Weeks 23-27/52

(Disclaimer: this post has lots of pictures, and is therefore very long.)

Oh, Project 52. You just never end. And you keep going even when I am too busy to care about you.

Oh well. Here is the first of a couple of catch ups, because I know you have all been waiting on tenterhooks for these pictures.

Week 23

Theme: Enchantment

Dear old, blue and white, turn-of-the-century building that we used to live by. You are derelict and uncared for, and you seem to have some nasty bug infestations, but you are beautiful, and I love you. And I wish that I could buy you since you just came on the market.

I love old, charming, grand houses, and I love daydreaming about getting a decrepit house like this one (which incidentally used to belong to George Taylor Jr) and gutting the whole thing (or Evan gutting the whole thing) and redoing it all in a mix of traditional and contemporary styles. And while I am dreaming,  I want a pony. Sigh. Maybe one day.

Others from week 23:

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Week 24

Theme: Make It Tasty

OK, I am actually really proud of this picture. I used my Lensbaby and the macro filter kit, and I rigged up a pseudo-studio with some books, some white paper, and the light from our kitchen window--the first time I have tried anything like that. It was also the first time that I have really attempted food photography. I love the macro filter kit, but using it is difficult since I don't have a tripod, and getting enough light in the camera that is handheld requires that I have the lowest F/stop possible (to enable the shutter speed to be fast... no motion blur), and therefore the smallest depth of field and the smallest focusing area. As you can see from the cereal pieces the area of focus that I was working with was about a centimetre. Getting enough light in was important because I a) didn't have an extra light source, and b) because I really wanted the cereal to be light and whimsical. Anyway, this is what I ended up with. That, and a couple of kids who thought the idea of stealing cereal pieces that I was trying to focus on was hilarious. 

Can I also just say that stacking minute Chex pieces is a lot more difficult than it might seem. The stacks always seemed to fall over just when I was about to take the picture. Grumble, grumble.

I think I am going to print this and put it up in Lena's room.

Others from week 24:

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Week 25

Theme: Craving

This theme was a theme that was appropriate for me that week. Summer means a lot of things, but it especially means good old English strawberries and cream. Or, as it was in our household, Eton Mess. Which is what I was craving right then and there. So this was heaven-sent... I could finally justify getting all the ingredients because the Project 52 people made me.

Eton Mess is divine. And easy. Here's the recipe:

Plain/vanilla meringues, lots of them. (Don't both making them unless you are a saint. Just buy them.)

Heavy cream, not from a can, lots of it.

Frozen or fresh mixed berries, lots of them.

(You will need lots of them because everyone will want to have multiple servings.)

Whip the cream. Crush the meringues. Add the meringues to the cream. Add the berries to the cream. Stir gently. Eat right away.

There is no set ratio for the ingredients by the way, just more or less equal parts is usually what I do. The meringues make everything sweet, so do not add sugar. Oh, and I wasn't kidding about eating right away. If you don't, the meringues go soggy and goopy. It still tastes wonderful, but you just don't get the meringue texture.

Anyway, I thought I would be clever and 'deconstruct' the Eton Mess for the pictures, but then I realized that it just looked like a plain old berry meringue, which it most certainly was not. So thats why there are the two pictures. Again.

Also, food photography is really hard.

Others from week 25:

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Week 26

Theme: Hidden Object

Not very creative here... just some mushrooms I found camped out under a tree trunk. Do I need to explain further? No, I think not.

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Week 27

Theme: Nature's Finest

Now, this is the kind of theme that I just hate, and mainly because it is embroiled in semantics. What exactly does "Nature's finest" mean? Because searching for Nature's absolute finest thing would take forever. And then it is totally debatable, because it is based on perception. So, we are back to square one. The theme really should have been "something that you think is really cool from nature", but that just doesn't sounds as spiffy. It really bugs me that I 'had to' title this "Nature's Finest", because I don't think it is Nature's finest. Do I like forget-me-nots? Yes. Was it kind of cool to come across patches of these flowers on our hike? Yes. Do I like the bokeh in this picture? Yes. But do I think it's Nature's finest? Um, no, not so much. But, the picture. I took it, and got over myself and submitted it. Actually,I prefer some of the others ones I took, now that I think on it.

Others from week 27:

And that's it for now. I promise the next post will not be nearly as long.

Battle Creek Falls

A few weeks ago in May, spring briefly made an appearance. We decided to make the most of the nicer weather and take a short hike/walk (that we had previously trekked two years ago) to Battle Creek Falls.

