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
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
Eleven days after Easter: Can you see the drama of the dogwood watch? From a distance, I would never have noticed that this tree is on the verge of beginning to blossom.
Zooming in on the same picture, I see a hundred bullet pointers! (That’s what pointers that have little round dots on the end are called in info-graphics.) Is it just me, or are you just as excited as I am to see all those dots turn into big beautiful flowers? It’s a yearly miracle!
What do you think: is that the moon above or the sun?
I was trying to get both buds in focus but seriously blur the background.
Shifting just a little in my frame, I get the fireplace blurred in the background instead of the arborvitae. Wow, it really changes the whole look of the picture. Backgrounds, even blurry ones, are SO important!
(This is the picture above, zoomed in really close.)
Months before we started to see leaves emerging, and the coloring up of the petals, and the slightest hint of the petals beginning to open, this one bud was inside that tree, ever so slowly pushing through. I think of trees as being asleep in the winter, almost lifeless. But that’s SO not true! The miracle is happening. I just can’t see it until the dawn of spring.
I wonder what other little miracles like that are happening all around me right now that I’m missing. What else is just below the surface? My dogwood is reminding me to slow down, rest, appreciate the miracle of starting again.
We have five super-official guesses as to how long it will take our dogwood to reach full blossom.
I said 21 days after Easter — April 13.
My Gemini alter ego said 11 days. (Since that milestone has come and gone, my alter ego is the big loser.)
Brad and Heidi both said 17 days — April 9.
Carolina Girl said 23 days after Easter — April 15.
Jeff from Linden said 40 days — May 2. (Love the symbolism of “40 days.”)
What’s your guess?
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:15 am
Ten days after Easter: The baby leaves on the dogwood we’ve been watching are so colorful! We still have only 4 guesses as to how long it will take our dogwood to reach full blossom.
I said 21 days after Easter.
My Gemini alter ego said 11 (not a chance).
Brad and Heidi both said 17. Leave a comment with your guess! (Or not. Brad, Heidi and I can duke it out over 17 days or not 17.)
Here’s why I love plant photography: I make myself get out of my comfort zone and shoot using settings I don’t want to “chance” when I’m photographing families (and don’t want to miss a great shot just because I was fiddling around with my tried-and-true settings).
In the one above, I was shooting at a very low ISO setting on my camera (LO.3, which is equivalent to ISO100) at f/11 on full screen metering, which means that the camera will average the light over the entire frame. I usually shoot at low f-stop numbers like f/2 for a seriously blurry background, and often shoot using spot meter, which tells the camera to adjust the light in the frame based on my focal point. This one worked nicely. I think I’ll try that at my next shoot!
Immediately after taking yesterday’s dogwood shot with that f/11 setting, I went to Bradley’s track meet and happened to come up on the coach’s group shot. Cool! That f/11 setting was perfect for that shot! Bradley’s in the center of this picture, but that’s less than a third of the whole team. That’s a huge track team!
I was shooting through a fence, which accounts for the strange light in these pictures. (Still f/11, but the coach is far closer to me than the team.)
So cool when I know somebody on the opposing team! Hey sweetie!
In case you’re new to the blog, Bradley is “the tall one.”
He’s also the one whose entire family stalked him at the shot-put event.
I have no idea what’s going on in this picture. CAPTION REQUEST!!! Leave a comment with a caption that makes us laugh.
This one may have something to do with the previous one. I really don’t know.
** Ok, CONFESSION TIME **
We stood there for, I swear, like 20 minutes in the FREEZING COLD waiting to watch Bradley throw the dang shot-put, and in an effort to pass the time and keep warm, Gregory ran around messing with Mike, and I took pictures of them, and when I turned back around, Bradley was back at the end of the line again.
I COMPLETELY MISSED IT!!!!!!!!!!
wait…
wait…
shiver…
wait…
…Mamarazzi’s doing the happy dance!
Gotcha, Bradley!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:30 am
This is Bradley’s aptly-named biosphere fish thingie, Tiny Tim. He’s a great pet. Requires ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, except basic daylight, and he comes to you if you call his name. “Tiny Tim, Tiny Tim!”
He fetched every one of those sticks in there. Seriously.
Meanwhile, out by the dogwood tree we’re following…
Eight days after Easter: It was a rainy day today, the eighth day in the dogwood countdown. Thanks to Brad, we now have three super-official guesses on the number of days it will be after Easter that the dogwood reaches full blossom.
I say 21.
My Gemini, overly optimistic, alter-ego says 11.
Brad says 17.
WAY TO GO, BRAD! You’re a KING for registering a guess and making me feel less lonely in my quest for guesses!
See all those seeds on the ground underneath the dogwood? (Feast for a chipmunk.) Thanks to the squirrels (who dump the seeds out by the grubby-little-clawfull) and the rain, my troubled little dogwood (read about her anthracnose and chlorosis troubles here) will be competing with a hundred different varieties of weeds later this spring! Whoopee!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:33 am
Seven days after Easter: Kaptain Karl watches birds in the dogwood tree at sunrise.
