Getting in the Picture on Mother's Day

My mom made these dresses for us to wear when I was a baby.  She has a photo somewhere of us in them.(Photo by Savanna) 

After dinner we went for a walk in the rain.

(Photo by Steve)

A few months ago I wrote a post here about choosing focus points.  When I sat down to write the post, I only knew how to choose just one focus point on my camera.  While writing the post I found other modes my camera has and it has made it easier to pass the camera to someone else who isn't as camera crazy as me.  In these photos I changed my setting to zone auto focus before handing the camera over. 

38|40 Sunny Day

For weeks, she'd just take a few steps and then go back to crawling.  Then one day, she wanted to carry something while crossing the room.  With a reason to walk, she gave up crawling and walks everywhere now. 

On Friday, we were walking while her big brother was riding his bike.  I noticed her shadow and how it helped show her steps.  I didn't have my camera with me.  I don't usually like taking pictures in the bright, midday sun.  But, here was a reason to.  We went home for the camera and came out again.  I was happy with the shadows and also with how the path reflected light on to her happy face. 

37|40 Cool Down

Our neighbor got out her hose on a warm evening.  I'm happy about the return of water photos.

On a technical note - I set the shutter speed is 1/80 to get the water to look like lines in the above photo.

Above is the first one I took. I didn't like the blue slide and chairs in the background and I thought the water would be lit better if she turned around.  The shutter speed on the above photo is 1/200.  

36|40 Bleeding Heart

On a sad day two years ago, I was out walking in search of a photo for my daily photo project.  I saw bleeding hearts in my neighbor's yard and thought, "Yes."  

Now when I see my neighbor's bleeding hearts in the spring,  I remember that sad day and the days that surrounded  it.  I look at them, remember and go back to my day with a grateful heart.

Below is the photo from two years ago.

Dandelions

I remember riding the tractor with my dad while he was mowing the lawn.  I'd watch the yellow heads of the dandelions go under the mower and would applaude the ones that popped back up.  I know to many dandelions are the enemy, but I've always been a fan.

We were out for a walk and went by an untended patch of grass full of dandelions gone to seed.  It doesn't take much convincing to get the kids involved with blowing dandelions seeds.  I was happy with how the light was catching the seeds as they floated away.

 The same light caught this enthusiastic wish.