Project 52 -- Cabin Fever

I'm linking up with Darcy for Project 52.

Click her Project 52 button above to see what it's all about!

This week's challenge:  Cabin Fever


My photo:

My thoughts:

After family devotions on Wednesday night, my husband started ordering our guys to "clean up this mess!"  He was flabbergasted when I stopped him.  After all, I'm the organized, neat, and tidy one in the family.  Unbeknownst to him, I already had this photo in my mind.


The setup:

Although I envisioned both Thomas (my 15yo, above) and his brother Danny (18 and loves to make the goofiest faces imaginable for the camera) in my image, Thomas would work in a pinch.  Danny was too busy that morning writing a short essay in Spanish.  I cajoled Thomas into sitting down on the floor in the middle of the mess, and I stood on the computer desk chair to snap the image.  The above is the first picture I took, and I chose it because it didn't get any better than that.  I had wanted him to make a pull-your-hair-out-while-screaming face, but he was not in a good mood (see the picture below).  Of course, not being in a good mood was good for the theme!

Note--nothing else in the photo was staged; the clutter (mostly three guys' school stuff) appears as it actually lay from the night before.  Half an hour after I took the shots, my living room was back to its beautiful, tidy self.


Camera settings:

• ISO 1600
• Manual mode
• 17-85mm lens at 17mm
• Aperture at f4
• 1/50 second shutter speed

Because the photo was just what I envisioned, post-edit was simple and quick.  This week's image was all about composition--what I was actually going to shoot--not changing the image significantly with editing.  In Lightroom3, I increased the contrast, brightened the image a tiny bit, and added some grain, which I think works well with both high ISO and lots of busy-ness in an image.

 Toldja he wasn't in a good mood!

Don't worry; he's partially "faking" the above.  He soon became his sweet self (breakfast helped).  I mean--how many 15-year-olds give their moms random hugs throughout the day?  :)


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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365 Project -- #309-315

This is the time in my week when I look back at the images I've captured

throughout the previous week, and choose my seven favorites.

These seven--one for each day of the week--are featured below.

November 5 - November 11

Last week was an all-around nice week; so, let's get right to photos, shall we?

Even though our friends' dog Sunny does not like cameras, she seems to tolerate mine.  I captured some great shots of this old pup resting in front of the fireplace.  She sure has seen a lot of life.

[309] By the fire

Some explanation is needed for the next few shots.  Thomas had a science experiment involving an egg, vinegar, corn syrup, and distilled water.  Submerging the egg in each of these different liquids basically caused the shell to dissolve, and swelled the egg to abnormal size.  It looked like a glowing "orb of power" or some such science-fiction thing.  Thomas thought it was pretty cool.

[310] Experiment by Thomas

 [311] Glowing egg

When Danny came home from class, he handled the egg for just a minute.  However, an egg without its shell is fragile, and the shot below is the result.  It is pretty cool, and Danny cleaned up the mess.

[312] Mishap on the counter

Joe helped me bring up from the basement the last of the Northern Spy apples from our Michigan apple-picking trip.  I cored and peeled them, cutting off the brown spots, and they ended up becoming applesauce.

[313] Last of the apples

One day, I noticed the bright colors of some of the leaves in my front porch garden.  I grabbed my macro lens (duh!) and went back out to the porch.  The coral bells (marmalade) were especially colorful at this time of autumn.  I also experimented with some black and white images.  But then again, it is autumn and I love the brilliance of color.

[314] Autumn coral bells leaf

[315] Autumn coral bells leaf [B&W]

Lately, I've been closing my posts with Scripture.  I think I will do the same today.  :)

But let all who take refuge in You be glad,

Let them ever sing for joy;

And may You shelter them,

That those who love Your name may exult in You.

For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD,

You surround him with favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5:11-12 NASB

Treasuring life's moments,

Christine

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365 Project -- #253-259

This is the time in my week when I look back at the images I've captured

the week before, and choose my seven favorites.

