Hurry up Spring

All across the country we are aching for spring. Even though we have had our glimpses in the bay area, it is far from consistent. Each day is a crap shoot and we range from a perfect sunny day to down right cold. (I am fully aware that cold is all relative but believe me 50's seems cold...I'm serious)

So how fitting that Becky's assignment is spring postcards. How perfect is that? The only thing that took my excitement away was seeing that the thrive project is over. What fun it has been to head over every Tuesday to farmgirl paints and see what new assignment she had in store for us. It was so great to learn from Becky and to see all the other talent out there. So thank you Becky and fellow bloggers, it has been a pleasure to thrive with you all. Postcard #2

I am thankful for all things spring. I am thankful for the warm days and the chilly nights. I am thankful to drive up to my house and see the azaleas and crocus blooming. I am thankful for God's reminder that everything that dies will indeed live again.

Simplicity

When I headed over to Becky's blog today for our next challenge in the thrive project it was simplicity. How fitting for so many reasons. What a wonderful word....simplicity. I love the way it sounds and what it means. Life is seriously nutty. But if I consistently remind myself to simplify, I find myself enjoying the small moments. The quiet moments that would have got lost in the shuffle. Maybe it is something as fleeting as my child's smile or laughing at their silly joke. I don't want to miss these things but unless I remember to simplify chaos will reign and before I know it another day is done.

Well now I know the same thing applies in photography. Don't clutter your backgrounds, pay attention to your subject, and tell a story with your photo. I used to only take pictures of people. As I have tried to branch out and look at things in a different way, it has lead me to take pictures of anything and everything.

A few years back I found this beautiful little nest in my topiary. I loved the little birds handiwork. What a beautiful, delicate nest this mama carefully made for her babies. It reminded me that as mothers we all have built a little nest for our babies. Some day they too will fly away. Love the moment...simplify. After the nest was abandoned I gingerly brought it inside as a reminder that today I still have my children under my wings. It will not last forever. Cherish them and simplify. So today it was fitting that as I walked around the house looking for something that meant simplicity this is what I settled on. So here is my picture for the week. Thank you again Becky for your explanations and for your project. I have loved to see what the challenges mean to everyone. It has been such fun!

Now for some technical stuff. Please help. I shot these using lots of different white balance settings. What white balance do you generally use? The auto setting or one of the others? On another technical note my aperture was wide open for these but how do people keep track of their shutter speed. I was on my canon's manual setting but I have no idea what shutter speed I was on. I just looked at my meter to make sure I wasn't over/under exposed. If you happen to stumble on my blog please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks so much!!

(Just as a side note I bought the eggs to put in my nest in a darling boutique in San Francisco. I had three but alas I found it smashed in a thousand pieces in my living room. )

After I took my picture of my nest I headed to Costco for my ridiculously long list. It was not long before these darlings caught my eye and I placed them in my basket. I just couldn't help myself. When I got home and put those perfect colors in my white kitchen, I just sat there staring at them... simplicity. So I added this picture too. :)

I am grateful for small reminders that consistently remind us to simplify so that we can cherish what is most important.

A Gift: Lines and Contrast

Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of going to France. I know I guess we all do to a certain extent, but I grew up loving all things french. My Dad knowing this, told me and all my siblings, that if we learned french he would take us to Paris. Here is my ticket and I was thrilled.

I lived in Toronto, Canada when I was 10-13 yrs old. In the public schools you had to take french. Perfect...here's my chance. But we moved back 3 years later to America and french wasn't offered until high school. Yes! I get another chance. Here we go again but this time around I am not as motivated. I actually didn't care about learning french. I forgot my dream.

Now it's off to college. I remember my dream again and I am going to learn french. The only thing that could of gotten in the way of that dream was a boy. The most wonderful boy I had ever met. The most wonderful boy in the world. I was in love. I had many dreams but they were all different now and none of my new dreams included going to France. I married my love and all of my important dreams have come true.

Two years ago my wonderful dad remembered my childhood dream. I was going to France for 2 weeks with my 3 siblings and our spouses. I was 38 years old and I was flying on a plane for France. When we got to Paris we immediately felt the gravitational pull of the Eiffel tower. We couldn't get there fast enough for the Eiffel tower is the sign. The ultimate sign that I was in Paris. When we got there a huge storm blew in and I mean huge. We all just sat there huddled around with our umbrellas. Then the storm was over. In its wake it left the most beautiful rainbow. I cried. It was a gift.

When I saw what Becky's challenge at farmgirl paints for her thrive project this week, I remembered my gift. I remembered the intricate lines of that incredible landmark. I remembered its dark colors against the gray sky and I remembered the rainbow. I remembered that because of a camera, I was able to hold onto this memory forever. Thank you Becky for your explanations and your challenges. They have really gotten me thinking and trying. I am so grateful! So here we go again and this is the picture for the week.

Thank you Dad for making so many of my dreams come true...I love you!

Rule of Thirds

I love photography...always have. I am slowly trying to learn to take better pictures. What seems to take other people five minutes to learn has taken me substantially longer. I seem to have trouble setting aside the time to just delve in. However, I am enjoying the process and isn't that the most important thing? I was over at an amazing gal's blog named Becky at farmgirl paints and she and her friend Suzanne at privet and holly are taking a photography class and giving some great tips for taking better pictures. Becky is even having a little photo contest called the thrive project. Every Tuesday head over to her blog for the latest. I am thinking it is just the thing I need to get me to pick up my camera and have some fun. So thank you Becky for getting all of us amateur photographers out there involved. I have really enjoyed all the great tips! Now I have never used Mr. linky and all this other stuff so I am hoping I am going to do this right. Cross your fingers and here we go... Here is my picture for the rule of thirds and it happens to be my honey and my Ella in San Francisco.



Thank you again Becky and happy picture taking!