When in doubt, find a cute kid.
01/30/11 - Dennis
Rooster CogburnI ended a restful and enjoyable weekend by watching John Wayne in all his glory in the original "True Grit".
This was another Blackberry picture - for no good reason other than the fact that I was too comfy on the couch to get up and grab my DSLR (that's the kind of weekend it was).
01/30/11 - Lori
Papa's Girl
After a busy weekend, I was exhausted today and did not do much but watch Netflix Movies through the PS3 and take a 2-hour nap with Cassie. (I did change out of my pjs when she pooped on me, but only into new pjs). Cassie took over the controller by the end of the night ~ she scrolled through the movies available and started to watch Year One, which we found incredible appropriate. She then rated The Pelican Brief with 4 stars, which in my opinion was a bit generous.
01/29/11 - Lori
CabaroffeeFor a fundraiser (see yesterday's post), the Youth Group decided on a Cabaret/Coffee-House night which they named Cabaroffee. We transformed our Sanctuary into a Coffee House with card tables, rugs, floor pillows, candles, lights, and more. They lined up terrific acts including acoustic performances, a belly dancer, poetry readings, a magician, and more. We sold food and beverages such as mulled cider, flavored coffee and hot chocolate (with real whipped cream and chocolate syrup). There was an art gallery and a decorate your own cupcake area.
We had a packed house; one nice surprise was that at least 1/3 of our audience was not from our church. It was terrific to have a mix of familiar and new people to mingle with. Everyone was amazed not only how we transformed the place but also what a truly enjoyable evening it was. This experience will be one these teens will never forget ~ I will write many letters of reference based on their individual contributions. We arrived at 3pm to finish setting up, doors opened at 6:30 and the show started at 7pm. At 6pm we had a church full of performers, teens, and parents. I called our group into the Sanctuary and closed the doors so that everyone could take a moment to absorb what we had done. We then thanked each individual person for their contributions and took this picture.
The night was an amazing success; we surpassed our fundraising goal of $600 and I have a feeling it's something the members of our church will be talking about for a long time.
01/28/11 - Lori
Youth Group
Tonight I have to upload a whole weekend's posts, and they are all quick snapshots unfortunately. This weekend was a classic example of being just too busy for photography.
As an Advisor for my church's Youth Group, I proposed an idea last fall to take the group on a Zip Line/Team Building day. I approached the church board to advance us the funds for the trip, and promised that the group would use their team building skills to organize a fundraiser at a later date to reimburse the church. Most churches are broke and ours is no exception. I was scared to ask but it paid off ~ they said yes. This weekend was the fundraiser .. Friday night we met at the church to set up and had a pasta dinner to talk about how we were feeling about the next night's activities. Answers ranged from "Stressed" to "Excited" to "Confident" to "Nervous".
01/30/01 - Amy
"Getting Ready"Once again, I could have played around with this some more, to get a better angle, point of view, etc., but I just didn't have the time, and was more interested in getting ready...
What I liked about this image was how you can see the hand that is taking the picture in my eyeball.
01/29/11 - Amy
"My Makeup"Thinking about my collection of books got me thinking of my 'collection' of make-up, cleansers, lotions, perfumes and jewellery, of which I am equally proud. (A friend of mind recently told me that my apartment looks like the female equivalent of a bachelor pad, because of all the girly things in it.) I've always been into books, but this side of me is relatively new.
I could have spent a lot more time on this photo, choosing the right angle, set-up, and editing it better as well, but I just didn't feel like it. Plus, I have somewhere to be tonight, so I had better start getting ready...back to my make-up! :)
01/28/11 - Amy
"My Books"Paul, I had the idea for this photo long before you posted your picture of "Someone Else's Books," I swear!
These are my books, this is my office. I love being surrounded by my books as I sit there working. And yes, I have read them all!
(No, not really! Just kidding! But I'm working on it...)
01/27/11 - Paul
I took this photo nearly twenty-four hours before I posted it here.
It wasn't much of a photo day for me.
Where's Dennis?
01/27/11 - Amy
"Fun in the Sun"I had a few minutes to kill before a meeting this morning, and had a lot of fun taking pictures of the very shiny sun on and around the playing fields behind my office (where my 'lines' picture was taken - the one with the rail). The pictures didn't come out as good as I had hoped, but I sure enjoyed taking them! If I had more energy I would sort through and edit the rest of them to get a better image, but I'll just go with this one for today.