This is Sunday’s picture of the dogwood we’ve been watching. We’re counting the number of days after Easter she blossoms. Still only one guess — mine. I said 21 days. This is not much of a guessing pool. Hey wait. I’m a Gemini. That means I get a guess for my other personality. My alter ego is far more optimistic — 11 days.
Sometimes I am so jealous of the Kaptain.
He gets to lay around and do nothing ALL the time.
It’s not fair.
Karlito is a little big for that cat tower though.
He’ll let you know in no uncertain terms if you get too close.
See?
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:30 am
We’ve been watching all week to see if the dogwood might blossom in time for Easter. Considering the fact that she normally blossoms around the middle of April, I figured there wasn’t much chance this year. But we watched anyway, just to see if there would be any sign of life in the winter bud. While she has looked pretty much the same every day in terms of bud-opening, or not opening, she certainly is colorful when we look closely!
The picture above was taken before the sunrise Easter service at my church, at around 6:30 a.m. The golden color is the light in the dining room glowing in the window. She’s not blossoming in time for Easter, but true to my promise, look for a picture a day until she does blossom!
The rest of the pictures below follow in chronological order, generally, through my Easter Sunday, starting with the sunrise service in the church cemetery, above.
That’s Bradley singing in the choir — he’s the tall one in the center in the tie. I promised him that every year after he sings at the sunrise service, I’ll take him to Dunkin’ Donuts. That’s worth getting up at 6 for. No?
The light was beautiful.
But man, it was COLD! Somebody said it was around 30 degrees when the service started.
Love the light in this one too.
In between services, I took the obligatory boys-dressed-up-for-Easter picture. Gregory just LOVES having his picture taken. He sang at the 9 o’clock in a robe three sizes too small. Next year, I promise, Gregory will have a robe that fits.
My choir fully appreciates Brenda, our director/organist, especially after the later services on Easter Sunday when she plays that Toccata for the postlude. I always know it’s Easter when I hear that Toccata. And I love to hear Amy sing “Was It a Morning Like This?” I especially like the lyrics, “Did the grass sing? Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?” Thanks, Amy and Brenda, for being such a big part of Easter for me!
I’m not saying a word.
The senior choir sings at two indoor services on Easter. In between, we are treated to omelettes courtesy of Ramon. (I paid for mine with a picture.)
My omelette was delicious and there were NO BUGS!
All joking aside, Ramon, you are the OMELETTE KING of the Easter feast! Thanks!
After church, I went hunting for proof of spring. Found it in one little tulip on the verge of blooming in my backyard…
…Found it in the games of wiffle ball too…
…and in the bird watching.
Found spring in the outdoor child supervising.
…And more wiffle ball.
I love this picture of all my boys.
Did I mention the G-rex loves having his picture taken? (Not really, but he LOVES being on the blog so I promised I’d get a post done for him as long as he gave me a nice picture! Yay!)
Was it a beautiful day or WHAT?!
Name that park. (That’s TOO easy!)
It’s still cold enough for ice skating.
Bradley is the man of many colors today. From choir boy in a tie at sunrise, to bird watcher, wiffle player, military virologist (yeah, don’t ask, trust me on that one)…
…to slurping jello through a straw in the evening.
I love my family!
Thank you to all my blog readers for taking this “Walk Through Holy Week” with me. I’ll continue to update you on the dogwood until she blossoms. I have faith that she will eventually show us her colors, reminding us of her Easter story, even if Easter has come and gone so early.
Peace, my friends,
jules
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 10:28 pm
This is my new favorite “unportrait” of Bradley and Gregory! Love the angles, the light, the sky, the clouds, the honey locust trees, the depth, everything! COOL! We were out all afternoon playing on this beautiful Saturday before Easter, and I took lots of pictures of my sweet boys. LOVE YOU, GUYS!
Later on, as I started to edit the pictures in the waning light of sunset, I was talking to my mom on the phone — she lives in Charleston where the dogwoods are in full blossom and I’m SO jealous — and she asked me if I knew why Easter is so early this year.
By the way, here’s today’s dogwood mugshot. (And some more randomly scattered throughout this disorganized post.) My dogwood is not going to blossom by Easter morning. But we knew that already and can still appreciate the Charleston dogwoods, thanks to my friend, Jill.
So anyway, the timing of Easter for us Western Christians (as opposed to Eastern Orthodox Christians) is based on a complicated formula of the Gregorian calendar, as in Pope Gregory XIII. (My Gregory will like reading that one!)
Generally speaking, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs after the vernal equinox.
But that’s not entirely true.
Because the “full moon” of which we speak is not the ACTUAL full moon, but an ecclesiastical full moon, which just means that it’s the full moon as determined from tables, and not necessarily the exact date of the astronomical full moon.
But, thankfully, that table of full moons is pretty close to the astronomical one. Phew!
So, Easter falls on the first Sunday…
… following the ecclesiastical full moon…
…that occurs on or after…
… the day of the vernal equinox.
This ecclesiastical full moon is the 14th day of a tabular lunation. (Day 1 of a tabular lunation corresponds to the ecclesiastical new moon.)
(Got a headache yet?)
… And since the vernal equinox is fixed as March 21…
… that means that Easter can never fall before March 22 or later than April 25.
