Lynn's Random Ramblings

My wish

2009-02-20T17:59:00.004-05:00

Today, Jessica Sprague (http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/) asked an interesting question on her blog...

What one person, thing, moment, or place do you wish you had a photo of?

Lots of answers to that simple question began circling in my head. I wish I had good photos of relatives generations back... photos that could really show me who those people I barely know of really were. I wish I had more photos of me and the person I was in my later childhood years... I wish I had any photos from my father's family or more than the scattered handful I have of him after he became my father.... None of these photos are possible to get due to the passage of time and the passing on of life.

However, the one answer that keeps coming back as my true answer to this question is a photo I still hope to take some day. I long to have and keep a photo of my son Jon. Surely I have many photos of him, of that there is no doubt. The photo I yearn for though is one that has not been captured by my lens yet, but resides only in my heart. As Jon has grown from a silly little boy into a handsome teen and young man, he has made it a constant point to avoid the camera. Jon does not pose for impromptu photo shoots, and when begged or forced to allow a photo here and there, mostly at family gatherings and holidays, he tends to adopt a stance and look of an angry or bored teen with no interest in being where he is.

He tells me he hates his smile, and he clearly resents all attempts to capture it. Yet it's that smile that makes my heart sing, the twinkle in those deep blue/green eyes, and the soft chuckle that floats effortlessly out of him when he is truly happy. That smile means he's comfortable in his own skin, confident and secure in knowing who his is and who he's becoming.

During these years when the teen independence struggles at war with parents, teachers and all authority, the strong sense of what's "right" and "fair" tugs him this way and that as he stretches the boundaries and tests the limits, I so much need so hear and see that light hearted good kid I know and love. I wish I had photos to look at and hold - to remind me of the strong and gentle soul that resides deep inside this emerging adult. I want and need those photos now and for the future, to remember these times, where we are, where we're headed and where we end up.

Yes, that's the picture I wish I had... and that's the picture that I will one day capture not only with my heart, but with my lens.

2009-02-13T09:07:00.001-05:00

Tradition

2008-12-22T08:45:00.001-05:00

Tradition - one of my favorite words!

Tradition is what roots my family. As a Jewish woman, I strive to carry tradition through family activities, holiday festivities and decorations, religious observances, and gatherings with extended family.

When my children were first born, I put a lot of thought into how to best begin those tradition "roots". I was not raised with a strong family tradition, nor with strong religious background. It was and is important to me to ensure that my children developed the sense of faith, of belonging, of history, of culture, of tradition which would ground them and give them fond memories on which to build their own traditions in the years to come.

Some of the traditions we follow go back thousands of years in the history of the Jewish people, such as celebrating the Jewish holidays, lighting Shabbat candles and keeping a Kosher kitchen. Others are "Mommy" traditions, which have evolved over the years in my home. My favorite "Mommy" tradition is the annual hanging of the snow flakes. Every year we decorate inside our home in a winter/snow theme for the winter holidays - which makes a festive atmosphere for Hanukkah, while also welcoming our Christian friends into our home.

Tradition gives my family something special to enjoy and share with others, something to look forward to, and hopefully something to pass down, generation to generation. I look forward to when the next generation will join and evolve it's own version of our traditions while creating more of their own.

For Sale - One Useless Cat

2008-12-22T08:26:00.003-05:00

2008-10-08T18:53:00.001-04:00

Update - I have posted my "present" on my shutterfly share site. Please feel free to come take a look if you'd like. http://njstampinmom.shutterfly.com/present

You deserve it - Give yourself a present!

2008-10-07T07:38:00.001-04:00

Many of you know Stacy Julian. She's one of my all-time favorite "celebrity" scrapbookers and instructors. As an avid reader of her blog, appropriately titled "All Together Too Happy", I was so excited to see her October 1 Post entitled "Give Yourself a Present". I really want to do this. This week has been a bit crazy so I haven't gotten started yet, but I do plan to within the next few days. Won't you join me? I'd love if you'd comment here and/or link me to where I can see what you've done. Have FUN!

