52 Week Photography Challenge: Week 1 - Rule of Thirds

We've completed the first week of 2017, though it already feels like it's been longer than a week. I started hearing commercials for tax prep and it feels weird.  Like, we can't already be back at the part of the year where we pay taxes, right?!

The challenges are separated into three categories; Story-Telling, Technical, and Artistic Impression.

Story: Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is the first compositional rule most photographers learn; but most don't know why they learn it.  The rule of thirds is amazing for telling a story.  Tell a story using rule of thirds.

I didn't have a plan for what images I was going to take for the challenge this week. I tried to just keep it in mind whenever I picked up my camera or felt inspired.  While I want to make sure that I use my actual camera/DSLR more often, sometimes the best camera is the one you have with you. While I'm at the barn, I have my phone 100% of the time so it becomes my go to.  Plus, I like being able to share my photos on Instagram and Facebook. I like the instant feedback (read: attention HA!).

Leia and Chewie love playing in the snow and we've been getting snow so I took them outside and kept the rule of thirds challenge in my mind.  Yoda isn't a fan of the snow, but he likes following me.

Dusty and Scout seemed completely uninterested in the snow, they just wanted the hay, some attention from Carus, and maybe a cookie.

Scout rarely doesn't head straight for Carus the second he sees her.  The only times he's decided the grass he's eating is more important only lasts until she crinkles a peppermint wrapper or she comes into the pasture.

The photos of the dogs are DSLR and the horses are phone with Instagram filters.

More information about the Dogwood Photography 52 Week Photography Challenge can be found here.

#dogwood52, #dogwood2017, and #dogwoodweek1

Project 52 - Weeks 11 and 12 - Letters and Food

I totally half-assed these two themes. I only found a small number of Letters to work with the theme and then I went back to photographing the tree blossoms while they are around. 

"A"

"Z" or Backwards "S"

"H" 

(If only it wasn't tagging. If you're gonna tag - make it pretty and not just a 'gang' call sign.)

The white blossoms are really striking.  Especially with the beautiful blue skies we got in abundance in March.  I know we need the rain - and the mountains need snow - but I have been really enjoying our unusually warm and dry winter/early spring.  

Even though the white blossoms are gorgeous, I adore the pink ones 10 times more. It's such a soft, happy pastel pink.  The pink trees seem to have blossoms longer than the white ones too, which makes it easier to admire them.  

Originally with the theme Food I envisioned making at least one delicious meal or dessert and trying to properly photograph that.  

Instead I played with my fajita peppers after Grandpa Alan's Mexican restaurant birthday dinner.  And then documented it with my cell phone and Instagram.  

Playing with my food.

A photo posted by Rebecca C (@smiles4u2have) on Mar 22, 2015 at 5:11pm PDT

Still playing.

A photo posted by Rebecca C (@smiles4u2have) on Mar 22, 2015 at 5:14pm PDT

One last one.

A photo posted by Rebecca C (@smiles4u2have) on Mar 22, 2015 at 5:17pm PDT

Next theme:  Red

Click here for posts for Project 52 in 2015 so far.

Scout and Carus

Just doing a little riding.



It's amazing, the second I step out of the car at the barn a weight seems to lift from my shoulders.

Nothing and no one needs anything of me while I'm there.

The peace I get from a few hours at the barn here and there make the rest of day/week and all the stress that much easier to handle.

*Video is posted from Instagram and may not show up in emails forms of this blog post, please visit the blog to watch the video at http://smiles4u2have.blogspot.com/

Grilled Chicken Marinade

In our attempts to recreate The Gyro House chicken for gyros at home (to save time and money of going there) we stumbled on our new go-to marinade for grilled chicken. It not only works for gyros, but for salads and wraps, and with many side dishes.  It's a combination of probably 6 or 7 different recipes I found online, some advice from a friend, and some trial and error but I think I have it to the point where I can share it.



Getting ready to make the marinade with the new measuring cups my mother-in-law bought me.  I normally just eyeball a LOT of my homemade recipes so I started with the low end measurement of what I thought I usually used and added up.  Good news is, I guessed the measurement right on most of the ingredients.  Score!

Grilled Chicken Marinade

3-4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half width-wise* (or butterfly them)
1/4 c. Olive oil
2 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tbsp Minced garlic (5-6 cloves)
1 tbsp Tahini
1 tbsp Red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Brown sugar
1/2 tsp Curry**
1/4 tsp Mustard powder
1/2 tsp Coarse ground pepper

Mix the marinade ingredients together well and then add chicken breasts making sure they're coated.

Place all of the ingredients in a plastic freezer bag and remove as much air as possible when closing the bag. Alternatively, leave all the ingredients in the bowl and then cover with plastic wrap, making sure that the plastic wrap touches the chicken.  Just pull off a piece of plastic a bit larger than you'd need and press it down on the chicken starting in the middle and working to the sides.  Tuck it into the side a bit.  You can cover the bowl with a second piece of plastic wrap if you'd like.  Having it touch the chicken removes the air and allows them to marinade better. (I've tested this so trust me.)

