Day 120/365 Photo shoot with Miles

So this morning I had a photo shoot with the same little boy I did in the fall.  This time, he's 15 months old, and the Mom needed some 1 year old shots, but because she's a teacher and a mother, hasn't gotten around to it.
We went out to Woodland Park in Collinsville and I was hoping that there would be some flowers around somewhere.  None to be found.  Oh well.
Chasing after a 1 year old is tough work, especially when I'm still feeling a bit blech.
I think I got some nice shots.  This one isn't one of the best.
Prom is tonight.  I hope I make it to the end...

Day 119 Ya Ya Sisterhood

This is a dear gift of mine- some calligraphy with the Ya Ya oath on it.  It has been hanging on my refrigerator for a while now.
I took off sick today because, well, I'm sick.  I can't pinpoint it but I just feel horrible and basically haven't gotten out of bed too much.  I feel so tired and I'm dizzy again. Ugh.
While laying down, I re-watched the movie the Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood.  I love the movie so much.  I am starting to see parts of Vivian in me.  I see how my Yas have my back like they do in the movie.  Just yesterday, P texted me while I had my phone off.  She was worried because I hadn't posted on here.  When I didn't answer, there was another text...   Melissa?!  Watching my back for me.  I'm very appreciative. 
I've got a photo shoot and prom tomorrow.  I'm hoping that this stupid dizziness/exhaustion goes away by then. 

Days 117/118 Catching up

This is just a catch up post.  I didn't get to take pics the last 2 days because Wednesday I had a headache from hell after school and Thursday was just insanely busy.  So...here are 2 pics that I just took  oops. 
Neither are very professional.  The milk needs lightened and a professional food photographer would never leave a shadow at the bottom of the strawberry, but when taking these, I just looked around for 2 easy shots.

Day 116/365 Macro time

Good gosh almighty, I love macro.  Love, love, love.

I had a crazy day today.  I told the principal that I would fill up and hour and a half with excerpts from the Mr. EHS show at a senior assembly on Thursday.  2 days from now....  Well, when I went to talk to the boys about it, it seems that Thursday is senior skip day and the ones that are seniors will be "sick", and the ones that will be at school are juniors and will be taking the ACT/PSAE test on Thursday and won't be able to perform.  Uh oh.  Ummmm...what to do?


So, you know me, if I say I'm going to fill an hour and a half with a show, the show will fill an hour and a half!
The brain started racing, my fingers went to work on the internet, and before you know it......
ABRACADABRA!

We have a magician booked to fill that hour and a half!  Then, I had to make sure this was ok, and somehow find out how to pay for the $500 magician....whoopsie!

After conferring with said principal, running around like I was a crazy woman to set up tech and building requirements, the plan was in motion!

By the way....I had to teach today too... My life is unreal.  Plain crazy.


So, when I got home, I whipped out the camera, stuck the macro lens on and decided to go explore the tiny little world under my feet.  Macro is relaxing and exciting for me. I really need it for days like today to calm me down and remind me how small my troubles and stresses are compared to how large they are for some.

EXIF info: #1- 1/320 sec, f4, ISO 100, 100mm macro lens
EXIF info #2- 1/200 sec, f4, ISO 100, 100mm macro
EXIF info #3- 1/100 sec, f7.1, ISO 100, 100mm macro

Day 115/365 For P and G

What makes a Mother

I thought of you and closed my eyes

And prayed to God today.

I asked what makes a Mother

And I know I heard him say.

A Mother has a baby

This we know is true.'

But God, can you be a Mother

When your baby's not with you?

Yes, you can, He replied

With confidence in His voice

I give many women babies

When they leave is not their choice.

Some I send for a lifetime

And others for a day.

And some I send to feel your womb

But there's no need to stay.

I just don't understand this, God

I want my baby here

He took a breath and cleared His throat

And then I saw a tear.

I wish I could show you

What your child is doing today.

If you could see your child smile

With other children and say:

"We go to earth to learn our lessons

Of love and life and fear.

My Mommy loved me oh so much

I got to come straight here.

I feel so lucky to have a Mom

Who had so much love for me

I learned my lesson very quickly

My Mommy set me free.

I miss my Mommy oh so much

But I visit her each day.

When she goes to sleep

On her pillow's where I lay.

I stroke her hair and kiss her cheek

And whisper in her ear.

"Mommy don't be sad today

I'm your baby and I'm here."

So you see my dear sweet one

Your children are ok

Your babies are here in My home

And this is where they'll stay.

