Fifty-two on Friday-Week Fifty-two!

A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"light"

As 2012 comes to a close, so does my Fifty-two on Friday project. After completing a 365-day project two years ago, I didn't think that one image a week would be hard, but at times I struggled.  I struggled to be more creative.  

I struggled to learn new techniques.  

I struggled to learn to ways of processing. 

 I struggled to learn how to use new lenses. 

All of that struggling, though, has made me a better photographer who is learning to think outside the box, to be more creative, to understand that there will always be something to learn, to be patient with myself as I continue to improve.

For this week's image, I'm choosing to share our Christmas tree.  With a solid foundation this tree would continue to grow and branch out in different directions...a little taller, a little fuller...with each day of nature's nutrients.

And now, filled with lights, it's the promise of new a beginning.

It's, kind of, a metaphor of my journey into seeing the light.  

 To continue around the circle and see the light the other two photograhers saw, start with  photographer

Faye Kingston of  Miramichi, NB 

Fifty-two on Friday-Week Fifty-one

A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"peaceful"

  As I was decorating the tree earlier this week, I came across this guy.  It's something that my husband has had since he was a kid.  It's kind of funny how things get reinvented.

The elf-on-the-shelf shenanigans have been posted on just about every social website I use.

This elf though has been sitting peacefully in my tree every year for the past thirty years and hasn't done a mischievous thing yet this year, either.  

 

And, just because one of my most favorite times of the day brings me the most peaceful moments, I thought I'd share a picture taken with my cell phone a little bit before 7AM this morning (Thursday).  I haven't processed this at all.  Well, with the exception of my watermark!

Now to see what kind of  peaceful images the other two photographers in my group found, start here with Faye Kingston, Miramichi, NB Photographer 

Fifty-two on Friday-Week Fifty!

 A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"freshly baked"

The weeks leading up to Christmas always bring an increased desire to be in the kitchen.  Truth be told, it's not my favorite place to be!  For weeks, though, I've been scouring magazines and recipe books for new ideas, but to get started on my holiday baking I go back to a couple of old favorites. 
Way back in 2003 I started baking a batch of cookies for the boys to enjoy during "finals week" while they were in college.  I have done it every year since then.  This will be the last year I will be baking that batch of cookies, or at least sending it off to one of my boys in college. 
 I bake two different kinds of cookies.  The usual chocolate chip and then the cream cheese press cookie that was a recipe of my moms.   
I actually, double the double recipe and make an insane amount of cream cheese cookies.  Since I was baking by myself and at 5AM before I had to go to work, I just made the double batch. Two hours later, the cookies were baked, the cookie sheets and cooling racks piled high on the counter, the rest of the mixing utensils lay in the sink, and I was off to work, but not before enjoying a a couple of these cookies for breakfast!

 And, yes Kevin, yours are in the mail!  

We have five photographers participating this week.  To see what the other girls are baking
 start here with  
Christa Paustenbaugh of  Okinawa, Japan 

Fifty-two on Friday-Week Forty-nine

 A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"red"

For this week's post I am sharing some of the images I captured on Tuesday while visiting Longwood Gardens.
Longwood is a personal favorite of mine and I'm so fortunate that I am able to visit frequently. 
With no further adieu...

 To see what the rest of the circle found that was red, start here with photographer 

Christa Paustenbaugh of Okinawa, Japan

Fifty-two on Friday-Week Forty Eight

 A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"circles" 

 For this week's theme I'm choosing to share a few pictures from a shoot I did this past weekend.  Some weeks I shoot for the theme and some weeks I find a way to creatively use a picture I've taken and have it fit the theme.  This week it's the later.  

Here's the definition of ringlets taken from dictionary.com




ring·let

[ring-lit] 

noun

1. a curled lock of hair

2. a small ring or circle

Doesn't she have the most amazing ringlets (circles) of hair!

To see what type of circles the rest of the group found start with Faye Kingston, of Miramichi, NB

and click here   

Fifty-two on Friday Week Forty-seven

A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

 

"sleep"

 

This week's theme should have been really easy. It wasn't. 

 I resorted to sneaking up my boys after we ate our Thanksgiving dinner tonight.  I got caught.

My oldest tried to pretend he was asleep, but laughed the whole time.  He's a good poker player, but not a serious model.  

My youngest pulled the pillow over his head and turned his back to hide from me and my camera. After he fell asleep like that, he was fair game.

The middle son was unaware of my need for a picture tonight.  I managed to catch him, 

sound asleep.

