Palm Desert Lifestyle Photographer~ And Then We Snapped- 365 Blog Circle- Week 9

While I am so glad you've chosen to visit with me, 

be sure to follow the blog circle to see what the amazing Ally
from Allyson Wasmund Photography
has captured this week!



I have been doing a mini-side project of 30 days of silhouettes
but I don't always choose them as the photo of the day for my 365,
since life is occuring  in spite of my extra project
and I want to document that in the 365 as opposed to a skill set I am exploring.
Sometimes they overlap though so you will see a mix of them here.

261/365

"Dusk"

“Twilight fell: The sky turned to a light, dusky purple littered with tiny silver stars.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 

This was only the second day of my thirty days of silhouettes and already 

I am wondering how I am going to get her to pose the best way fitting such a capture. 

Settings will not be the only thing I learn on this journey methinks!

.....................

262/365

 "Invasion of Privacy"

"Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. 

The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. 

Civilization is the process of setting man free from men."

Ayn Rand

After she was belted in, I couldn't help but notice the strong directional light. 

It was so strong in fact that she had to cover her eyes. 

So even though this looks like a manifestation of PCS(Photographer's Child Syndrome), 

in reality it's just a little photophobia. 

................

263/365

"Peep Hole"

I don't know how many images I have taken of her playing at the park. 

Let's just say it's a lot.

Trying to capture a different angle so I can tell a different story. 

.......................

264/365

"silhouette in blue"

"Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again."

L. Frank Baum

What do you do when the sun has already set, 

and you haven't taken your photo of the day or your silhouette project photo? 

Turn on the TV in a dark room and put the XBOX start page on. 

Later on you can edit out the ridiculous avatars your sons have created.

...............

265/365
"Static"

"Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. 
Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals."

Donald Rumsfeld

Almost the same story as the day before, except I planned it this way
wanting to explore this particular type of silhouette making.

......................

266/365

"Wonder Whirl"

Look at everything always as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time:
 Thus is your time on earth filled with glory.” 
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

This is what we call the tornado tower. Two soda bottles connected by a plastic tube.
Gravity and a bit of centrifugal force will create a whirlpool as one bottle drains into the other.
It's pretty fun to watch even though it is slightly tricky to get just the right spin on the bottles. 

...............

267/365

"Connection"
“Invisible threads are the strongest ties.” 
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Her brothers really do love her, although most days that looks pretty close to mere toleration of her.

Regardless, they are forever connected and someday will have more appreciation for that fact.

Bonus Shots...

"Strong"

"Strong" 

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Phillipians 4:13 

"Bubble, Bubble"

"Toil and Trouble"

And so ends another week and begins one anew.

Thanks for sticking around this long and be sure to head on over to see what
Ally has been up to this week! 





Blessings, Julie

Palm Desert Lifestyle Photographer~ And Then We Snapped- 365 Blog Circle- Week 8

Here it is Tuesday again already. 

My favorite day of the week.

The day I get to share my week with you 

and these lovely ladies who are coming alongside me in this

massive undertaking called a

365 project!

I admittedly leaked a couple of this weeks' images beforehand.

They have been some of my most popular images.

I find that timing so ironic.

This next week may be holding some interesting opportunities that may be taking me away

from the professional aspect of photography, though never the love 

or the artistry of it. 

I will always be working on my photography skills.

I am a project junkie.

 New projects are always so new and shiny, so much more inviting than that

half-finished project over there.

So it is this week I have started a new mini-project and

 am getting ready to launch a second major one, 

all while still working on one I started at the beginning of the summer.

It's not as exhausting as it might sound, 

and this is why I know that this hobby I have, 

is not just a hobby or a job.

It is a passion, and passion almost never feels like work.

After you browse around here, be sure to follow the circle by clicking on the link to 

Melissa Pizzalato

You'll be glad you did! I promise!

The talent here never ceases to amaze me!

...........................

254/365

"Aftermath"

"I was left to painstakingly deal with the aftermath 

of my avoidance later in life, in therapy or through the lyrics of my songs."

Alanis Morissette

The house is in the aftermath stages of a 16th birthday party.
Sedate though it was by any standard, the house still sits in a mixture of cleanliness and upheaval.


.........

