not today
lacrosse season has begun
It has begun. Two freezing cold scrimmages on Saturday (two wins!), and Callum was not yet in the goal. I have a feeling he may be up there next week though. Stay tuned.
five things, march 4 edition
1. I think it happened just like I thought it would. A photography-confidence dip. I'm primarilay chalking it up to mid-session blahs and trying to learn all I can from it, but I definitely have the blahs. Everybody else hung up their pictures for class yesterday and I thought, why are mine so awful? What I do know is this: my pictures aren't awful. But the blahs are.
2. I think I learned that the more I prepare for a photo shoot, the better I like the resulting pictures. Duh.
3. I think last night was not the best frame of mind to go to a class on "How to market your small business online." Amazing class, but when you're thinking, "What flipping business?" And "I could never do this..." Well, you do the math. (I took lots of notes so I'd remember everything for when I feel better later though.)
4. I think Neel and I totally dropped the ball on Spring Break, and despite the fact that I really have too much work to take a trip next week, we should have planned a trip. Next year, we have to be more on it.
5. I think I'm excited that lacrosse season starts in earnest this weekend. And I think I'm especially proud that Callum has volunteered to play goalie. Goalie? Nervous for him, but proud.
shades of gray (winter's last gasp)
Photo Info:
Camera: Canon Rebel XSi
Lens: Canon EF 28-135 mm (Big Daddy)
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/100-125 sec
Focal length: varying
ISO: 200
All photos were taken one foggy February morning along the Elizabeth River. No post processing.
fountain soda
When we went for lunch at the boulangerie (without poor Violet) last week, I relented and let Callum get a Coke. It's a rare treat for him. We don't keep it in the house, and he's rarely allowed to order it. This carmely brown elixir leads you down a dangerous path, trust me. I know whereof I speak. Coke and I go a long way back.
As my migraines increased, Coke became one of my comforts. Medicinal. Never as good out of the can, but when Callum was little, I'd buy two cases each week to keep in the fridge. I can't tell you how many I went through in a day. If my head started to hurt, I'd reach first for a Coke before any meds. I gained weight. I felt sluggish. But staying home with a toddler can do that to you too, I suppose.
I tried to quit. Lasted a few weeks and with one headache I would be back at it. Willpower? Not so much. Finally, in August of 2002, I gave it up. Went cold turkey, just like that. Bye-bye Coke. I didn't get the withdrawal headache and irritability as much as a longing for my friend. Pretty pathetic, huh? But this time it stuck. And I haven't had one since. I recognize that I was seriously addicted. Around the nine month point, I had a "using" dream. I woke up from dreams of drinking a Coke and thought, "What a stupid move, Lauren. You went nine whole months and had to go and have a stupid Coke." Guess what? It was just a dream. How crazy is that?
I've been clean almost nine years now!
It's recognizing the real hold that drink had over me that gives me caution with Callum's soda drinking. We were a no soda family for the longest time. Then we eased up and let him get a Sprite every so often when we go out to dinner. We still don't keep any in the house. And we won't. But you know what? He's eleven. He's a kid. He likes soda. And he's so sweet and conscientious. If he's offered a Coke at his friend's house, he'll call and ask for permission. Of course I say yes. I don't want it to become forbidden fruit. It isn't. Moderation is the name of the game for us.
I will admit to having a sip or two of Callum's Coke when we've been out. A sip or two won't kill me. (That day at lunch, I thought, "Oh, I'll have to ask Callum for a sip before it's gone." And by the time I remembered, he was down to the ice.) It tastes okay. Not nearly as good as my memory of how it tasted.
the blue rain room
Oddly, the hardest part for me was that darn ironing board. I mean good grief! But seriously people, even if I don't iron much, you can NOT deny the convenience of having the board set up and ready to go if you need to do a quick swipe on a pair of pants before work. At one point Neel cautioned that I may need to just fold up the ironing board and get it out when I need it. But I know myself, and I need that ironing board to stay out or we're going to be walking around with A) wrinkled clothes or B) a diminishing wardrobe as the pile of wrinkled clothes grows. So I set it up in the guest room. It's there waiting for me. I can live with folding it up when we have company.
But even without these things, the room feels good. Right and proper. Fairly minimal, with clean lines and filled with the stuff that's important to me (minus the additional Mac, of course). I'm lucky I get to work here.
PS: Still shooting in RAW. Not so sure about it...
joy of love
So all month, I've been quietly participating in another photo project, this one an online class called The Joy of Love created by Kelly Willette of Willette Designs. I discovered Kelly (see? even though I haven't met her yet, I just figure we're *that* close) quite on my own a few months ago, and it was only after exploring her blog a bit that I realized she was a local gal. I was excited when this class popped up. I love the structure of a class, and even though I'm hitting my art center course pretty hard right now, this seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. (Plus, Kelly totally lets you off the hook about it, which I need. I'm both a rule follower and a rebel. Enough of a rule follower to want to do everything exactly by the book, and enough of a rebel to want to go my own way. This class, which consisted of a daily prompt as well as camera tips, allowed you to be as little or as heavily involved as you wanted.)
So while I loved the prompts (and especially the camera tips) and couldn't wait to get them in my inbox every evening, I was pretty organic about taking the pictures that she actually prompted.