Photos to Enjoy - Forwarded Email

2008-08-14T12:58:00.001-04:00

2008-03-18T14:30:00.000-04:00

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH FLOWERS - PART 1

Every year, the April showers do their job and in all parts of the Northern Hemisphere, flowers abound in May. Far to the North, spring may just be getting started, but wherever you are you'll find lots of flowers just waiting to have their picture taken. Read this article and then get going. Flowers are great subjects but they won't wait indefinitely!

When you photograph flowers, you have to make a couple of important decisions.As with any photograph, your first decision is to decide: What's my subject? Is it a bouquet of flowers, or the macro view of a stamen? A single flower closeup? A bed of hundreds of flowers? A field of thousands?From this decision will flow many specifics of the picture you want to take and how to go about it.
Let's start with the macro photo — that is, with extreme closeups. Of course, you can only take this type of picture if your lens has a macro mode. This rules out most film point-and-shoot cameras that can't focus closer than two or three feet. With a macro, you're focusing from a few inches!Notice that we stressed the word "film" in the last sentence. By contrast, many of today’s digital point-and-shoot models can focus very close to the camera’s lens. We have a 5-megapixel camera that can capture subjects as close as one inch from the lens! That’s a great macro capability and one of the most exciting aspects of today’s digital models.When we talk about what you see in your camera’s viewfinder, bear in mind that we’re thinking of the viewfinder in a single lens reflex (SLR) camera, where you see the image as the film or chip will see it – through the lens that takes the picture. The viewfinders on point-and-shoot cameras don’t work very well when you’re extremely close to your subject. That means with a digital point-and-shoot, you should use the camera’s LCD viewing panel to make certain the lens is pointed at your intended subject.When you take a macro photo, focus is all-important. Your plane of focus is very shallow — just a fraction of an inch. So you have to make another decision: Exactly what part of the flower do you want to be in sharp focus? The pistil? The stamen? A petal? (We've run out of high-school biology terminology, but you get the idea.) Unless you're a botanist, you will probably make this decision "on the fly" — that is, as you look through the viewfinder. When you see the image that you want, press the shutter!
While it is possible to take a good close-up photo handheld, our advice is to use a tripod if at all possible. Particularly if the flower is swaying in the wind, changing the focal point every moment, you're better off not adding the additional confusion of a swaying camera too. Use a tripod and be patient. Most often, the wind will die down from time to time and the flower will stand still and "pose" for an instant. That's the instant to shoot!

While on the subject of wind, here are some other tips: If the wind is blowing hard and steady, the flower will probably sway incessantly and fast, so that you will be hard-pressed to get the shot. Consider waiting for another time — perhaps, the next day — when the wind has died down. If you must shoot during an unremitting wind, place a makeshift shelter around the flower to protect it from the wind. A few sheets of poster board may be sufficient. (Of course, keep the shelter out of the picture!) Or tie the flower stem to a thin post (the type you will find in any garden center).How should you expose this shot? The easy way is to trust your meter. It will generally give a fairly accurate reading in this situation. For pinpoint exposure, however, we recommend that you use a gray card or take an incident reading. (These alternate methods have previously been explained on this site. If you are unfamiliar with them, you can find the articles on our Reference Shelf in the Subjects/Techniques section.) By using one of these alternative methods, you end up with an exposure that is precisely calibrated to the light, and is not affected by the color or reflectivity of the flower.

