52 Pictures - Week 7

There is a story around why I took this photo, but suffice to say those are the hips that launched this dog over a 5 1/2 foot fence unbeknownst to me.

I heard a knock on our side door and when I got there my neighbor had already walked away.  I opened and he yelled "Scooby's OUT!"  I slipped on my shoes, grabbed a pack of treats, a leash and ran up and down the street (in my PJs no less) yelling frantically.

We ended up finding him just two houses over in the neighbor's backyard.

So, so grateful he didn't go far  Would have been a horrible, horrible end to a hard, hard week.

52 Pictures - Week 6 (take 2)

 Fun with Dog #4.   

No flash with incandescent bulb lighting.

 

In this set of pictures I think in retrospect I would like to have chosen the incandescent lighting option.  I haven't tried that setting yet, but ran across it the other day when flipping around the controls.  I am excited about receiving a new book I ordered Friday written explicitly for the Canon 70D.  Looking forward to learning more about all the controls and setting.  I'm getting  more and more comfortable with all the settings each time out. 

52 Pictures - Week 6

Last night I grabbed the camera and took a bazillion photos of this little one.  I played with the ISO setting a bit and I'm beginning to understand how this works with digital photography.  I love his expression in all these photos.  They make me smile and needed to be posted.

52 Pictures - Week 5

Puppy paws. 

Several weeks ago I was sitting with this little one and realized that I really like puppy paws.  Yesterday, we had a photo practice session with her paws.  This is one of my favorites while practicing in Av mode.  F/stop was 1.8 on this photo.  

Took this one with Manual mode.   Finally got a good picture of her black fur.   Learning more and more every photo session.

52 Pictures - Week 4

Here are two of my favorite photos from several practice sessions with my new DSLR camera. #stilllearning

 

 

52 Pictures - Week 3

(taken with my iPhone)

52 Pictures - Week 2

Week 2 - This morning the dogs were running around the backyard after eating breakfast.  They were having so much for so I decided to take my new DSLR camera out for a photo shoot to see if I could get some fun action shots.  No such luck.  Pictures still needs a lot of work and I need a better understanding how to select the correct settings, but here are still shots of my sweet girls. 

 

 

52 Pictures - Week 1

A friend is doing a "One Photo a Day" on Facebook this year.  I thought about it for a bit, but I'm not sure I could stick with it.  Instead I've decided to try "52 Weeks in Picture" with a weekly goal of at least one photo.

~

These two sweet ones are new to our family in 2014.  One was planned and the other was not.  :)  Both are rescues, but the second is what we affectionately call a "failed foster".   Both are a delight and fit well into the pack.  Never in a million years did I ever think we'd be a home for four dogs and one cat.   Lots and lots of legs in this household.

 

 

Rough Drafts and Sketchings*

Rough drafts and sketchings.

Long forgotten.

Your roughness and "mistakes" long ago.

Rough drafts and sketchings.

No longer remembered.

Yet...

Your existence spawns treasure, 

a jewel, a gem, a masterpiece.

Beginnings of...

form.  depth.  beauty.

color.  richness.  texture.

shape.  light.  darkness.  contrast.

Rough drafts and sketchings.

Today I embrace your unfinished beauty.

Today I receive your part of the whole.

Today I bless your work in my life.

Today I honor you.

* dedicated to my niece

Yardsticks

Set us free
that we would know in our bone's marrow 

that we are deeply loved and
completely cherished by You.

May we know this as a grounding truth.

Our performance is nothing to You. 

No measure to You.  No measure You use. 

You don’t use this yardstick.

You know it exists, but You never pick it up.

But we come to You and say 

"measure me and here is my measure." 

On a good day oh do we fly high. 

On a bad day all we see is failure, 

rejection or abandonment.

Your word in these moments is this:

"Child lay down the yardstick. 

I don't need it and neither do you. 

It is not mine. It is not my measure.

"'What,' you ask, 'is Your measure?' 

 Child, that is a beautiful question and a hard one. 

Today lay down your yardstick

and in the coming times 

I will show you My measure, 

My grace bound measure."