All natural light from a window, camera right, and another one behind Bradley, camera left.
I turned the lamp on, and man, what a difference! Not sure which one I like better. Still, it’s interesting to study how light changes everything. I think the bottom one is more dramatic, and the top one is more natural. Hmmm, which one do you like better?
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:42 am
This is Wally’s senior year, and his last year performing with his younger sister, Sammie, in the high school productions. I’ve known Wally and Sammie for many years, watched them grow up, so seeing both of them performing with such skill, grace and maturity was a bit shocking, and quite endearing too. The whole cast did an excellent job!
As a gift to Sammie and Wally, here’s a little one minute slide show. The final photograph in the show, taken as the lights were dimming for the last time, is my absolute favorite.
Turn up the sound, click here, and enjoy the show!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 1:06 pm
Nineteen days after Easter: A few buds on the dogwood we’ve been watching are really quite beautiful!
Special note to readers in my microclimate (Metuchen and Edison): how are your dogwoods doing? Mine tends to flower-up a week ahead of most, and lose its leaves a week later, so I was just wondering if that trend is happening this year.
Nobody guessed that the tree would blossom by the nineteenth day after Easter. The next guess would be my original guess, made about a week before Easter — I said the tree would reach full blossom by April 13. But I’m not so sure about that now!
Carolina Girl said 23 days after Easter — April 15.
Steve G. said 24 days — April 16.
Nancy said 25 days — April 17.
Melissa said 38 days — April 30.
Jeff from Linden said 40 days — May 2.
Gabe said 51 days past Easter — May 13.
Readers have been trying to guess the number of days past Easter that our tree will reach FULL BLOSSOM, or, the point at which the majority of the blossom buds on the tree are all open to their fullest point. Hope you’re not too bored watching my dogwood! Not sure if I’ll manage to get a shot on Saturday. My camera’s in the shop getting the sensor cleaned (so I wouldn’t be able to get the shot early in the morning) and I have a very full schedule after that, including a big date tomorrow night to see Guys and Dolls at the high school with my sweet little Gregory. Love you, Gregory!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:30 am
Eighteen days after Easter: The dogwood we’ve been watching really doesn’t seem all that close to full blossom yet. This is taking longer than I thought it would!
Cheryl guessed the tree would be at full blossom by today, 18 days after Easter — April 10. Sorry Cheryl — she’s not there yet!
My original guess was 21 days — April 13.
Carolina Girl said 23 days after Easter — April 15.
Steve G. said 24 days — April 16.
Nancy said 25 days — April 17.
Melissa said 38 days — April 30.
Jeff from Linden said 40 days — May 2.
Gabe said 51 days past Easter — May 13.
Readers have been trying to guess the number of days past Easter that our tree will reach FULL BLOSSOM, or, the point at which the majority of the blossom buds on the tree are all open to their fullest point. Those of us who put our guesses in early are biting the dust quick! But the best is yet to come! (I’m betting there’s going to be some new night shots coming soon.)
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:30 am
Seventeen days after Easter: From a distance, she still looks like the dead of winter.
But if you look up close at the dogwood we’ve been watching (wearing your rose colored glasses), the beauty of the intense colors might just make you gasp!
But plenty of buds are still fully enclosed, even if the baby leaves aren’t.
We have 11 guesses as to how many days past Easter it will take our dogwood to reach full blossom.
My Gemini optimistic alter ego lost when she said 11 days.
Brad and Heidi both said 17 days — April 9. Sorry Brad and Heidi. She’s not there yet!
Cheryl said 18 days — April 10.
My original guess was 21 days — April 13.
Carolina Girl said 23 days after Easter — April 15.
Steve G. said 24 days — April 16.
Nancy said 25 days — April 17.
Melissa said 38 days — April 30.
Jeff from Linden said 40 days — May 2.
Gabe said 51 days past Easter — May 13.
Thanks to all the readers who guessed the number of days past Easter that our tree will reach FULL BLOSSOM, or, the point at which the majority of the blossom buds on the tree are all open to their fullest point. Please don’t get too bored of dogwood pictures. The best is yet to come!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:30 am
The other night, several youth from my church went to a puppet show featuring the PETER Puppets.
In the picture above, “Skip” is trying to figure out what to do about a peer pressure problem.
He gets some solid advice from an old friend.
And he sings too!
The youth from our church who went to the show are part of our own puppet ministry. The kids research, write, rehearse and perform stories at our church, so we thought it would be educational for them to see how the pros do it!
At the end of the show, Chris, of PETER Puppets, spoke to our kids about how he got his start in puppet ministry.
Our kids were inspired by the show and are excited to continue to develop stories for our church! We’re doing a promo skit this Sunday during Children’s Time for this summer’s Vacation Bible School featuring Prince William! Shhhhh! Don’t want to give too much away. See you in church on Sunday! It’s going to be so much fun!
P.S. Note to Chris and the PETER Puppets: My 7-year-old son, Gregory, whispered to me during the show: “Mom, they spelled ‘Soda Shop’ backwards.”
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 2:40 pm
Sixteen days after Easter: Am I weird?
The dogwood we’ve been watching is slowly beginning to blossom!
IT’S SO EXCITING TO WATCH TREES GROW!
