Reminiscing...

Our annual beach get-a-way is exactly two months away. Every year when the time draws near, I really enjoy reminiscing by going back through the photos that were taken the year before. It never fails to amaze me when I notice how much the kids have grown and matured. Although Brooks looks pretty much the same - piercing blue eyes, shaggy "do" and a smattering of freckles across the nose - he has a more mature look that makes me just a tad sad. Every day he loses a little more "baby" and gains a lot more "boy"! There are so many things that I'm soon going to miss - his love of monkeys and how George, his best monkey, is still his favorite companion, his sweet little accent that is unique to him (& his buddy Sammy!), and the fact that he still likes to snuggle. I guess it's always hard to see the last one grow up, even though there are habits and stages that I will gladly usher out as maturity bears down on him! It does seem though, as they age, what we remember is the sweetness and not the fits and mischief. I think that's exactly how it was intended to be & although I often struggle, I'm trying so hard to cherish the good stuff! Remind me of this tonight when I attempt to get him to go to bed.

Note: Letting this shot of Brooks serve as today's photo of the day!

Photo of the Day

This shot was also taken on my little photo safari last night. As I was rounding a curve in Little Rock's Stifft Station neighborhood, I caught the reflection of the neon signs in the window at Pizza D'Action in my side mirror. Not swift enough with my reflexes to safely grab the shot, I had to circle two more times and make a conscious effort! Totally worth it. I think my ISO was set at 1250 or 1600 and I think I used Program mode on my Canon 5D. Focus was manual and I had to hurry before a car came up behind me. Thankfully not many out on this rainy night!

Photo of the Day

Technically I missed a day because it's 12:36 on the 2nd but I'll just do two today! One really early and one late! Tonight I went on a little creative photo safari, shooting at night, in the rain. Loved it. One of my very favorite types of photography....and soooo fun to experiment with!

This photo is of a string of lights that hangs over the entrance to the Flying Fish restaurant. To get this effect, you need to have a lens that is "fast" which means it has an aperture that will open wide (f1.2, 1.4, 1.8, 2.0, 2.8, even f4). For optimum creative control, you should also be able to focus the lens manually (AF lenses usually have a switch on them that you can flip to MF). Your ISO will depend on how fast the lens is. I believe this was at 800 or 1000 speed because it was black dark outside. Experiment with different ISO's until your histogram pleases you. I set the control to Av or "aperture-priority" which means I selected my f-stop (in this case f4, I think) & the camera did the rest. Turn the focusing ring until you see the blurry dots in the viewfinder and snap away. You can do this with most kinds of light bulbs, Christmas lights, even sparkles on water....I shot with a Canon 5D and tweaked the saturation a bit in Photoshop CS3. Feel free to leave a question in the comments if I left something out & I will try to reply soon!

Photo of the Day

I know the days when I walk in a room to find this are really numbered. Afraid this could be the last time, I actually grabbed the camera and clicked before they had a chance to duck.

Photo of the Day

I found this patch of heaven on the busy city street that I drive down each day to deliver my daughter to her middle school. Beauty really can be found most anywhere.