The vernal equinox occurred on March 20 this year, and the ecclesiastical full moon occurred on March 21, so, happy Easter tomorrow!
Just remember, you can’t go by the astronomical full moon…
… because there are differences between the astronomical full moon and the ecclesiastical one. Lunar motion is a complex system!
In 1962, for example, the astronomical full moon was on March 21, 6 hours AFTER the astronomical equinox. The ecclesiastical full moon was on March 20 and BEFORE the ecclesiastical equinox on March 21. If the date of Easter was determined by the astronomical full moon, Easter would have been on March 25 in 1962. But following the rules, Easter was not until the Sunday that came after the next ecclesiastical full moon on Wednesday, April 18. So Easter Sunday fell on April 22 in 1962. My brothers, Steve and Bill, age 2 and 4 then, would have had a grand and fully warm Easter that year!
And I most definitely have a headache!
So for my mom, down in Charleston with the blossoming dogwoods, here’s a pretty bud for you and the gift of answering your question, “Why does Easter fall so early this year?” (Information gleaned from the United States Naval Observatory and various calendars and astronomical tables.)
Above, that’s my dogwood from the point of view of the squirrel-proof bird feeder looking up at the sky.
Incidentally, here’s a little Julie tidbit for all my loyal blog readers…
… my mom was BORN on Easter Sunday! Her name is Easter! Her birthday won’t fall on Easter again until 2018, on which date, she says, she will turn 4 years old.
…Because thanks to leap year and the ecclesiastical moons and the vernal equinox and the… oh never mind… I have to be at church at 6:40 a.m. GOODNIGHT!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 8:17 pm
At last night’s Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service, the bell in the Sanctuary tolled 33 times in complete darkness, once for each year of Jesus’ life on earth. After the last bell, and a moment of silence in a crowded Sanctuary, the pastor lit the Christ candle, symbol of hope for what is to come on Easter morning, and yet we leave the Sanctuary in darkness, speaking little, if at all, to our friends as we headed toward Good Friday.
Instead, we listened to the profound silence.
As I was walking into the church last night, the sky was beautiful against the trees and clouds. Can you see the moon? (Bottom center.) Bradley and I have always thought of pink clouds as being a symbol of hope, so I thought it was interesting that I’d be walking into church last night and notice pink clouds.
This morning Bradley and I watched the alternate DVD version of the movie “I Am Legend” with a different ending from the theatrical one.
SPOILER ALERT. Not to worry. If you haven’t seen the movie or read the book, my discussion will not spoil if for you, so keep reading.
A voiceover in the alternate version says, “You are not alone. There is hope. Keep listening.”
That’s the message of Easter! Because I committed myself to writing about Holy Week, I’ve been listening very carefully, and watching with an open mind, waiting for inspiration.
The great thing is: It was there all along! All I had to do was open my eyes and ears.
I hear it in the seasons, too, watching the trees. Above, today’s dogwood mugshot.
We’ve been watching her all week. And even though I’m pretty sure MY dogwood won’t blossom in time for Easter morning, the dogwoods SOMEwhere are blossoming!
In fact, just today, my friend, Jill, in Charleston, took pictures of her blossoming dogwood and posted them on her blog JUST FOR US! See? Keep listening and watching.
There is hope!
Coming tomorrow on my walk: don’t know yet. I’m still waiting for inspiration.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 4:05 pm
The title of this post should have been “A Day of Random Reflections” because that’s what it’s turned out to be. My life has a weird randomness to it that has my head spinning.
I’ll start with the first pictures of the day, taken around 2 a.m. at the Metuchen train station, above.
That truck was too tall to fit under the train trellis. It rammed into the bridge and sheared off the top of the cab.
I’m just letting you know in case you heard a really loud crash some time last night and wondered what it was.
I thought the parking sign was interesting covered with rain drops and glowing in the streetlight. The randomness of the little reflections combined with “24″ as in round-the-clock randomness — see? That sign is my life.
Ever since I got my new camera, I wondered if I could take a picture of the church courtyard at night with no flash, and actually get a decent shot. It worked!
First thing this morning, I checked on the dogwood.
Still not much movement in the blossoming department, but the pictures are challenging my graphic edgyness. I like the one above for it’s random focus, yet nicely spaced intervals.
I took this one of Bradley working at the computer, trying to see if I could get a cool reflection in his glasses. Ah, not so cool, but I still like the picture. It has a graphic composition of balanced corners that I like.
To complete the circle of randomness, I went to the Concert for Peace at Gregory’s school today. That’s Gregory, the tall one in the tie.
Above, and below: random pictures from the concert.
(Wide angle lens.)
(Sisters.)
Just after the bow at the end of the concert. (He bowed into her head!)
I’m heading out the door in a minute. My choir is singing at the Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service at church, my favorite worship service of the whole year, and the one which will end my randomness for the day. The church will grow darker as the service progresses through the story of Jesus’s last night, ending with the Sanctuary in complete darkness, the symbol of the darkness of the tomb. And then one candle, the Christ candle will be lit…
Coming tomorrow on my walk: Hope.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 5:41 pm
