Yes, I have the world's most beautiful nieces.

It's official, folks. I have the coolest, prettiest nieces in the world. I asked my 12-year-old (!!!) niece, Tori, if she'd model for me, and she did so willingly, in the bitingly cold wind. She traipsed through wet fields, shivered as the wind whipped her hair, leaned against things, and even got down on the ground for me. She indulged my desire for "moody" photos, too. One of the reasons I wanted HER to model is that she's one of those girls who looks gorgeous when she's not smiling (note: I am not one of these people). And she looks gorgeous smiling, too. Well, really, she just looks gorgeous. Have I said that enough? Here are a few of my favourites. I couldn't narrow them down, so, uh, here are a LOT of my favourites, actually.

Two things I learned from this session: one, I think I am really going to like this new lens, and two, I would happily trade hair with this girl. Look at it!! So pretty. Thanks again to Tori (and her parents for lending her out, especially on a day that was already insanely busy).

Hockey gals!

Confession time. I had a bad session. A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to take photos of one of the local women's hockey teams - the Cougars - at one of their final practices for the season. I happily agreed and burst into the dressing room with my camera gear and a big smile. Then I started shooting. Immediately I realized that this was not going to go well. The lighting at the indoor rink is poor. The air is cold. My lenses refused to focus properly. My shutter speed dropped even with a high ISO, and the constant movement you'd expect with women dressing for hockey became a blur. I became horribly distracted by trying to get my darn photos to just TURN OUT. Once they hit the ice, things did not improve. I planted myself in one of three places (inside one of the boxes, and at either end of the rink) and shot. Hundreds of photos. More than half of them were pitiful. Thank goodness for understanding ladies!! I felt awful about their shoot becoming an Epic Fail, but they were gracious about it all. I hope they enjoyed the shots I did manage to make, even if they aren't up to par. In any event, I really had fun watching the Cougars scrimmage. One thing is for sure - every single one of them could skate circles around me! I will likely post later this evening or tomorrow as well. I borrowed my niece for a couple of hours last Friday to practice, but I don't want to post them until they've had a chance to see them. And tomorrow - my very first newborn, in the form of 10-day-old Jenna. Squeeeee!1!1! A few hockey pics. Many thanks to the Cougars for being good sports. I could tell they absolutely love playing, and that's inspiring to me. :)

Week 12

Project 52 - week 12, already! Time flies. This week's theme is 'jewelry box'. Eurgh. I have plenty of jewelry, but not a lot of it is meaningful. I mentioned this at my grandmother's house tonight, and immediately found myself with her, standing in front of her dresser, looking at old jewelry (I inherited my love for this kind of thing from her). So I snapped a few photos of my favourite pieces. The first is the wedding band of my great-great-great grandfather's first wife. It is inscribed with their wedding date: June 7th, (19)04. The second is my grandfather's mother's necklace. I was a bit reluctant to ask Gramps if I could take a photo of his hands holding the necklace, since the last time I took a photo of his hands, it ended up in a magazine ;), so I said, "Gramps, you'd do anything for me, right?" Got a "Sure will!" out of that without hesitation, so those are Grampie's hands with great-Nannie Helene's necklace. Third is a pair of delicate silver bangles of my grandmother's. I wore them on my wedding day.



Thought I'd throw in another photo: Charlie in his new hat.

In other photo news, my new lens (smc DA* 16-50mm f. 2.8) arrived today. Oh, it's a beaut! Sadly, my camera seems to be back-focusing or something a bit, as my photos are not in focus far more often than not. Grumble grumble. I don't want to send my camera away, but I may have to. I've put purchasing the K5 on hold until later this spring, so maybe I'll do it then and muddle through now by taking a gazillion photos of the same scene in order to get one in focus. Sadly, I didn't know this last week when doing a photo session and ended up with a poor selection of barely-passable photos. Bummer.

I'm hoping to get out for some practice lots over the next few weeks, so check back for updates!

Week 11 + extras

It's been somewhat nice here this week, so I've been getting out a lot with my camera. Today, on a leisurely walk, I snapped a photo of my kiddo in his uncle's barn, which worked for Project 52's theme: dark and light.

I also snapped this of old chokecherries clinging to a tree. I added a texture and erased back the berries. I liked the effect.

I added a radial blur to this one, and again, liked the effect, although it could use some fine-tuning.

I have to include this one, just because it's cute:

Finally, macro cat-tail fuzz:

Prepare thyselves: I have ordered a new lens and I imagine once it arrives I'll go absolutely nuts for a few weeks!

Spring is springing!

Well, hello, spring-like weather. I've been missing you.

