Mom Goes To School

My first photo assignment for my first ever photography class was kind of a pain in the ass. First of all, it had to be done completely using the camera's automatic camera setting. I have been shooting in Manual exclusively since I got the 7D and to say that it's automatic performance is lacking would be a huge understatement! Not being able to set my own ISO, aperture and shutter speed was like torture. And not being able to choose my own focal points? Yeah suck. Now add the fact that all the pictures had to be taken outside with no flash? I thought that wouldn't be an issue, but the camera wanted to pop the flash every.single.time. Ugh. Oh and all cropping had to be done in camera with no post editing. Sniffle, I miss photoshop.

Even the assignment itself was a challenge - we were given ten words and we had to be creative in capturing them on film. I am NOT an outside the box thinker. NOT. I like my box. Anyway, here were my attempts...

1. Twist: It's diet coke! With Splenda! And look at the twist! (sigh)

2. Trek: Baby feets :)
3. Tower: Succulent spray
4. Tow: Special thanks to Nik and Briar for staging this one!
5. Tinsel: Decorative, Ornamental and Sparkly? Check.
6. Timid: Glass ladybug on an angle
7. Tiger: Striped and Ferocious
8. Three: My three favorite people...
9. Texture: Yeah, I probably could have been more creative with this one...
10. Terminial: This was my favorite. It's where we have to drop Fin off in the morning. The place where I hand him off to begin his long stretch of day without me. The terminus of my role as his primary educator and the beginning of his real formal education. Sigh.
Can't wait to see how it goes! Up next: how sick I am of reading photo critiques that use the word meaning every two seconds. Sigh.

Hi, my name is Maggie and I have a son in Kindergarten...

Like all other parents, we've been busy these past weeks. School has started. In our house, it's only Finley who has begun as Dash's preschool doesn't start till Sept. But oh the changes...You see, we are "afternoon" people. And this year we had no choice. Kindergarten starts at 8am, with the playground opening at 7:30 which means we have to be up at ohmywhere'sthesun o'clock. I can only imagine what this will feel like in the winter when the house is cold and it's still dark outside. *Shudder* Brooks is in trouble since I've already had my first awkward run in with a parent and it's his fault. He volunteered in the class this week alongside another dad. They spent a good long time together and chatted it up. The dad then came to find me at pick up (two days later) to tell me how much he enjoyed meeting my husband since as a stay at home dad he spends most of his time around mom's. So I asked if his K child was his only and he said yes. Then I made a comment about being jealous of his alone time. His whole face f e l l. "Didn't your husband tell you that my wife just had a miscarriage??" No. No he didn't. F*&#$.

Anyway, we're surviving. As much as I hate getting up early, I am finding that I love BEING up early, so that's a plus. It's an awesome thing to have all the daily chores done before lunch. And Fin is thriving. He loves school. He's been on green every day so far (they go on a stoplight system, green=good, yellow=warning, and red=note home to parents) and his teacher told me he's doing great so that makes my heart sing. We have homework every night but so far there has been little protesting over doing it. He is also just flying through books. We're reading The Adventures of Captain Underpants series as a family and before we start that each night he reads a different book to his brothers. It's amazing how much they love to sit and listen to him. I'd love to catch a picture of it some day, but so far I haven't been able to tear myself away from watching them.

Dash and Kell are in a whirlwind of colors and shapes and letters and trying to find ways of playing agreeably while Fin is at school. Dash will have Miss Annette and Miss Shannon for Pre K this year. Fin had Miss Annette as a 3 and she couldn't be nicer and at this point, Miss Shannon is family :) Dash can't wait for his turn and I'm looking forward to having some alone time with Kell. Kell had a fabulous second birthday - getting a new basketball hoop from his grandparents and a ride-on toy from mom and dad. He never ceases to amaze me with his joy over the funniest things - the book he got from a friend was just as exciting as a giant plastic Little Tykes monstrosity. Go figure.

Dad's work is trucking along and my big news is that I started classes this week. I had a few moments of panic over what-am-I-doing and how-will-I-do-this and then again what-the-fuck-was-I-thinking, but I feel ready to start something new. Not sure I'll finish a degree or certificate, and not sure I need to, but it feels good to be doing something for me. I'm already being challenged to think outside the box and I am SO an in the box person that it should be interesting. My rules for assignment number one included keeping the camera on Auto and shooting in full sun - so contrary to what I prefer to do! And I am totally amazed at how easily the camera decides I need the flash. Irritating is saying it gently. I'll try and keep you up to date on my projects if they turn out at all interesting. The other students certainly are (more on that later). I've also been dieting. I know, I hate that word almost as much as the general concept. I miss carbs. And I miss booze. And I'm starting to get increasingly concerned that I am a totally boring and grouchy person when I'm sober for long periods of time. So we'll see how long that lasts.

Off to play with the littles before it's time to pick up the Fintastic!

I Heart Faces: Eyes

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is eyes. I love my boys' eye's. I love their friends' eye's. I love taking ridiculously close-up pictures of eyes. This made for a tough choice...


In the end I had to go with this one. I was trying to take a nice picture of Kell on the train. But Kell seems to think that the closer he gets to the camera, the better the picture will be. And for once, I agreed. :)


Don't forget to head over to I Heart Faces to take a look at some of the other great entries!