They'll wait for you with Me

Until your lesson is through.

And on the day that you come home

They'll be at the gates for you.

So now you see what makes a Mother

It's the feeling in your heart.

It's the love you had so much of

Right from the very start.

Though some on earth may not realize

You are a Mother until their time is done.

They'll be up here with Me one day

And you know you're the best one!

Day 114/365 Happy Easter

So today was Easter, and while it is not my favorite holiday, it was a nice day, even with rain.
I made the trip out to the cemetery and put some of my grandma's irises and peonies on her grave.  After that, I drove up to my Mom's house and gave the kids their easter baskets. 




We waited for my sister to get there, then we ate.  I'm not so fond of ham, so I mostly ate the "other stuff". 


Then it was time to fill the plastic easter eggs with money and hide them.  By that point, it was raining, so the kids hunted for 101 eggs in the rain.  They each ended up with at least $30.00 from their eggs.  I think my nephew was the big winner this year with $40+
After that, oddly enough, we sat around watching funny YouTube videos on my parents' tv.  After that, I was wiped out from my busy night last night and today, so it was time to head home.
I'm not looking forward to going back to school just yet...this break flew by WAY too fast.  I guess they always do.

Day 113/365 Dyeing eggs

Today was the annual day to dye eggs at the Beck house.  We had the 2 kids, my parents and my sister and nephew over and we dyed several dozen eggs.  We also had some pizza and hung out a little.
Tomorrow is Easter and the last day of my spring break.  Boo on that.  Yay for Easter.




The kids and my parents boiling the eggs a 2nd time to put egg wraps on them:



Stephen getting into dyeing the eggs:


Richie said that this is a Mexican egg- he dyed one end red and the other green for me:

Day 112/365 Rain Rain Go Away

I saw the rain drops drip dropping outside today and thought that the splashes on the sidewalk were pretty awesome, so I took out the camera and shot this through my front door.  The saying is one my Grandma used to say all of the time.  I like it.  It's true.

Rain
Author: James Rowe

Rain fell last night...quiet, gentle rain, 
that tapped against my window pane, 
and called me back from troubled sleep, 
to soothe a heart too numb to weep.
  
My loneliness was too deep and real, 
and like a wound that would not heal, 
it throbbed within me, and I knew 
my arms were empty without you. 

But as I listened to the sound 
of soft rain falling on the ground,
I heard your voice, tender and clear, 
Call my name, and oh my dear, 

I threw my window open wide, 
to let the sweet rain rush inside.  
It kissed my lips, my eyes, my hair, 
and love, I knew that you were there. 

Tears that my heart could not release 
Fell down from Heaven, bringing peace.
Last night while gray clouds softly wept,
I held you in my arms and slept. 

Day 111/365 part 2 rainy photo shoot

Headed out with my photo friends tonight to try and get some shots for our projects and once we headed out it started to rain. Boo. I'm so sick of rain screwing everything up. Oh well. Of course, because we were together, we still had a good time. My girls can make anything fun, even a rained out photo night.

At first we were walking down Delmar trying to get some new shots. I feel like I've shot everything possible on Delmar, but I thought the Blues shot fits with my bluesy feeling self so I took it:



We spotted a taxi immediately coming out of Blueberry Hill and I thought this was a cool angle:



Then we went to bread co in Eville and I took some pics of the girls. Mendy was brave enough to order her food while wearing the ya ya moustache from Paige's pocket.




I mostly feel like my shots came out crappy tonight. I was a little off focus on all of them. :( Oh well, try, try again.

Day 111/365 part 1- Ya ya sign language

Hee hee! Love you girls- you make even Bread Co fun.

Day 110/365 Got the blues

I love Delta Blues.  These old guys sang like no other.  If you weren't depressed when you walked into the place, you were going to be when you left.  Of course, this all happened way before I was born, but I like to imagine:


Here is a picture of a juke joint I was in recently.  This guy was Dr. Feelgood Potts.  He was kind of crazy and was about as close to good old fashioned Delta blues as I was going to get in 2011.  He kept on yelling, "Everybody screeeeeeeam!" all night, but kicked some harmonica butt.



I think I've got the blues right now.  I've been listening to this kind of stuff for about a week now trying to work it out.
exif: f5, ISO 3200, 44mm, 1/25 second.  It was dark, but I think the picture still came out pretty good.

Days 107/108/109 Catching up

So here are some pictures from the last few days~I've been extremely "busy" and I'm trying to catch up.  No long posts on these pics, sorry.  I'll try to get back to normal tomorrow.