Even the dog turns his head from me when he hears the beep as my camera focuses.

So, for sleep, I have nothing creative, but I do have my sons, all sleeping or pretending to be!

 I think that they all must have PCS (photographer's child syndrome)!

 

     

Now to see what/who the rest of the circle caught sleeping, start here with  

Stacy Vitallo, D'Lara Photography, Downer's Grove, IL 

52 on Friday-Week Forty-six

A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"routine"

There was a time in my life when pretty much everything was a routine, well as routine as they can be when you're raising kids.  I relied on that routine to get me through the day.  Routines make life easy, or easier, anyway. At least, I thought so once upon a time. 

Once my youngest son, Kevin, went to college, my routine sort of fell apart. There were no more school events to attend, no more sporting events to attend, no more music concerts to attend and about the same time my husband's work schedule changed, hence so did our routine of eating together every night.  I've had kids move out and back in and who are now getting ready to leave again.  There is no longer much that's routine in our daily lives, except that things change, constantly.

In these last couple of years I've come to enjoy the lack of routine.  Where I once loved working with the same teacher every day year after year, I now enjoy wondering which teacher's classroom I'll be in on any given day.  Where I once swore that I was a traditionalist as far as my photography ideals were concerned, I know have a more open mind.   Every once in while I look at one of my images and think that it's boring, it's routine.  

How many ways can I make a flower look interesting?

So this week I decided to take an image and break with my usual editing routine.  I'll post both the before and the after.  I'm not exactly sure how much I like the processed image, but it's fun, if only because it allows me to be creative and break with my normal routine!  

      

To see what the other three photographer's impressions, of routine, are, start here with 

Christa Paustenbaugh of Okinawa, Japan  

Fifty-two on Friday-Week Forty-five

A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"texture"

We've probably had a much warmer fall than usual. Earlier this week we had our second frost of the season.  I had to go outside just after sunrise, into the shade of the backyard for this.  As soon as the sun hit the grass, the frost melted. My timing was perfect for this frosty leaf and the grass!
 

We should have at least six photographers participating this week.  To start around the circle 

click here

 to see what photographer Christa Paustenbaugh of Okinawa, Japan has to share.

 

Fifty-two on Friday-Week Forty-four!

A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"pastime"

This time of year, one of my favorite pastimes is driving around looking at the fall foliage.  I had a chance to do this one afternoon earlier this week after Hurricane Sandy passed through.  I had expected most of the leaves to be off the trees, and while there were many on the ground, there were still enough on the trees to make it colorful.  I love driving through narrow sections of roadway where the trees are like canopies overhead.  The only thing that would have made this drive better was some sunshine.  I'm not going to complain though because we were extremely fortunate compared to our neighbors to the north, the ones to the south, and especially compared to the ones to our east. Hurricane Sandy left unprecedented destruction in her wake.  

 
There are two other photographers sharing in the circle this week.  To see what pastimes amuse them start with Emily Remmick, ND Photography 

Fifty-two on Friday-Week Forty three!

 A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"darkness"

I try to start every day with a walk.  I get out of bed, put my sweats and sneakers on, grab the dog, his leash, my pepper spray (for both my protection and in case of another dog that mine may not like) and, of course, my cell phone.  I really like to walk before work, which means leaving the house by 6:30.  The problem with walking at 6:30 during the fall, winter and early spring months, is that it's dark when I start out.  The one truly good thing about starting out in the dark is that I get to watch the sunrise.  We've had some gorgeous sunrises in the last few weeks.  I love  when the sky is full of color...pinks, oranges, blues and the whites of the clouds and just before you actually get to see the rays of the sun. It's what I like to call, the edge of darkness.  Both of these are taken with my cell phone and are unedited.  

Sometimes the best camera is the one you have with you!

  To see what the rest of the circle found for "darkness" start here with Stacy Vitallo of D'Lara Photography, Downer's Grove, IL

Fifty-two on Friday-Week Forty-two! Ten more to go!

 A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"jewels"

It took some time this week to come up with an idea for our theme.  I spent the beginning of the week editing some pictures I took of two of my nieces on a recent outing.  They'd been going through a bit of a hard time due to the loss of a close family friend.  It was the kind of experience that is hard enough to understand as an adult, much less a child.   While I spent the day with the girls, I marveled at how resilient these kids could be in the midst of turmoil.  Many of my shots that day were of girls deep in thought, but then there were the times when the happy-go-lucky innocence of being eight and six shined through. 