It was significant for a number of reasons, but especially because this was the first trip where Oliver walked on his own instead of being carried. He even carried his own backpack like his sister--all at once awesome (because he can do it himself without our help) and terrible (because he can do it himself without our help... mothers know what I mean).

So now for the obligatory pictures.

Oliver carrying his backpack.

Don't they just look adorable?

I even made it, and Evan didn't have to hold my hand(!) although I did have to stand in the water to get close enough for this shot. Walking in dust with wet shoes = gross.

Lena accidentally dropped her apple and it rolled down the hill into the water. I picked it up and returned it only to find Oliver had 'accidentally' dropped his, too, and then Lena 'accidentally' followed suit. They thought it was hilarious. This is me telling them off... I love how they are just laughing at me.

This is Oliver drawing in the dirt a la Toothless/Night Fury in "How to Train Your Dragon" (Mummy, look! I am Toothless-the-dragon! I'm drawing in the dirt!). Below is a clip from YouTube with the corresponding scene, and here is a link to a slightly more legal but not animated synopsis of the clip Ollie was enacting. (Slightly off-topic... that movie is awesome, and our whole family loves it. That particular scene is magical and makes me want a pet dragon. Also, I think it rivals Disney's ability to tug at heartstrings. End tangent.)

My favourite picture of the day.

And these are some of the other pictures I took, one of which I used for the Project 52.

The end.

Week 19-22/52

Week 19/52

Theme: Window Light

Well, to start things off I need to break my own rule per the last post on "jaunty angles". What can I say? Rules are made to be broken. However, I will add that I personally don't feel like I have to keel over sideways to view this pictures properly. But maybe that it just me being defensive.

Anyway. Window Light. I knew for this theme that I would have to find a different way to use window light. We live on the third floor and the windows are very nicely shielded from rain and snow by an overhanging roof. But unfortunately it blocks a significant amount of light too. We also have massive trees blocking the bedroom windows, and they are covered in very pretty, but light obscuring, leaves right now. So, not much indoor window light to speak of. Apart from a dinky kitchen window that gets the brunt of afternoon sun. I did actually take some pictures of an interesting flower using that window light, but everyone submitted flowers. So I went with this. This is an office building near our place of residence that has floor to ceiling window sections. I liked the modern, urban vibe. And the dirty windows, because dirty windows are much more fun to photograph than clean ones.

Week 20/52

Theme: Spring Fever

I am jealous of places that actually experience spring in all of it's glory over an extended period of time. Here in the desert spring is 2-3 weeks of whacked out weather, during which blossoms appear haphazardly and then disappear after a week from snow, high winds, or fluctuating temperatures. And then, *boom*, it's summer. Blah. I miss spring. But, there is nothing quite like grass growing, and hay fever, to remind you that summer is on the way pretty soon.

(BTW, have I mentioned that I love Lensbabies? Because... I do.)

Week 21/52

Theme: Need for Speed

I confess: I didn't actually take this picture in the week 21 time frame that was appointed by the Project 52 people. But Evan and I were busy in Arizona looking for dwellings. And it was close enough, so it counts. Right?

You may need to click on the picture to see that it is, in fact, an ant. My challenge to myself was to narrowly focus and to see if I was quick enough to catch these little creatures. Most of the time I wasn't. They are fast little buggers. (Ha!) I have lots of rear-end ant shots. And see that sliver of focused space? It is about the length of an ant, which is practically nothing. But I did it. Once. Yay me.

Week 22/52

Theme: Reflection

Oh boy. Did I mention that we were in Arizona last week? Yeah. We drove from Utah to San Diego to drop off our children with the grandparents. Then we drove out to Phoenix, and were stunned at how absolutely boring the drive through the desert is. Even more boring than driving on I-15 to California, if that is even possible. Then we looked at houses in 100F heat. Houses that had no airconditioning turned on since they are vacant. Then we drove back to CA. Evan then drove back to Utah by himself (with the dog), and I stayed in San Diego with the kids and drove back to Utah with my MIL a few days later. We pulled off the road in Barstow for a kids toilet break and when we came back the front tire was destroyed. Completely flat. Like, should-have-exploded-on-the-freeway flat. We were driving on the rim. 30 minutes, one car repair shop, and one spare tire later we were back on the road backtracking to Victorville to the nearest Costco to get another spare tire just in case. Then we had to head to St. George. Arrived in St. George at about 1:30am and checked into the hotel only to find that they hadn't given us a wheelchair accessible room. Moved to another hotel where we checked into a room that was accessible, but then we found out it it only had one bed, for MIL, me and two toddlers. Not going to happen. (By now it was about 2:30) Back down to the front desk where we demanded that they find us yet another room that was handicap accesible but that had two beds as we requested. The only room was a two bedroom suite. Oh well--their problem. In the mean time, Lena came up with Marriott's new ad campaign slogan... Rooms that are beautiful and beautiful, with beds that are so creamy, and fluffy.