Day 106/365 Big crowd...

Full house again last night for Mr. EHS.  We sold 500+ tickets and had a lot of fun.
Tornado sirens blaring, pianos almost falling off of stages, crazy, crazy stuff.  Great times, though.
EXIF: 50mm, 1/60 sec, ISO 6400, f1.8

Day 105/365 The moon is clear!

This pic is from Thursday evening.  I will not be home at all until about 11pm tonight because I have school all day, then Mr. EHS practice, then the show.  I think I'll be able to eat in between, but who knows?
Anyway, I'm so happy this came out pretty clear!  Evidently the haze that was screwing up my moon shots from before wasn't out tonight and I'm pretty satisfied with this shot.
EXIF: 1/40 sec, f11, 300mm, ISO 100, spot metering, tripod and shutter release cable.

Day 104/365 Mr. Stevo turns 10

Today was Stephen's birthday- he's 10!
I can't believe it's been that long.  Time keeps passing so fast.
He's too big for cars and Thomas the Tank Engine. Too big for chunky monkey and being pushed on the swing.
Legos and video games are the thing now.  He has started to prefer to be with his friends instead of hanging out at home.
He still gives lots of hugs and kisses, but only when his friends are not around.  He still gets scared and comes into my bed at night and snuggles up to get warm.
He just read the first Harry Potter novel and did well with it.  He hates to do homework, but loves to draw pictures.
He is so sensitive to what other people think about him, he always wants to fit in.  He thinks his mohawk is what makes other kids like him.
He's so funny and comes up with the craziest things.  He's imaginative and cusses like a sailor.
He used to try to keep his fingernail clippings and called them his "doggies"?????
He loves to go four wheeling at my parents' place.  He takes long walks with my Dad and loves to torture my Mom. 
He constantly tries to keep up with Richie and do everything he does.  He's so afraid of talking about girls that he starts to cry if someone mentions that he might have a girlfriend.
He's my little buddy.
I hope this next 10 years doesn't pass as fast as the first 10 did.  I can't imagine having him ask for the car keys, or going out on his first date.  I can't imagine watching him graduate, or get his heart broken.  I can't imagine not being there for those things either.
He and Richie are the best things that have ever happened to me.

Day 103/365 WTF

And this is what I came home to today.  Rich decided to groom Cookie himself to save 30 dollars.  Do you think it was worth it?  No, me either.  Poor Cookie.  Poor, free from doggie jail Cookie.

EXIF info: f2.5, 1/200 sec, ISO 400, 50mm, flash

Day 102/365

 

Bad pic, short post.

Went to Frontenac tonight to watch a Korean film.  Liked the film, this was the pic that I took out of my car window at a stop light.  I thought the tulips looked pretty lit up at night.  

Going to bed now.  Busy week.

Day 101/365 Daffodils

Tired tonight- I actually took this yesterday, but I tried to take a picture of the sunset and when I ran down the street to get to an open field so that you just didn't see the houses in my subdivision, it didn't look amazing like it did when I hopped out of the hot tub, threw on some clothes and ran to get my camera.  Oh well. 
Shot missed.

Day 100/365 Tulips at the bot garden

I had a photo shoot out at the botanical garden today for my cousin's little girl who just turned 1.
I figured while I was out there I would take my picture for today.  The tulips were gorgeous out there today. I had to get a quick shot before I left, and this is what I came up with for today.
I am really wiped out after being out in the heat all day.

Day 99/365 Chasing bugs

It's started.  Just 2 days ago, I was chasing a bee around, today I'm chasing an ant.  Spring has sprung.
I never knew how cool bugs were until I got a macro lens and could get into their little world.
These ants happened to be crawling on my Grandma's peonies.  Her garden is starting to bloom. I wish she could see it.  I've had her on my mind so much lately.
f 4, 1/640 sec, 100mm macro, ISO 400

Day 98/365 Birthday party

Here are some cupcakes from Stephen's party at the Edge tonight.  It's 10:06, I'm just getting home, I'm wiped out because it's Friday and I just had to get all the boys inside because when I came home, they were running wild out in the dark while Rich sat and watched baseball.  Nice.

