Sunday Snapshot - new friends

{Ferris Wheel - Navy Pier, Chicago}

 

Last Fall I was asked by Stefanie (the lovely Stefanie who hosts Sunday Snapshot),
if I'd consider being a photo editor for An Orphans Wish.
It sure didn't take me long to say yes!
Last week I got to meet two people who I work with as a volunteer for this incredible organization.
We previously had 'talked' only in emails and on the phone (me with Heidi).


They were going to be in Chicago at a workshop and I made the trip to my favorite city to meet.

(Heidi on the left and Lee Ann on the right).

By the time I'd gotten there they had already gotten familiar with North Michigan Ave.
so we took a little walk around Navy Pier.
These were a few images that I captured.
I loved the color and lines of both
the Ferris Wheel and the Swing Ride.
By the way, we didn't go on either...
we were too busy laughing and getting acquainted.
Between the three of us we have 16 children, 8 of them
adopted from China!

I'm hoping this will be a yearly get together thing.  :)

The Ferris Wheel image was taken with my Nikon d700

35 mm 1.4 lens
F - 4.5
1/5000 sec.
ISO - 200

Post processed with Florabella's Classic Workflow action,
Classic Film.
Composed in camera, my focus was on the center of the ferris wheel.

Sunday Snapshot - exquisite

{Grace - age 9 and 1/2}

The inspiration for these images
was my daughter Grace's
beautiful ballet dress.

My mother is a talented sewer, and it's from her that
I've gained a true appreciation for fabric, and love of color and design.
The pattern of the tiny beads on the top of this dress is exquisite
and I loved capturing the detail.

I originally thought I'd keep these images all in color 

but felt black/white suited them just as well.

You can see so much

 of this gentle, sweet soul (who is Grace)

in them.

These were taken early last week
when we had some time one late afternoon.
I used the beautiful north window light from different perspectives,
using light facing Grace, from the side and behind her.

Taken with my Nikon D700,
the portraits were taken with my 85mm 1.4 lens
with settings of:

 f/1.4
ISO - 320
 1/200 sec.

For the other images I used my 35mm 1.4 at:

 f/2
ISO - 1000
1/250-1/500 sec.

Edited with Florabella's bl/white 'Vanilla' action (one of my favorites for bl/whites).
I opened up the action and tweaked it a bit with the contrast and light, leaving the tones the same.
In the very first image I also added a little bit of 'White Haze' from her 'Hazy Skies Collection.'
I liked the effect.

For the color versions, I used Florabella's 'Classic Color' action with a touch of  'Soft Warmth'
on a couple of them.

For the last one of her profile,
 I did very little other than crop the image (it didn't need much)
and increase the contrast a bit. I love the simplicity of it.



As for personal favorites, I have two... they're the first one and second to last images.

Grace and her brother Will performed this weekend in their dance school's recital.

I'll blog about it later this week.

Favorite Photo Friday and 15/52 - Spring picnic

{Grace and Lydia}

I've written about Grace and Lydia before,

but to refresh your memory these girls first met at age 3 and 4 and
hit it off immediately.

Over 5 years later their friendship is going strong.

This week I had some thoughts about doing a little themed session with them,
so brought a few props along to an orchard that isn't far away.

Lydia will be turning 9 soon and every year as her birthday approaches,
I take photos of the two girls together.
It's a beautiful keepsake for them and their mommas.
They girls enjoy each other's company so much
 but haven't had the good fortune to be in the same class in school.
That doesn't seem to matter as we live only 2 houses apart and they get to spend lots of time together.
They're best friends, confidants, supreme gigglers, lovers
of sleepovers, American Girl dolls, cupcakes and sweet tea!
Oh...to be 9 again.

It was so fun to photograph these 2 on this beautiful Spring afternoon.

The apple blossoms were starting to open on the trees.

I can see where the term 'Spring green' came from, the grass and new leaves are such a vibrant shade 

this time of the year.

Oh, and as far as shooting my first 'themed' session, I was very happy with the results!

(The props weren't purchased for this, I already had the items in my home and thought they fit well with the theme).

Lisa hosts Favorite Photo Friday, so please be sure and see what she's up to...

and all of her beautiful photos.

Have a great weekend!