*Cut the chicken by placing your hand on top of the breast and carefully cutting the breast in half like you are going to butterfly them, but you just cut all the way through.  Hey look, YouTube link on how to butterfly a chicken breast.

**Even if you don't like curry, put the curry in.  Trust me.  You can cut the amount down, but DO NOT cut it by more than half (1/4 tsp curry).  Robert is not a fan of curry.  In fact, he has often proclaimed loudly how much he HATES it - but he keeps telling me to put more curry into the marinade. So really, trust me. I've tested this out too.

I need more weekend in my weekends

It was absolutely gorgeous this weekend.  High 60s, bright and sunny.  Just a gorgeous fall day where there is a little nip in the air, but the sun is still bright and warm.

285/365
Saturday I took a nap because my throat was feeling scratchy (again) and I had a headache, and then I spent the evening sewing a tulle skirt for Carus - most likely for Halloween.  I don't think we're aiming for something in particular, just a pretty foofy dress for dressing up because if it's for Halloween then you don't have to be all self conscious about dressing up.



286/365
Sunday I was feeling better, and it was still gorgeous outside so we did yard work.  We trimmed one of the three rose of Sharon bushes and that filled stuffed the yard debris bin so we have to wait to trim the other two.  Then, we cleaned up the garden a bit more, dug up the last of the potatoes (only found 5, what the hell?) and planted some garlic.  I planted 4 rows of garlic in a 3 foot by 6 foot (not 100% on how long so don't quote me there) section and I still had cloves to plant. Maybe I'll get a bit more soil and finish off the last 3 foot (ish) square section at the end of the row with garlic.  I need more soil - with compaction and erosion, the soil we have is no longer enough. It will allow us to introduce more fertilizer too.  We had hoped to wait until spring but had to use up the last bit of soil in the shed from this year for the garlic bed.

I had planned on snapping a quick photo of the garlic bed shortly after planting, but got distracted with other stuff and didn't remember until sunset.  Specifically, the end of sunset and now we have a rather dark photo... Meh, you get the gist.

A week in Instagram

279/365 - Yoda curled up next to Adam


280/365 Feeling cute - work bathroom selfie.


281/365 A favorite evening - watching shows with Robert and editing pics.


282/365 View while grilling dinner. The door was open for the dogs playing revolving door.



283/365 Becca does a sleep study:  My room for the night.  I did it because Robert thinks I snore and that I have sleep apnea.



The sleep study went well, I guess.  I slept. I didn't sleep better than usual; possibly a bit worse since I kept getting tangled up in the wires. I do not like having wires and breathing monitors on my face.  It was also very weird to think that I was being taped while I slept.  My legs, for some odd reason, feel like I walked a few miles which is weird and I have no idea what to make of it.  Also, I might be getting sick and I'm feeling grumpy and bitchy and the whining may or may not be related to that or the sleep study.  Basically, I was taken out of my comfort zone with the study and I'm not too happy about it.  Moving on...

284/365 Are you comfy, Yoda?


I'll try to pull my actual camera out next week - and I'll probably be finishing the year in weekly posts or not at all - I don't know.  Whatever I end up doing.  I have the desire to be more creative...now to find the inspiration...

Hello October, hello fall

274/365 - Timmy curled up on the dog cat bed.



275/365 - Rain and clouds on one side (left) and sunny clear skies on the other (right).



276/365 - Hydrangea in it's fall colors.


277/365 - Fall wreath is up. Makes me smile.


278/365 - Final green bean harvest, blanched and ready for the freezer.  I went out to harvest them since there was a warning of possible frost and ended up clearing out the garden.  I'll get my garlic planted soon and then plan for the spring.

The last of September

271/365
Pouring (really really pouring) rain on the car window. I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for Robert to just run in and grab something - 2 minutes  (translation 20 minutes).

272/365
Canning spaghetti sauce.  I made a double batch of sauce which gave me enough jars that it took three rounds to can them all.  This was two rounds down, third one in the canner, all the dishes that I had washed (for the fifth time that day) and my celebratory glass of wine.



273/365
Yoda and Wilbur cuddling.

The Almost Final 7 Days

7 days had their fall run, and their second to last run, in September.  It started 7 years ago, and has been fun so it's being ended on a high note. I wish I had found it sooner.  It is a fun group of people participating all over the world.  Hopefully I can stay in touch with them through Facebook and Twitter and such.

All my other 7 Days posts are here.

Carus and I participated in the Chalk Art Festival even though it was supposed to rain all day that day.  It stayed dry until late afternoon with a few sprinkles around noon, which happened to be when we finished our big pink bunny.


264/365
After the festival we chalked her hair.  It looked great, but the chalk dusted off EVERY where... it didn't really stain anything but it wasn't practical not letting her sit on furniture and all so we went and got some colored hairspray which works better (though doesn't last that long).  We don't want to use chemical hair dye on her hair yet...



265/365
Everyone was feeling crummy so I made homemade chicken noodle soup.  It was good, though we did continue to fight the crummies for the rest of the week.


266/365
I finally finished the wedding photos and uploaded them to PASS.   Check out my Facebook business page for a few of those pictures, and the PASS link while it's still up.


