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!

Photographic Scavenger Hunt

Our assignment, at Waterworks Park, this week, was to capture a set list of pictures - a Photographic Scavenger Hunt, if you will. The criteria was simple - find the following: An "S" shape; A reflection; An interesting piece of bark; A hole in something (can you guess what mine is? (And yes, I took it at the park last night!); Words; Something old-the car is kinda cliche, eh?; Something blue; Something sad; Something new - what better than a handsome couple who had just exchanged their wedding vows?; and Something alone - again, I took this one at the park, but in a most unusual place. As you can see, yes I did spend SOME of my time shooting, but also spent SOME of it chatting, gabbing, and talking, so didn't get enough time to shoot the last four scenes before it got too dark (and the lineup at Tim Horton's got tooooooo long - have to beat the crowd). Must FOCUS to task on hand (pun not intended). Maybe get out another night to shoot the other four.

Random Images of Summer

I probably should have called this one "Tears of Joy" (or something like that), but wasn't smart enough to think about it at the time. This is a close-up detail of one of the blooming water lily flowers, that I have in my pond.

So . . . Rob and I were out shooting my Heritage Trees at the St. Thomas Cemetary just this past Sunday. I spied this scene on our way out. I asked Rob to stop the truck so that I could take a picture of it. He thought that I was outta my mind, 'cause he didn't quite get my humour until I told him what the name on the tombstone was. Call me a sick pup, but I couldn't let this photo opp pass me by!
In the summer, I spend most of my time out in the garden - you know, weeding, watering, futzing, and generally getting dirty. I love the feel of soil beneath my fingertips, and derive much satisfaction from the beautiful bit of paradise I have created for me and my family to enjoy. While out one morning, I espied this scene. It is the quintessential amphibian on a lilypad (in this case, a toad). The femaile had just finished laying her strings and strings of black pearls, which she decorated the undersides of the Water Hyacinths. I quickly ran indoors, fired up the ol' camera, and snapped a few off. Luckily for me, Mr. Toad had decided that the top of the lilypad was a comfortable place to reat, and allowed me to take a few pics of him.
This is a detail of one of those "Pocket Rockets" that some people enjoy riding. The young fellow driving it was dressed in an outfit matching his bike. I thought that rather funny, but different strokes, eh?