Sunday Snapshot (Thankful)

As I write this November is 2/3 over and Thanksgiving
is nearly here.
I realize that I almost got through this month without doing another blog post
but decided to get this one in.
It's been a busy month for me for various reasons, but not too busy to reflect a little bit about
what I'm thankful for...

I'm thankful that Will is a happy person and that he surprises me almost everyday. 
The things he knows and asks about, the things he thinks about and does - always make me smile
 and wonder how we got him. 
I'm thankful that Will is smart and kind - it will make his road a little easier.  I'm thankful that he has a strong belief in God - it will give him strength through hard times.  I'm thankful that Will loves his family - it makes our Wisconsin winters a bit warmer.
And finally I'm thankful that I get to be his mom.

 

(Sunday Snapshot) 5 Years

"The wildest colts make the best horses."

 

~ Plutarch

 

 

"The most wasted of days is one without laughter."

 

~ ee cummings



"You don't raise heroes, you raise sons.

And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn into heroes,

even if it's just in your eyes."

 

~ Walter Schirra, Sr.

He answers to several different names depending on the day or his mood...

Spiderman, Batman, Tony Stark, Clark Kent, Ironman, Green Lantern.

Oh and of course Will or William.

 

The thing that stands out most about my youngest son is his good heart.

He also loves to build with lego's,

is a good Christian, and is a gifted athlete and dancer.

He has a curious mind and often thinks deeper than I do.

I believe that he is here to do great things.

 

We can't always say it's been easy but it's certainly been worth it.

There have been bumps in the road but we're happy to be

on this journey.

Without William it would have been a very different and much less exciting

5 years.

 

It was on this day 5 years ago in a conference room in the Lakeside Hotel in Fuzhou,

Fujian Province, China, we first met him. A very scared and upset 2 year old little boy,

who first went to Grace, then Dan and about a week later came to me.

The changes in him in the past 5 years have

been nothing short of miraculous,

and for that we are thankful.

 

My sweet William, I love you so.

 

 

 

"Yours is the light by which my spirit is born;

you are my sun, my moon

and all my stars."

 

~ ee cummings

 

 

 

  There are over 100,000,000 orphans world wide, please consider adoption.

(Sunday Snapshot) - Are We There Yet?

 

 

Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men.

 

~ Chinese Proverb

I feel like I'm one of my children in the car as we travel to a destination,
and instead of asking "Are we there yet?" I
keep asking to myself, "Is Spring here yet?"

It seems to take one step forward and 3 steps back.
Many days we've had cold rain, a few days of snow, and not much sun.
Since we've had a month of April showers, we should have
a plethora of flowers in May.

We decided to embrace our (slow to arrive) Spring
and have fun in the puddles and rain.
Spring will come, it always does...

 



Beach Days (Sunday Snapshot)

{A little beach fun...Door County style}

Why do we flock to the beach (whether it's near a lake or ocean) every Summer?

Maybe it's because everything about it is calming and renewing.

All stress and anxiety leaves.

We all need a little 'beach therapy' from time to time in our lives.

I have always loved the beach.

Maybe it's the sensory part of it...the sounds of 

the water, my children's laughter, the feel of sand, sun and wind,

and the obvious visual appeal of textures and color.

We took advantage of the little private beach where we stayed

last week. We were the only ones there for quite a while.

I happened to find the perfect vintage sand pail

and playing cards at a little shop that added some charm to our little beach themed shoot.

When I uploaded the photos I could really see how much my 

children had grown.

Time is flying by and I cherish all these images.

All the little details.

They stay young for such a short time.

I loved the image of Will's little feet in his flip

flops with the sand on his toes.

Someday I'll look at that photo and remember these precious days.

We have had a perfect Summer in so many ways

and are a little sad to see it leaving.

 

These were taken with two different lenses, my 35 mm 1.4 for the wide shots and
85mm 1.4 for others.

The first one ~
Nikon d700
85mm 1.4
f/2.2
1/6400 sec.
ISO 160

A very quick edit was done in PS with one of Florabella's new Colorplay actions.
I used an action called 'Matte Film' which
gave the perfect vintage matte finish which is
exactly what I wanted to add to these images.

She is 10 (Sunday Snapshot)

Dear Grace,

 Happy Birthday! Today you turn 10 years old...wow... We can't help but think back to the little baby we brought home nearly 9 years ago. So sweet and innocent...not much has changed in that department. You have grown so much - physically, mentally and emotionally. Though you are still a girl, we can see the beginnings of the young woman you will become. 

When you have children of your own one day (through biology or adoption), you'll find that you never know what you're going to get. Everyone is different and all have their strengths and weaknesses. We've been blessed to have you - which is where we got your name in the first place...By the Grace of God. your name couldn't be more appropriate. You're full of grace, carry yourself with grace...and we delight in being a part of your life because you brighten ours so much. 

There are so many things that you'll learn over the next 10 years that we can't begin to tell you everything. Instead, we'll give you some advice gathered through our own life experiences.

