Bubblemania
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We got a new bubble making thing the other day at the street fair.
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As long as bubbles are flying in the air, my sons will chase them. I love bubbles.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Wildlife on Main Street
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The other day, Mike spotted this deer standing in our neighbor’s front yard. I subsequently followed the deer, along with a police cruiser who was trying to entice the deer into the woods or back towards the direction of the swamps. I know it’s common for people to spot deer in suburban New Jersey, but it’s not something you see everyday here on Main Street. He eventually disappeared into the woods.
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This little robin is living in a nest in my arborvitae with two other little robins right outside my front door! They’re so close to the door that you can watch the mommy robin feed her babies. It’s TOO CUTE! (Coincidentally, deer LOVE to eat arborvitae trees. Arbs are like candy to them. Fortunately, the deer in my neighbor’s yard didn’t make it anywhere near our little nest.)
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There’s momma!
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She won’t fly up to feed them if I’m standing outside, so this was taken from inside the door, hence the bad contrast. Plus, she literally drops the worm into the baby’s mouth, then flies away. It all takes a split second, then she’s off to search for more worms. It’s kind of intoxicating to be so close to a little family right in my front yard. Next project: find the bunnys’ nest.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Dreaming
- Click the picture, or click here, for a fun slide show of MY family! I’ve been really busy lately, and missing my boys so much, that I took lots of pictures of our day.I have to admit, I was following my family around like serious paparazzi, using the flash like lightening on continuous burst shooting. The picture above is THE MOST PERFECT “MAMARAZZI” PICTURE EVER! I love it!
- I was trying to prove to a photographer-friend that sometimes a little fill-flash is just right. In the slide show, almost every single picture I took outside used fill-flash. Not all of them are perfect, but keep in mind, every picture shown is straight out of the camera with no tweaking in photoshop.
- Take this picture, for example. The flash is set so low it barely makes a difference. It looks perfectly natural, and yet, there’s just a bit of sparkle on the plum. (That plum came off our purple leaf plum — the one that some people swear is a fruitless variety. Uh huh.)Tree fans — also note that there’s a new picture in the slide show of a zelkova at Borough Hall. We lost one last year, but the remaining 13 are looking great this year!
- Here’s another great example of a picture that benefited from fill. It was about 3 in the afternoon and the sun was very bright. Without a subtle flash, the shadows on Bradley’s and Gabe’s faces would have been much darker. The fill lightens them up just a tad without making the picture look like it was taken with an on-camera flash.
- Speaking of Bradley, he won the Memorial Day poster contest for the 7th grade! Yay Bradley!All of the winning posters are displayed in the window of the Metuchen Savings Bank downtown. Bradley’s is a detailed split screen drawing, war on one side, Arlington Cemetery on the other.It says, “From war… to memory. But something never fades.” (His poster is hard to see in the window because it doesn’t quite fit the window opening.)I’m so proud of him!
- Bradley’s friend, Gabriel Francobandiero, won the contest for the 6th grade. Gabe’s was chosen as the overall winner! Congratulations, Gabe! His design will be used on the cover of the Memorial Day Ceremony program.If you’d like to come to Metuchen on Monday for the parade, here’s some details:The parade starts at 10 a.m., rain or shine, at the Pearl Street parking lot. It travels north to Middlesex Ave, then turns right on Main Street, right on High Street, and right on Lake Avenue. The parade ends at Memorial Park, and will be followed by a brief ceremony.By the way, I fully recommend Memorial Day events in Metuchen. It is a highlight on our calendar, and puts us on the worldwide map as a small town that won’t forget the sacrifices that give us so many freedoms.
- We love downtown Metuchen! There are so many fun things to do. What’s the Scoop is our favorite place for ice cream.
- Variety Village is our favorite place for just about everything else! In case you haven’t heard, there’s going to be a new owner soon.I was in the store today and Tommy (the owner, always smiling, above) was telling me about the expected changes. Tommy, I know for a fact that my kids will never forget the joy of walking downtown to go to Variety Village. It’s so sad that you’re leaving, but I wish you well on your new adventures, whatever they may be.
- Back at the Shaver yard, here’s another “mamarazzi” picture. I love it, fill-flash and all!
- Speaking of fill-flash, this picture simply would not have worked without it. When you’re working with children, you have to be prepared for anything! And believe me, they don’t give you very many second chances if you miss the shot the first time. (Well, at least my kids don’t.)
- Gregory took this picture! Didn’t he do a great job? This one is a prime example of a picture taken at the worst time of day — high noon in full sun with half the subject’s face in shadow. Yuck! But, thanks to Gregory’s subtle flash, the picture isn’t a total loss. I get precious few with me in them, and even fewer with Bradley actually smiling! Thanks, Gregory!