01/26/11 - Lori
We took Frenchie to his new apartment in Staten Island today. This is across the street from his new house; I am not sure what it is but loved it for it's color! I only had a moment to snap a shot, because it was snowing hard and Jim was anxious to get on the road home ~ I've learned to snap fast when he's in a hurry. I purposely used the flash on my P&S to grab some of the snow flakes and was pleased it worked. (although I would have liked to have seen more!) I know I'll re-shoot this many ways when we go back!More images from our trip today here
01/26/11 - Amy
"Proof That I'm Insane"This one's for Lori, MarkB and Carmen.
I can't tell you all how much it meant to me that you liked my bath photo. The photo was the one saving grace in an otherwise long and crappy day, so for that kind of day to have produced such an image, and one that so many people liked, meant a lot to me - in a lemonade out of lemons kind of way. Anyway, the response to this image totally got me out of the dumps, so, thank you, and thanks, PAD!
I worked from home all day today, so I didn't leave the house. I had taken a few photos of my notes that I was going to use for PAD today, but they just weren't inspiring. I just got a new computer - a MacBook, my first Mac. I haven't really had time to play around with it until today. I was so happy about the bath photo that I decided to make it my desktop photo. Then I got the idea to take a picture of the computer with that photo as the desktop and my fingers on the keyboard - fingers and toes. But it just wasn't working, because of the light in my apartment, and the shadows it was casting. So I moved into the bathroom, where it was brighter. I sat on the edge of the tub, and tried to take the picture again. And then I got this bright idea...
I was having so much fun taking the picture, thinking about sharing it with you guys - I was taking it for you - but I was also laughing at how kooky it was to be sitting in my bathtub with my brand new MacBook (didn't even think about the water and electronics combo!) and trying to take this picture! I am clearly insane, but in a good way!
PS the resolution looks great (to me) on my shiny new MacBook, but I have no idea if it will look that way on other screens - Dennis, I hear your pain about the difference between the screen resolution on a Mac versus PCs!
01/25/11 - Paul
If it weren't National Opposite Day I would have used this picture I took of Shelley this evening.
However, I opted for the cheesier route instead, saw these colors this morning, and thought they'd look good as a negative. I think I was right.
1/25/11 - Lori
Here We Go AgainCassie is reading about Jungle Animals while waiting for the doctor to tell us about the 3rd ear infection in 5 weeks. (Specialist, here we come) As usual, my "Good-Mood Girl" was a trooper, causing others in the waiting area to ask if she was really sick.
I've done a lot of thinking about PAD this week. For me, it's as much of a journal as anything. Although I strive to take photos like Paul's church or Amy's bath, snapshots like this win out for me as a tale of my story. Sure - I will work to improve even these little snapshots, however I am allowing myself to let go of the natural instinct to be down when I am not taking more creative/technically accomplished photos. Life as overwhelming as it is, these snapshots are a release for me. Or something. I'm grateful for whatever it is. (that being said, I will take my camera next time I take a bath, promise!) ;)
PS - Happy 8-Month Birthday, Cassie!
01/24/11 - Lori
"Overwhelmed"I was so overwhelmed yesterday that I didn't even get to post this picture until tonight. Those boxes lined up on the other side of my desk are not for me, but are a physical reminder of how I feel about the work there is to do while I sit at this desk. I love my job and am grateful for it, however lately it's just a bit overwhelming. I have a difficult time drawing straight lines from where that feeling ends and the feelings of "not enough time in the day" begin outside of work. My Youth Group has a fundraiser this week, we are moving our Frenchie to his apartment in Staten Island tomorrow in the middle of a forecasted Nor'Easter, Jim's now sick, and Cassie has her 3rd ear infection in 5 weeks. 104 fevers are the pits. Overwhelmed, indeed.
01/25/11 - Amy
"The Only Thing that Made me Smile Today"For the record, this was not my lunch; it was my colleague's. In the middle of a crappy day, after a series of crappy days, which belong to a crappy week, when he brought this over to the table, I started to laugh out loud. It was the only thing that made me smile today. It might not be as obvious from this picture, but it is a baked potato with tuna salad filling - although the tuna is hilariously overflowing from the potato - yes, it is under there somewhere!
I asked him if I could take a picture of it, and here it is.
01/23/11 - Lori
"Snapshot"I took a bunch of pictures while at John's house tonight, some were better portraits than this. When trying to find a PAD, I kept coming back to this one. Something about the angle, the football and her expression I guess. For a snapshot, I liked it.
01/22/11 - Dennis
"Grumpy"
Ben was having a rough day - especially when he realized that his Dad was taking pictures of him again.
01/22/11 - Lori
"Waiting"I thought for sure today's PAD would be of Julien, our French Exchange Student from 2005-2006 who came back to the U.S. today. Instead, I took this shot of Jim while we were waiting for Julien at JFK today and loved it.
