Category Archives: photo challenge

Weekly Photo Challenge: Arranged

Weekly Photo Challenge: Arranged

John lovingly refers to Clara as the anarchist, because of the trail of chaos and destruction she leaves in her wake as she moves though the house.

But if you look a bit closer you can see that it’s not all total chaos, some of it has been arranged just so.As to the why’s of the arrangements you’ll have to ask the anarchist!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Through

Weekly Photo Challenge: Through

When I started doing the weekly photo challenges I imposed a few extra rules and challenges upon myself:

1) No using previously taken photos.

2) No Photoshopping.

2) No Photoshopping except cropping.

3) Take the time to try out new camera settings.

If I hadn’t imposed those rules on myself I would have shared the picture I posted on my Good News… Bad news… day.

But rules are rules, even if you make them up yourself, and that one broke all three.

So I set out to take another “through picture” (this week, while playing with exposure and avoiding temptations to tamper on the computer) and got an extra bonus.

A photo of Ivy that not only captures the moment but is one of those photos that seems to give a glimpse of the girl she is becoming.

A view through the red bud and a glimpse through the years all in one.

She does have a picnic table on her head, but why would I bother with a challenge if I was already perfect?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrast

Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrast

If you were a stick in my yard this would be the beginning of the end.

Once the sky is blotted out by a large, hairy, monster it’ll be all dog breath and intense staring from then on.

All the way up until you are reduced to a pile of wood chips on someones foot.

Just a hint: Don’t pretend to be a stick in my yard.

Just another hint: Don’t touch any sticks in my yard unless you like wood chips on your feet.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Distorted

Weekly Photo Challenge: Distorted

On Friday Ivy didn’t want John to put her to bed, she wanted me to do it. John gave Ivy a very polite explanation of why he would be taking over the bedtime routine for the weekend.  They counted the days of the week that John worked as he pointed out that I get to put the girls to bed four nights a week while John only gets three. They talked about the days of the week some more and concluded with the fact that John would be putting them to bed Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday night John made the get ready for bed announcement and Ivy said “But I want Mom to put me to bed.” and John patiently talked through the whole thing with her again.

On Sunday night it happened again.

On Monday afternoon John said goodbye to the girls on the way out the door and Ivy burst out with, “BUT DAD, I want YOU to put me to bed tonight!”

John laughed.

I laughed harder.

Ivy wanted to know why.

Life through the eyes of a five year old- it’s distorted.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Down

In the course of the week this photography challenge has given me a new philosophy.

Don’t look down!

Down is mud. Down is dirt on the floor. Down is whining kids on your leg. Down is Trip about to jump up with muddy paws. Down is Storm getting ready to make sawdust of a stick on your foot. Down is the stuff that I never put away, the toys the kids haven’t put away, the food the falls on the floor. Down is bad.

From now on I’m looking up. I’m looking over, I’m looking sideways, I’m looking out, I’m looking anywhere but straight down!

That’s where I find my husband, happy kids, running dogs, where I can almost see the yard for the mud, and where the dirt and mess on floor can be overlooked for a bit as I go about enjoying my day.

I’ll be working on keeping my chin up, literally, except for a few moments like this, when it pays to look down.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Regret

I have been thinking for awhile it would be fun to try one of the many, many, online weekly photo challenges. Just a way to have a little fun with my camera and improve my picture taking skills a bit.  This week I noticed that WordPress hosts a photo challenge so I thought I’d join in. Then I saw the theme of the week was “regret” and I thought I’d start on a week with something a bit easier. Regret, fortunately, isn’t something I have a lot of. Mud, frustration and insanity I’ve got in scads but I’m pretty good at having no regrets. But a challenge is a challenge so I’d been thinking about it this week.

Then today I finished the last of my fancy Valentines Day chocolate and I was very much regretting my inability to ration my chocolate and make it last.  Apparently I’m not without regrets after all but at least I had a subject!

At nap time today I took my brief alone time to set up my tiny photo shoot and in the five minutes I had before kids woke up crying, demanding sustenance and asking five million questions about my tulip and empty wrapper, I managed to play with settings on my camera I don’t normally use and remind myself of a few basic things.

Like backgrounds.

They should always be checked for unseemly dark blobs!