A Study in Lines

I was out in the backyard, cleaning up the gardens for fall (you know the rote, put things away, last weeding effort, etc.), when I spied this scene down by the pond. I loved the colours and the way that the lines in the patio stones and shadows (created by the deck ballisters) intersected each other making for, in my mind, a pleasing composition. The leaf position allowed me to crop in close with the camera (no, I did not stage the shot!).

Keep Your Face to the Sunshine . . . It's What Sunflowers Do - Helen Keller

I had a particular story in mind when I decided that I wanted to donate a pic to my 25th Remission Lunch. On my way to the Doctors' I had noticed a couple of fields of sunflowers near Wallacetown. Hmmmm, I thought, GREAT! but the sunflowers were all cheery and happy their heads pointed towards the sun (as is their ilk). I wanted a scene where most heads were down, droopy, to convey exactly what I wanted. It had rained a couple of days later, so off Rob and I headed. I shot many pictures, and scanned the field for what seemed like hours, before capturing this story. Kristen Brady won the picture, which I had framed, and many thanks to The St. Thomas Photographic Guild for graciously donating the paper and printing of it.

September 30, 2007

On the date noted above, my Ovarian Cancer Support Group, in conjunction with OCC (Ovarian Cancer Canada), held a 25th Remission Celebratory Lunch in my honour. In April of 1982, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer - you're welcome to read about my ride with this insidious disease on the link posted. I was so happy that all my friends and family were on hand to help me celebrate this most auspicious milestone in my life. I would like to thank the following sponsors, who generously donated a door prize or food gift:
Capo Foods - Beautiful and delicious cake

Loree Dubuque - Gorgeous hand-crafted necklace, bracelet, and earring set (in ovca teal)

Lisa Greenaway - Bath Set and Body Shop Nail Care Kit

Stephanie Holt - Unique and beautiful Hand-crafted Card Set, Bookmark, and Photo Frame

Canadale Nurseries - $25 Gift Certificate and Full-Colour Gardening Guide

Crabby Joes - $30 Gift Certificate

Cats Kaboose - $25 Gift Certificate

Arthur Voaden Secondary School - $30 Diva Spa Package (as well, Mrs. Franklin, the Cosmetology Dept. teacher, held a Spa Day on Oct. 1. Proceeds benefited OCC - thank you!!)

Bodies by Paton - T-shirt and 1-week Trial Membership

Tommy White Sports - Baseball Cap

The St. Thomas Photographic Guild - Paper and printing of images that I gave away as door prizes, as well as generous money gift donations for framing from various members

Forest of Flowers - 2 dozen of the most sweet-smelling, and beautiful red long-stem roses

Smith Fruit - Produce for Crudites and Fruit trays

Loblaws - $30 Gift Certificates, which were used to purchase food items

I would be remiss in not thanking the following people for helping me put on this event. Without their help and dedication, I would not have been able to pull it off: Vince, Diane, Kelly, Roger, Cathy, Pat, my husband Rob, my step-daughter Tatum, and of course, the great driving force behind it all, Harold. Our guest speakers were Doug Daye from Toastmasters, who gave a rousing and inspirational story about all the inspiring people who have impacted his life, and Dr. Monique Bertrand - Supervisor: Head, Division Gyn Oncology Ovarian Cancer Research, who gave an interesting talk about ovarian cancer statistics and the impact of them amongst the different demographic and geographic regions in Canada. I was so pleased with the day!! It was very successful. We were able to raise $647.57, portions of which were donated to OCC and The London Ovarian Cancer Support Group. I cannot say anything more about that, I am just so overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of everyone!!!!!

Painting With Light

I cannot believe that I have not yet posted this image to my blog. I took it last year as part of my personal program with the St. Thomas Photographers Guild. It took me many, many attempts, over several nights, to achieve my vision of what I wanted to convey. I had tried many other "painting with light" scenerios, but failed at them. I will try again at some point. I really enjoyed the many frustrating hours it took me to get this image. I am very pleased with the effort (especially seeing as I was learning something new - learning curves are always difficult).

Finally!!!

These two images are my attempt at creative photography. I had about 10 minutes to shoot something of my grandchildren before my husband, Rob (anxious to get on the road back home from Brooklin, ON), really started to have kittens. He wanted to beat the Toronto traffic home before it got too busy. Goodness knows, I had all weekend to spend some leisurely time photographing Emily and Spencer. But I got so busy being a Grandma, I left all the photography to the last minute. My bad! I was getting direction from my daughter-in-law, Jennifer, as to how to pose the kids, and of course, they were just being themselves (uncooperative). Rob was by now having 50 fits, so my attempts were not really what I wanted. Oh, the drama of it all!