The girls are no strangers to my camera.  I've used them as my practice models since I got serious about photography. They like to be silly and come up with their own poses, but they're good about taking direction too. These two girls and one of my other nieces came along much later than nine of their other cousins.  

They're almost a whole different generation and we treasure them, like jewels.   

 

To see what jewels Christa Paustenbaugh of Okinawa, Japan and the rest of the group found,

 click here

Fifty-two on Friday-Week Forty-one

A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"far away"

I had the opportunity this past weekend to take my camera to someplace that I've only ever driven past on my way to my husband's family's vacation home.  I was, actually, scrapbooking for the weekend when I decided to take my camera and check out a Pagoda that sits way up on top of a hill outside the town of Reading, Pennsylvania.  The Pagoda was really neat, but the view from the Pagoda was spectacular.  I wish that I'd thought to ask my husband to stop at this location years ago.  I hope to get back in a couple of weeks when the leaves are changing color.  I imagine the view will be even more amazing.   The city just seems so far away, but in reality it was just a few minutes from where I stood.
(note: I actually had a really nice panoramic to share but the file was too large.  I will try to resize it later, after work, and post, so you might want to check back!) 

Here's a panoramic I took but wasn't able to post this morning.

 
To see more far away things start here with Faye Kingston of Miramichi, NB

Fifty two on Friday-Week Forty!!!

A blog circle of photographers from all over the world, both amateur and professional alike, sharing their interpretations of a common theme.  At the bottom of each post, click the link for the next photographer until you come full circle, back here to my blog.

"family"

 I tried to think a bit outside the box for this week's shot.  My youngest son, Kevin, was coming home from college last weekend, when I began brainstorming ideas for a family portrait.  I wasn't coming up with any unique, but in the course of explaining why he was coming home to a friend,  I got a better idea.  

Kevin is senior at Penn State University.  For years the students of Penn State have participated in the largest student run philanthropic organization in the world, know as THON. THON is a year long fund raising event that raises money to benefit the Four Diamonds Fund at the Hershey Medical Center and more specifically, two families who have had children with pediatric cancer.. 

One of the ways the students of Penn State raise money is by canning.    Groups of  students usually travel to someone's home for a weekend. (they do this multiple times during the year.) They sleep on couches, floors, or beds if they're available. Then they get up early on Saturday morning and actually stand on street corners, outside of grocery stores, or where ever towns will let them and with cans in their hands they collect donations.  It doesn't matter to them what the weather may be, they just go.   And they do it all again on Sunday. Some are even ambitious enough to start when they get where they're going on Friday evening.

The culmination of the fund raising is a 46-hour  dance marathon in February.  More than 15,000 Penn State from all campuses volunteer their time to raise money to help the families of Brittany and Katelyn.  The students of Penn State have sponsored Brittany and Katelyn for the last several years.  

This past February THON raised a record $10, 680,000 towards the elimination of childhood cancer. The efforts of these students doesn't end there, though.  They just don't help out financially, but emotionally as well.  These students spend their weekend time throughout the year going bowling,  on picnics, or to the local amusement park or any other number of activities to raise the spirits of the families they have pledged to help and grown to love. 

For my shot this week, I chose to highlight just a few of the kids that so unselfishly donate their time.  These kids are part of Kevin's fraternity family.  Alpha Kappa Psi is a business fraternity that Kevin is proud to be a part of.  They are brothers.  They are family.  I'm honored to have met these kids and am looking forward to hosting a canning weekend at my house in November so that I can get to know them better and support them while they support their 

THON families.

To continue around the blog circle, start here with Christine Baylock

Part of the AKPsi family:

Yvonne, Rita, Lindsey, Emily, Steve, Kevin, Luke

 

Kevin (on right) and his friend Steve have known each other since first grade, were roommates for their first two years of college, and now live in the frat house, along with ten other "brothers."

 If you'd like to learn more or even donate to THON click here. The link will take you to Alpha Kappa Psi's THON page where you can read more about the event.  If you choose to make a  donation, there is a link at the bottom of the page. Please select "organization" in the Designation Selection box.  Once you save your info at the bottom of that page, and continue onto the next page, you'll be able to select Alpha Kappa Psi as the specific organization getting credit for the donation.  

Ninety-six percent of the the total donation amount goes to the Four Diamonds Fund to help with research and to support the families affected by childhood cancers. 

If you are unable to donate at this time, please keep these students and the familes they support in your thoughts and/or prayers.

It all means so much!