{15/365} Will Swims

Will is on the swim team and today was the first meet.  He did very well in the relay and not so well in his backstroke.  Oh well.  He has another meet this week:)

{14/365} CUTIE~PIE!

Okay, so cutie pie Kate made me a drawing wrapped in pink satin ribbon from one of her tutus.  When I asked what it was for...she said because I am so so so so so smart and I love her so so so so so much!  She is so so so so RIGHT!

{13/365}

Definitely my worst shot yet but here it is....




And I did nothing to it.  It was just one of those days.  I am sure a crop/post process could make it better...but life is too busy today:)

{12/12} Dress-up

Kate dresses up in her ballet clothes and tap shoes almost every single day. Oh how I love this age:)

{11/365} Sour face

This is the look I get from Harry when he sees me approaching with the camera. Part of the "things they do" series this week:)

{10/365} Snickers

Snickers moves his bed to be in the middle of the action:)

{9/365} Making Ice Cream

Kate Skates {8/365}

I am trying a theme this week for my 365..."the things they do."  I am getting bored and uninspired already so I think having a theme some weeks will help me.  I love this shot.  Roller skates are all Kate really wanted for Chrsimtas this year:)

O my darling, clementine {7/365}

Katie Ru {6/365}

I struggle some days just to get the laundry done and this is one of those weeks for me.  So, this is a quick snapshot of Kate before school.  AS you can see she was not too thrilled to be my subject.  It is straight out of the camera (SOOC).  And I had the aperture too wide open from this angle so only half her face is in focus:(

Mama said there'd be days like this {4/365}

Not much time/motivation for a great shot today.  I had my laptop at the kitchen table this afternoon and this is what was in front of me...a cookbook, starbucks, my to-do list, a shoe that needs to go to the cobbler, pens and my phone...oh and a green nerf bullet. The photo is (intentionally) dark because it is about to rain and it is dark and moody right now:)  I accomplished very little on that to do list today.

Harry up-close {3/365}

I had big plans to do a photo shoot with Will  today but he was being uncooperative. So I stepped outside while Harry was riding his new electric scooter and caught his genuine joy!  I love how his helmet is crooked and wisps of hair are sticking out and illuminated by the sun. I used my neighbor's 135 mm lens.

Flowers from my husband {2/365}

I reminded Dave the other day that my love languages are "words of praise" and gifts.  He came home from work with fresh flowers.  They look really pretty in our living room near the tree since they are deep red.  The tree is almost down as I type so I had to grab one more shot of delicious Christmas tree bokeh.

My neighbor got this cool 135mm defocus lens for Christmas and is letting my borrow it.  So, I am going to attempt a little shoot with it tomorrow:)

The third time is the charm, right? {1/365}

So, this will be my third attempt at a 365 project.  I really had no intention of starting one but my friend Shana convinced me to give it a try with her.  We are keeping it low stress.  I am sure some photos will be SOOC (straight out of the camera) and snap shot-ish and some will be composed and post processed.

Last year I kind of backed off from photography to spend more time with the kids and less time at my computer. It was a good decision for my family but my photography skills took a backslide.  I am hoping to find balance this year.  I want to improve my skills but not spend too much time behind a lens or in front of a screen because let's face it...that is not really living, is it?

So, here is my fist shot of the New Year.  It is my silver bowl full of Christmas cards from beloved family and friends.  I often leave it out until February or March.  This year I might leave it out all year and randomly pray for the families nestled inside.

I am not going to post the stats of each shot but you can click on it and veiw the exif data on flick if you wish.  Post processed with Florabella Mademoiselle.

This is what it looked like SOOC...

They all wanted in

We did not have baseball or Judo or anything today after school.  So, we were hanging out in the living room and Will was reading. I wanted to get a shot for the 365 but they all got silly and wanted a picture.....

90/365

Kate was so jealous...that she did this to get in the way...

and then this...

I am not using those photos for the 365 but I wanted to remember what a little camera ham she was being!

Meanwhile, Harry wanted his picture taken too...

91/365

92/365

Kate saw her big brother leave for school with a backpack..so she NEEDED a backpack to wear to pre-school. Contents: pretend food from her play kitchen, lipgloss and her lovey (which I promptly removed).

Silly peanuts!

Dailies

The 365 is hanging by thread. I need to get back on track and take a shot each day. The days have been so busy with baseball games and practices nearly everyday, school decisions for Will, summer camp registrations, visitors etc.