See ya’ll at the parade on Monday!
Peace,
~jules
P.S. The fun day you see in my family Memorial Day weekend slide show was created entirely on foot. I did not spend a dime on gas or get inside a car except to look for my missing flash.
I LOVE LIVING IN METUCHEN!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Granny’s Big Exposé
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That’s the plane my mom is on! She’s probably behind the 6th or 7th window waving at me! Hi mom!
You can see New York City in the background of the above picture. The pointy building is the Empire State Building. Cool shot, huh?
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I took the picture from the gate area at Newark Airport. I still can’t believe they let me past security without a ticket, and with a huge camera around my neck too!
How did I swing this amazing access? Not quite sure. All it took was a driver’s license and a sad story about my mom needing help getting situated on the plane. In all fairness though, the lead flight attendant was not too happy about me showing up at the plane door without a boarding pass. I still can’t believe I got that far. Kinda scary, but at the same time, I’m grateful that my mom didn’t have to carry anything heavy through the airport.
HI MOM!
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That’s her plane way off in the distance. Can you see it?
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I took a bunch of pictures yesterday and today of Granny with her grandsons, Gregory and Bradley. I was trying to make this one look really old, like an old picture I remember of my mom when she was about 5 standing in front of her house in South Carolina barefoot. (I thought I’d play around with Photoshop.)
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I love this one. (Super-saturated black and white.)
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Here’s one that is pretty much straight out of the camera, except I took the saturation down a little bit.
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Hey Granny, since I know you’re reading this at Uncle James’ house, I thought I’d send you a picture of Wayward Karl.
I have been blog-absent for a while, so ya’ll missed the whole story about the Kaptain being missing for 2 days. Notice the bandana around is neck? That’s from the groomer after his — (fun fun in cat land) — bath.
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So, Mom, let me know which pictures of you and the boys you like best and I’ll send you some prints. Cool?
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Here’s another one. It is not easy getting Gregory and Bradley both smiling in the same picture. Ok, make that SORT OF smiling.
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Suh-WEET!
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Part of the point of these pictures is to show my brothers how tall Bradley has gotten, and the fact the Gregory is almost as tall as Granny! He’s only 7 years old!
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Bradley is 13 and still growing.
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Awww.
For all my tree fans who might be reading this, that’s our Greenspire Linden tree in the background. Notice that the flowers are already out!
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I like the black and white one.
Thanks for coming to visit, mom! Call me when your plane lands! Oh, here’s a link to that slide show I was telling you about. Ask Uncle James to turn up the sound for you, then click here.
Love you!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Granny’s Here!
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My mom is here from Charleston for a while. Gregory loves having Granny here!
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Bradley does too, but he’s at a youth retreat with our church, so it’s just Gregory and Granny.
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Hanging out on the couch…
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…watching TV together.
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I love it. After a while of me taking pictures of them, they forgot all about me.
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Therefore, VOILA! The couch potato shot!
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“Aw mom. Why do you have to embarrass me like that?”
That is not a real direct quote. The real direct quote goes like this: “Mom! Take a picture of me now! Wait. Wait. Ok, now try this one!”
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I love this picture of my mom! Mom, you’re the best! Thanks for letting me fool around with my camera on a rainy yucky day in the messy living room.
Friday, May 9, 2008
A Preview
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My sneak peak at the concert tonight…
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I went to the concert this morning for the school.
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The orchestra was really good.
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The violin solo made me cry, it was so beautiful.
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Bradley is on the back row.
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There he is! The chorus sounded so good!
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They all look so nice in ties.
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The 7th grade band sounded really great too. I was so impressed!
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(Audience participation during the William Tell Overture.)
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She was very patient and especially appreciated the upbeat pieces.
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So did she.
Do good tonight, everybody! You sounded great this morning! Now I’m going to take a really long nap because I have a terrible cold. Cough. Cough.
Monday, May 5, 2008
The Great Tie-Breaker Post
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I took these pictures last November on leaf-raking day.
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Congratulations to michelle, Steve G. and Dawn!
Each posted a comment in almost every card design in the STIFF COMPETITION for a free family session.
I went through and re-checked all the posts and found that Steve G. missed one, michelle missed one, and Dawn missed one. It was a very hard contest, I admit! Thank you all SO much for playing!
To show my appreciation to you for keeping that eagle eye on my blog, each of you may take 30 percent off the creation fee of your next family session! All you have to do to redeem this little “coupon” is reference me back to this blog post when it comes time for you to book your session. Just click the title of the post, then copy and paste the url of the blog post into your email message to me at the time of your booking. The coupon never expires!
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So, this post is for bob and Stacey — the two remaining contenders in the competition for a free family session. CONGRATULATIONS, BOB AND STACEY! YOU ARE FINALISTS!