255/365

"Quest"

“Say it, reader. Say the word 'quest' out loud. It is an extraordinary word, isn't it? 
So small and yet so full of wonder, so full of hope.” 
― Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux

Quest might seem like an odd title for this image,

 but I was in fact on a quest to capture the birthday candle image

 I had envisioned on my mind, and voila, here it is! 

Thanks to the fact that the grandparents hadn't celebrated with him yet- 

this was celebration #3 overall.

.......................

256/365

"Playing at the Intersection of Light, Water, and Shadow"

"Every doorway, every intersection has a story."

Katherine Dunn

Many nights I have stared at the sprinklers at this time of the evening, mesmerized by what the light was doing. Since she happened to be waiting to go to the pool, she was not at all unhappy to get a head start on that in the sprinklers, and as she can be quoted, "This means jellybeans!"

................

257/365

"Bright"

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” 

 Corrie ten Boom

We've been waiting almost a month to replace his glasses
from the time he lost them in the Pacific Ocean while on youth group beach trip.
Between waiting for the appointment and then the glasses to come in, it took forever.
Thankfully he is farsighted and can survive day to day
unlike his very nearsighted momma.
He picked the white ones. They are awesome. He looks like he's a musician.
In fact he is a musician.
 A musician that wears, ties, vests, and jackets and prefers them ironed.
How can his future NOT be bright?


...........

258/365

"Opportunity"

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."

Milton Berle

 Sixteen means he will want to drive.
First there must be a license and insurance,
so therefore there must first be a JOB.


...........

259/365

"Praise"

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord"
Psalm 150:6 

This is where my mini-project started. Inspired by a fellow photographer's thirty day project shooting only eggs, I struggled to find a similar focus without copying. Silhouettes, though not difficult can be tricky to pull off. Hoping to be an expert in 30 days or so.
Maybe I'll even have the makings of a pretty calendar or something like that.




................

260/365

"All the pretty horses..."

“Between the wish and the thing the world lies waiting.” ― Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses 




She is in fact a princess. Do not try to tell her that she isn't. Unless of course, she happens
to be a horse at that moment. Or a kitty, or better yet,
 a unicorn princess cat who just earned some jellybeans.


..............


Don't forget to click on the camera to head over to see how

Melissa's week went.

Palm Desert Lifestyle Photographer~ And Then We Snapped- 365 Blog Circle- Week 7

This may not be one of my better weeks in terms of producing stunning images,

but I am not unhappy with what I managed to capture this week either.

It was a busy week with a milestone birthday for my oldest son 

and then 3 days of "yucky-ness"for me, 

which did not in fact confine me to my bed, 

but did leave me longing for it. 

Moms don't get sick days you see.

But here we are back again at Tuesday.

Easily my favorite day of the week;

thanks to these lovely sisters of mine.

Sisters not in blood, but in this shared 

documentarian adventure. 

On the other side of it,

we will be veterans in a sense,

seasoned by experience and ready to handle 

the even bigger adventures yet to come. 

Keep the adventure going this week by clicking over to see the week of 

Cindy Cavanagh

247/365

"Sixteen"

"The best substitute for experience is being sixteen."

 Author: Raymond Duncan.

 This was not the shot I had envisioned.
When we took him out for dinner,
we thought several servers would come to the table and embarrass him by singing to him.
They didn't do that, but instead announced to the whole restaurant that it was his birthday.
It was still fun, but disappointing nonetheless.



.................



248/365

"Decisions"

“If you always make the right decision, the safe decision,
the one most people make, you will be the same as everyone else.” 
― Paul Arden

She had exactly enough of her own money for one item at the dollar store.
She really wanted more than just one item,
so she was put into the uncomfortable position of making a decision.
 Definitely a life-experience moment.


.....................



249/365
"Self-Help"

“I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, 'Where's the self-help section?' She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.” 
― George Carlin

She is capable of much more than she often lets on.
She is the first of my four children who have ever  uttered the phrase "I do it myself!",
 but even with that streak of independence, she is still the baby of the family
and very much enjoys being "babied".
This day Mommy wasn't much in the mood to do any babying,
so in preparation for a bath I told her to take off her own shirt.
As she did so, the shirt got stuck on her head.
Rather than fuss or get upset, she calmly smiled
and asked if I would like to take a picture.
 The next words from her mouth were requesting jelly beans(her typical modeling fee).
You see this photographer's child didn't see the frustration of her present struggle,
 but merely the opportunity it afforded her.
I am taking notes.




