Newborn Angel

This sweet baby is from the shoot I did this week.

Happy Father's Day

Today in my home it is Happy Mentor a Boy Day

or maybe Happy Male Role Model Day.....?

Of course, I have a dad. He was a good dad--maybe not perfect, but I do know that my dad loved me and did his best to provide the physical, emotional and spiritual support children need. He is 80-years old now and lives in another state--yet, he is still a loving and caring dad and grandfather. My father was a great example to me of what a father and husband should be. And he continues to lead and support my children and me. I looked for a picture of my dad with me as a child, but there aren't many, because (like me) me was usually behind the camera lens taking the pictures.

This is a picture of my dad (PapaJoe) with El Jay taken in Logan, Utah, in 2005.

Another picture from the same day in Logan, Utah. At the cemetery visiting my dad's maternal grandfather's grave. A rare picture with me. The sprinklers were running and my dad was simply enjoying the moment. The boy running thru the sprinkler and picture is my sister, Sylvia's, son. And of course 2 1/2 year old El Jay.

El Jay and his dad running thru the sprinklers at the cemetary.

It has been two Father's Days since El Jay was with his own father. He will never again do those things he enjoyed doing with his dad. There are many things that he won't learn from his father. No matter who or what his father is, I hope El Jay will have good, possitive memories of his father. I am also grateful that this man will never again hurt another little boy. My hope for El Jay is that he will be blessed with many men who will be influential in his life. He has four brothers, PapaJoe, a couple uncles and a hand-full of male cousins. There will be teachers and coaches and other men who will come into his life to guide and teach him what it is like to be a man and father. A man doesn't have to be a father to reach out and show love and kindness to a child and to show a young boy what a real man truly is like.

Thank you to all the people who are in their own ways helping me to raise this boy into the man he will someday be.

F is for Freedom

'F' is for Flag

'F' is for Freedom

'F' is for Father

(Mine served during Korea.)

I am really enjoying my Alphabet Challenge and promise to share more at the end of May (Yes, I know it is the end of May. so I guess I'll share more in June--after I have all 26 letters.)

Today is Memorial Day and I wanted to say Thank You to those who have served to protect our freedom.

STICKS & ............

As of last week I decided to think independently on the entire weekly challenge thing. IF I see a challenge somewhere that entices me to play along, I will. If I don't, I can easily come up with my own theme.
In the Smugmug Daily Forum someone suggested a STICK challenge. It was Friday. It was a fun challenge. Who would have thought that a stick could be so photogenic. I enjoyed thinking about what to photograph, because a stick isn't just a stick, as you'll see with my variety of "sticks." And then there are the quotes. I'll include a few here.

TYPES OF STICKS:

Cinnamon Sticks

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.  ~Chinese Proverb

Flattery is like chewing gum. Enjoy it but don't swallow it.   ~*Hank Ketchum

Pixy Styx

A cross is just two sticks of wood nailed together.

The Hiking Stick

El Jay was my production assistant and a stick in his hand becomes a sword.

WK 18 {If You're Happy and You Know It....}

I'm not saying much on this one and will let you all interpret it your own way.

If You're happy & You Know It....

What do you do?

A is for ALPHABET Challenge

It is time to announce my personal challenge for the month of May.

I will continue to take my camera with me as often as possible and while I am carting it around I will look for interesting pictures I can take using the letters of the alphebet.

I do not have to get the pictures in A,B,C order. I don't have to get one each day. I just need 26 pictures, one for each letter, by the end of the month.

The image above will not be my official letter "A" photo, but it seems so appropriate for this challenge that I decided to use it as the picture announcing the challenge. I found this precious piece of plastic in the RT 66, Nob Hill area of Albuquerque on an empty lot where a motel once stood. It could be from the marquee of that extinct motel. I picked it up and brought it home, to serve as a little bit of Rt66 memorabilia and inspiration.

I invite all of my readers (all one of them?) to participate with me in the ABC Challenge.

White Wk 17

I am a week behind. Sorry. The Blog account got screwed up when I added Google Apps and I didn't have the initiative to either get rid of Google Aps or figure out how to add this account to it. At this moment I hate google APS. *sigh*

This is My M$H challenge image for WK17.  The Theme was WHITE, I went with a highkey looking image. i posted several working versions of it here.

Cropped, B&W, soft focus and frosted corners

Desaturated, frosted corners and frame

Original

I should be posting a new image for Week # 18 today. M4H's theme was HAPPY.... Hmmmmmm. I get back to y'all about that soon.

Perspective WK 16

per·spec·tive [per-spek-tiv]

1) a way of looking at or thinking about something

 

The M4H challenge this week was perspective. I've already posted about Jeddy and the Morp shoot. Now, I'll share my favorite photo and several different ways I processed it. Yeah, I'll show it to you in various PERSPECTIVES.

Origin of PERSPECTIVE

Middle English perspectyf, from Medieval Latin perspectivum, from neuter of perspectivus of sight, optical, from Latin perspectus, past participle of perspicere to look through, see clearly, from per- through + specere to look — more at per-, spy

First Known Use: 14th century

 

  

 2) all that can be seen from a certain point 

This photo takes me to windy desert afternoons with a quiet guitar and the whistle of the wind. She looks dreamy and happy and content. Treat her well, Jeddy. She deserves nothing less than the best. This is how I often imagine her-soft, with fluffy clothes, a flower in one hand, a musician on her other side, hair hiding her face.... it's a nearly perfect photo. If only to see her face some. 

I'm saving this photo. It's gorgeous.   (A comment made by Delaney's mom about this image--which is her perspective)

 archaic

: an optical glass (as a telescope) 

3) a condition in which a person knows which things are important and does not worry or think about unimportant things

 4) a way of showing depth or distance in a painting or drawing by making the objects that are far away smaller and making the objects that are closer to the viewer larger 

Rhymes with PERSPECTIVE

advective, affective, bijective, collective, connective, convective, corrective, defective, deflective, detective, directive, effective

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHRASES

 Frame of reference, point of view

Synonyms 

angle, eye view, outlook, shoes, slant, standpoint, vantage point, viewpoint, command, lookout, outlook, panorama, perspective, prospect, vista   

English to Spanish

   : perspectiva feminine

 English to German

   : Standpunkt

Going to the Morp

Jeddy and Delaney were too cool to go to the Prom. The day after the prom for some unknown reason, Jeddy decided to put his tux on (yeah, a 17-year old kid owns his own tux, how cool is that?) Delaney had a ruffly, cool dress on and I suggested we have a quick, impromptu photo session. An UN-prom shoot or a MORP (which is prom backwards.) I knew the perfect location. I'd been driving past this abandoned limo for over a year and I have really wanted to do a shoot with the limo. And what's better then going to a prom in a limo? Well, in this case, NOT going anywhere with a a beat-up limo with four flat tires.

 All Dressed Up With No Where To Go

 

For their Morp dinner where better to go than McD's?

 

Movement Week 15

The theme for week 15 of the M4H's 52 week challenge was MOVEMENT. These two images are all about movement. It was an extremely windy day and the boys and I decided to stop at Jeddy's favorite hamburger place, Lumpy's Burger, on Central Ave (old RT 66) in Albuquerque. The pictures were taken in low light, through a dirty car window as Jeddy quickly walked towards the car. Of course, the images turned out blurred, so I played with them in photo shop and I sort of like the look.

These photos are all about movement... the wind blowing everything around... and he is hurrying towards the car because he can't wait to eat his burger.