01/21/11 - Lori
Sigh. This is the first time I am posting something I am disappointed in. I've posted things I didn't care about before, however this time I tried and did not get the result I wanted. I intended to take more pics last night, however it just never happened. So here you have it. I was playing with shutter speed while driving. Hey - at least I wasn't texting!
01/21/11 - Amy
"The Calm Before the Storm"Exam papers and booklets are laid out just before the students are allowed to enter the room and begin their finals.
01/20/11 - Paul
"For Amy and Dennis"
I'm sorry to leave Lori out of this one but I had to go with the automotive / curves theme that Dennis started and Amy followed.
Of course, that makes me wonder whether a single photo alone can really represent a theme or must subsequent similar photos by their own nature assign that quality to the first. Damn - it's too late for that kind of crap.
I took only a few tonight as I'm still doing the single Dad thing while Shelley paints the town up in Seattle and time was tight. I saw the two other photos and decided that since I can never get enough of taking car pictures that I'd be happy to throw one together this evening. First I took a shot of Shelley's car but I was entirely unhappy with it. When we all made it home I took three or four minutes in the garage and took the photo above.
I actually prefer this photo over the one I posted here but felt that it (the one I didn't post) didn't quite follow the theme as closely.
01/20/11 - Dennis
"From another planet..."This is a simple little lamp I have sitting next to my desk. I'm amazed at how PAD has changed the way I look at things these days. I looked over tonight at the lamp that has been sitting there for years and just suddenly realized how beautiful the curves and shapes are that make up the design. It reminds me of a spaceship taking off in a swirling, twisting pattern.
The curves continue!
01/20/11 - Lori
"Splish Splash"I missed my girl all day today. Tonight I was disappointed when she fell asleep early because I wanted more time with her. Bath time is fun time ~ I usually sing, "Splish Splash I was taking a bath.." I do not know the rest of the words, so I just make up something to go with the day and try to rhyme as well as I can. (I dread the day when she realizes I cannot sing.)
20/01/11 - Amy
"For Dennis"(told you I'd get you next time!)
So, I was driving to work and happened to glance down and notice the way that the sunlight was glinting off the Mini logo on my steering wheel. Who did I think of? That's right - Dennis, who posted a similar picture yesterday (well, of his car, and about curves). I had actually taken a similar picture one night a few weeks ago, which was an attempt at a PAD picture, but I didn't like the results, so I scrapped it. For some reason, whenever anyone gets into Minnie, they always comment on her dashboard and how cool it looks. (Of course I think she looks cool, but I'm her mom!) So, the planets all finally aligned to get me the picture that I wanted, which ticked a few other boxes: a picture for Dennis that I had promised, and a picture involving curves.
I hope I have sufficiently made all PAD members sniffly this week! ;-)
01/19/11 - Dennis
"Curves"I decided to shake things up a bit around here and post a picture with some curves. I wasn't sure what to expect with this shot, but I like the rounded edges and dimension.
01/19/11 - Paul
I'm not sure why I'm posting this one today, except perhaps to simply demonstrate just how badly I need to get my sensor cleaned.
01/19/11 - Lori
"The Morning After"Funny how annoyances can be rectified with photography. This was a VERY icy morning. Our 2-car driveway is reduced to a one-car width due to the several feet of snow that has fallen. Add the ice from yesterday and it was a mess out there. I needed Jim to move his car so I could get out early, however he was moving at a different pace than I hoped. While starting cars and scraping ice, I noticed this scene - annoyance gone with a few clicks of the shutter!
01/19/11 - Amy
"For Lori, Paul, and PAD"(sorry Dennis...I'll get you next time! when you read the story, you'll understand, although you are still included in the dedication under the PAD label!!! :)
Today was one of those insanely busy days where I had to be in three places at once, in meetings and seminars, yet also on email (and I didn't bring my netbook in with me, so I was constantly running back to my office!). As I was walking from one meeting to the next, I walked past this place that I walk past several times a week, and I noticed the trees. They made me think of Lori, and her photo from yesterday (I think), and her comments about how she loves trees. Then I saw the tracks in the mud, and I thought of Paul, and his comment about how he liked the tracks in the mud in my picture from Saturday. So then of course I thought of PAD, and how it is so cool that I am connected to these three other people in various parts of the world, and how awesome it was that because of PAD, when I noticed the trees and the tracks, I stopped and paused for one moment out of my day to think about these people, and it was just, well...a lovely moment. So, I snapped a few shots, none of them really all that good, and then I took this last one on my way back from the meeting....for all of you :-)
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