..................



250/365
"Camera"

"Look and think before opening the shutter.

 The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera."

Yousuf Karsh

She instead this was her camera and made me say cheese.
Then she made me use the camera to take her picture.
I love the days when she decides what my picture of the day will be.

...............


251/365
"Obligation"

"Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness, and small obligations given habitually, are what preserve the heart and secure comfort."

Humphry Davy

There is an eight year age difference between them as well as gender
so he will play with her, but rarely.
When he does he is very good to her, though she is learning, much to her dismay,
that he doesn't obey the princesses commands very well.




...................


252/365
"Candles"

"I wanted to buy a candle holder, but the store didn't have one. So I got a cake."

Mitch Hedberg

Though his true birthday was the previous week, having the party on this day worked out better.
I only had five candles in the house though.
Just enough to get a very grainy blowing out the candles shot.


..................


253/365
"Sitting In"

But primarily, the drummer's supposed to sit back there and swing the band.

Buddy Rich

Ryan's primary instrument is piano, but he is also pretty decent on drums.
Since my husband's band played for my son's 16th birthday party, we kept it a real family affair by having Ryan sit in on drums for a few songs.
Apparently it started a trend too, as my husband's band will now be playing
the birthday party of one of our guests this coming weekend.
I guess it is pretty cool to be a teenager and have a professional quality love band playing your party.



..............



Don't forget to follow the blog circle all the way around.
Up next is .... Cindy
Click on the camera to take you there.

Until next week,

Love and Blessings,

Julie 

Palm Desert Lifestyle Photographer~ And Then We Snapped- 365 Blog Circle- Week 6

It's hard to believe this circle has already been around for 

six weeks!

It doesn't seem that long,

and yet it seems like I've known these

lovely ladies for years and years already!

Be sure to follow the blog all the way around
to see all bloggy goodness!

Next up is Sharyn Thompson Photography!



But while you're here, this was what my week looked like...



 Days 240 to 246

August 31st to September 6th, 2014



~~~

240/365

"Ripe"

As long as you're green, you're growing. As soon as you're ripe, you start to rot.

Ray Kroc

I am typically not drawn to shooting images that do not include people, but I know that it is good to move out of my comfort zone now and again. This was one of those times when I was pleasantly rewarded for doing so.

241/365

"Deep"

"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."

Edgar Allan Poe

This was it. this was the day to test the life proof case on my iPhone.

Looks like it passed the test.  

Underwater photography is now a new and vast continent I am anxious to explore. 

I wish I could afford an underwater housing for my big camera, but for now 

the iPhone will make a worthy travel companion for this adventure!

~~~

242/ 365

"Drift"

"We sail within a vast sphere, ever drifting in uncertainty, driven from end to end."

Blaise Pascal

We don't do bubble baths too often, but they are a nice place to drift around when we do.

~~~

243/365

"Illuminate"

Just because, you pull something off once, doesn't mean you actually have a skill.

Skill necessitates being able to replicate results. 

Rim lighting is slowly becoming part of my repertoire. 

Thankfully I had enough jelly beans to get her sit for enough attempts!

~~~

244/365

"Pucker Up And..."

"Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig."

Marcus Aurelius

Bubbles from dishwashing liquid are far sturdier than the bathtub variety! 

~~~

245/365

"Waiting Room"

"But if we learn to think of it as anticipation, as learning, as growing, if we think of the time we spend waiting for the big things of life as an opportunity instead of a passing of time, what wonderful horizons open out!"

Anna Neagle

She is tag-a-long to many a doctor's appointment. Back at the eye doctor this day for

a follow up for her brother. Apparently a scary sounding diagnosis is cause only for

another appointment... next year.  Singing praises on that one, though I wouldn't mind smacking the eye doctor- just a little.

~~~

246/365

"Sing, sing a song...

The Dirt Poets
The first public performance for "this incarnation" of my husband's band.
He is the bass player on the left. He and the guitarist(right) have been in two previous incarnations.
Drummers and lead singers can be hard to hold on to.