And toddlers are bed-hogs.

We finished up the drive later that day. But with all of the sitting in a passenger seat I had lots of time to reflect on the desert. And to look out the window. And the side mirrors provided a slightly alternative view. The convex mirror was about as interesting as it got. But I did enjoy driving through farm country in Utah. I love the end of May and early June in Utah because it is not quite hot enough to be hellish, not cold enough to be miserable, the mountain tops still look pretty with snow, but the rest is green and vibrant and alive. This time of year makes it worth living here. And as a side note, one day I want to own a farm, in the way that wine chateaus own vineyards but leave the working of the vines to the serfs. Why? Because it is a romantic idea that would make Marx turn in his grave. The end.

Jaunty Angle

I don't know if this even bothers other people, but does anyone else sometimes feel like they are about to slide off their chair when they look at certain photos? Let me explain...

Th first thing people do when they get interested in photography is try to come up with ways to make their boring pictures from their point-and-shoot/cell phone camera/whatever more interesting. Good for them. I did that. I still do that. All the time. There is messing the around with post-processing, more thoughtful composition, getting high, getting low, trying to see things a little differently, and that is just the start of things. Sometimes things work, and sometimes they don't. Lest it be mistaken, I have had my fair share of photography experiments that I loved at the time and now look back on and cringe.

As an amateur hobbyist I don't have a problem with people trying out new things with their cameras. That is how you learn: by trying. But there is one thing I refuse to stop being a snob about, and that is when people think they are being creative by taking an everyday picture at a 45-degree angle. All the freaking time. I understand quirky angles, and I understand using dramatic angles for creative purposes. But, really, I don't need to see your kitchen table looking like it is about to slide out of the photo or a bookshelf that looks precariously balanced. Case and point, this photo found on Flickr. Lady on the left, your food is about to disappear into your lap.

Let me demonstrate with some pictures of my own.

This is an absolutely nothing special picture of Evan and Lena a few years ago on a dirt road somewhere in the desert in either Colorado or Utah. Poor composition, poor exposure, blah blah blah. The reason I took it is because Lena had just slid off the side of the track down the hill, and was covered in dirt, and Evan had scooped her up to bring her back to the car. I wanted to remember that moment. In all of its boringness. The mountains in the background give away that I wasn't paying any attention to the composition, as the angle is a little off, but the road seems reasonably level enough.

What happens though if we tilt it jauntily, though? (Forgive the crappy photoshopping.)

Maybe a little more interesting, or a little more sloppy, depending on how you may be feeling? Still, it is reasonable enough to assume that if this were a true angle that Evan could legitimately be walking on that track. But this one?

Oh. Em. Gee. My husband is going to fall over backwards, drop my child, and the car is going to slide off this ridiculously angled road. Look, the tire tracks even veer off down the slope.

Or another one, shall we?

This is a view to the north of Utah County on the side of Y-Mountain taken last year. The weather was spectacular, but this picture could have used some better exposure as well as a tripod, and a host of other things.

Now let's tilt it a bit.

Alright. Definitely seeing the need for proper composure especially in landscape photography, but nothing completely disconcerting.

But this one?

Holy *&%^! Good thing I was around with my camera to capture Utah Lake rapidly draining out of the valley!

Or this way...

OMG! OMG! OMG! Call the fire brigade. Happy Valley is being consumed by floodwaters. And I am about to fall of my chair tilting my head to look at this picture at the correct angle.

Seriously. Am I alone in feeling this way? I know I am far from perfect (photography included), but sometimes I feel like Scar on the Lion King... "I am surrounded by idiots." Unsolicited tips for the day: tilt your camera by all means, but don't overdo it. My neck hurts, and I enjoy keeping my balance. Your jaunty angle looks kind of ridiculous, and you aren't doing anything unique. Unless you are being purposefully creative. In which case forget everything I just said.