….so cold yesterday that I was only able to take one shot and then the battery died
Becca Givens hosts Sunday Trees every week. I’ve always enjoyed taking photos of trees and bark because of the wonderful shapes, colours and textures they possess.
The same tree taken today. It was a little bit warmer but the sky was very grey.
….this week’s WPC theme is optimistic
How do you portray optimism in a photograph? That was the question that I immediately asked myself when I saw this week’s challenge.
As some of you may know I received a new camera for Christmas. I have to admit that I was very optimistic about all the wonderful things that I would be able to do with this camera but it hasn’t been easy to manoeuvre this new device. I’ve actually been overwhelmed with all the new functions.
Tonight when I took one of the dogs for a short walk I noticed how beautiful the first full moon of the year was. It was early in the evening and it wasn’t even completely dark but the moon hung low in the sky and it cast a beautiful reflection on the lake. The lights of the city were exceptionally bright and I was optimistic that the moon, its reflection and the city skyline would make a wonderful photo.
I hurried back home for my camera and set the function for hand held night shots. It was bitterly cold but I played around by the lake’s edge, gloves off, to get the perfect shot. The final product is better than any shot I’ve ever gotten before but I’m optimistic that when I purchase a zoom lens for this camera my night photos of the moon over the city will be even better.
….this week’s words from Ronovan are style and fresh
The Bitter Truth
Her own reflection
confirmed her need for a fresh
up-to-date hair style
*****
But what style would bring
a smile to her aging face?
A fresh youthful look?
*****
Or does one forgo
the fresh style of youth for a
short practical cut?
*****
Does a modern style
mock her attempt to slow down,
to look fresh again?
…..just add a beak to a scrap piece of paper and voila you have a bird
I got this idea from Carla Sonheim and I find that it works with all age groups. I’ve used it with kindergarten children and children in grades 1 to 5.
This year I had the children create a tree by printing the shape with the edge of a piece of thick cardboard dipped in brown paint. While we waited for it to dry I had the students practise drawing a variety of leaf shapes and then deciding which one they would use on their tree.
Once the paint dried I instructed the students to tear small pieces of coloured and patterned papers and then glue them to the tree branches. With a pencil or a black Sharpie they started creating their birds by adding a beak and then an eye. After that they could add as much or as little detail as they wanted. Once the birds were done they were instructed to draw the leaves in the open spaces and colour them in.
I love how these turned out. The following are examples from my grade two class.
….to share your world check out Cee’s blog
What is your favorite piece of art? (it doesn’t have to be famous)
That’s a hard question for me because I love so many different pieces. I’m a huge fan of Ray Cattell’s art and would love any one of his pieces. Here’s one that I’m fond of:
A Ray Cattell painting.
What made you smile today?
A photo of my new granddaughter always make me smile.
Which place do you recommend as a Must-See? Please state which country, state or providence.
Again I struggled with this question but after a discussion with my daughter I decided that Niagara Falls should be a must-see destination if you’re visiting this end of Canada or New York state in the USA. You can see the falls from either side of the border but I think the view from the Canadian side is spectacular.
Complete this sentence: When I was younger I used to….
…..sing in a German choir. I started at the age of 18 and sang with them for 27 years. I was always one of the youngest in the choir. Even when I left at the age of 45 most of the members were considerably older than me. I did enjoy it and I do miss singing in a choir and hearing German.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I’m grateful that my son has had his staples removed from his arm and that his arm is healing nicely. He’s back in England now and has found himself a doctor and is part of the National Health Service. Things are going well at school and boys’ basketball is well underway with early morning practices are happening three times a week. I’m especially grateful to one of our dads who is coming out each morning to help us coach the boys’ team.
This week I’m looking forward to a day off on Friday. It’s a report card writing day. I’m not thrilled about writing report cards but I am grateful for the time to work on them. I’m also looking forward to seeing Miss Winnie on the weekend. We didn’t get to see her last weekend and by all accounts from her mother she’s growing by leaps and bounds.
Here are a few photos from our walks through the park and the snow storm we had on Monday. Notice how tired Frances is. She had just stared down a coyote during that storm.
….don’t often do this but I like this week’s weekly photo challenge
….this week’s theme for the weekly photo challenge is alphabet
….thanks Cee for this week’s questions but I can’t help but think that I’ve answered one or two of these before
Do you believe in extraterrestrials or life on other planets?
Absolutely. I think it would be pretty arrogant to think that we are the only race of beings to inhabit the universe.
How many places have you lived? You can share the number of physical residences and/or the number of cities.
I haven’t lived in too many different places. I was born in Frankfurt, Germany and when I was one we moved to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria. Soon after that we boarded an ocean liner and moved to Canada where I have lived most of my life in Toronto. For a period of four years, when I was 6 to 10 we lived in Oakville (a bedroom community close to Toronto) and when I went to university I lived in the town of Guelph.
If you given $22 million tax free dollars (any currency), what is the first thing you would do?
I would pay off all my credit cards and then give each of my children $1 million dollars, so they could pay off their debts and own a home. After that I would probably put aside enough money to live on comfortably and afford a couple of vacations a year for the rest of my life. Then I would share the rest with my sisters and friends and donate to different charities every year. Spread the wealth!
The Never List: What are things you’ve never done? Or things you know you never will do?
I will never and have never done the following:
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I am grateful that my son has started to heal from his surgery and that he returned safely to London, England on Monday night. Before he left we spent some quality family time with his siblings and our granddaughter. Last Saturday, B, A, J and I drove to the Aga Khan Museum and spent a couple of hours perusing the artifacts from the middle east. It was fun watching my children take in the displays and actually taking the time to read the text that explained the history of the different ceramics, books and articles of clothing.
After our experience at the museum we drove to Hamilton and met up with my husband and younger daughter and her family. There was a whirlwind of activity in the kitchen as homemade meatballs were being prepared by the two of them while the rest of us took turns holding the baby and entertaining her. She is so curious now that she doesn’t want to sleep. The dinner was fabulous.
On Sunday I drove my son to the AGO to meet up with one of his good friends and to see the Turner show. I enjoyed our time together but I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of Turner’s work. I liked his small watercolour studies but his large pieces were too dark and gloomy for me. I am, however, very curious to see the movie on his life. I think he was one very strange man.
Later this week I’m hoping to figure out how to transfer photos from my new camera to my iPhone and computer using WiFi. So far transferring my photos onto the computer and onto my phone has been a challenge to say the least.
Hopefully I can sort out my photography problems so that I can continue to participate in photo challenges.
Cheers!
….this week’s theme for WPC is weight or weightless
…..one of my favourite things to photograph are flowers
Do you have any photos of yellow orange flowers? If so, you should consider joining Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge.
Mama Cormier 