Macro flower shots can be pretty. But if you want to turn the ordinary macro shot into an extraordinary photograph, try to add something of interest. What? How about a bee gathering pollen? Or a spider crawling inside? Or a butterfly? Now you've got something to grab the viewer's attention beyond a pretty picture. This type of photograph may not come easy — you have to wait for the critter. But if you wait long enough and your patience is rewarded, you can end up with a really great photograph.
Let's move on to consider the shot of a single flower head. Much of what we said for the macro view applies here too. As before, you can't get close enough for this type of picture with film point-and-shoot cameras. Once again, you'll be better off using a tripod if possible. Remember also that you don’t have to make pictures of single flowers while you’re bent over in the garden. Over the years many great photographers have made wonderful still life studies of flowers in a studio setting where there’s no wind and the photographer has precise control over the lighting. Whether you’re taking pictures indoors or out, once again exposure will be more precise if you use a gray card or take an incident reading. And the picture will often be improved if you can add a crawling critter.Good focus is still important, but it's not so critical as it was with the macro. The zone of good focus is now a few inches, not just a fraction of an inch. So, while you still want to focus well, you don't need to watch focus quite so critically.An added decision for you to make with this type of shot is to consider the direction of light. It's possible to take a very attractive picture with the light in its "usual" position, streaming from behind you toward the flower. But give strong consideration to backlighting — that is — light coming from behind the flower, toward the camera. Since flower petals are usually translucent, backlighting can give them an iridescent glow that accentuates the flower's color and brings it to life.

How should you decide which light is best? Easy. Walk around the flower, observing how it looks through the viewfinder from different positions. Keep a sharp eye. You may see an appealing shadow from one position. A glow of iridescence from another. Maybe you can get both together. Walk around, and then take your picture from the position that appeals most to your eye.We should add two words of warning here. First, when the light comes from behind you, watch your own shadow carefully. Usually, you want to avoid casting a shadow on the flower. Second, when you are shooting with the flower backlit, watch out for flare. You don't want the incoming light to shine directly into your lens producing ghostlike blobs. (You can avoid flare by either positioning your camera so that the light doesn't shine directly into your lens, or by shading the lens with your hand or a hat or any other opaque object. Just be sure that the object is kept out of the image frame.)
There's a second additional decision to make when you are shooting a single flower head. How high or low do you want the camera to be?In other words, from what angle do you want to shoot the flower?Once again, the answer is best determined by your eye. As you walk around the flower to watch the play of light from different sides, also look through the viewfinder to see how it looks from different heights. Don't be lazy. Lie down to see it from a squirrel's-eye view. Stand up and raise your tripod to see it from a bumble-bee's view. Let your eye decide which you prefer. Also, in addition to the lighting, consider the tonality of any background that will be visible in the photograph. Brown dirt, green grass, or blue sky can give a very different feeling to the photo.Let’s move on to bigger floral subjects. What about a bed of flowers...or a field of them? Here, you can probably use a point-and-shoot as well as an SLR. A tripod is less necessary. Focus is no longer critical — it can extend for feet or even miles. And metering with your built-in meter will probably produce a good result.

What about the direction of light? It still can make a difference. If you can check how the flowers look from different sides, by all means do so. Frontlighting may be all right. Backlighting — or sidelighting — may be better. Camera angle — that is, height — is usually less important in this type of long shot. (You should still stoop down to see if the image is improved from a low angle that will accentuate the nearest flowers.)
What should you look out for here? We think you should go back to the very first decision: What's your subject? A bed or field of flowers may look exquisite to your eye, but often makes an awfully dull picture. Look for something that will add interest to the picture. Something else that will draw the eye of the viewer and be the subject of your picture, with the flowers acting as swatches of color that complement it.
If you're photographing a flower bed, look around. Perhaps, a child playing amidst the flowers will make a far more interesting picture. Or the house behind it. Or the apple tree in the foreground? Or the fence in the background. Or anything else you can find to draw the viewer's eye and add interest.Do the same with a field of flowers. Is there a barn that would make a better subject? A tree? A windmill? A lone person far out in the field. A babbling stream? A majestic mountain landscape?
Chances are if you look around you'll find lots of potential targets that will add considerable interest to your photograph.To sum all this up: Flowers are colorful and can make beautiful subjects when you're close up and they fill the frame. You're better off finding another subject, and using the flowers as an "accessory," when you're shooting from farther away.In the concluding installment of this article, we’ll take a look at some of the ways you can add other elements to your flower pictures to create even more dynamic images.
© 2007 New York Institute of Photography 211 East 43rd Street, Dept. WWW New York, NY 10017 U.S.A. info@nyip.com