267/365
Robert was playing a game with my brother Bud online and Bud got ice cream - so Robert went and got us ice cream.  It also helped the feeling crummy.


268/365
Trying a new recipe for Gyros. (To copy a local restaurants gyros.)  The chicken marinade was missing something, but I did get the tzatziki sauce so YAY.



269/365
Sunflower in my garden.


270/365
Adam was playing in the band at the football game so Carus and I went to watch the game.  I watched the game and she hung out with her friends.

September ended, I can wake up now.

I love September.  In theory.  The beginning of fall - which I do love - and all that goes with it.

In reality though, we are not the greatest of friends.  I always feel overwhelmed and flustered and stressed and depressed and ANXIOUS about all of the things. Always.  It probably has a lot to do with the autumnal equinox and the rapidly changing amount of light that brings out those feelings with me as it does with many others.

But it's October now, and I'm feeling better.

I know I have a hard time with September so I planned ahead and took a day off for me.  A day where I could do what I wanted or needed to do while the kids were in school and have not have to worry about work.  I took it on a Friday - and after I ran some errands in the morning I convinced a friend to bring her newborn over so I could take a couple pictures of him.



Walter was more interested in eating than sleeping for photos so I didn't get too many, and it hasn't worked out to get anymore newborn photos.



Adam had some friends over to play games to celebrate his birthday and he agreed to let Carus throw him a Minecraft themed party.  We had red vines as "TNT", carrots and watermelon as themselves, chips and dip, cucumbers and dip, pizza (of course) and a Creeper decorated cake.  Carus planned, and helped make and put together everything for the party - even drawing the signs.

While spending some gift cards we've had laying around far too long I found this crate - which is a new prop for putting babies - or pug dogs (or cats, etc) in for photos.  Yoda was very cooperative and would jump in and sit down for me.


Providence (the hospital/health care group I work for) has forums for it's employees to keep us informed of progress and plans, etc.  At the end of each forum they do a drawing to give away a little prize.  I won this time - a gift basket with coffee and chocolate.  The chocolate was good - I haven't tried the coffee yet.


We were able to line up schedules one last time for me to run over to do this shot of my friends kids with baby Walter.  She saw this idea on Pinterest and loved it and so did I.  I'm glad we got it, I love it. (Of course Walter wanted to sleep that day!)


Dogs begging for treats from Robert - who got into the closet for paper towels or something.  They did get a treat too.


A good portion of September was stormy and wet.  We had 8-10 inches of rain in September.  Lots of gray skies and wet.



But fall does have lovely sunsets.

Busy Busy Becca

HA! See what I did there with the title.

I amuse myself.

So yeah! I've been busy with kids and school and me and work and Robert and him driving me nuts (someone give that man a job!) and Saturday I photographed a wedding.  I took Carus along as my second shooter/assistant and she did great! It was a long, bright, sunny (translation: bit warm) day. But it was a perfect day for a wedding.  I used to work with the bride before she left us (*sniff*).  It was a gorgeous wedding.  The Love is strong in these two. (Robert said he could see The Love in the pictures.) I'll share more photos when I'm done (and she's seen them, of course).  I'm loving all the images I got so it's been easy to pick the best of the best - I just have to make sure everyone is looking at me and smiling.

250/365 This was their first sneak peak of the images.  I love how content she looks to be in his arms.


 Since I've been working on wedding images I haven't picked up my big camera for 365s and have a bunch of Instagram photos for the rest of this week.

251/365 - Putting braids in Carus's hair so she will have crimpy hair in the morning. (Yes, that's Leia's nose. She's nosy.)


See.  Also: I do love her style.


252/365 - My garden is still growing.  Actually, even though the trees are starting to change colors and drop their leaves and we had some big thunderstorms last week, we've been getting into the 90s this week...so bonus summer?  Late summer?  Either way, it's been good for growing stuff.

One of my volunteer sunflowers (volunteer = a bird or squirrel planted the seed for me)


The tomatoes are FINALLY turning red.  Unfortunately I'm not getting enough at once to can them, which is what I wanted to do.  Meh, there's always next year.


Lady bug hanging out on a sunflower stalk.


253/365 - See the black dot above the toilet?  That's a spider hanging there.  I used the restroom, got in the shower, and when I got out this guy was hanging there.  Where I was moments before (it was a quick shower).  I've since found one sitting on my shoulder as I went to start working, Robert squished one after it interrupted his vid-ya game ('video game' said like Hank from King of the Hill), and then he missed one that was running across the floor towards the bed last night.  It ran under the bed and hasn't been seen since.  I'm choosing to believe he vacated the premises.  Or that the boogeyman got him for me.  From the consensus on Facebook, it looks like all the spiders are coming inside to escape the heat.


I don't have a problem with spiders and actually find them fascinating - when they are outside or behind glass or in pictures and videos.  They may give me the heebie jeebies, but they will get to live.  In fact, there are a few in the garden and I've even brushed by them/touched them and I didn't kill them (I did do some involuntary karate). (Anything I know to be poisonous, however, will be squished. Very squished.)

254/365 - Bitty Kitty Wilbur. Cause he's cute.