Christmas at the Cabin

We really had our Christmas back at Thanksgiving when the kids came to visit at the cabin. It was so wonderful to have them there.. so today I post some of the pictures. I shot some portraits because my candids are always so poor...We were so happy to meet Letisia, Chris' fiance and welcome her to our small family. Abbey and Chris were in great spirits and we thoroughly enjoyed having them both together.. they are Steve's blessings and I am so fortunate to get to come along for the ride.. great kids...

If you build it... they will come....

It's going to be a nice Thanksgiving here at the cabin.. well actually it may be more Christmas than Thanksgiving.. Both Chris and Abbey are coming.. It has been years since they have both been here (in Ga.) together..and Chris is bringing a new member to our small family.. a fiance! We are looking forward to meeting her and getting to know her. The weather here this time of year is not nearly as nice as SoCal.. and we actually look a bit dreary with no leaves on the trees.. but I hope to rectify that a bit in the cabin. We are all stocked up on wood as the darn cabin stays pretty cool this time of year without a nice fire going. Abbey hasn't been here since 2000.. though she did come for a wonderful visit a couple of years ago to the Florida home. Wish Abbey could get her friend Heather to join us.. think of her as part of the family too.. but anyway - excited.. imagine they will be camping out in the guest quarters. We put in a wonderful gas stove up there that really heats up the place toasty warm.. plus it is well insulated.. much more comfortable than the cabin.. which is one reason we built it, so we could live there in the winter if we needed or wanted to.. Seeing the kids will be such a nice diversion from all of the politics and financial meltdown.. this has all left me rather disheartened...

Happy Father's Day - Daddy

Yes, I am Southern to the core and don't mind you knowing that..I am a fi...fi...fi..(I still can't say it) something woman who calls her father "daddy"... JEALOUS??? I love tradition... probably would call my mom "mommy" if it didn't sound like I was still.. well we won't go there...

I hope my dad doesn't mind me posting this. He has been a great father, even during the tough times (my hard headedness when it comes to math). And while we can't pick our parents, I am thankful for both of mine. I feel like I have their best traits ( and a few of their not so great ones too). I have been lucky in that my dad and I have shared some wonderful memories, but as I was going through my pictures - I realized I did not have many of them documented.. especially with pictures of the two of us together... for that, I am sorry, and I can remedy going forward. But Daddy, know that our experiences are wonderful pictures in my memory.

I love you,
m.

Baseball in the Rain

Well it's a suprise that the Braves and the Phillies got their spring training game in.. My dad and I thought we would mix it up a bit this year and I got tickets for here in Clearwater (Phillies spring training home)- it was a very wet day.. built for water foul (pun intended!) - daddy and I had fab seats - go figure.. I left both cameras in the car - but he brought his - so I shot a few.. and he shot a couple of me... Daddy is trying his halloween costume for next year - a vision in orange, don't ya know..

I am modeling my new extravagant purchase - A tilley hat - those who know me and know I love to shop the thrift stores, you will be surprised I forked over the buckaroos for this lovely piece of head wear. I did it for sailing and because I do love to wear a hat and ball caps just don't have the allure to me they once did. For those who don't know about Tilley's - they were originally designed by some guy for sailing - they float, they are fitted to your head, they are washable, crushable and come with a guarantee.. these hats are 'da bomb... I know I can't believe I paid this for a hat - but it will be worn a lot - from mowing at the cabin to sailing in the Gulf.. and everything in between..

Oh yeah - this is a post about baseball in the rain.. here are a few shots...These were taken with my Dad's Canon S2IS - nice little camera except can't go more than 400 on the ISO (at least that I could figure out) Shot on manual -
I post processed this shot - I really like it - I think it looks like a classic old style baseball picture.. Baseball really is timeless. When you look at the photographs - pros or kids - they could be just about from any year - sometimes the crowd shots look a bit dated - but only slightly - as a background - they don't change. Wood Bats, Baseball stands - the game - a nice constant in a world that prides itself on moving all of the time...

For My Son

Know that I am very proud of you and that every word in this clip shouts your name to me. Love,m.

A Tradition Continues:

My dad introduced me to baseball about 40 years ago. I can remember going to my first professional ball games at about 9 years old in Minneapolis. The Twins of the day had Harmon Killebrew and John Roseboro. Why did those players stand out? Well Killebrew became a legend and Roseboro lived in our apartment complex in Mound, Minnesota (on Lake Minnetonka). Anyway we have been going to spring training games for the Atlanta Braves for the last 8 years or so. It's been a fun rite of spring. Great weather, a 1st class ball park (Disney Wide World of Sports) and the beloved Braves, along with Hot Dogs and Beer make for a wonderful relaxing way to spend time with my father. He too, was a shutter bug in his younger days, and now has embraced digital point and shoot with ease.

I would like to become better at photographing action sports, along with birds in flight. One of the nice things with my dslr is the 3fps (3 frames per second) though sometimes I think I would like 5 (or more) like the "big boys" have, but until I max out the camera capabilities I will continue with my "lowly" 3 fps. What does FPS have to do with shooting sports? It allows you to capture the subject in sequence and come up with some shots like you see the from pros.

Take the snap to the left: I think the objective to a good action sports snap is to show the athleticism and grace at the same time. I definitely need practice getting subjects in focus and in positions that show their athleticism and grace. The light was not my friend this day, nor were our seats, but once a leftie came up I had to make the best of the situation. (Remember you can click on the picture and it will bring up a larger more detailed version)

We were also treated to a special event. After the game they let the kids run the bases. Well we know kids make for some of THE best photographs, and having none of my own, I try to take advantage of the opportunities to shoot kids being kids. These days you really can't point your camera at a kid because everyone is afraid the picture will wind up on the internet in some sordid way. What a sad state of affairs, but I very much understand this and I don't typically point my camera at kids unless everyone is pointing their cameras at the kids... I have a series of 4 that I want to share if I can:

I made it!!!

Uh Oh, who's this behind me?

Well, I'm not moving!

Mom? R U gonna take the picture?

Sorry about the alignment of the pictures - I'm not an html whiz and blogger doesn't easily help you do these types of postings. Remember, for any picture you see on my blog - just click on it to see a larger, more detailed version.