Trip to the quilt show... 3-1-08

2008-03-01T18:34:00.000-05:00

Today I attended my first ever quilt show. WOW. I'm floored what people can do with fabric & thread! I'm working on putting together my first quilt but.. I never dreamed of what can actually be done!! If you are as amazed as I am and would like to see more of the wonders I came across today, please feel free to browse my photo log at the following link: http://njstampinmom.smugmug.com/gallery/4436030_oMy2v/1

Cat Wake Up Call

2007-11-30T08:08:00.000-05:00

Those of you with cats will likely think this is as hillarious as I do :)

2007-11-13T20:39:00.000-05:00

I went to see "THE" tree (Rockefeller Center, NY) get put in it's prime location this past week and took many many photos. This one intrigued me more than others. This is the display they have lining the main path of shops which leads to the main attraction. For the Christmas holiday season, it is usually strewn with lighted angels with trumpets and bows and all sorts of other holiday finery, but this early in the season, yet to be decked in the holiday lights and garland, this area is awash in the many varied colors of green. "Evergreens" resembling trees are mixed with low/wide plants and other garden finery. Not a flower in sight, but worthy of any florist. I just LOVED this simple yet multi layered display.

2007-11-13T20:33:00.000-05:00

I'm dreaming of a white winter...
Like all the winters that I love....

Photos from Winter '06/07. Can't wait for this year's photo ops!!

Nature photos - a flashback to 8-06. Beach time.

2007-11-13T20:28:00.000-05:00

These photos are from August '06 taken at the Jersey Shore.
I miss the beach and so wish we lived closer and could spend
more time enjoying it's magesty. The moss on the rocks and
the waves crashing... I could just sit there for hours.

Furbabies - Point shoot blog challenge #6

2007-11-12T13:46:00.001-05:00

I have lots of photos of the "fur babies" so I figured I'd share some of my all time favorites :)

WAY too much catnip :)

What the heck is she doing??

My beautiful girl.

The three stooges :)

Chestnut "watching TV"

Mudpie is flattening PJ. Look at her hind foot!

How to photograph football

2007-09-26T13:44:00.000-04:00

For anyone interested - I received this link in an add I got in my mailbox today - looks like a pretty good article so I thought I'd share.

http://www.ritzcamera.com/static/articles/tips/photograph-football.html

NYPL - Going down....

2007-08-16T10:09:00.000-04:00

Taken from the top of the steps at the New York Public Library... looking a lot more friendly going down than coming up :) If you'd like to see more of the NYPL, please visit my photo gallery at http://njstampinmom.smugmug.com/gallery/3316721

Cathedral - Perspectives of the City

2007-08-16T09:40:00.000-04:00

St. Patrick's Cathedral - towering gothic construction soars towards the sky in midtown Manhattan adjacent to modern office buildings and the hustle and bustle of city life. What an interesting perspective. If you want to see more from my photo trip to St. Patrick's you can view the whole album here http://njstampinmom.smugmug.com/gallery/3316683

Perspectives on Plantlife

2007-08-10T14:36:00.000-04:00

Different perspectives or points of view on the plantlife around my home

Reflections on Manhattan

2007-08-10T14:22:00.000-04:00

Working in midtown Manhattan I am aforded the luxury of having lots of tall buildings from which to gather 'reflection' photos. I love how the buildings mirror each other and the activity that surrounds them. The first photo is just a random view facing north on Madison Avenue. The other two are two sides of the building where I work, the first being the Madison Avenue side, the second being the 42nd Street side.

More at Grand Central

2007-08-10T14:18:00.001-04:00

One of the many enterances to the main centeral terminal building

Marble stairs - love the veining in them

WOW! The ceiling archways above multiple windows.

another beautiful intricate area of the main waiting area

downstairs below the main terminal - dining and waiting area

Grand Central Terminal

2007-08-10T13:28:00.000-04:00

This one is one of my favorites. Not everyone is in focus, and although it was a simple mistake, I love how it turned out - really shows the comotion and frantic pace of the crowd as they rush off to catch trains, stop to greet friends and family, stand waiting for one thing or another, fumble for tickets and directions, look for this or that, or simply stand in amazement, with or without camera in hand, taking it all in.