It's the last day of the month and the last day of our class, so I thought (in no particular order) that I'd post some photos that were inspired by this project.
So there you have it. A snapshot (get it? har har) of my month with the Joy of Love. I'm so glad I did it, even though today was my only day posting about it. Technically, I think I'm all over the place, but it was at its very minimum another reason to pull my camera out of the bag. I'm grateful for those lessons to have to look back on. Prompts & tips to have when I'm feeling stuck. What's so funny is that since I started doing this I've had two or three people ask, "Have you met Kelly? You need to meet her." Isn't the world a funny, small place? I've enjoyed basking in her creative space this month, and since she pretty much is right now where I want to be when I grow up, I hope we can meet. I can't wait.
five things, february 25 edition
2. I think I have had some signs from the universe in the last week about my photography that I should probably not ignore. Add to that one not-so-great shoot, and my confidence has been on quite the roller coaster lately.
3. I think that when you lead with kindness and generosity (something I sometimes struggle with), good things return to you.
4. I think it's pretty interesting that Callum suddenly wants to "write a cookbook" with me. We're going to have a brainstorming session at the boulangerie this afternoon.
5. I think I can't believe that this is my 600th post. I love this little blog. Where do we go from here?
Peter's soup
words to the wise
hard scramble breakfast
As an added side comment, I shot all these pictures in RAW, using this format for the first time ever. Not as scary as I expected, and a lot of fun to edit. It's all about baby steps, people.
five things, february 18 edition
2. I think Callum's teachers are inspired with their idea of full-moon homework. Last night all the kids in fifth grade got to research a topic of their choice. This was their only homework for the evening. The guidelines were that it be age-appropriate, that they include an illustration, an illustrative paragraph about their topic and an explaination for why they chose their topic. Even coming home tired from lacrosse practice, Callum was captivated all evening. He chose the hydrogen bomb.
3. I think I am so grateful that Neel finally got some good news at work this week. It was about damn time.
4. I think I had a bit of a photographic breakthrough on Valentine's Day, thanks to my dear friend Rebecca and her lovely daughter. If she's willing, you'll see some of those photos here soon too. For the first time during the whole shoot, I felt confident. Like I was getting the images I wanted, and making her feel comfortable while I was doing so. It paid off in some of my favorite pictures ever.
5. I think it's important to have gratitude for this creative spurt I'm in right now. I know that it won't last. I don't mean that in a doom-and-gloomy way. I'm pretty pragmatic, actually, and I know that the fire I feel now will be replaced by days when I feel less than inspired and not like picking up my camera. I know there will be. It's okay. My mom said to me the other day that creativity needs constraint (she was referring to me bemoaning my lack of technical skill), and sometimes that constraint comes in the form of those days of dim down-time. When you're charging on all cylinders like I am now, moving from writing to photographing to editing (at lightening speed!)...well, I'll have to recharge at some point, won't I? Someone, please remind me of this when that day comes! But what I want to say, is that I am grateful. I am so grateful for this moment right now. For the writing I'm doing. For the work I have. For the pictures I'm taking and the ones I'm planning. For each and every day and how I'm able to move within it. I am so grateful.
winter sunset
Photo Info:
Camera: Canon Rebel XSi
Lens: Canon EF 50 mm, f/1.8 (El Cheapo)
Aperture: f/4.0
Shutter Speed: 1/160
Focal length: 50 mm
ISO: 200
No post processing.
the book
Each week we print out 8X10s to be critiqued for class. When I saw that one of my classmates Liz had also printed 4X6s of her larger prints to put in her journal and make notes, I immediately thought, "I am totally stealing that idea." Thanks Liz! It's been such a help to have the pictures there and be able to write about why I took them and what worked (and oftentimes, what didn't work.)
Every night, after Callum is in bed, I climb on the sofa with my pencil and tape and work in my book. It's a wonderful, reflective part of my day. So now this book has become as much part of my creative process as taking and editing the pictures has. It's helping me think about my photography and frame where I am with it. It's also helping me start to frame where I want to go. I have so much yet to learn, but the sky's the limit baby.
showered
It was a perfectly lovely afternoon. Poor Catherine didn't feel well, but we still managed to laugh and laugh and laugh. I hoped she felt a little better. And celebrated as the wonderful mama that she is. New babies are pretty special.
my beloveds
five things, february 11 edition
2. I think that there has been a lot of stress around here in the last month or so, and for me the antidote to that has been to immerse myself in this creative process. It's been quite thrilling actually. And humbling. I'm learning new stuff everyday. That part is thrilling. I'm bumping into my limitations everyday too. That's the humbling part.
3. I think for this week's assignment, I'm going to give myself a little break and work with my favorite models, Neel and Callum! Our assignment is to model the work of a favorite photographer (so! many!), and I actually had two very different folks in mind for this project. With Neel and Callum, I really want to work on posing. I'm so not good at that. Since I'm not afraid of bossing them around, I figure they'll be good practice.
4. I think I've been craving a bloody mary.
5. I think I need to pay better attention to gratitude. Yesterday morning (our snow day), as Neel was leaving for work he asked me (as we often do) what I was going to be up to that day. Editing photos in the morning, I told him, when I'd have been in class. And work...writing this afternoon. Sounds good, he said. Wow. I had to smile after that. Pretty much a dream come true for me. Who'd have thunk it?
beat
