  More south, though.  Down, down, down, to warmer climes, 80s and sunny.  Here is a smidgen of an idea of our vacation.

We arrived in Vero Beach to meet our friends with whom we spent the week.  Our dinner at Captain Hiram's was super-yummy; the view from their balcony is below.  Nice view.

[134] May 14 -- Harbor at Captain Hiram's

I finally got to see the Atlantic Ocean!  We moved away from the ocean when I was 11, and I was back only once.  I got to spend the entire week there this time.

[135] May 15 -- Atlantic wave line

Monday morning.  8:56 a.m.  It was truly surprising how quickly Endeavor shot up into the sky.  Within minutes, she was out of view.  Then several minutes later, we heard the sound (we were about an hour away from Kennedy Space Center).

[136] May 16 -- Endeavor blasts off

The water was warm, inviting us to come on in and play.

[137] May 17 -- Wave action

Fernando and I had a date night, a slow evening walk on the beach at our resort.  Of course Ellie came with us!  These are my footprints, just before they were washed away.

 [138] May 18 -- Seashore footprints

Sunsets were gorgeous, and we weren't even facing west!  Below, I was looking north up the coast.

[139] May 19 -- Sunset along Vero Beach

Though I took several nice macros of flowers, I chose the below image since I love the back lighting and how it illumines the berries on the bush.

[140] May 20 -- Sunlit berries

Next week, I'll round out my vacation with a few more shots from Florida, and then it's back to the Prairie State!


Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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365 Project -- #127-133

I just love automatic posting.  I'm currently in a warmer climate, soaking up sun, enjoying my favorite ocean, playing with family and friends.  Life is good.  God is good.

As I stated in my last "365 Project" post, I am posting images from one event a weekend ago.  I used my Ellie plenty last week, but since our family was making preparations, taking care of last-minute details, and packing and getting out the door, it was easier to share this one group of images with you.  So here they are.

The Y. family hosted an all-church get-together at their house last week Sunday.  Combine lots of families--all of whom are friends!--a bunch of games, some food, great fellowship, some science things thrown in (hey, we're mostly homeschoolers...), and you've got a recipe for certain F-U-N.

This first image has to be one of my favorites.  I have several "swinging" shots that I love, but this is the only girl one (they were all wearing dresses and let me tell you--it's hard to shoot that!).  But this one works for me on all counts--big grin, hair flying, and mid-flight!

[127] May 7 -- Swinging

Talk about flying!  I had to share this, too, even though it's backlit and created a halo effect around little Nathaniel.  I mean seriously--a little guy and his daddy giving him a free "ride."  (Mom wasn't looking.)

[128] May 8 -- Way up high

Throw in some "science" activities, and everyone's happy.  Mr. K had this thing rigged, where you fill a two-liter bottle part way with water, then a machine does something or other (suck air out?  I'm not sure...), then the water shoots out through the hole and launches the bottle skyward.  The bottle flew really high, too!  I love the lack of expression on Jonathan's face.  This image was the first in the series, and the second image shows his reaction to the whoosh of the bottle being launched.  Awesome!

[129] May 9 -- Water bottle rocket

And...a launch of a different kind.  Again, I was happy to sit there and capture every single rocket launch they did.  This image was is particularly cool due to the sparks.

[130] May 10 -- Liftoff

You know your friends don't mind you running around with your camera all afternoon when you hear them holler, "Hey, Christine!  Over here!  Photo shoot!  Photo shoot!"  They all know that I love babies, and that Ellie is a baby magnet.  I've captured this little lady before, but she's grown just a bit and her daddy was making her smile.  Even though the focus is off, I love her adoring expression as she gazes up at her dad.

[131] May 11 -- Little girl smile

Tina Grace was dancing around waving a dandelion, and I caught several images of her.  During an impromptu song session, this little four-year-old requested that we sing The Old Rugged Cross, and then she ballet-danced her way through it.  She was precious!

[132] -- May 12 -- Tina Grace

The fiddler in the image below is a good friend to my guys.  Dan is a mature young man, about to graduate alongside our own Danny in a few weeks, on his way to making a mark for God in this world.

[133] May 13 -- Fiddle accompaniment

That was my Sunday afternoon.  Oh, there were so many more pictures; if you want to see them, click here to visit the album at my personal Facebook page.

And please--feel free to leave comments, knowing that I will surely visit your blog in return!  Since I'm away, I will play catch-up with you next week.  Thanks for your patience!!

Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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365 Project -- #120-126

Last week was "officially" Macro Week.  Even though the images are hodgepodge, I used my macro lens with all of them.  Finally, after all these weeks, a theme.  ;)

In explanation, this first image is of little containers of facial lotion and body lotion.  Don't you hate when you get to the end of your bottle of lotion, and you know there's more in there, but you can't get it out?  I unscrew the cap and swish the tube of the pump and get more out that way.  But in the end, I bring the bottle down to the kitchen and cut the bottom of the bottle off with a knife.  I scrape out the remaining lotion and put it in a little container.  Voilà!  Another week's worth of lotion.  Waste not, want not!

[120] April 30 -- Cosmetics

This really is my daily break!  My mom thoughtfully saves the New York Times crossword puzzles for me.  They're like treasures of gold--I put them in my organizer and work on them (in ink, of course) in the doctor's office, or whenever I have a moment.

[121] May 1 -- Daily Break

The maple trees are leafing, and I saw some neat shapes to take pictures of.  After I downloaded the image below, I thought it looked like a butterfly.

[122] May 2 -- Maple butterfly

I try to trim my chives before they bloom--which is when you're supposed to.  But they're so pretty as they bud and bloom, too, that I couldn't resist taking a picture.

[123] May 3 -- Bud on chives

Our back yard is filled with dandelions, ick.  But they make a good macro subject.  I was experimenting with point of view with the below image.

[124] May 4 -- Dandelion

My brother is storing his little trailer in our back yard.  He would say, "Actually, you're storing my trailer in your back yard."  He's right.  It has been out there for years, though we haven't bugged him to come get it out of there.  :)

[125] May 5 -- Trailer tire

I'm still waiting for hubby to find and connect our garden hose.  I've been watering my onions and garlic with a watering can using this back yard spigot.  With macro lens in hand, I thought I'd try to capture some droplets in action.  Okay, so I took upwards of 30 images to get one or two good ones.  Aahhh, I love digital photography!

[126] May 6 -- Dripping spigot

And those are last week's images.  I can tell you already that since this upcoming week is filled with vacation preparations (which I should be doing right now), most--if not all--of my images will be from this past weekend's church get-together, a welcome into spring time of games, play, fellowship, and food.  It was a lot of fun simply leaving my 50mm portrait lens on Ellie and seeing what I could capture with it.  I can't wait to show you the highlights!

Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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365 Project -- #113-119

A long week of rain didn't stop Ellie and me from taking images both inside and out.  Whether ordinary household images, a part of mealtime, or capturing nature when it wasn't raining, we stayed busy with the shutter, and with life!

This first photo is a fitting part of our week, since Danny had to re-take part of a placement test (for our community college) that he didn't do so well on last year.  I'm happy to report that he scored very well on it this time, and will be starting college algebra come August!

[113] April 23 -- Adding it all up

Remember the cake layers cooling on the rack in my last "365 Project" post?  (And by the way, the link to the recipe is there, too!)  Well, this is the remainder of that yummy dessert.  Our family--all 11 of the extended clan--ate over half of it on Resurrection Sunday, and the six of us split it up a few days later for a sweet end to our day.

[114] April 24 -- Yellow cake with lemon frosting

Mangoes were on sale at the grocery store, so I bought some because Fernando loves them.  He and Jacob enjoyed the last two, which took about a week to ripen in a bowl on our kitchen counter.

[115] April 25 -- The mangoes are ripe!

My spring blog header (above) features these happy little brunnera, or Siberian bugloss.   Blooming only in the spring, its tiny, vivid flowers herald the new season in pretty periwinkle, with a white ring at their centers.  Edited in sepia, they look papery in their gentle ivory tones.  I love this little flower in all its brief spring glory!

[116] April 26 -- Brunnera in sepia tone

During a brief respite from the rain, I ran out to my front yard garden with Ellie and her macro lens.  I'm so sorry I can't remember which 365 Project participant displayed a photo of flowers with raindrops.  I really liked that image--it inspired me to go out and capture the blithe daffodil covered with fresh droplets of rain.

[117] April 27 -- Daffodil after rain

Danny continues to stay hard at work in chemistry, and completed yet another experiment.  Having never taken the course, I have always thought chemistry involved flame and possible minor explosions.  But alas, it has been somewhat disappointing in that regard.  The experiment below was pretty neat, although he had to use some of my good SAF yeast.  All for a good cause!

[118] April 28 -- Peroxide and yeast

Ack!  I needed one more image to complete my week, and the sky clouded over once again to just about close out the least sunny April in Chicago history.  Jacob obliged me by turning slightly and trying not to smile.  I still think he's handsome!

[119] April 29 -- College student

Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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