I use my camera every single day but I am not really focusing on this project on the last week or 2. I am going to get MUCH better. Anyway, here is what I have for the last several days.

68/365

Kate smelling the roses at a local park.

69/365

My new Nikon arrives!

70/365

71/365

Kate and Miss Cathy read the paper.

72/365

Our good friends...

73/365

74/365

A little light reading

75/365

Easter Loot

76/365

Easter Day

77/365

78/365

YIKES!

Somehow...I have fallen woefully behind in posting my 365 photos.  I take them everyday and post them to flickr but I have been forgetting to get over here.

60/365

61/365

62/365

63/265


64/365

65/365

66/365

The men I love...

two of them anyway....

{58/365}
He rarely lets me take his photo. This was after he cooked us a great Sunday breakfast. I am so lucky to have him. He is an amazing husband and father! Taken with my 85 mm on manual.

{59/365}
Since he is allergic to wheat, gluten, dairy and soy...he does not often have cookies. We found these GFCF cookies and he loves them.

More 365 (catching up and racing ahead)

Will, Kate and I went to the famer's market.  I got some really fun shots that I will post but I am using this one for my 365 project....

Purple Kohlrabi {52/365}

{53/365}

Will loved these carrots.  He was such a charmer at the market.  He chatted up the sellers and even picked out some flowers for me.  It was such a nice hour with him.

{54/365} 

A friendly game of chutes and ladders with Harry and Kate.  Kate just moves anywhere she wants with total disregard for the rules.  I see trouble ahead.

{55/365} 

I realized we bear a striking resemblance to our games pieces (me, harry and kate). 

{56/365}

Took this on a walk and realized it looked exactly  as I felt by the end of this week. I call is "too tired to stand." It is one of my favorite shots.  I wish I had a macro lens so I could have capture more detail on the rose.

{57/365}

Harry is doing so well with baseball this season.  He loves it.  He has awesome coaches and a great attitude.

Sorry, I did not include all the photo stats.  I am pressed for time. If you are interested in that.... you can click on any photo (it will go to flickr) and the stats are listed under "more properties" on each individual photo.

Playing catch~up!

Good thing that I got ahead last week because I had no idea that this week, I would get behind in my 365.  Please understand that these are rushed shots due to my complete lack of time this week.  I was afraid I might have to abandon the project. Then I realized that I have a shot for each day and it is fine if they are not good shots....that is how life is....sometimes up and sometimes down:)

{46/365}

Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/2.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
Focal Length: 50.4 mm
ISO Speed: 500
Taken March 19th Aperture Priority

This next one is COMPLETELY out of focus...but it reflects the day...

{47/365}

This is Harry.

Harry and Will both won gold medals in a Judo tournament.  They are SO hard to photograph because the lighting is terrible, you are very far away and people are in your way AND the action is fast!  I need to work on this.

{48/365}

This is not the best shot of my sweet Kate.  It is the day she was diagnosed with mono.  She wanted to dress like Mommy (a white tee, green skirt and pearls).  I was sitting in the rocking chair next to her with my arms flooded.  I saw her watching me and imitating me.

Camera: Nikon D80

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)

Aperture: f/2.0

Focal Length: 50 mm

Focal Length: 50.4 mm

ISO Speed: 500

Exposure Bias: 0 EV

 No Flash

Aperture Priority

In the next one, I was trying to take a shot of just the smoothie (our meals this week) but Kate walked into my shot:)

{49/365}

Camera: Nikon D80

Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)

Aperture: f/2.5

Focal Length: 50 mm

ISO Speed: 800

Exposure Bias: 0 EV

Flash: No Flash

Manual Mode!

Even though this is technically the same day, I am using it for the next day (I'll get back on track next week)

{50/365}

I gave Kate this little laptop that I had been saving for Easter or her birthday because we were so bored at home.  She really likes it:)

Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/2.5
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash
Aperture Priority

{51/365}

Took this one day recently after a rain. It is straight out of the camera except for a tiny crop.  The bokeh is blades of ornamental grass.

Camera: Nikon D80

Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)

Aperture: f/2.8

Focal Length: 85 mm

Focal Length: 84.8 mm

ISO Speed: 100

Exposure Bias: 0 EV

Flash: No Flash

I snuck out to the local farmer's market yesterday and got some GREAT shots...I plan to use them next.