These seven--one for each day of the week--are featured below.

Enjoy!!

It's always a great week when there are two special days to celebrate...

I wandered outside with Ellie to take some late-summer late-in-the-day shots of my garden flowers, and captured the below shot of my Siberian bugloss.  You can tell it's near sunset by the golden hue of the image.

[253] September 10 -- Sunset on Siberian bugloss

Also captured last week was Thomas actually doing a science experiment.  I'm now requiring him to complete every experiment in his biology textbook, and so far he's doing a great job.

[254] September 11 -- Biology experiment

Fernando and I celebrated 24 years of marriage on the 12th.  This is where he took me.

[255] September 12 -- Anniversary dinner

He's such a gentleman!  And we shared a fantastic Italian dinner, lots of animated conversation, yummy dessert, and a walk around the block before heading home.

 [256] September 13 -- Holding the door

Back to home life...  Since it's getting late in the gardening season here in Illinois, I needed to get my herbs inside and processed.  I decided to try drying some herbs; this is my first attempt.  So far they're drying normally.

[257] September 14 -- Drying herbs

The below shot was taken on the 14th--my birthday!  I spent part of the day accompanying Danny to college and spending the waiting time with Thomas, who worked diligently on his grammar and algebra.

[258] September 15 -- High school at college

Finally, I snapped some pictures of my birthday gift--yellow and orange roses.  I'm not a huge fan of flowers--I'd rather have something practical and useful--but these sure are pretty.  Along with these colorful roses, Fernando gave me a huge bouquet of red roses--one rose for each year of marriage.  :)

[259] September 16 -- Birthday roses

It was a very special week.  I hope you also had a special week in the Lord!


Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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365 Project -- #148-154

Exhaustion.  That is an apt word today.  Last week was a blur, with a photo shoot on Memorial Day, preparing for our state homeschool convention on Tuesday, then attending our convention speaker banquet Wednesday, followed by three days of convention activities.  I absolutely love overseeing my portion of the convention--I get to meet amazing speakers, talk to and encourage new (and veteran!) homeschoolers, and connect with people I haven't seen in a while.  Here are the images from my week.

Senior photo shoot, downtown Chicago at UIC (the University of Illinois in Chicago).  This young man hopes to transfer here after earning his Associate's degree from his local community college.  He is on his way to medical school!

[148] May 28 -- Senior portrait at Hull House

I like the below shot because it gives the feeling of walking into sunshine, and a bright future.

[149] May 29 -- Toward a bright future

Not all the portraits will be chosen for prints.  The one below probably won't make the 8x10 list.  Goofing off for the camera every now and then relieves stress.  It's hard to focus on what the photographer tells you to do--smiling, leaning against a wall, or looking this way and that.  Goofy faces take care of all that.  :)

[150] May 30 -- A senior portrait--NOT

In preparation for all of the workshops I coordinate at our state convention, I printed out new "countdown" numbers to wave at the speakers as time runs out in their workshops.  The convention runs like clockwork, and there is not a lot of variance for running over one's time!  So I try to make sure my speakers stay within the time limits.

[151] May 31 -- Numbers

My first workshop!  Matthew McNatt spoke to parents homeschooling their special needs students.  He was very encouraging, and a fascinating person to get to know.  I'm so glad I invited him to speak at our convention!

[152] June 1 -- My conference speaker

My #3 son Danny was able to attend a workshop where the students dissected a sheep's brain.  Me--YUCK.  Danny--COOL.  And, if you wondered--YES, this is the same young man from the senior portraits above.  :)

[153] June 2 -- Picking your brain

That's it through last Friday.  Next week I'll wrap up the last day of the convention, and add some new photos.  Who knows what I'll post!  I'm definitely not relaxing this week--preparations for yet another event are on the calendar!  I sure hope you all have a super week as summer begins to warm things up.


