Double

March 31, 2016March 31, 201610 Comments

For today’s challenge, I had a little bit of fun:

My younger two boys go everywhere together, and they’re so similar in size that I get asked all the time if they’re twins (they’re not). The first image is of my father-in-law exploring an auction with them. The second image is my husband exploring our new farm with the same two boys. I love that I was able to create two such similar photographs. These are two of my favorite pictures of my boys.

Do you have favorite candid shots of your family?

Glass

March 29, 2016March 31, 20162 Comments

This is one of my all-time favorite glass photos:

IMG_20131205_112005

It’s the bathroom window in my old house on a frosty winter morning. The window faced west, and I love the way the early morning light was captured in the frozen condensation. This image is so full of color and texture that I could stare at it for hours.

Landscape

March 25, 20166 Comments

There’s an old joke about winter in Iowa and how Iowa is the most beautiful state. It’s written in the form of diary entries by someone who’s just moved here, and as summer turns to winter and finally to spring, the writer’s attitude about my home state grows worse and worse. It’s hilarious because I’ve thought similar things at some point in my life.

That said, Iowa really is a beautiful state. We have it all, from rocky bluffs and high hills to plains where you can see for miles. There’s no other place I’d rather be from. Behold, the glory of the Hawkeye State!

Have a safe and happy Easter weekend, everybody!

Scale

March 24, 20162 Comments

There are many things I love about this picture:

I love the colors. I love how otherworldly the whole scene feels. But what I love most is the memories I have from the day I shot this picture. I was out in the yard with my kids, teaching them a few things about photography for their 4-H projects. I happened to see this lonely little violet underneath one of the pine trees in our yard, and I couldn’t help shooting it.

There’s a whole other world out there. You just have to get down in the dirt to find it.

Also? That’s a twig in the picture, not a full-size branch. 🙂

Moment

March 23, 20164 Comments

Last weekend I attended my goddaughter’s first birthday party, and all I can say is holy cuteness:

“But Mom…”

“…I have to serve the tea!”

Her favorite gift seemed to be the talking tea set. And who could blame her? Tea should be part of every day. As a character in a fantastic book once said, “Life is not bearable without tea.”

Architecture

March 22, 201610 Comments

I’m lucky to live in an area full of beautiful old buildings. From churches to courthouses to businesses and homes, Iowa has a wealth of beautiful architecture.

I can’t wait for warmer weather so I can go capture some more of it.

Do you have lots of old buildings where you live?

Connect

March 14, 2016March 15, 20162 Comments

This is what happens when you connect with a tree:

connect

Our first family sledding trip was somewhat more eventful than expected. We took them out to the lake, got the sleds all set up, and watched with bated breath as the kids took off down the hill. But then Thumper’s sled veered right.

He was flying down the hill and headed right for a stand of trees.

Exeriment: Composition!

March 13, 2016March 14, 20168 Comments

I love shooting the sky:

I have more pictures of the sky than you can shake a stick at, and I love them all equally. Well, I love most of them equally. Narrowing it down to eighteen was hard work, especially as I’d intended to narrow it down to ten…

What’s your favorite thing to photograph?

Water

March 9, 2016March 12, 20162 Comments

Today’s Photo 101 prompt involves water. I have lots of pictures of water – trying to choose just one was not easy!

But there was an added challenge for this post, and it involved orientation. Vertical or horizontal – which one’s better?

In this case, I like the vertical one best:

: Water still as glass…

: …made for great fishing. 🙂

These are some old pictures; Bubbles was only three when these were taken. This was his first-ever fishing trip, and it spoiled him a little bit because he caught a fish just about every time he dropped his line in the water. They bit quickly, too – none of that waiting business that so often goes along with fishing.

If only every fishing trip could be like this one… 🙂

Home

March 7, 2016March 7, 20166 Comments

That’s me on the bottom right. Thank goodness high-water pants haven’t made a comeback.

Home is where your story begins.

My story began in a modest red house on a quiet corner in a small town. But nothing stays the same for long, and when my little sister arrived a couple years later, that quiet corner became considerably less quiet.

And so it goes.

Many years (and even more plot twists) later, I left that modest red house with its white garage and its yard full of trees behind me as I ventured out into the world. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to go back to that little red house on the corner, but it was too late. I was too grown up.

Maybe you can’t go home again, but you can always take it with you.

You can’t go home again.

So I made my own home. Several times over, in fact. And while I think it’s true that you can’t go home again, that’s only because I believe that home is something we carry with us wherever we go. Home is in our memories. Home is in the way we look at the world. Home is the way we treat others.

Home is a state of mind, a way of being, a feeling that can’t be taken away.

When I think of home, I think of the warmth of my grandma’s kitchen. I think of the hustle and bustle that went into family get-togethers. I remember the after-dinner tea and cookies, and how all of those things came together the morning after my second wedding as we all congregated in the kitchen of my new home.

Home is family. Home is friends.