We have 11 guesses now as to how many days past Easter it will take our dogwood to reach full blossom.
My Gemini optimistic alter ego lost when she said 11 days.
Brad and Heidi both said 17 days — April 9.
Cheryl said 18 days — April 10.
My original guess was 21 days — April 13.
Carolina Girl said 23 days after Easter — April 15.
Steve G. said 24 days — April 16.
Nancy said 25 days — April 17.
Melissa said 38 days — April 30.
Jeff from Linden said 40 days — May 2.
Gabe said 51 days past Easter — May 13.
What’s your guess? We’re guessing the number of days past Easter that our tree will reach FULL BLOSSOM, or, the point at which the majority of the blossom buds on the tree are all open to their fullest point. (These early blossoms shown today will be fallen to the ground by then.)
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:30 am
Fifteen days after Easter: LOOKY LOOKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SHE’S OPENING UP!!!!!!!!!!
The dogwood we’ve been watching is actually beginning to blossom!
We have 10 guesses now as to how many days past Easter it will take our dogwood to reach full blossom.
My Gemini optimistic alter ego said 11 days. (Come and gone.)
Brad and Heidi both said 17 days — April 9.
Cheryl said 18 days — April 10.
My original guess was 21 days — April 13.
Carolina Girl said 23 days after Easter — April 15.
Steve G. said 24 days — April 16.
Melissa said 38 days — April 30.
Jeff from Linden said 40 days — May 2. (Love the symbolism of “40 days.”)
Gabe said 51 days past Easter — May 13, his sister, Hayley’s, birthday.
What’s your guess? We’re guessing the number of days past Easter that our tree will reach FULL BLOSSOM. I estimate that it will take at least a week from the time the tree first begins to noticeably open up to the time she’s considered to be in full blossom.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:36 am
Fourteen days after Easter: What exactly does “full blossom” mean anyway? Here’s the Sunday picture of the dogwood we’ve been watching.
Clearly, she’s not at “full blossom” today, even though these two buds seem to be at different stages in the blossoming process. The top photograph shows a bud near the bottom of the tree where it’s shady some of the time. The next photograph shows a bud just above the middle at about 20 feet up into the tree, in a more sunny place. Does it make a difference? Sunny, or shady? Hmm.
So in my effort to get a shot that somehow looks different from all the other shots I’ve taken of the buds on this tree in the last 14 days, I’ve gotten up at dawn, been out shooting at midnight, climbed up under, and hung out the window pointing down in the rain.
The one above is cool because I was hanging out the window sideways. I like all the different materials in this shot — green of the evergreen arborvitae, bricks, vinyl siding, metal window frame, and of course, our trusty flowerless deciduous dogwood.
OH WHEN WILL SHE EVER BLOSSOM?! I’m getting bored taking pictures of dogwood buds!
HELP!
We have 10 guesses now as to how many days past Easter it will take our dogwood to reach full blossom.
My Gemini optimistic alter ego said 11 days. (Come and gone.)
Brad and Heidi both said 17 days — April 9.
Cheryl said 18 days — April 10.
My original guess was 21 days — April 13.
Carolina Girl said 23 days after Easter — April 15.
Steve G. said 24 days — April 16.
Melissa said 38 days — April 30.
Jeff from Linden said 40 days — May 2. (Love the symbolism of “40 days.”)
Gabe said 51 days past Easter — May 13, his sister, Hayley’s, birthday.
What’s your guess? Remember, we’re looking for FULL BLOSSOM. I estimate that it will take at least a week from the time the tree first begins to noticeably open up to the time she’s considered to be in full blossom. And as of today, Day 14 after Easter, we are still not seeing very much movement.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 4:34 pm
This picture of Harry is so cute! He has a great expression. His hands are perfectly positioned (no thanks to me — sometimes I get lucky). The colors are bright and bold. And best of all, the lighting is perfect! What makes it so perfect? He is laying on the floor in front of a large window with sunlight streaming in onto the hardwood floor nearby. Harry is looking in the direction of his mom, who is standing in front of the window. Look how sparkly his eyes are!
We photographers LOVE eye sparkle!
And sometimes it’s awesome when the light comes from behind!
Sometimes we don’t really care about light because what’s happening is the more important thing. I tried desperately to get Lily to look at the camera, but she was SO into her jewelry box that I finally relented and just took pictures of her playing. The result: a classic shot!
I brought lollipops with me. Note to self: when bringing lollipops to a shoot, make sure to reveal them AFTER all the close-ups are finished!
Harry was baptized a month or so before this shoot, so we thought it would be cool to get some shots of him in his baptism outfit. Don’t you just LOVE this child’s hair? I swear to you, it really does grow like that! It’s AWESOME! Unfortunately, Harry had been in his white outfit for only a minute or so when a minor disaster struck…
…and he needed to be immediately changed. That happens.
Andrew was being all shy with me when I first got there. So I played his game and hid under the counter too. Gotcha!
He wasn’t shy for very long though.
So basically, here’s how to shoot for sparkly eyes: HAVE AS MUCH FUN AS POSSIBLE and just go with the flow because happy children have happy eyes, and happy eyes are sparkly eyes!
Peace,
jules
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:02 am