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Bob and Stacey posted comments in every one of my card designs! WOW!!!!!
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Thank you to ALL my readers for checking out my blog and helping me boost my google rankings!
Every time you visit my blog, google counts you as “traffic” to my site, and the more traffic a site gets, the more popular google thinks it is! Plus, every time a reader posts a comment, my site gets “updated” with fresh content in google’s eyes. This is another factor that keeps my site high in the rankings. Thank you to ALL my blog readers who give me lots of traffic and post comments! You’re the BEST!!!
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So, on with the show, er, uh, the contest…
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Bob and Stacey…
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…to win the free family session, you must follow the directions EXACTLY.
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1. Your response must be correct, as judged by me. If neither responds correctly, the one with the CLOSEST answers wins.
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2. You must EMAIL your responses to me in the form of questions, like on Jeopardy, before midnight, May 8. My email address is shown on the blog, and within my main web site.
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Here are the Jeopardy-style answers, both with visual hints within this blog post:
A) A non-growing item of special significance in the Tree Grower’s Diary.
B) The number of leaf bags Bradley, Gregory and Gabe accumulated on November 26, 2007.
Good luck, and there is no guarantee that ALL the leaf bags are shown in the picture!
One more thing: A very special thanks to Brad, Gabe and Greg for all that raking! You guys are the BEST!!!!!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Arbor Day With the Environmental Club
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This is Boggy, the frog that lives in the courtyard at Bradley’s school. The kids in the Environmental Club begged me to take his picture. Here you go!
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The courtyard sundial: “Time began in a garden.”
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As I was walking through the school on the way to Edgar field to watch the Metuchen Shade Tree Commission’s planting of new trees, this artwork in the hallway struck me as appropriate for an Arbor Day greeting.
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What’s it like to be a root system? Only one way to find out.
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Even the Mayor of Metuchen, Thomas Valhalla, left, came to watch the Shade Tree Commission and the planting of the trees! We are very proud of our town’s distinction as a Tree City USA.
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Every tree was carefully documented and measured, even going so far as to plot its precise position using a GPS locator. If these trees aren’t batted too many times with baseballs, they will be the focal point of many a science lesson over the next several decades. The plan is that the children will take the trees’ pictures every year, and document their growth.
I love this stuff! Click here for the red sunset red maple in my yard.
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Lots of children from the Edgar School Environmental Club (that’s Bradley in the blue striped shirt!) and the YMCA were available to help with the digging…
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…there are SIX shovels in this picture!
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That’s the tree that was planted next to the bleachers — a red sunset red maple.
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It will grow to around 50 feet tall and 40 feet wide! (I have faith.)
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I did not lift a finger except my shutter finger, but these guys were working! Bradley loves Environmental Club! I am so proud of all the kids. They worked really hard! And they listened carefully to the adults’ directions and lessons on planting trees.
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Once planted, every tree was given a quick watering. It’s supposed to rain this weekend. Perfect!
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This shot is WAY over-tilted but I still like it because I love seeing all those kids working so hard to plant trees.
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Now THAT’S a nice action shot!
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I guess I’m not the only person drawn to baby leaves.
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I don’t know all the details, but I overheard that a total of eight trees were planted: red maples in the field, and some other varieties in the parking lot circle.
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Will the leaves grow much bigger this year? We’ll have to come back in a month or two to find out.
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That’s a dogwood in the parking lot circle. (”Oooooh! Not a redwood!”) Other trees planted here include magnolia, redbud and maple.
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The trees were photographed with a person in the shot for scale.
Time out for a reality check: I need to get on my soapbox a minute. These little trees are planted in the pathway of children running to get on the bus after school. If the trees are going to survive, they need a barricade to keep kids from trampling them! (Pardon my ignorance if a barricade is already in the plan.)
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May you live a long, happy life, little dogwood!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Bright and Shiny
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I was walking around Princeton University this morning with Sharon and Mike. I stopped in my tracks when I came across a row of stunning tulips.
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They were so shiny in the morning sun that I just HAD to get out my macro lens and take a few shots!
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I don’t usually post same-day pictures (because I’m in the midddle of editing Alisa and Jason’s e-session!) but since I was in Sharon and Mike’s folder anyway, I figured I’d post a few for Sharon and Mike’s family back home. I LOVE the one above!
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Sharon is a grad student at Princeton so these shots will be a nice keepsake for them and for their new baby someday.
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Thanks for taking me to the Princeton gardens! Coming soon: more pictures from Sharon and Mike’s maternity session.
Peace, and have a great day!
~jules
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
A Light Comparison
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All natural light from a window, camera right, and another one behind Bradley, camera left.
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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?