Day 97/365 Walking around the yard

I am so very excited in the spring when my flowers and trees start to bloom.  I had the amazing sight of the magnolia tree and also some hyacinths earlier this year, but today I got to see my cherry blossoms, my crab apple tree, my bleeding heart and my first bee of the spring!
Don't get me wrong, I'm petrified of bees.  But, since I've had this camera I'm more than willing to be brave to take the picture of a bee close up.  Thank goodness my macro lens is the 100mm and not a 50mm or 35mm! I don't want to have to get THAT close!
On all of these pictures, I was at f2.8, leaving the lens wide open.  That meant I had to use fast shutter speeds because it was such a bright day.  That was good, because it is a bit windy {dang wind!} and bees move super fast anyway.  On all of the pictures I was at least at 1/800 sec shutter speed, and some were up to 1/1500 shutter speed.  All at ISO 100.
Here's what I saw on my walk around my yard:

Day 96/365 Rotten core

I don't like this picture, so it's small.
Another random fact about me- I am not that fond of apples.  I used to love them and one day I threw up after I ate one and the little chunks of skin got caught in my throat.  Since that day, I CAN eat them, I just don't CHOOSE to eat them.
I think even though you used to love something, when it starts to make you sick to your stomach, you just don't need it anymore.

Day 95/365 Writing utensil

Not a whole lot of time to take a picture tonight.  I've got big problems on my plate this afternoon and then I had a practice tonight for our annual Mr. EHS show.
I saw a pen and thought I'd share the fact that I'm kinda picky about my writing utensils.  I do NOT like thin pens- they should be medium point.  I like thicker pens in my hand and thicker ink flow also.  I love to write and grade papers with Crayola thin tip markers though (I share this oddity with Joi).  I HATE to grade with ink.
Ugh.  I hope tomorrow is better.

Day 94/365 When Oranges Fly

So here is some trick photography to be credited back to http://photoextremist.com/ .  Before you take a peek over there, try to guess how I took this shot....
1. Make sure to have a tripod so that you can keep the shot(s) aligned.
2. Take two shots.  One, a shot of the surface area (the counter.  The next, take the fruit and use skewers for shishkabobs to hold them up.  I stuck my oranges on skewers in a heavy cup.
3. Put the two pictures in editing software like photoshop or gimp into 2 layers.  (I put the counter as the 1st layer and the oranges on top)
4. Take the eraser tool and erase the cup and skewers to show the bottom layer of just the counter top.
5. I photoshopped in the middle shadow because that one was hidden by the cup and I thought it would be odd to have 2 shadows and not a third one. I did the clone stamp on it.
This is sort of similar to the picture I did of Stephen flying on the couch, it's just using fruit. It was a fun rainy day project to work on after school.
EXIF : f2.2, 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 50mm, on tripod using shutter release cable

Day 93/365 Wind sucks

I went out with a couple of yas tonight to take some night shots.  The wind was NOT being cooperative, and even though I used a tripod, shutter release cable, and didn't really go nuts with long exposure, my pics still turned out blurry.  Dang wind!  Here are two that I will post even though they are not perfect.
The first one is the refinery from our first stop:


EXIF info: f4.5, 1/4 sec, ISO 400, 75mm

The second one is a shot I got of Paige while she is trying to use her 70-300mm lens on the hood of the car so that the wind wouldn't blow her around. I like this shot because it looks like she's really concentrating on getting this shot:


EXIF info:f4.5, 1/20 sec, 75mm, ISO 400.

Both shots sort of blurry thanks to the wind. UGH.  Maybe we'll have better luck next time gals.

Day 92/365 New couch

Short post and crappy pic tonight- this is the new couch.  It's pretty cool so far- very big! 
I went to the Italian film fest tonight and the movie was pretty good.  After, we went to an Italian restaurant on South Grand and that was really good.  Short post because my head and neck are giving me a fit today. Ugh.

Day 91/365 1/4 of the way there!

I have to post early this morning because I'm going to have a hectic afternoon and evening.  I'm still at home waiting to get the kids off to school {which is late to me} because Rich is out of town.  I decided to go ahead and post while I had a few minutes.
I can't believe we're 1/4 the way there already.  Now that I'm in my groove with this, I still have days where I'm a bit frustrated with this, but I am not saying to myself that "I'm just going to quit this." or anything, so I guess that's good!
I have days that I just take a random picture of anything I see because I'm tired, but I do try and really concentrate on my picture more often than not.  When I know I'm going to be gone or have a busy day, I just "cheat" a little and take an extra couple of pictures on another day that I use on my busy days. 
I can't wait until the cup is 1/2 full! {I guess I'm optimistic- at least I didn't say 1/2 empty!}