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Middle Child changing batteries

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Chugga chugga, choo choo!

Chilly Photo Shoot

Yesterday afternoon I had a family photo shoot in the chilly low 40 degree weather. It was sunny though, so that was nice, and the family even braved the cool temps for a few pics without coats on. The 1 YO twin girls gave me a run for my money, but the older kids cooperated so easily!

We went to the family farm which belonged to the husband's grandparents. Although both of them have passed away, some of his family still lives there, and they were nice enough to let us take pictures on the property. It was a photographer's dream! Lots of neat textures and scenery for backgrounds!

Week 2 Photography Class Assignments

I'm so sorry for the extended absence. This past week has just been extremely busy, and I just haven't had time to blog. In fact, I finally submitted my photos for my photography class assignments tonight, too.

This week our photography class focused on shutter speed. I'm actually pretty proud of myself because I shot 2 of the 5 photos for the class using completely manual settings. They may not be spectacular, but I'm especially proud that I was able to adjust the shutter speed and ISO so that the lighting wasn't too bad.

Here are all my shots SOOC (with the exception of the "watermark").

Moving Water
f5, 1/320, ISO 3200 (Shot completely manually)


f5, 1/10, ISO 100 (Shot completely manually)


Daylight action taken at slow shutter speed to show motion
1/30


Low light action taken at slow shutter speed to show motion
I actually shot this at night on a tripod with a 15 second exposure for the shutter speed.


"Shoot Where You Are"
f4.5, 1/200, ISO 3200 (Shot completely manually)


I spent more time this week taking pictures in my bathrooms than ever before, trying to catch drops of water on "film" (How do you change that saying for digital cameras? "On memory card???" Doesn't have the same ring to it.) and adjusting my camera settings so that the lighting wasn't too dark. All in the name of photography!

Chugga Chugga Whoo Whoo!

When we went to Glacier this summer, we stayed at the Izaak Walton Inn, a hotel which also has a working train yard on site. The locomotives at this station help get the trains over the mountain pass. I took this picture from the walking bridge spanning the tracks on our first evening there.



This photo is my submission for Thematic Photographic's "Transportation" theme, Unique Exposure's "Travel" photo challenge, and the Thursday Challenge's "Technology" theme. Be sure to check out each site to see more interpretations of these themes!

Weekend of Water Fun

Some friends of ours have a lake cottage that has been in their family for 3 or 4 generations. (It was either our friend's grandfather or great-grandfather who built it.) They invited us to spend Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend there with them. We've been there with them before, and we jumped at the chance to go again!

Saturday was pretty cool, but some of the older kids were brave enough to do some tubing.





Meanwhile, some of the younger kids were just thrilled to ride along in the speedboat.

(Oldest Son was trying to warm up after tubing.)


When not tubing the kids spent much of the time in and out of the paddleboat, canoe, and docked pontoon boat. The cottage's lake frontage is wonderful for kids because you can walk out 100 ft, and the water is still only about 5 ft deep ... very shallow. However, we did have the kids wear life preservers when playing around by the shore, on the pier, and in the boats.

The Oldest and Oldest Son taking some of the younger kids for a canoe ride


Attack of the water gun soldiers!




The weather was warmer on Sunday, and all of the kids except for the Youngest took turns riding on the "hot dog." We adults and the kids who weren't riding the hot dog enjoyed cruising on the pontoon boat as it pulled the hot dog behind.




(This one is my entry into Paper Mama's "Excitement" photo challenge.)





Some of the kids even got to spend some time fishing off the pier and some of the docked boats.







What an awesome, fun weekend!

Obstacle Course

A couple days ago the kids set up an obstacle course in the driveway.

Here's Middle Child navigating his way through it.


Why, yes, that's his sister's purple bike helmet he's wearing. Why do you ask?

This pic is my submission for this week's "Outside" theme over at You Capture.

Tricycle Handlebars

This week's theme at Perceptive Perspective is "Metal." Here's my submission:



Be sure to visit Perceptive Perspective to view more photographs showcasing "metal."

A Visit to Amish Country

Yesterday the Oldest, Younger Daughter, two friends of mine, and I visited an area of our state where a large number of Amish people live. None of us had ever been there before, but one of my friends had acquired a map from a friend of hers. The map was marked with lots of stores selling various things. There was no town; instead the stores were all buildings on the Amish people's homestead or parts of their homes.

This sign was next to the hitching rail in the parking lot of the "general store".


This shelf of colorful gelatin mixes caught my eye. I thought they were so pretty all lined up!


We visited an Amish furniture store, too. The pieces were all so beautiful! Oldest, Younger Daughter, and I all thought this "saddle stool" was pretty neat.


These buggies were all parked outside of the bakery we visited.


The bakery was actually just a huge kitchen and display area in someone's basement, but we had to wait in a long line for about 30 minutes before we were able to get in and purchase some goodies. It was definitely worth the wait when we tasted the still-warm donuts and cinnamon rolls we bought!


Yum!


And, yes, we did bring some tasty bakery treats back home for Hubby and the boys!

Home From School

This week's photo challenge theme at Simplicity is "School."

My kiddos aren't back in school for another week and a half yet (Yikes! Can it really be that close already?!), but I took this shot last May. The Youngest and I were outside, and I was playing around with my camera when the bus pulled up to drop off the 4 oldest after school. Think the Youngest is excited to have them back home? :)

Parked Permanently

This week's theme at You Capture is "Vehicles."

I took this picture of our neighbor's truck for the challenge.



I think it's parked there for good. See the plant growing through the outer left side of the truck bed?

Be sure to check out more pictures of vehicles at You Capture.