Photo Challenge Day 21

We had another busy day today with more yardwork (cleaned out our gutters out for the first time since we moved here six years ago), cleaning, laundry and a fun visit to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden with the Tennants.

It was a really nice way to finish the weekend.

And here's the challenge contribution for today...

30 Day Photo Challenge Day 21: Faceless self portrait*

*Yes, I'm drinking wine in this one too.

Photo Challenge Day 20

It's been a busy day! Fiona and I got a lot of yard work done this morning and the girls went to a fun birthday party this afternoon. They were so tired after the party that they both fell asleep in the car on the way home and then went straight to bed. Yep, for real! They are both in bed right now! It's a Saturday night miracle! What should we do with it? Darts tournament? Board game? Right now Ben is watching car reviews on cnet so we'll have to try to do something more exciting than that at least...

Today's challenge was bokeh. According to wikipedia bokeh "is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light." "

I love bokeh. I love portraits with bokeh. I love the lens I have that goes down to f1.8 which gives me great bokeh. One of my favorite things about it is that when I take "blurred background" pictures in my messy living room, the mess is all blurry and therefore "artistic" and not "lazy and slightly unhygienic".

My friend Sara who is also taking the challenge went all out and pulled out some christmas lights and got some really beautiful bokeh but I don't have the energy she does so this is my offering for today...

30 day photo challenge day 20: Bokeh (with cat)

Photo Challenge Day 19

Something orange. That's a tall order! There is a definite lack of orange things in my house and I was trying to think of something orange all day long. I went in to work this morning and saw a bunch of orange construction cones. Orange traffic lights. Orange posters around campus. We went for a walk this afternoon and I spotted a man wearing orange shorts. It wasn't convenient to take pictures of the first few and the latter would have been strange, so it was late in the day before I thought of something...

30 Day Photo Challenge Day 19: Something Orange

Photo Challenge Day 18

My bestest friends from Scotland Amanda and Michelle reminded me of this story the last time I visited. I was in my last year at university, studying for my last ever exams and I'd bought a beautiful new pair of shoes. Oh, they were so pretty. I kept looking at them and being happy that they were mine. Soon I was looking a them more than the (boring) psychology textbook and I had to put them away so I could concentrate. I love those shoes.

From a young age Fiona has also shown an interest in shoes... here she is at Christmas dinner at great grandma's nursing home in 2009 (around 18 months).

(The pictures look really grainy tonight, you can click them for a clearer (and larger) version).

You can tell from the next picture that she is taller, but not much else has changed! This is her official "check out my shoes, aren't they awesome?!" smile.

She still loves to put my shoes on and clomp around the house, and it seems Adele is taking after her. Given that she still gets around on all fours she just wears the shoes on her hands. The girl is obsessed with wearing shoes on her hands. It's hilarious.

(She's just getting ready here, once she has them on it's almost impossible to take her picture because despite the fact that she's crawling while wearing high heeled shoes on her hands, she's fast!)

Sadly I don't have many opportunities to wear all my fun high heeled shoes any more (or un-sadly in a way because my sensible sandals are MUCH more comfortable!) but luckily the girls pull all my shoes out on a fairly regular basis and wear them all.

30 Day Photo Challenge Day 18: Your Shoes

Photo Challenge Day 17

First things first, when I logged into blogger this evening it popped up a message saying "it looks like your blog is popular! Popular blogs can make money with adsense! Try it now!". I'm so flattered! Popular? Me? Aw, shucks. Thanks, people who read this! You guys are the best!

Second things second, here is a story. As some of you may be aware, British people like tea. Gallons and gallons of tea. It cures all ills. Had a shock? Make some tea. Got a hangover? You need tea, lots of tea, in a big mug. Local priest drops in for a chat? Pop the kettle on. Looters burning up London? Serve cups of tea to the bobbies using riot shields as trays. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up!

When I moved to the land of the free and the home of the brave I found one thing sorely lacking... kettles! There were a variety of kettles that you can put on the stove and whistle when your water boils but they take a really long time and I kept forgetting about it or being in the middle of something else by the time it finally boiled. What I needed was an electric kettle. After a few years I finally found one at Sears and was so excited! Now you can find them everywhere but this one is special. It sits quietly between the utensils and Ben's coffee maker waiting to be put to work and then BAM! Water = boiled. No fuss, no whistling, no need to run naked and soggy from the shower to take it off the stove.

Thanks kettle! Without you, the multiple cups of tea I drink every day would be significantly more challenging.

30 Day Photo Challenge Day 17: Technology.

Yes, it's technology! It has a plug, doesn't it?!

Photo Challenge Day 16

Today's challenge is "long exposure" which can create some incredible photos, but is actually kind of a pain! As a general rule I like to use the shortest exposure possible to maximize my chance of getting a photo before one of my subjects runs off, and long exposure requires the use of tripods, steadiness and patience, none of which are that compatible with toddlers!

I've always loved light painting images, so this afternoon Fiona and I played around with long exposure, jumping around and flashlights. She had lots of fun, and I got a picture that will work for today. This one was exposed for 10 seconds.

30 Day Photo Challenge Day 16: Long Exposure

Photo Challenge Day 15

One of the reasons I am enjoying this challenge is that it is forcing me to learn how to do new things with my camera. Today's challenge is silhouette and I've always loved silhouette pictures of people but did not have any idea how to actually take one myself! So I turned to trusty old google and found this nice list of tips. I tried to take some pictures earlier today with the morning sun coming in the front window, but the sun was too high and the tree across the street was in the way (and the window was filthy - I have no idea how that happened!) so this evening I made Ben and the girls take a walk to the park so I could try to take some more in the low sun.

It was a beautiful evening and I accidentally took this one, which I love!

And I also managed to get this one of Adele. I am so pleased with how these turned out, and will be taking a lot more in the future!

30 Day Photo Challenge Day 15: Silhouette