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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365 Project -- #106-112

What a nice week of eclectic photos!  We had a busy week here at our home--everything from dirt for our garden, families coming over to dig and build and fellowship, and homeschool, to ducks!  My busy week in images, coming up...

When one builds raised bed vegetable gardens, one needs a lot of dirt!  We've bought a wonderful garden mixture from this company (advertising inserted here--see phone number in photo!!) for several years, and this year was no exception.  I hope we're done building gardens for a while.

[106] April 16 -- Dirt delivery!

What do you get when a group of homeschooling guys comes over?  Lots of hard work!  Um, in the below image, they found a worm.  Yes, they range in age from 14 through 22, and a worm can still stop them.  It was an impressive worm.  Read all about the guys and my garden here.

 [107] April 17 -- Worm intermission

We have a resident duck couple who sat in the balcony (our roof) to watch all the work going on in our garden.  I caught this neat shot when they took off for a quick circle of the area before returning to their balcony seating.

[108] April 18 -- Mallard fly-by

Mmm...dessert.  Nothing more needs to be said.  :)

[109] April 19 -- Raspberry tart for dessert

Danny was frustrated with his chemistry experiment, and it took the both of us two attempts before we figured out how to hold a beaker over the flame on the stove without the beaker slipping and spilling everywhere.  As the experiment included hydrochloric acid, we were glad the beaker contained just water!

[110] April 20 -- Chemistry experiment

Our resident papa duck was waddling around one day, watching mama sitting, when he had an itch (we think!).  So he stopped to scratch it.  I decided to try a photo collage.

[111] April 21 -- Duck dance

Baking day for Resurrection Sunday!  My mission--find a cake recipe that didn't call for either shortening or cake flour.  I don't use shortening, and I wanted to use my special golden wheat flour.  I found a recipe for a white layer cake, and adapted it (as it suggested to do) for a yellow cake.  (I added two egg yolks back in to the batter.)  It also used buttermilk, and that intrigued me.

[112] April 22 -- Baking for Sunday

P.S.  As I type this, only one-quarter of the cake remains.  I made a lemon-buttercream frosting and the cake was a hit.  Another photo for next week, maybe!

I hope your Resurrection Sunday was sweet with the knowledge that He paid a debt He did not owe; here are the lyrics from a long-ago simple church chorus:

He paid a debt He did not owe,

I owed a debt I could not pay,

I needed Someone to wash my sins away.

And now I sing a brand new song--"Amazing Grace!"

For Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.

Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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365 Project -- #64-70

Whew.  I'm glad the week is over.  Busy is not descriptive enough:  late nights, lots of laundry (why is that??), planning, homeschool, upcoming homeschool convention, friends for dinner (the fun part of my week!)...  I could go on, but I know that you are also very busy.

I shot (not in an official capacity) Amber's bridal shower, which comprises the first set of shots below.

[64] March 5 -- Cake by Kelle

[65] March 6 -- Cake topper

[66] March 7 -- For the bride

[67] March 8 -- To and from

Then it was time to get Ellie out of her bag to document home life again.  I caught the below shot while Danny completed his chemistry experiment.  (Nothing blew up.)

[68] March 9 -- Chemistry in action

It's still a cold Midwest March, but I threw on my jacket, stuck my slippers on, and sat on my front porch looking into my garden.  I spied a few leaves from my coral bells "Black Beauty," and captured this image.

[69] March 10 -- Lingering leaves

Inside my warm home, I have not felt a burning desire--pardon the pun that will be--to take photos of anything.  In attempting to get a quick shot of this tea light candle holder, I succumbed to the inevitable, dragging out my tripod and setting everything up.  I was pleased with the results, however, and Ellie now sits patiently, happily waiting for the morrow.  :)

[70] March 11 -- Tiffany tea light lamp

For God, who said,

"Light shall shine out of darkness,"

is the One who has shone in our hearts

to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God

in the face of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6 nasb

Living life; capturing life.

Christine

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