The Brother

The brother lives in the same town as my parents. Because it’s such a long drive, we don’t see each other very often. The question I always ask when I see him is “Do you have a girlfriend?” I suppose it could get annoying. The boy and the girl love to see him and they spend all their time together goofing off.

Now that I have my new camera, I try to get more candid shots rather than having people pose but it wasn’t always that way. These are pictures taken with my point and shoot camera last Thanksgiving. It was a simple request, “Guys, I want a picture of the three of you.”  Sometimes, they get impatient with the process.

Everyone smile, I mean EVERYONE.

No, NICE smiles please.

If you just do what I ask, we’d be done by now.

All right guys, really, just smile.

If you would hurry up and smile you can watch the game.

Seriously guys.

Quit messing around.

If you don’t cut it out, I’ll feed you to the fish in little pieces.

The perfect happy family.

By the way, I never did find Jim today. Hope he’s doing well. And the girl still misses her horse.

We really miss you Joker!

Where’s Jim?

I spent the last month or more looking at other people’s photography and I’m blown away by their work. I’m also starting to understand how they see the world, how they can look at an ordinary object, an ordinary scene and see the beauty and potential in it. I am also struck by their creativity. I want to be a photographer too!

While I was on the Shutter Sister’s site, I saw something that caught my eye. It was a series of photos taken of people without their heads. I thought, “How weird.” Then I thought, “How cool.”

There’s a crack team of computer experts who help keep the network and computers (and therefore people) working at maximum capacity at work. One of these experts is Jim, whom I have not seen in a few months. It’s actually a good thing, it means that nothing’s broken at work, but it makes me wonder where and how he is.

Jim, have you been slacking?

 

Have you taken a job as a fish monger?

 

Have you put on weight and started smoking?

 

Have you been defending our country (at the grocery store)?

I’m going to look for you today. After all, it’s your birthday! If I find you, I’ll take a picture so everyone will know you’re still alive.

Happy birthday Jim.

Pete

This is the sister’s dog, Pete. I dislike this dog. It’s not because he’s ugly, because that would be shallow. It’s not because his constant barking can drive a saint to drink, although it’s a legitimate reason. It’s because EVERY time he comes over to my house, he pees on the floor. EVERY TIME.

Chihuahuas as a breed should be a part of the shark’s food chain. (Update: I’m sorry I said this. I apologize to all the chihuahua owners out there.)

Do you think he heard me?

Sometimes I think I’m the only one in my family with a normal pet.

A Fish Story Without The Fish

The husband likes to go fishing. So does the girl.

The boy, however, will look for deer in the field.

When we are done with our fill of catching – nothing – we decide to call it a day.

The conversation goes like this.

“Get out of the car, I’m driving home.”
“No, I’m driving home.”
“No, (pause for effect) you’re 12, I’m driving home.”
“No Dad, really, I can do it, I’m driving home.”

“OK, you asked for it.”

This is proceeded by a lot of ear-piercing, banshee-like screaming, followed by the inability to hear for a week.

Ahhhh, another successful fishing expedition.

Fall Is Here

It’s still August but the foliage outside is not aware of that. The Japanese maple outside my front door is already turning in anticipation of fall.

A Political and Patriotic Post

The dome in the National Gallery in Washington DC.

The columns of the National Archives in Washington DC.

In this political season, I feel the urge to create patriotic posts. Here is my family in front of the Capital Building in Washington DC. Some of us, like the boy, are indifferent to the political system. Some, like the girl, are exasperated with the whole thing. And some, like the husband have faith in the process, stay informed but doesn’t obsess, and continue their lives the best they can, regardless of who becomes president.

You may think they are thinking about politics, but they are really just waiting for me to STOP TAKING PICTURES!

Rodin’s Jackie

This is Jackie deep in her awareness. She’s at the beach in Nantucket, ruminating about life. The grasses wave in the wind around her feet and the overcast sky provide shade for her thoughts. The artist creates this in her mind, and the brush strokes follow the lead of her consciousness until this portrait of a thinker is composed.

Actually, not.

This is the original picture. Jackie is with the girl and the dog, looking for crabs in the Patuxent River. I looked at this in despair. I thought I was done taking bad pictures! After all, I’m a photographer now! The composition is wrong, the lighting is wrong, and the shadows are wrong (I think). There’s a light girl and a dark girl and I cut off the dog’s head, what to do?

I used this picture to play with some of the tools in Photoshop.

Oh my.

Not quite.

Then I thought, how about I do some cropping?

I can’t crop the dog’s head back in, but I think I’m on to something.

Every time I open the Filter Gallery, Filter>Filter Gallery, this small section of the picture comes up.

I liked it, so I thought I’d run one of Gavin Phillip’s Photoshop actions on it.

This is Rodin’s Jackie. I love it.

Tuk Tuk

This is my mother’s new dog. He’s a Havanese and he’s adorable. He would be more adorable if he were toilet trained. His name is Tuk Tuk.

This looks more like Tuk Tuk to me, all crazy and mischievious.

If you think this is bad, you should see what I did to Uncle Walt.

Hawaiian Daydreams

I’m not at work…as far as you know. Sometimes, my mind goes to Hawaii, and I need a break.

A long time ago, we lived in Hawaii. It was a long, lazy, sun-soaked, three and a half year vacation. Here’s a picture that I took of a phenomenon that happens just about EVERY NIGHT. Can you feel it?

My new-found passion for Photoshop can lead you to believe that I did something to enhance the color of this photo. I didn’t have to. Dreamy.

If you look really really closely, you can see the road and our house on the corner. There are two very faint lights on.

Now get back to work…

The Prodigal Son

As I was looking through my numerous scrapbooks, I came across these shots taken with my point and shoot camera. This was when the boy was seven years old. Should I fear for his future?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He’s not going to like this post. He’s way too cool now.

Today the boy turns fourteen years old and starting his first day of high school.

Happy birthday buddy, Love Mom

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