Sunday Snapshot - the unexpected

{Easter Sunday}

Certainly not your standard Easter photos with children

dressed up after a church service and either hunting for eggs

or holding their baskets.

I did take one of those with the camera in my phone,
and intended to take more photos of the kids with their Easter baskets with my
big camera, but that didn't happen.

 Grace and Will wanted to play.

So play they did while we waited for my family arrive 

for Easter dinner yesterday afternoon.

(A serious Superman above).

Grace was pushing Superman on the tire swing
and you can tell how he felt about it!

Taken with my Nikon d700 (with my favorite lens right now), the 35mm 1.4

Settings were:

f/ 2.8
ISO 320
1/3200

 (I wanted a fast shutter speed to freeze the movement of the tire swing).

I used Florabella's Classic Color, 1968 and Soft Warmth actions
to edit these.

14 months ago my husband Dan started looking for a new job

because his company was struggling.

He traveled all over the country to interviews

and there were several 'almost' offers.

We were on a roller coaster and not a fun one.

2 months ago his company shut down without any notice.

No job, no severance...ouch!

So he stepped up his job search and got an offer on Friday!!

It was a wonderful surprise for Easter and honestly I think

we're still on 'cloud 9.'

For now we're staying put and aren't moving but

it's highly likely we will be in a year or two to Northern California. :)

If you know Dan and I well, we are 

soft spoken, low-key people, who love to laugh, and love

our children and family more than life itself.

We have a quiet, but strong faith in God.

God was in the details of all of this, in ways too numerous to count.

My own life lesson from the last 14 months has been to completely trust in Him.

Always.

We're praising and thanking God!!!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own

understanding; in all ways acknowledge him,

and he will makes your paths straight."

~ Proverbs 3:5-6

Sunday Snapshot - brothers and sisters

"It was nice growing up with someone like you - someone to lean on,
someone to count on...someone to tell on!"

~ unknown

"Help your brother's boat across, and your own will reach the shore."

~ Hindu proverb

"In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips."

~ unknown

The groundhog in Wisconsin was correct this year and we're

having an early Spring.

Sunshine, warmth and children playing outside together...today

they're making some childhood memories.

I think brothers and sisters can be embroiled in a sometimes - love 

and sometimes - hate relationship from the beginning. One minute

they're playing happily and the next, they're arguing about something

inconsequential. They learn to "push each other's buttons," manipulate, 

cajole, tease, share (whether they want to or not) and tolerate.

And they learn to forgive.

Grace is the typical big sister - she likes to boss Will around, tells on him

and sometimes has him wait on her like a "butler." They both have

strong personalities and want the other to play their way.

Will is a typical little brother - he adores Grace, follows her everywhere, 

spies on her, and bugs/torments her at times.

Both are delighted to get the last cookie, Popsicle, soda - anything

that denies the other something they might want.

That being said, they truly love each other and usually

are delightful together.

As I've said many times, we are so blessed to have them in our lives.

I happen to be an oldest sister with 3 younger siblings(a sister and 2 brothers).

My husband is the youngest brother of 7 children.

We both well understand this complex, yet wonderful

life long relationship Grace and William have.

And Stefanie at Ni Hao Yall has changed it upin a good way for her Sunday Snapshot.It's new and improved with a twist!
These were taken this week when we were off school for Spring Breakand took a walk around a local nature conservancy.I chose the top image as my best one. Not sure it's my best but it's my favorite becauseit was a candid of them doing what they do best...be kids.
All shot with my Nikon d700 and a 35mm 1.4 lens.
The settings were:f2.51/2000 sec.ISO 500
I brought all my pics into Lightroom and adjusted the exposure as needed.Then into photoshop CS 3 where I used Florabella'sClassic Color action at about 50%,1968 action at around 20%and Warm Color Pop at 32% on everything except their skin.

Texture Tuesday - Pink

{Cherry blossoms}

Our early Spring days have been glorious.

Taken yesterday at Olbrich Gardens in Madison, there was 

a canopy of fragrant blossoms above.

Edited with Florabella's classic color action

and two layers of Kim Klassen's 'Be Still' texture.

The first at Luminosity @ 15%

and the second at Pin Light @ 10%.

