lighting workshop
I took a lighting workshop last weekend. It was fun. All day taking pictures!
My favorite shots were against the backdrop, with controlled lighting.
We tried all sorts of tricks.
Like different colored paper,
different backdrops,
and different objects.
I don't know how much we learned, but we sure had fun!
secret path
Here's the entrance to our secret path. I love its crooked purple gate. The grape hyacinth there are new this year, and I love them too. We put the honeysuckle in two years ago, and it has yet to bloom. I'm hoping it's okay. It should be getting yellow flowers which I think would look nice against the gate. Hmmm.
Once you step inside, you see the climbing hydrangeas. These do better than the ones we put along the same fence in the backyard. Away from the dogs. They're much further along than they were a month ago. All leafed out and sweetly green.
And here, for a few glorious weeks, is what awaits you at the end of the path. These camellias are nearly two stories tall and they leave a carpet of pink and red all over the ground outside my kitchen window. We've put in more camellias along the back fence, but they are babies. We won't see blooms on them this year, I feel sure.
And now that you've seen it, the secret's out. Not so much a secret path any longer.
early vines
Last year we put climbing hydrangeas down what we call "the secret path." I'll take any hydrangea, really, but these climbing ones really capture my fancy. Spring comes sneaking in early to the Tidewater, buds peeping out in late February.
river walk
When we walked to the river a few weeks back, everyone was out and about. Our neighbor Hannah and her mom beat us there.
She was pitching rocks into the water.
Of course Callum had to join in.
Both of them, pitching in.
Nice light. Nice afternoon.
if you like blue cheese
day one
color comes out
It's early yet, still winter, and the color we're seeing tends to be of the human-made variety, not natural in form. Some chairs.
The seat of a swing.
The collar of a good dog.
A faucet, ready for spring watering. Not that we'll need it, it's raining as I type.
And if you know where to look, which Neel did, there's other color there too. Proof that the earth is waking up. I took those pictures over two weeks ago. How much more awake are things now?
catching up
My last photography class feels like it was ages ago (don't worry, there's another one coming in April), and I never posted the photos. Our final assignment was to tell a story in pictures or to take a walk around someplace familiar and see it with new eyes. This was oddly difficult for me, especially given the fact that I tend to think in picture-stories for the blog all the time. So on one warm Sunday, our first warm Sunday, Neel, Callum, and I took a walk down to the water, and I took pictures like a madwoman!
It felt like the earth was waking up and the people in it were waking up too. When I came home and downloaded the photos, several themes emerged and I thought I'd take the next few blog posts to explore them. First, let's honor Callum again, how about? Our neighbors have a phenomenal rope swing, and he's on it a lot. We were no sooner out the door than we found people we hadn't seen in ages out in their front yards too. While the grown-ups got what Callum calls "talky," he got his swing on. He'd been planning to skateboard to the water, hence the helmet. This shot is my favorite. Nothing says ten year old boy like the shredded knees of his jeans and that intense look of concentration.
Off comes the helmet, and here's some context with a still-winter bare tree.
Then I got crafty and started to play with my depth of field! For those of you who are wondering how we've made this year difficult for him, it's not what you're thinking. No chaining to the bedpost, no locking in closets! No (gasp) withholding meals! But he has had a trying go of it, and he's handled his own adversity with grace. It's not something we can talk about just yet, but soon. I'll provide the details at a more salutary time.
this kid
This is my friend Callum. He also happens to be my son.
He had a pretty impressive weekend, this kid of mine. Rushing from a lacrosse game (won some faceoffs, scored a goal)...
to opening night of his school play. He knocked both events out of the park. He also got some really good news on Saturday, so we're feeling pretty proud. This has been a hard year for Callum, and his parents have asked a lot of him in many ways.
That makes this weekend even more special, both for the hard work and the reward. I couldn't, really couldn't, ask for a better son.
next in the queue
A colleague of mine is having his second daughter in a couple of weeks, so I jumped right in to knit up some baby caps for his soon-to-be TWO little girls.
More beret than baby cap. Raspberry Berets! Pooh says, "oh la la!"
winter wonder
winter moon
I took my photography class with my friend Debbie, and she sent me a quick text Saturday night to go out and take some pictures of the moon. I'm so glad she did! We're still mastering those skills, but I don't think I would have attempted this picture before this class.
And now I have an image of this icy winter night.
olympic event
The Olympics have been on nonstop around here. I know that everyone is critical of the coverage and the IOC and is Ice Dancing a sport, blah, blah, blah. We don't care, we love it. Callum's been explaining curling to be, and my dad wants us to form a four-man bobsled team. Last night was the closing ceremonies, and I hate that it's over.
But what to do with all that time cuddled up in front of the TV? Knit, of course! I picked up my raspberry Clapotis which has been languishing for maybe two years now (gasp!). And despite the grousing that I love knitting more that him (Callum) or that my lap is unavailable (Violet), I powered on. The result? A finally finished Clapotis. I threw it into the lightbox (!) just before I finished to get this shot, and I'm blocking it now. I might even get to wear it this week!
family ties
Like father,
like son.
photography class, week four homework: still life with lightbox
I am totally digging the lightbox.
while he was out
Callum went away with some friends (and their parents, of course) on Friday, so Neel and I decided to take the time and blow out a room makeover for him.
His room was last painted when we first moved here and he was four. So while it's a great room, the vibrant colors and chalkboard border had become a bit juvenile for him. Picking out a color proved tricky, which is part of why we waited until he got out of town. He wanted blue, and I was down with that. But Callum's choices fell in the electric, or neon category. I wanted a blue we could all live with, and it proved a bit trickier to pick than I anticipated.
We'd already moved out all the toys and ten year old's clobber (Junk is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.), so Neel came home early, and we moved all the furniture to the center of the room and started taping things up.
Afterwards, the Kilz to get rid of all those bright colors.
We caught a huge break because the Kilz and the paint only took one coat each. That meant we finished painting Friday night and were able to use Saturday to put the room back together.
New shelves for all those toys (pared down a bit).
A cleared off desk,
and a cozy spot to sleep. Neel and I were so happy and the room looks so nice. Callum, however, was totally underwhelmed. Too jacked up from his overnight, I suppose. He's saying that he likes it, though. That it's a room he can relax in. Thank goodness for that. The kid could use some relaxation like nobody's business.
funny valentine
I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day. It was one of my best in a long time.
French toast in the morning.
Cooking dinner with my son.
French food.
French Champagne.
And a new lightbox!
We had such a lovely time yesterday. Callum came home halfway through the day to watch the Olympics, and we've resigned ourselves to dinner in front of the tv for the next two weeks. I love the Olympics, especially the winter, and there's not much I like better than snuggling up with my family to watch the games. My family Valentine. xoxo