Happy Birthday Julia

Julia turned 11 last week. We helped Julia celebrate her special day when the whole family (all except the Florida contingent) enjoyed Easter dinner at our home.

Here’s Jules, smile on her face, waiting for our Happy Birthday song to end so she could blow out her candles.

And here she goes. Blew out all two candles.

I used a bounce flash for both shots. Usually I try to shoot birthday cakes by candle light and have had good success over the years (mostly). Both of these pics turned out nicely in spite of the flash.

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Tyler, Brian & Cathy

As promised, I’m sharing a few more photos I took during our visit with Brian and his family a few weeks ago. We did have fun that day.

Not the greatest pic, but it’s the only one on the roll where I managed to capture Brian and his son Tyler.

Here’s one of Brian and his fiancé Cathy where they were hamming it up just a bit.

And another one, this time a candid of Brian and Cathy.

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Jocelyn & Brian: A Candid Portrait

I really, really like this portrait of Jocelyn and her father, my nephew Brian. Jocelyn wasn’t posing, she was engaged and I managed to capture her at just the right moment. Patience? Luck? A combination of the two? Something else entirely? Doesn’t matter one bit. All that matters is the image.

Brian and his family live in Florida. Brian, Jocelyn, Brian’s son Tyler and Cathy, his fiance, came up for a visit a few weeks ago. We all got together at Erin’s home for a lovely family afternoon together. I have a few more photos that I’ll share another time (soon).

I was using my Nikon N8008s and 35mm f/2.0 AF lens with no flash. The film was Tri-X rated at ISO 1250 and souped in Diafine.

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Livvy & Mary: Cousins

I caught Livvy in an unguarded moment with my niece Mary. Both photos were taken at Sue’s home on Christmas Eve.

I couldn’t make up my mind which photo I like best so I put them in the order they were taken.

Each image tells a story, I think this second image tells a shy story.

I used a 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor lens for both images. The camera was my Nikon F3HP, the film Tri-X rated at 1250 ISO with no flash. Great combo.

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Maddy & Sue: A Mamma Moment

I developed and scanned a new roll of film on Monday so I have some new images to share.

I caught a nice candid “Mamma Moment” with Maddy & Sue. My timing was pretty good on this one. I have a few more decent shots from this roll of film that I’ll share with you soon.

I started a new roll and shot a dozen pics last Saturday. I drove to Ceres Nature Preserve this past Monday, hiked into the woods and shot 16 more pics. I drove to Chestnut Branch Park this morning and took a 20 minute walk. The lighting wasn’t all that great but I took a few shots anyway. Only 4 frames left on the roll then it’s into the soup (Diafine).

We’re supposed to be getting a big storm Friday and Saturday. Odds are for rain here in South Jersey, at least for the early part of the storm on Friday morning. Might turn to snow Friday night and snow all night. I prefer rain because you don’t shovel rain. I don’t shovel snow any more either, but maybe I’ll get some pics.

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High Contrast Play

I’m still milking the last roll of film I developed back in January. I thought I’d play with high contrast images. I took both photos in our family room one day a few months ago.

This shot is actually the second in the series but I think it’s the better of the two so I’ve placed it first. The twins and Julia are playing near the patio door. I used a 50mm f/1.8 lens on my F3HP. The lens was wide open or close to wide open. The critter you see on the right is a squirrel trolling for peanuts on our patio.

We don’t have a dog any more. My main man Roscoe passed years ago. Molly, probably the smartest dog I’ve ever met is a part of Sue’s family. I can’t remember the occasion for the visit, but Molly came along for the ride.

I can see Tracy (my wife) just to the left of Molly. The twins are sitting next to Molly in front of Tracy. And I can’t remember who is sitting in the foreground. I used my ‘real’ wide angle lens — a 24mm f/2.8 Nikkor — for this shot.

I’ll have new photos to share soon. I stopped in Chestnut Branch Park on the way home after I paid our quarterly property taxes on Thursday past. Took three pics then and finished the roll today at Erin’s place. My nephew Brian and family were up from Florida and we had a lovely time.

Thursday was cold and windy but I took a walk in the woods anyway. I need the exercise and new photos. I plan to visit one of the parks in my neighborhood a few times each week. Good places to walk, enjoy nature and capture images I can share on The Aware Writer.

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Livvy & Maddy: On Christmas Morning

Tracy and I went over to Sue’s early on Christmas morning. The twins, Livvy and Maddy were up and about, playing with their new toys. Here are a few candids of the girls.

Livvy

Livvy in the kitchen barely tall enough to arrange her new people on the countertop.

Maddy

Here’s Maddy at the same kitchen counter playing with her new people. (they love playing with ‘people’).

Livvy & Maddy at their new table

Tracy and I gave Livvy and Maddy a kid size folding table and chairs for Christmas. They settled right in, populating the table with all their people. Tracy tells me they sit at the table all the time now. They eat their meals at their table, they watch TV from their table, they play at their table. The main thing is that the table is theirs. It fits them perfectly.

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Christmas Goofin’: Mother & Daughter

After developing the first roll of film from Christmas and Christmas Eve, I decided to give the twins the day off. Why? Because I got Sue and Julia (mother and daughter) to pose and got more than I had hoped. I don’t remember catching the expression on Julia’s face because I was concentrating on Sue (my subconscious knows better though).

I used a small electronic flash and bounced the light off the celing to soften the flash. I also taped a small piece of white card stock cut down behind the flash. This arrangement sends most of the light to the ceiling but reflects enough light forward to minimize shadows under chins, etc. giving a natural look. It’s the only way I’ll use a flash.

I have more goodies on this roll including a few of the twins. I also have a 36 exp roll of TX in my Nikon F3HP that still has 6 or 7 frames left. I hope to have that roll done and processed before the end of next week.

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Happy Birthday Times Two

I’m playing catch up with images of our granddaughters. Maddy and Livvy celebrated their fourth birthday early in November. Today’s images come from the same roll of film as last week’s photo of the girls helping Sara celebrate her birthday on Thanksgiving. The same roll that sat on my desk undeveloped for a few weeks.

Happy Birthday Maddy & Livvy

Maddy is the cute kid on the right and Livvy the cute kid on the left. Did I say we think our granddaughters are cuties (all six of them)? As the youngest, Maddy and Livvy get to claim the title of cutest. Here they are with one of their presents. These two play together all the time.

Happy Birthday Maddy & Livvy

This shot is hand held, no flash. I wanted to capture the atmosphere of young children and candle lit birthday cakes.

Happy Birthday Maddy & Livvy

Here’s another shot of the same scene but with both girls smiling. I didn’t have my fastest film loaded but I’m satisfied with the result. I will be taking two cameras with me to our family gatherings on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day. I’m even bringing one of my electronic flashes. I will use one of my  flashes in bounce mode. Hoping to get some decent shots and I won’t let the film sit around either. In fact, look to see some new images next week.

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Happy Belated Birthday Sara

We celebrated Sara’s birthday (13) on Thanksgiving, the day before her ‘real’ birthday. The exposed film sat around on my desk for a couple weeks. I finally developed it this morning (that’s the belated part).

Click to enlarge

All the girls got into the picture except Megan. From left to right: Emily, Maddy, Sara, Julia and Livvy.

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