 1) Be happy. This is easily said but requires work every day. Every day of life is full of good and bad things; winning, losing, happiness, sadness, hard work, pain, good luck, bad luck, accomplishments and failures. It's all there and we all control how we respond to it. Focus on the good, fun and enjoyable things in life. There are so many. Get through the hard times...."Hit, lift and drive," as Grandpa likes to say. Bad times will happen but once they're in the past, they don't seem that bad. 

2) Let your light shine. You've always been a happy, joyful person who loves to laugh and smile. You can brighten a gloomy night and bring a smile to sad faces. Share your joy and love of life. Don't be afraid to take risks or be yourself. There will be mean unhappy people in the world who will be jealous of your happiness. Ignore them and don't let them steal your smile or joy. 

3) Challenge yourself. Set your own goals and don't take the easy road. We grow by stretching ourselves out of our comfort zone; by trying and learning new things. Self confidence comes from achieving what we set out to do. If we let others set goals for us, we'll always be trying to live up to someone else's standard. Set your own course and enjoy the ride.

4) Lastly, be strong. You don't need to be told this but it's good to remind yourself from time to time. Whether you realize it or not, you have overcome tremendous obstacles and challenges in your short life. There will be more but you have a strong spirit and your inner strength will carry you the rest of your life.

 It is a gift from God.

 Never let it go.

Grace, you're a wonderful daughter, a great sister and a beautiful person - inside and out.
We thank God every day that you're a part of our lives.
Happy Birthday darling.











I chose the first image as my favorite because of Grace's expression.
The last one makes me cry every time I look at it, I imagine
she looks very much like her birth mother.
A woman who I honor and pray for especially on this day.

Nikon d700
35mm 1.4 lens
f/2.5
ISO 200
1/640 sec.

The location was the Wisconsin Historical Society Building
on the UW Madison campus.
The stone on the steps and walkway were a natural reflector.

I wanted to do something special for her 10 year old portraits
and that's why we chose the silver embellished crown.
It's handmade by Kelly of the Love Crush Bowtique.
You can find her here and here.

He's the Man (Sunday Snapshot)

Well he's definitely got the right posture, especially in the above image.

 Chest out, shoulders back....and the expression. I suppose that's one of
contemplating saving the world?

Superman represents truth, honor and the American way.

He's stronger than a locomotive, faster than a speeding bullet,
and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

And yes he can fly.
Certainly in his dreams.

Because he's Superman.

My little Superman. ;)

Taken with my Nikon d700
and 85mm 1.4 lens
F/2.5
ISO 400
1/200 sec.

These were taken shortly before sunset, hence the golden light
and some haze and a tiny bit of flare.
All edited in photoshop using Levels and Curves.
Image #2 and 4 have Sarah Gardner's textures applied,
at 'screen' on a low opacity and removed with a black brush off of Will.

In images #1 and 5, I enhanced the natural flare and haze
by adding an overlay from a Nichole Van action from her
Sunflares and Sunbursts set. She has videos to follow on her web site
and they were easy to apply.
Again, you use a black brush and remove the amount of flare that you would like.
It's all personal taste.
Overlays of flares and hazes have been used for a while in editing
and it's a fun effect to try and play with.

July - Sunday Snapshot

{Summer sky}

"Like painted kites, those days and nights
They went flying by
The world was new beneath the blue
umbrella sky..."

 Excerpt from "The Summer Wind", lyrics by Johnny Mercer

I have quite a few photographers that I admire and one of my favorites
is Audrey Woulard.
I just finished re-reading her book,
Natural Enlightenment Photography.

I consider Audrey a master of light and color.
And secretly I like that she shoots with the same camera as me. ;)
I don't claim to be any Audrey Woulard and it was fun to put my own spin on some of the things she uses
with her photography style.

For these photos I did what Ms. Woulard does with her clients as far as I styled Grace minimally
with clothing and props.
Less was definitely more here as the setting of the blue- green water, the weathered pier
and endless blue sky spoke volumes.

These were taken in pretty much full sun at 11am a few days ago.
The pier and water worked as natural reflectors.
With the first image, I was facing West...hence the brilliant blue sky.
 I deliberately wanted to capture that color.
It was one of those perfectly clear days
without a cloud.


In the first image Grace was looking back at a family of ducks
swimming toward the pier.

Nikon d700
35mm 1.4 lens
f/2.5
ISO 250
1/5000 sec.

Edited in Lightroom and  then Photoshop with Florabella's
Classic Bright action on a low opacity.


See many more images at Ni Hao Y'all's Sunday Snapshot!





(Grace's dress and hair clips are from JCrew).

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.

We love Summer! - Sunday Snapshot

{Will with his first snow cone of the season}

It many not be Summer officially on the calendar but it's here where we live.
Our Memorial Day weekend consisted of warm temps, snow cones, playing in the sandbox and backyard and getting together with good friends.

Our school is out for the Summer on Friday and Grace and Will are awfully happy about that.

Grace and her new bike. It's a little big for her and it's taken some time getting used to riding.
She paid for half of it, we matched her on the other half.

Summer in the Midwest is about kids running through the sprinkler.

 Brings back so many memories for me!

My own clean edits (to personal taste) using Curves and Levels in photoshop.

 Settings on the top image of Will:

 Nikon d700 

85mm 1.4 lens 

f/1.6

 1/1250 sec. 

ISO 200