Switching Lenses

I have two lenses for my camera, a 50mm 1.8 and a 25mm 2.8. Both lenses were incredibly reasonably priced, and have served me well. Because of the camera body I have, the 50mm acts more like an 85mm, and the 25mm acts more like a 50mm. Consequently, while the 50 takes gorgeous shots with buttery bokeh, it also takes super close ups that just don’t work in a lot of situations where I don’t have room to back up. So for the most part, the 25 stays on my camera.

Since I was trying to get my photography mojo back I put the 50 on just to mess around with the girls. I kind of forgot that I had it on but kept taking pictures with it. When I pulled them into Lightroom I thought – whoa! That shot actually turned out! There’s Lucy! In all her glory that I’ve been trying to capture for years, but couldn’t do with my 25.

And hey! There’s my model Delaney with carrot juice around her mouth. I was going to do some sort of photo a day challenge in May, but then Lucy got sick and life just hasn’t really righted itself since. I kept thinking I would just start on the 3rd! Or the 5th! But that never happened either.

Instead, my photography challenge for the month of May is going to be to keep my 50mm lens on my camera, and find ways to take pictures with it this month. To see what shots I can find, to see what bokeh I can capture, to see which close ups find me.

Flower Planting v2013

Back in the day I shopped for and planted all of my flowers by myself. But that’s not that fun, plus it always needs to happen around my birthday and Mother’s Day, so might as well make it a family adventure. It’s fun to look at our flower planting adventures throughout the years. The girls have definitely gone from being mildly in the way to actually being really helpful.

We have our routine down. My dad loads up a wheel barrow full of dirt, I fill the containers 3/4 full with wet leaves, and my mom and the girls plant the flowers. My dirt was awesome this year, we didn’t have to augment with anything. Every fall I dump all of my pots in the corner of my backyard and let everything compost over the fall and winter. It makes for lovely dirt the next spring!

My poor dad. He was in charge of seeding the lawn. He had to push this heavy seeder thing and haul the big seed bags around. I’m now watering like a crazy person in the hopes that this is the summer my lawn makes a turn around back to green and lush.

I want to do a post on this, but I kept my 50mm lens on my camera this weekend and was wowed with some of the pictures I got from it. Shots I’ve tried to get in the past actually came through! Love this close up.

This kid would not stop planting. Delaney took a break and went inside to listen to her music, but Caden kept at it. Shoveling dirt into the containers, sprinkling osmocote, picking out plants, digging and watering. Gardening is in her blood! She maybe pushed it a little too far though, since she had some trouble sleeping. I have to remember that this one needs more breaks than her sister.

At the end my mom gave her a pot and all the leftover flowers. It’s a mishmash of petunias, snapdragons, and impatiens but she is insanely proud of it.

So pretty! My goal for the summer is to teach the girls how to water efficiently enough that it can be their chore. I love watering for about a week, and then I lose interest. But I love my beautiful containers! So hopefully this can be Caden’s thing.

Swinging v2013

I do love taking pictures of the girls swinging. I’ve got good light because the sun is setting, and the looks on their faces as they try to go higher and higher are always priceless. It’s childhood joy wrapped in a perfect bow.

It was the perfect evening last night. 70, gorgeous, no bugs. I threw my 50mm lens on and ran outside in my stiletto boots to grab these. Couldn’t pass up the shot!

Find my groove again

Now that it’s nice out and we have actual sunlight, I feel like I have to find my photography groove all over again. No more bumping up the ISO and putting them in front of a window just to get a decent shot! But now, where the hell is the light?

There it is. I feel like a newbie all over again. Also, my kids have been running around with perpetually dirty faces these days. It no longer bothers me.

Easter Party 2013

Saturday was my cousin Alyssa’s annual Easter party. Caden was Excited because it meant that 1) she got to dye eggs 2) there would be an Easter egg hunt and 3) Easter must be soon and that means candy! (She has asked every day if this is the day the Easter bunny is coming.) In case you have not purchased your egg dyeing kits yet, Alyssa had a color burst one that made really beautiful eggs.

After dyeing our fair share of eggs, the egg hunt was on!

They found 10 eggs between them which they pooled together to get prizes. I’m so happy they had enough eggs to ‘buy’ a water soaker! Caden is just squirting air with it now, and miraculously she hasn’t taken anyone’s eye out with it, but it’s still early.

Post egg hunt Delaney agreed to sit in front of the windows on my aunt’s white couches. Her bright pink sweatshirt dress against the white couch, I couldn’t resist.

Thank you AJ for the fabulous party!

Family Photos

I thought I had gotten more family pictures but alas, no. Oh well. It’s always difficult trying to get pictures with us together because I feel like a giant. And I hate when I have good hair and the picture falls flat!

Same outfits, different pose. Still not fabulous.

This was the last night of our trip. The lighting was perfect just outside my parents condo, and the ledge put us all at the same height. They were terrified they were going to fall off though, so all I could do was put my arms in front of them to hang on which looks silly. Also, someone should have told me my hair was flat. That’s what I get for letting it air dry.

And sunset family picture fail.

Caden on Vacation

This time, Caden in the shade changing her shoes. With a snotty nose.

I have a thing for close ups with the big blue sky in the background. Love this silly kid!

Sunset, Caden showing me a shell she found on the beach. I love this shirt on her, perfect colors for her.

This kid is such a fish. She was in and out of the water all day, splashing and jumping.

Delaney on Vacation

After one of our beach walks we came to the edge of the sand to put everyone’s shoes back on. It was perfectly shady so I snapped a few pictures. I should probably crop this a bit to get the other distracting things out, but oh well.

I swear we tried on swimsuits just before we left, but once down there two of them were suspiciously small on Delaney, so she was basically left with this Ariel suit. It’s her favorite suit so it wasn’t a hardship!

I love this picture because it is just so out trip. Her sunglasses on, big grin, with her hair in her face.

Another sunset picture. She was drawing things in the sand. What you don’t see here is her sister literally running circles around here, but I love that this is a moment of peace.

Sisters

This year I made a concerted effort to get a lot of pictures with both girls in the same shot. So often I end up with a bunch of pictures of each of them, but none together. I love these! They show their relationship so well.

Most of the time they had hats and/or sunglasses on while we were at the beach, so I love that you can see their eyes.

Against my better judgment I let the girls pick out these dresses. I’m not entirely sure why I was against them, I thought they wouldn’t fit well or something. But, they are gorgeous! Very summery, very twirly, perfect for them.

They picked these hats out at Old Navy. My girls are hat girls, especially Caden, so I knew fun hats would be perfect beach accessories. I die every time I see a picture of their hats. So adorable!

They were so goofy when we were trying to light their lanterns. I love this shot. Pure sister love joy. (Contemplating printing this one out for their room.)

Thrilled to be here aren’t they?

Happy Valentine’s Day! Unless my day goes completely haywire, we’re doing a low key dinner at home, followed by movie and popcorn on the couch.

**Fun photo fact. I was getting nothing but sad eyes from Delaney until I started singing ‘Tomorrow’ from Annie at the top of my lungs. They thought that was so hilarious, and turned to each other and laughed. Got it!