This fellow obviously has a scewed perspective. While standing amidst the hustle and bustle of life at GCT, he's absorbed in an email or other bit of business on his hand-held device, not noticing anything around him. Such a pitty.

This is the celing in the grand foyer. Quite the bit of work went into this, I'm sure.

The ironwork on this grate is totally amazing!

Archway in the grand foyer

This photo is the side of a staircase going from the main concourse up to a restaurant teer above. I love how the simple elegant lines, draw the eye to look closer, and see more.

Shadows & Reflections

2007-08-03T17:45:00.000-04:00

This week's Point/Shoot/Blog challenge is Shadows and Reflections. I caught these shots while on a pickup visit to my son's camp after a day trip to the Yankee game. I love what late-day sun does to ordinary objects.

natural negative space

2007-07-29T17:22:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure... do these qualify as "negative space" photos? I didn't take them specifically FOR negative space, but looking through my photos, I thought they work. Leave me a comment - let me know what you think.

Negative space again

2007-07-29T17:19:00.000-04:00

Another photo of "negative space" A clear evening sky made the perfect backdrop for this photo.

Negative Space

2007-07-29T17:11:00.000-04:00

Negative space - for this week's point-shoot-blog challenge.

This one isn't "negative space" but is too cute not to share :)

More with available light

2007-07-12T14:30:00.000-04:00

The early morning sun blew me away this morning. When I glanced out and saw these I just had to grab the camera. So what if I ended up doing my makeup in the car to make sure I caught the bus :)

Available Light Challenge

2007-07-08T15:33:00.000-04:00

Available light presents a challenge... I end up with shadows. I still love these photos of Sarah, but wish the shadowing under her eyes especially wasn't so prominent. However, sitting in the sun this morning, I couldn't resist the urge to capture her summer blonde highlights in photos.

Cloudy cloudy cloudy day

2007-07-04T20:25:00.000-04:00

The weather made a drastic change the past 36 hours, and this was the start of the storm moving in. Puts me in complete awe of the power in nature and the world around us and with the depth of the level of the clouds I am reminded how very insignifcant we are in this universe.

Feeling patriotic...

2007-07-04T20:14:00.000-04:00

This flag hangs in our living room window facing the street. It's been there since 9/13/01 and is a permanent fixture in our home. Unfortunately, as you can see on the left side of the photo, the bushes outside are partially obscuring the view of the flag from outside, but... that's soon to be remedied.

Wanting to take more patriotic photos, I went off on a photo hunt. First stop, the supermarket.

Everything is better with flowers right?

And... add balloons and you've got yourself a downright party :)

I suspect most of you have seen this yourselves at some point today, but even Google got into the act celebrating the birthday of our country's independence. Happy 4th of July to all.

the great bug hunt

2007-07-02T13:11:00.001-04:00

Took these photos this past weekend outside my house with the macro lens. Looking at the photos of my hand holding this fragile little blossom, it is easy to identify the actual size of the insect in the photos although that macro lens sure makes him appear a LOT bigger threat :)

Settings - Aperture Priority, 1/2500 sutter speed, F 5.6, 60mm

More childhood pics :)

2007-06-27T19:15:00.000-04:00

Obviously not MY photo, since that's ME on the sled, but I wanted to share :)

This is my neice. LOVE that photo of her enjoying a blueberry ice at the beach.

My neice again - bored during a family dinner so... licking the chair. Rebecca is one of those kids that just can't take a bad photo.

did some color editing... what do you think?

2007-06-27T19:13:00.001-04:00

Childhood views

2007-06-26T21:40:00.000-04:00

After graduating elementary school on Monday (with all *A*s I might add!!!) Sarah wanted to have a little childhood fun. Works for me - expecially with the weather 95 and HUMID! I would have jumped in too except I didn't want to get the camera wet :)

DOF experiment

2007-06-20T12:50:00.000-04:00

This is for this week's DOF challenge on Point/Shoot/BLOG!

