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52 Project, Week 26: Watermelon

52 Project, Week 26: Watermelon

Summer and watermelon go together like pumpkins and autumn.   Watermelon is one of my favorite summer treats.  The kids usually flock around me when I start to chop one up.

This year, I grew watermelon for the first time.  We got a bunch of cute little watermelons that tasted amazing.  There really is nothing better than food grown at home. 

Watermelon is harder to photograph than I thought it would be.  I’ve always struggled to photograph the color red.  I’ve attempted to tackle it with roses but even then, they’re not exactly to my liking. 

That’s the kind of challenge that I don’t give up on.  I actually did this photoshoot 3 times.  The first two were not to my liking.  My last, I can finally say that I have an image I’m proud of.  

Previous Week: 52 Project, Week 25: Patterns
Next Week: Flip Flops/Sandals
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52 Project, Week 24: Words

52 Project, Week 24: Words

It took me quite awhile to mull over what I was going to do with words.  Should I photograph a few meaningful words?  Should I photograph a journal page?  Should I go out and find some words that appeal to me?

What words are worth capturing for this project?  What words will have meaning and depth?  Should I choose my own language or another?  Words do always sound more romantic in another non-native tongue.

After Princess woke up and climbed into bed with us last night, I couldn’t fall back asleep.  I mulled over words, saving inspiration to my Pinterest board.  I put down my phone and attempted to go back to sleep when it came to me.  I wrote the whole blog post in my head and it sounded great!  Best blog post ever!  As I drifted off to sleep, I knew I would forget every word.  So I turned on the light and jotted down the most important part.

Words have power.  The power to build someone up or to tear them down.  Choose wisely.

When I think of all of the words that have made the sum of my life, there have been billions.  I learned to speak, I learned other languages.  I’ve heard others speak.  I’ve written countless school papers, letters, journals, work notes, and emails.  Words make up a large portion of my life.

Words create emotion that can touch deeper than any slap or caress.  Words can be cruel, hate-filled, malicious, violent, slanderous and life-shattering. Words can be kind, gentle, loving, hopeful, sweet and uplifting.  The bible says “Thoughtless speech is like the stabs of a sword, but the tongue of the wise is a healing.”

Words must be chosen carefully.  I can remember vividly, words that I regret using.  I can also remember words that have changed my life.  I have deep sorrow for words never spoken.  I have tears for the memory of words from lips that have been silenced.  I have pain from words of vows that have been broken.  I have joy from words of memories of my favorite things.

Words can be a gift when used wisely.   In turn, those words can be a curse when used carelessly.  So think carefully about your words, friends.  Be careful, be patient and most importantly, be kind.

How have words changed your life?  What are some of your favorite words?

Previous Week: 52 Project, Week 23: Green
Next Week:52 Project, Week 25: Patterns
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Need inspiration for your words project?  Check out my inspiration board on Pinterest!

 

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52 Project, Week 25: Patterns

52 Project, Week 25: Patterns

When finding patterns for a photography project, it can be difficult to find a satisfactory subject.  At least, it was for me!  I couldn’t find anything that really spoke to me.  I have already incorporated leaves into past projects and I didn’t want to be redundant, but that would have been my first choice.

Searching in the world, there are a lot of patterns, brick walls, playground equipment, windows.  Honestly, they all seemed so overdone and boring to me.  I really wanted to try something different.

I have seen a photograph similar to this before and I thought it would be fun to try it myself.  Let me tell you, this was no easy task!  It took A LOT of matches and I ended up with a few burnt fingers.

I tried so hard to get a perfect gradient.  Did you know that matches bend when they are burning?  Or that they shoot flames out the end of the match when you get too close to the end?  Also, not much holds the head on once it’s been torched.

For the really charred ones, well, everything past the fourth match, I had to deal with warping and bending of the wood.  My remedy for this was to burn a short section, cool and then burn another section.

For the last 6 matches, I had to be really careful not to burn my fingers.  I decided to burn the butt end first, then burn the remaining sections.  This is where the flames shooting out of the end of the match became a problem.

After numerous attempts at perfection, I said “Forget about it!” and became satisfied with imperfection.  I theorized that I could fix it in photoshop in a jiffy, but I earned that imperfection with a badge of honor… or burnt fingertips anyway.

Previous Week: words
Next Week: watermelon
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Check out how I did this in my video!

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52 Project, Week 21: Simplicity

52 Project, Week 21: Simplicity

When I think of the word “simplicity” I think of nature.  Nature is an incredibly complex system, but being outside, in the woods, is where I feel peace and quiet.  When I am outside, surrounded by God’s creation, life seems simple, and less stressful.