I removed a little of the texture off the foreground flowers.

12/52 - green

Is it so small a thing

To have enjoy'd the sun,

To have lived light in the Spring,

To have loved, to have thought, to have done.

~ Matthew Arnold

A little bit of green captured yesterday morning.
Welcome Spring!

Favorite Photo Friday - Hope Springs Eternal

Portrait of  my sweet Grace, taken last Sunday.

I had to look up the meaning of the little idiom, "Hope springs eternal."

It means that under difficult circumstances, people will always hope for the best - that better things 

will come down the road. No matter how bad things have been, they can always get better. 

We are hopeful and grateful.

Grateful for the outpouring of kind words and prayers for us right now.

We deeply appreciate and feel your prayers.

Dan has interviews next week out of state, so we're praying 

they go well.

Thank you to so many people who have reached out to me.
(And you know who you are).

We love you all.

Enjoy these beautiful early Spring days.

love, Gail

Favorite Photo Friday - black and white

"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart."

~ Kahlil Gibran

(One of my favorites, taken about 3 weeks ago, I am loving it in black and white).


Those eyes clearly show what is in her heart.




Edited with Florabella's High Key bl/w action
from her Classic Workflow actions.
(Which I highly recommend!)

Love is in the air

Only from the heart can you touch the sky.

~ Rumi

A hundred hearts would be too few
To carry all my love for you.

~ unknown

kisses are a better fate
than wisdom.

~ e.e. cummings

Happy Hearts Day...

xo

Favorite Photo Friday - Snowy days

Old man Winter has finally arrived in these parts,
with snow and more snow this week.
Tomorrow's forecast is another 6-8 inches and there's already
talk of school being cancelled (which rarely happens here.)

This is our pup Zoe's first Winter and she LOVES it.
I think because she's a lab/husky mix she's absolutely built for snow and cold.
She and Will are big fans of laying down in the white stuff.

I have fond memories of me as a little girl playing for hours with my siblings

making tunnels and snow caves.

Why is it that children don't seem to notice cold faces and frozen fingers?

It's because they're having so much fun!

My snow bunny Grace.
I love the snowflakes in her hair and on the hood of her jacket.

I shoot quite a few snow pictures here in Wisconsin,
thought I'd give my camera settings:


F/ 2.2
1/2500 sec.
ISO - 160
50 mm lens

Edited with Florabella's
Classic Workflow Photoshop Actions.
I used Classic Color at 50%
and Basic Color Boost at 25%,
with Highlight Protector added and a little sharpening.

1/52 - journey

It's a new year and pretty natural
for self reflection and looking ahead.
I was recently thinking about how it was just about 3 years ago
that I received my first DSLR camera.

My journey with photography has been interesting to say the least
and I couldn't have possibly ever seen what was ahead.
I've had a fun year, and my photography continues to change and grow.
I'm very much looking forward to learning more
 and seeing what 2012 brings.


Probably the best part for me personally has been that I've been able to give back.
A few months ago I was asked by An Orphan's Wish to be
one of their photo editors.
I have the great pleasure of choosing and editing photos each month
for their web site home page.

An Orphan's Wish provides a loving, caring environment for orphaned children in China.
It specializes in helping children with medical conditions, special needs and cerebral palsy.
I hope you'll click on the link and meet these special children.
The huge bonus is that I get to fall in love with these precious ones
as I edit away.


Hoping the New Year is all that you hope for and then some!

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera (circa 1950-1961).

Cupcakes and cocoa

About 5 days before Christmas

Grace expressed the desire to have a little tea party with a couple of her friends.

It was hard to squeeze it in before the 25th, but we managed to have

a little get together just before New Years.

She had a little notebook and had written down
everything she wanted.
She's a list maker like her mom.

Marie Grace was invited,

as were Lydia and Izzy.

The tea party theme eventually turned into cupcakes and hot chocolate.

(Definitely their favorite Winter time drink.)

Grace and I baked and frosted the cupcakes the night before.

If you ever bake mini cupcakes, you fill

the papers about 2/3 full and bake at 325 degrees for 15 -18 minutes.

They turned out perfect.

3 sweet girls who happen to each live only a few houses away.

They're beautiful on the inside and out,

we're so thankful for best friends!