Settings: f/8, focal length 300mm, shutter speed 1/500, ISO 400
Settings: F/4, focal length 60mm, shutter speed 1/60, ISO 400
Settings: f/4, 60mm, 1/60, ISO 400

Settings: f/4, focal length 60mm, 1/60, ISO 400

settings: f/5, 43mm, 1/60, ISO 400

2007-06-14T15:06:00.000-04:00

I just love the lillies. This year they've outdone themselves with 5 buds opening on one stalk. WOW! Taken with Cannon EOS Digital Rebel. 1/500 F/7.1 60mm 400 ISO

Self Portrait - Something New In June

2007-06-12T10:00:00.000-04:00

This month I'm hostessing a self-portrait challenge on scrapbook.com. The ladies have all come out and really committed to sharing themselves and their lives as we explore this self portrait adventure together. I look forward to sharing all my potraits from this challenge in this blog when the challenge is complete, but for now... this one goofy shot which kind of symbolizes how I'm feeling these days :) Life is chaotic, busy, goofy, crazy, silly and sometimes upside down - and I wouldn't have it any other way!

playing with PSE

2007-06-09T20:33:00.000-04:00

Just had to share this - I was playing around with PSE today trying to come up with something interesting. I was working with a self-portrait for my self-portrait a day challenge and wanted to do something different. I came up with this and just LOVE it. Not sure it's exactly what I was going for but... it works. I may fiddle with it some more. I'd like to have a more medatative/atherial quality to it in the end - maybe a soft frame? Regardless, I really love how it turned out and look forward to my next chance to play - being I'm just really learning how to do all sorts of things in PSE.

Jon - learning to fly?

2007-06-06T20:19:00.000-04:00

I think my son is trying to learn to fly, or become a bird... or give his mother a heart attack! But at least he is willing to allow me to take pictures while he's doing it :)

Nothing says summer...

2007-06-06T20:12:00.001-04:00

Like watching

all the tiny

buds and blossoms

fight to burst into full bloom.... soon!

and of course this vine that found the bird feeder :)

Me

2007-05-31T10:08:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. I'm Lynn and welcome to my blog.

This is my first attempt at photo blogging... I'm hoping to share bits and pieces of what's going on around me while expanding my photographic skills and topics.

I'm a 40-something (how did that happen??) married mom of 2. I work full time as a senior adminstrative specialist and have a part time scrapbook and rubberstamp bisness. We live in Northern NJ with the small zoo of 3 cats (siblings born under our shed), two red-eared slider turtles, 50+ tropical breeding fish, 53 house plants and various outdoor wildlife, including a pair of mated malards who return to our home every spring for the past 8 years. I'm a "collector" of many things - Longaberger baskets, judaica, WalkingWare china, and, of course, scrapbook supplies.

It would be great if you'd stop and visit a while and share a comment or two. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

2007-05-26T16:03:00.000-04:00

OH MY GOSH! We had some excitement on the block this evening. Across the street neighbors Bob & Robin heard an unearthly noise. They found Jenn (remember my ducks Zack & Jenn?) QUACKING - more like SCREAMING in the street. Jenn was having a MAJOR fit - going in circles and screaching something fierce. Zack was close by frantically quacking. What on earth???

Bob climbs down into the sewer after Jen's frantic calls for help. YAY BOB!!!

Bob investigated where she was waddling around darn near hysterical and found the sewer grate was conceiling a pile of small furry ducklings huddled in he corner of the sewer muck & mire. HOW they got down there is anyone's guess, but obviously Jenn's dilema was how to get them OUT. Our guess is that the whole family traveled through the sewer system and while Zack and Jenn were able to safely fly out, the little ones could not and now she did not know what to do. The hysteria was obvious.

Anywhoo...

Bob rescues duckling 1 into Robin's waiting arms - One of the Zack & Jen brood for 2007 BOB TO THE RESCUE Bob climbs down into the sewer after Jen's frantic calls for help. YAY BOB!!!

Zack, Jen and 2 of the 10 babies! Look at that little dude RUNNING to mom!

All 10 of the rescued babies sticking CLOSE to mom!

Blog Roll

2007-02-01T07:55:00.000-05:00

2002-02-01T17:31:00.000-05:00