I marvel at the diversity and beauty of all of the things growing and living in the woods.  I like to stop and capture some of my favorite finds.  Mostly, I photograph flowers.  I also really love finding mushrooms and different types of moss.

Trees have always held a special place in my heart.  There’s so much to love about them.  They are the lungs of the Earth, cleaning our air.  Some even look like lungs!  They give shade on a hot summer day.  Their leaves are beautiful and ever-changing.  Watching them grow from buds in the spring, to big leaves in the summer and seeing the brilliance when they lose their green in autumn is a marvel to behold.  Pine needles create a soft carpet underfoot when they shed or give a bit of color to a landscape in the winter.  Even the bark of trees is a unique style for each tree.

When I came across this leaf in the woods, I was instantly stopped by its brilliance.  The green popped out on the dark path.  It was decorated with either drops of rain from the recent storm or morning dew.

Editing the image, I could imagine it as a large print on my wall.  The image itself didn’t need editing as it was already beautiful, just as it was.  However, I do take all of my images RAW, so I had to make a few adjustments before converting it to JPEG, as I do all of my images.

I hope you enjoy my leaf in its simple splendor!  If you were to capture something simple this week, what would you choose?

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Previous Week: 52 Project, Week 20: Favorite Color
Next Week: 52 Project, Week 22: Self Portrait
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52 Project, Week 20: Favorite Color

52 Project, Week 20: Favorite Color

My favorite color is purple.  It has been for as long as I can remember.  I’ve had rotating secondary favorite colors as well.  Pink, black, blue, green, deep turquoise blue, aqua blue.  I love jewel-toned colors, bright colors, earthy colors.  I love cream and brown in combination with any of my favorite colors.

Funnily enough, I also have a color that I extremely dislike, yellow.  I’m not a fan.  Yellow is one of those colors that make me grimace.  Strange right?  You’d think a color that seems sunshiney would be likable.

Now, I’m not going to go crazy and banish all yellow from my life.  I just won’t go out of my way to purchase or create something yellow.  Plus, yellow isn’t always awful, some flowers look lovely with a touch of yellow in their centers.  Sunflowers are incredibly beautiful and they are very yellow.  Yellow leaves in combination with reds, greens, and oranges in the fall are also pleasing to the eye.

When I was very young, I loved rainbows.  My whole room was done in the Rainbow Bright theme.  Color, and lots of it, was wonderful.  So although I love purple as my favorite color, truly, I love a wide range of the whole rainbow.  My house is filled with color.  My wardrobe is organized by rainbow in my closet.  Yes, I wear almost every color, except yellow!

Despite my love of a variety of colors, I always seem to pick purple flowers for my garden.  When the garden center is having a sale, I can’t be as picky with what I end up with.  By the time the sales roll around, most of the flowers have fallen off.  This ends up being exciting for me, seeing what colors will bloom when my plants are nursed back to health.

This year I got a fantastic find with a lovely purple datura.  I managed to get a large amount of purple alyssum, some more pastel, some a rich, darker purple.  I also got pinkish purple petunias and dark purple salvia.  Everything else was a surprise color.

It always amazes me how many different shades there are of one color.  I love seeing all of the beautiful variations in flowers.   I have only seen a small fraction of the flowers in the entire world!  I would love to see them all!  I can only imagine the joy that God had in making them.   I feel so thankful that he created this beauty for us to enjoy.

What is your favorite color? Join us in the photography challenge! We’d love to see your images!
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Previous Week: 52 Project, Week 19: Jewelry
Next Week: 52 Project, Week 21: Simplicity
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52 Project, Week 19: Jewelry

52 Project, Week 19: Jewelry

I had an image in my head for the jewelry photography project.  It was one of those projects where you need two people.  I knew that a tripod would be difficult to get the angle I wanted and also to get myself into place if I were to do a self-portrait with a remote.  Cat was sweet enough to help me.

My children don’t really wear jewelry, so it seemed practical that I use myself, since I enjoy wearing it on a regular basis.  I’m not as comfortable in front of the camera as I am behind it, but I’m really pleased with the way the images turned out. My daughter is really becoming a great photographer.

I love wearing jewelry, I always have.  I remember wearing beaded bracelets as a little girl, I even still have my favorite rainbow star beaded bracelet.

