Latest Obsession

So I am obsessed with photography right now. I've always LOVED photography. There is a picture in my parents' magnetic photo albums that I took when I was five. I was mesmerized at a very young age. I took photography classes in high school and served on the Yearbook staff. I loved burning and dodging in the darkroom. After high school I always had a camera handy, but exploring this art form was put on the back burner to study, and meet an awesome guy, and get married, and move, and teach, and then have children. The excitement for taking pics returned after having Abby and has compounded with each child.

Now that Evy is 16 months, I feel like I can start delving into past hobbies again. And so my love affair with pictures and capturing images is being reborn. I am pouring through material, attending a class once a week (thanks, Eric), and looking for other oppoturnities to educate myself because it's my goal to get off auto mode and stay in manual. This week I have stayed in manual. It has been a great learning experience. The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know--kind of like motherhood. It has been way more rewarding to see an image and realize I, not the camera, figured that one out. There have been lots of yucky ones, too, but I'm learning from everything!

I think after "mastering" manual mode, I want to try more with off-axis lighting. For now, I will continue to LOVE, LOVE natural light. Here is a pic I took today exploring depth of field a little more. I really like how it turned out. Plus, I really like how Ezra is smiling. We haven't seen that too much around here lately!



f5.6 @ 1/80 sec ISO 800 to help with a faster shutter speed

Matter of Time

A couple of weeks ago, Will communicated to me that he was having trouble reading the hymn numbers at the front of the chapel. I then started to notice him squinting at things from across the room. I made an appointment with our eye doctor right away and found he was 20/60 and 20/80. It was just a matter of time, I guess, before he got glasses due to his parents' genes. Oh, and braces are probably in his future. Our poor kids! Four days later he know sees life in "3-D" as he puts it. I wonder how long life was in 2-D for him? Poor guy. May the rest of his life be in technicolor!

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1

I am enjoying going through the hundreds of pics I took in Cali last week. We made our annual pilgrimage down there to get out of the yucky weather/drabness/etc. Our family had a memorable time, and I thought I would present some of my favorite photos through completed digital layouts. So now I'm blogging AND getting layouts done. Sometimes I do surprise myself with a good idea here and there! Here is a layout I did tonight summarizing our first day in So Cal. (P.S. Doesn't Briana look amazing in her picture?)



P. P. S. The picture of Evy was taken as she ate dirt from the lakebed. Ahhh, that poor fourth child of mine.