Today was a very spring-ish day. One of those warm days with snow melting and puddles forming and the breeze not nearly as cold as usual. I took a few shots to illustrate this.

First of all, a sure sign of spring in these parts is the ice jam. The ice broke in Tracy earlier this weekend and has been surging its way through the rest of the river. This was mid-afternoon:



This was early evening. In a few short hours, the ice had reached the gazebo. Stay safe, gazebo!

Spring also means bugs. Blessedly, mosquitoes don't arrive until mid-May, but ladybugs, sap flies, and house flies are suddently abounding in the warmer weather:

Also springish: the March-April issue of Saltscapes is finally out, which means my Grampie gets his 15 minutes of fame. ;) Many thanks to Saltscapes for a great write-up.

Finally, spring means we can start enjoying my parents' screened-in porch again. What better time than a spring-ish afternoon for a tea party in the sun room?

Happy March! :D

Week 10

Week ten's theme - childhood toys. Pretty clear-cut, and I didn't have to overthink anything. ;) I hit up my mom's attic and found two prime candidates: my brother and I's old Tomy "computer", and my mom's old doll Peggy. They looked pretty good together. If you ignore Peggy's hair, that is.

Chocolate chip cookies.

In the interest of full disclosure...I'm not crazy about cookies. I've only ever met one cookie I'd run a mile for: the Currie House cookie. Ten years ago (yikes...TEN years ago!?) my cousin and I began our three-summer tenure at the lovely Currie House, an historical site here in Fredericton Junction, where we catalogued and gave tours. We also baked cookies to have on hand when the local kids would inevitably stop by.

I still don't know how we made them SO GOOD. I use the same recipe all the time, and they're very...meh. When we baked them there, they were the most glorious cookie known to man. I'm not kidding.

Anyway, since those glory days, I have not found a cookie to match those ones. And, contrary to what you might think - the recipe I am about to ramble on about? Still doesn't match it. But they're darn good.

Today it is horribly rainy and I still went to the grocery store in it. Anyone who knows me knows I love the grocery store. We live 30 minutes from the nearest one and I'd still go every day if I had to. So, armed with--well, nothing, since it WASN'T pouring when we left the house, Charlie and I soggily marched around the Superstore to pick up the four things on my list - bananas, strawberries, organic sugar, and lettuce. Ninety dollars later (ahem), I came home with those things, 100 other things, and President's Choice mini fudge chips, which are new and which I HAD TO HAVE. Of course, then I had to bake something with them, so I found "Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies" on Le Internet and went to town, figuratively speaking.

First, sift 2 1/4 cups of flour, 1/2 t. salt and 1 t. baking soda into a bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, cream together a cup of softened unsalted butter and 3/4 cup of sugar.


Toss in a couple of eggs and some vanilla, and then you have a soft, creamy dough. Nom nom nom. I love cookie dough. In fact, I vastly prefer it to the final product.

Next, you add the flour GRADUALLY and beat it into a stiffer dough. I emphasize gradually because, as always happens when I multi-task, I quit paying attention and dumped all of the flour in after taking this shot. Then I had to scoop some out and do it properly.

These are the crack--I mean, the mini fudge chips. I am a firm believer that PC products rule everything, and these are no exception. Look at them.

LOOK AT THEM.

Add in some nuts, too, and stir it all up. Mmmmm.

Plop it on the pans by the heaping tablespoon.

375 oven for 8 minutes (your time may vary).

Kid verdict: as you can see by the first photo in this post, his mouth was too full of cookie to say, but I'm guessing since he had two and was devastated when I said no to a third one, he loved them.

These really are great cookies. Enjoy!

Week 9

First of all, HOORAY, my laptop is fixed and back! I loathed using my old piece of junk. Now I have my baby back. ;)

So this week's Project 52 theme was 'express yourself'. I didn't think much about it until mid-week, when I mentioned it to my cousin, who told me she'd help me out. I was glad, because the only ways I express myself are through photography and writing, and I didn't really want to use either of those as a basis for my photo, simply because I imagine they are sourses of expression for a lot of the Project 52 contributors.

So yesterday we holed ourselves up in her adorable apartment, out of the biting cold, with tea and good music and my camera. She began painting and I began snapping. It's easy to see how very much she enjoys expressing herself through art.

For some reason, I am very proud of this entry. Thanks, Kristi. :)

Also, if you live in a place where you can find Saltscapes, the issue with the photo contest will be out within the next couple of weeks. I can't wait! I have seen the cover (it's on their website) and the winning photograph is just lovely. I love that this magazine has such a high standard of photography.