When I was about 4, I begged my Mom to get my ears pierced.  She and my Grandmother brought me to a mall jewelry store in Minneapolis.  They messed up my left ear and had to re-pierce it twice.  Because of that, I will only bring my children to a professional piercer at a tattoo shop.

Unfortunately, I’m allergic to nickel.  This means that I can only wear high-quality jewelry.  I enjoy high-quality jewelry over cheap jewelry, so I’m not complaining about the upgrades.  The downside is that chains and earrings are a bit more expensive to replace.  I also can’t get jewelry on a whim if I find something cute at a craft show or on vacation.

I don’t own a lot of jewelry.  I love necklaces for their convenience.  Simple, elegant pieces make me happy.  My Mom buys me a beautiful new necklace from Kay jewelry every year.  I wear one almost every day.

I have a few bracelets.  Funnily enough, I never grew out of my love for beaded bracelets.  The bracelets I wear most often are plastic children’s bracelets.  I have a favorite fluorite bracelet I got while on vacation on the north shore last year.  I also couldn’t resist the bracelet I’m wearing in the images below.  It is silver with stars.  I got one for my daughter Cat and myself.

It was a beautiful day, so Cat and I decided to walk down to the river for our project. I love to spend alone time with each of my children.  I try to give them each a little bit of alone time once a month.  This breaks down to a once a week Mother/Child date with one of my children.

Looking for a location, I didn’t really see any place that jumped out at me as THE spot.  As we started walking home, I thought we might take a different route and keep looking for a good location.  In one spot, we found a cute painted rock that someone had left.

The spot I found was actually a place that might not appear to the naked eye as a great location.  To me, it was perfect.  If you look at the image below, you might see why some might rule it out.  It’s in a parking lot without a lot of great visual appeal in the background.  However, I loved the tall grasses bordering the parking lot.  I knew that with the right angle, it would be exactly what I was looking for, and it was.

  

What is your favorite jewelry?  Join us in the photography challenge!  We’d love to see your images!  You can post your image on our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/cisforcomfort/posts/1452792044806017
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Previous Week: 52 Project, Week 18: Spring Trees
Next Week: 52 Project, Week 20: Favorite Color

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52 Project, Week 18: Spring Trees

52 Project, Week 18: Spring Trees

The spring trees challenge was a lot of fun to photograph.  After choosing to photograph the same spot of trees for the winter, spring, summer and autumn challenge, I already knew where one of my locations was.  As my main image for the challenge, I’m choosing some beautiful crab apple blossoms.

I’m always amazed at how fast the trees turn green.  In what feels like a few days, the trees go from bare branches to tops full of leaves.  Catching that moment when the trees are softly budding with baby leaves is a race against time.  As soon as the surrounding hills took on a soft subtle green, I knew it was time to head out and start shooting.

All of the kids came with for this challenge.  It was a lovely, warm Sunday, with a scattered sprinkling of rain showers throughout the day.  After our meeting at the Kingdom Hall, we stopped by home to pick up our cameras.  We took the scenic route to the park and enjoyed the lovely views of our changing world.

Mr. Awesome and Cupcake chose to wait in the car, but Princess hopped out with Cat and me.  Princess is my little shadow, she follows me everywhere.


Cat’s Spring Trees

The following Sunday was a clear, warm, sunny day.  We met some friends at the park for a walk.  In just one week you could really see the difference in the trees.  In the picture of the children below, the kids are walking toward the back of the trees from the previous week.

On our walk, we saw a kayaker in the river.  We went down to our favorite spot where the children were able to wade and splash in the water.  It was a beautiful, spring day.

What is your favorite thing about spring?

Previous Week: 52 Project, Week 17: Light
Next Week: 52 Project, Week 19: Jewelry
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52 Project, Week 17: Light

52 Project, Week 17: Light

I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the light photography project.  I have seen beautiful images that others have taken of sparklers and I wanted to create an image of my own.

Ever since I was a little child, I have loved the glittery glow that sparklers give off.  I can remember my parents giving me sparklers and the joy I had running around, waving them in trailing arcs, trying to make an M for Melissa or making stars or circles.  I can remember being burned by the hot end and learning quickly to be careful, even after the light had gone out.

Cupcake, Mr. Awesome, and Princess joined me outside for this project.  I lit sparklers for them as I snapped away at my own.  After I was satisfied with my work, I continued to light them for the children and enjoyed watching them run happily around the yard.  Even after being warned, poor Princess learned the hard way, just as I had, to be careful of the hot end after the light went out.