Click on the camera below to go to the next step in the blog circle
to  Sharyn's amazing blog.

Palm Desert Photographer~ And then We Snapped-365 Blog Circle

Being a part of this fabulous group has been feeding my soul each week 

and made me so look forward to Tuesdays!

I am going to go out on a limb and say 

this has to be the best way to do a 365 project!

Be sure to follow the blog circle all the way around 

 to see what these awesome gals have been up to this week!

For week 5 of And The We Snapped, you'll notice something missing- 

someone rather, 

for most of the week. 

I had hoped that towards the end there 

would be an image or two of her at the beach or chasing a chicken,

but alas, it wasn't in the stars this visit. 

She did have a fabulous vacation at her aunt and uncle's house though 

where her cousins pretty much think she hung the moon.  

A big change for the kid 

who has been pretty much "tolerated" 

by the school age kids 

who have been spending their days with us this summer.  

Those school age kids did make right darn good models though! 

Oh, and they earned the same wage as Ember did- jelly beans. 

August 24th to August 30th, 2014

233-239

233/365

"Unspoken"

“...I gave you painted air - tears I couldn't weep - truths I couldn't speak - 

all the words that caught in my throat...” 

― John Geddes, A Familiar Rain

There are many things I would like to say sometimes,
but for the sake of peace,
or just my own privacy,
I do not.



~~~



234/365

"Outline"

What matters is to live in the present, live now, for every moment is now. It is your thoughts and acts of the moment that create your future. The outline of your future path already exists, for you created its pattern by your past.

Sai Baba

 It took about nine shots to get the flash perfectly positioned
 behind her to get the perfect rim light outline of her profile.
She received bonus jellybeans for her patience.



~~~


235/365

"Flipside"

The thing about living in the desert is that it doesn't rain often
 or all that much when it actually does rain,
BUT every so often the skies pretty much open up and pour.
Today it decided to pour and since there was no thunder,
I encouraged the kids to go outside and play in the rain.
It stopped by the time we got outside.
We did enjoy the puddles a bit though!


~~~



236/365

"Appointment"

“The only purpose in making an appointment
 is to prolong the anticipation of one's presence. 
That’s why when I make dinner reservations, I hardly ever show up.
 It ensures the waiters are doing their job properly.” 
― Bauvard, The Prince Of Plungers

About two weeks ago, this boy lost his glasses in the Pacific Ocean
while on a beach trip with his church youth group.
It was time for new glasses anyway, but that didn't really lessen the inconvenience.
Things happen for a reason though
and since his last pair of glasses our insurance had changed,
 meaning we had to find a new optometrist.
This new optometrist has diagnosed him
with a condition that though he has had since birth has previously gone undiagnosed.
Though I have lots of questions,
especially about why are we only finding this out now
and why have no other doctors seen it
even though he has seen an eye doctor pretty much every year since he was two?
After a bit of my own research it does make sense and explains quite a bit,
so
we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Oh, and the new glasses he picked are white!
Way to make a signature style fashion statement!



~~~



237/365

"Second"

"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it."
- Albert Einstein

I was not able to get a shot of him on the first day of his junior year of high school, 

so I had to settle for a shot of him on the second day,

appropriately enough, 

moving away from me.

~~~

238/365

"Strum"

Our family is a very musical one. 

My nephew is taking guitar lessons. 

Perhaps he'll practice a bit more now 

while a foot injury from skateboarding

is requiring him to stay off his the injured foot 

or else 

face a cast and possibly surgery. 

~~~

239/365

"Nod"

“Come, cuddle your head on my shoulder, dear,  Your head like the golden-rod,  And we will go sailing away from here  To the beautiful land of Nod”

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I have so many images from this weekend,
but this one was definitely one I wanted to share.
The fun filled weekend I had envisioned
wasn't completely ruined,
but was toned down quite a lot
due to a cold the little miss promptly got
upon her arrival at her cousins' house earlier in the week.
We've had a good run with no illnesses all summer,
so our number was up and we can't really complain.
At 4 1/2 she doesn't nap everyday, but it if she isn't feeling well, it's a necessity.



~~~


Until next week...
Love and Blessings,
Julie



To see what Lori has been up to this week, click on the camera...