Winter Sunset (Sunday Snapshot & 6/52 - Project 52)

 

 

I feel like we've been hibernating lately.

We stay indoors almost all the time.

It's just way too cold to go outside

and definitely too cold to be outside taking photos.

 

 

 

 

Taken a few evenings ago of Grace in the amazing light as the sun was setting

behind the trees

showing these purple and golden hues.

We stayed outside for exactly 5 minutes.

 

 

 

 

I do notice the daylight is lasting longer.

Hey, Spring arrives in 38 days!

 

135mm lens - 3.2

1/500

ISO 800

 

 

 



Celebrating Her Special day(Sunday Snapshot)

 

Grace turned 11 in early August.
 That month for us was a crazy busy one with our vacation,
a trip into Chicago, me making a brief trip to Florida to see a friend
 and getting ready for school so

we elected to have her party last weekend.

We had it at a 'Kid Spa' in Madison
where the girls were pampered with manicures,
a glittery faux tattoo, and their choice of a little bit of
makeup to wear.

  

 

 

Oh and their choice of flavor of ice cream.

You can tell by the big smiles all around that they all had a GREAT time!

I love every single one of Grace's sweet friends

and we cherish their friendships.

 

 At an age where Grace still loves to play with her American Girl dolls
but would like to start wearing a little makeup,
she is definitely a tween.
And I'm taking in every moment of this time in her life.

 

19/52 and Favorite Photo Friday - it's showtime!

{Spring Recital}

I'll admit that this is one of my favorite times of the year,

and also some of my personal favorites as far as photos that I take
of my children.

There were some funky lighting situations... but I made the best of it and took

my time enjoying these moments.

(Grace and her friends waiting in the hallway before going on).

Last year at her recital I got thinking 

that there probably aren't too many people

that get to see this magical little 'world' that lies backstage at a dance performance.
The air is charged with excitement.

It is incredibly special to me.

(Older ballerinas watching Grace's class perform on stage.These girls were so encouraging to the younger ones).

And for Will...this was his first Spring recital.
The waiting part was a little hard for these guys
in the boys (5-7 yr.) hip hop class. They couldn't wait to show the audience what they could do.
The boys had 2 performances on Saturday and they did awesome!



(Waiting to go on...Will was the first onstage and led his group out).

Months and months of practice come down to this....
and finally it's their time in the spotlight.
My husband and I couldn't have been more proud of our two!

Grace had strep throat the week of the recital and missed both rehearsals as a result.
The photos of her were from Friday night of the ballet, "A MidSummer's Night Dream."
She was part of the lavender field.
Unfortunately she was too sick to dance on Saturday
and didn't get to perform in the ballet again or in her jazz and tap dances.
She was a little disappointed but is really looking forward to dancing again next year.
And thankfully she's healthy now.

Will's hip hip group danced to "My Girl" by Mindless Behavior.
He loved being on stage for his dance and also the finale (his first one).
He's still thinking about hip hop for next year but may possibly switch to gymnastics.
This boy can move!

And Happy Mother's Day a little early!

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.

18/52 and Favorite Photo Friday - recital week

{Sunday at the dance school, waiting to get photos taken}

It's taken 9 months
of learning and practice
for Grace and William to get here, and recital time is nearly upon us.

I'd forgotten to bring my big camera (twice) to the dance school, so

 used my iphone to quickly get a few from this week and the above one was my favorite.

We've had a lot going on, add to that Grace has strep throat

and missed 4 days of school.
The antibiotic she's on has finally kicked in.

Right now I'm thinking she will perform Friday night and Saturday if she's up to it,
but we'll see.

Thankfully Mr. Will has stayed healthy,
keeping my fingers crossed with that one.


Below is Will at his dress rehearsal...unfortunately the end of the video
isn't there. He did a series of cartwheels and a round - off.
That's my boy! ;)

Have a great Friday!

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