After all of the sparklers had been spent, we gathered up our mess and went in for bedtime.  Hopefully, the children had smiles on their faces as they drifted off to sleep, imagining glowing sparkles and running through the warm summer air.  I sat happily at my computer, editing my images and feeling content.  I love that two dollars can easily buy a night of joy for our family.

What do you like to do with your sparklers?

Previous Week: 52 Project, Week 16: Multiple
Next Week: 52 Project, Week 18: Spring Trees
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52 Project, Week 16: Multiple

52 Project, Week 16: Multiple

This multiple image has been something I have wanted to try for a long time.  Creating a double exposure effect of a person and trees has always held a strange appeal for me.  I’ve seen a lot of variations, but I wanted something that was unique and a bit different than what I had seen.

I feel that there is always something that is occupying our minds.  We are longing for that hope which our future holds, whether near or far.  We have little hopes and big hopes.  Dreams don’t need to be rational to be longed for.  Simply holding on to an idea of something that brings us joy is how we continue to move forward each day.

My daughter always says, whenever we see a particularly beautiful, deep grove of trees, “I want to live there.”  My sweet Cupcake has heard me mention dreamily often that I want to move up north and live in the woods.  Using her for this project was perfect.  She’s dreaming of the deep woods.

I don’t know when our dream of living in the woods will come true.  In my head, I have this beautiful image of paradise earth with trees that stretch on for miles.  Till that day comes, we’ll happily enjoy camping up north and soaking in the fresh air of the many pines.

What is your vision of hope for the future?

Previous Week: 52 Project, Week 15: Hobby
Next Week: 52 Project, Week 17: Light
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52 Project, Week 15: Hobby

52 Project, Week 15: Hobby

Choosing one hobby for this project was no easy task!  I have many, many hobbies and interests.  I love learning, I love being busy and creative.  Ultimately, at the base of that, has always been reading

I love to read.  I have always loved reading.  I can remember my Father teaching me to read my first books, The Fox and the Box and Green Eggs and Ham.  As a child, I was teased for being the girl who always had a book in her hand.  I could read 7 books in a day at one point.  My elementary school librarian told me that I read too much and I needed to get out there and live a little.  There was more to life than books!  I still laugh remembering the shock I felt.  If a librarian tells me that I read too much, it might be a wakeup call.

There is no limit to the type of book I like to enjoy.  I love learning about many different topics, so the non-fiction section is where I spend most of my time in the library.  I do love fiction, but I usually listen to those as audiobooks while I work.  With 4 small children, sitting down to enjoy a great novel can be difficult.

When it comes to learning new subjects, I love to have my children join me.  I took an anatomy course online earlier this year and I really loved it, but going through the textbook and pouring over the pages was such a thrill for me.  I read and reread so many sections, took notes and I probably drove my family crazy with my exclamations.  Everyone got a chance to learn along with me as I described the wonders of cell structure, the fascination of a neuron,  The complexity of all of our systems, working together in harmony.  It’s beautiful and awe-inspiring.  I felt closer to God, marveling in how he created us with such intricacy and detail.

Right now I’m listening to a book on neuroscience, a book on pediatrics rounds, a book on integrative holistic medicine, a book on genetics and DNA, a sci-fi novel (I read this series when it first came out.  Now I’m listening to it again while I work),  Anne of Green Gables when the kids are around, and the bible and bible study guides.  I’m reading a couple different books about camping(Minnesota Vacation Days and Camping Activity Books for Families), a book about tiny houses, The Water-Saving Garden, Dakota County in the Twentieth Century, and also, again, the bible.

Personally, I love the feel of a real book in my hands.  I love to look at them and feel their weight in my hands.  I enjoy feeling the surface of the cover, smooth on newer books and soft and bumpy on older ones.  I love turning pages.  If there are diagrams and images to enjoy, or words to mull over, I can pause and take it in.  I love hugging a book to my heart, or a stack cradled in my arms.

Overall, whether a real book or an audiobook, there is always great excitement in something new.  A new book is a whole adventure contained in one small package.  The thoughts and works of the author, which maybe took months or even years to gather and put together for our benefit is such a gift.  A book is a doorway to another place, a guide to a new curiosity, a page away from changing the rest of your life.

For this project, I photographed my daughter Cat, holding an old copy of Shakespeare.  Since my children share my love of reading, I thought it was appropriate to use one of them for my hobby project.

Cat chose to photograph her piano for her hobby project.

What is one of your hobbies?  What do you love about it? Do you love to read?  What books are you reading right now?

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Next Week: 52 Project, Week 16: Multiple
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