Scorched

In July I picked "Frozen" as a theme, and so in January I pick "Scorched." Nothing that I saw outside this week really fit (no surprise there), so I looked in my kitchen, which is the next most likely place to see something scorched. And on Super Bowl Sunday, I thought it would it would be appropriate to show you some good football-party food. My pizza is actually perfectly baked, with just the edges of the crust starting to scorch. -Cort

 This is how every marshmallow that I roast turns out. I start out with high hopes of obtaining the perfectly toasted marshmallow..not too burned, not too "raw".  And every time, as soon as the marshmallow becomes engulfed in flames, I quickly blow it out, and end up with a very scorched part, while the rest is as un-roasted as you can get. So I just add extra chocolate and call it good! -Dina

Next Week's Theme: Snow

Majestic

The definition of majestic is: "having or showing impressive beauty or dignity". There are so many things that could be described as majestic, so it was hard to narrow it down. I chose this horse for this week's theme because, to me, a horse can fit the definition of majestic perfectly. They are very beautiful animals and they always seem to move in a very dignified way. There faces, too, are so full of beauty.

This horse is part of a trio that hangs out across the street from where I work. I love that there is a miniature pasture right in the middle of a city neighborhood. They aren't always out, but when I decided to photograph them for this theme, I kept crossing my fingers they would be out some time this week. And they finally showed up on the coldest day of the week, of course. :) -Dina

With nothing else in this photo to provide scale, you might guess that this is some majestic glacier-bound mountain range. In fact, it's a water fountain in Kansas City that is kept on all year round, including the sub-freezing temperatures we've been having recently. Ice forms around the spraying water jets, forming rippling peaks and valleys. It's one of my favorite things to photograph in the winter. 

And it WAS cold, around 10 degrees. I forgot my gloves, so it was a very quick photo shoot. -Cort

Next Week's Theme: Scorched

Undulation

When I chose this theme, I really had no preconceived notions about what I would shoot. I found myself daydreaming while staring out the window while sitting in an automatic car wash, and it struck me suddenly that I was seeing undulating shapes through the windshield. I scrambled for my iPhone (didn't have my DSLR with me) before the rinse cycle ended, and I was able fire off a few shots.

When I want to focus on lines and shapes within an image, I like to convert it to black and white because sometimes color can distract the viewer from the strongest elements, which is this case is the wavy and undulating shapes. -Cort

What a great week to capture this theme. We had 3 days of over 50 mph winds! I thought this shot perfectly captured the word undulation. What a fun theme. 

Side note: My first goal was to catch waves in motion. On one of the days when we were having gale force winds, I headed to a neighborhood lake. As I turned the corner, I saw a lot of geese standing on the middle of the lake and my first thought was, Oh, awesome, I'm totally getting them in my photo. My second thought was, Oh, they are standing in the middle of the lake. Standing. On a frozen lake. Sigh. I forgot I lived in Nebraska and it was January. Of course, as I write this, it's 64 degrees out, so you never know! -Dina

Next Week's Theme: Majestic 

Celebration

When you turn six years old, nothing says celebration quite like diving into your chocolate cake with your hands before the ice cream can even make it to the plate! Happy Birthday to my niece Sophie! -Dina

Here's proof that I actually pay attention in church once in awhile. Today is the day that Catholics celebrate the baptism of Jesus, and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to show the beautiful stained glass windows at my church, Guardian Angels in Kansas City. There are a dozen windows like this in the sanctuary, and this one in particular tells the story of Jesus' baptism.

I had another celebration today, of a more personal and professional nature. For the first time since I bought my first DSLR about 7 years ago, I upgraded my camera, to a Canon 70D, and today was my first time shooting with it. My old model was a Canon 30D (yes, 4 models ago), but I will keep it as a backup camera. I won't bore you with the technical details, but the 70D has many new and improved features, and I'm excited about expanding my photographic capabilities with this great new tool.  -Cort

Next Week's Theme: Undulation

Clean Slate

A new year is always thought to be a clean slate, which is why I suppose new year's resolutions are so popular. To me, nothing says a clean slate more than freshly fallen snow, before critters leave footprints in it, or it melts into soggy mush. I took this photograph from my deck after this year's first snow storm, and the shadows formed by the railing slats always leave an interesting pattern in the snow. It's truly a fresh start, and a great way to start 2014. -Cort

Welcome 2014 and a chance to start with a clean slate! Happy New Year! -Dina


Next Week's Theme: Celebration

Where the lovelight gleams

Real Simple Magazine does a feature each month called Life Lessons. They usually pick a theme and invite famous and non famous writers to explore the theme. Their theme this December was "where the love light gleams" from the Christmas song "I'll be Home for Christmas".  The magazine introduces the theme by saying, "For some people, coming home for Christmas or Hanukkah literally means returning to the house they grew up in. For others, it's less about a place and more about the people they're with. Either way, there's no time of year when home matters more, as five writers explain."

I read all of the essays, but my favorite was Anne Lamott's story of her son Sam learning to have Christmas at both her house and his father's house since Anne and Sam's father John had divorced. She ended it with a line..that...well, you know when you read something so beautiful and simple and yet profound and how it can just stop you in your tracks right then and there? Well this line did that to me. She writes: "Not long after, John moved away to a more modest home, where Sam always visited during the holidays, {Are you ready for THE line} ....a place filled with warmth and welcome and the ordinary light of family." What a beautiful, poetic and yet simple way to describe home and family.

After I read that, I just kept thinking that is such a gift...the ordinary light of family. It doesn't mean your family is perfect, but it means that in all it's ordinariness, it's extraordinary. And wherever your family is, that is your home; where the love light gleams.

My photo this week hopefully shows the ordinary light of family and it really shows where the love light gleams for me. It's Christmas morning, and everyone in this photo (human and furry) is so important to me; they are my home and where the love light gleams for me and I am so grateful to God for the gift of them in my life.

Merry Christmas, Happy Feast of the Holy Family and many, many blessings to you and yours in 2014.

P.S. Please note that Sean has been set in a corner and is officially in charge of opening and assembling the gifts as they are unwrapped. I'm sure in every house where toys were opened, Moms and Dads were uttering the same curse words as they attempted to open the packaging that had to have been made by the same people who designed the space shuttle. Most toys could be strapped in their original packaging to the outside of the space shuttle, and survive a trip into space and back. -Dina

Gleaming light makes me think of sunsets, which is a favorite subject of mine. Of course, a photogenic sunset during any given week is certainly not a guarantee, especially during the bleak month of December (for weather, anyway). I got lucky, however, when I was walking my dog a couple evenings ago. A nice foreground element in this photo is the TV antenna, which looks like an arrow and is pointing the way to this gleaming sunset.  -Cort

Next Week's Theme: Clean Slate

Silent Night

 

 

Note - Our blogger application is altering the colors in this photo, and I have not been been able to fix the problem and restore it to the original intended version.

During this past week we marked the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, and so I thought this would be a good week for a nighttime theme. I really wanted to take this photo with snow on the ground, and I missed it by one night. This is my house, and I left for Omaha just hours before we got several inches of snow in Kansas City. So unfortunately, this photo falls a bit below my own hopes and expectations. Timing is everything with photography, and sometimes time just isn't on your side. Anyway, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! -Cort

 This Christmas snow globe is a favorite of mine. I immediately thought of it when I saw the theme, because it plays Silent Night. Peace and Merry Christmas!!!!! -Dina

Next Week's Theme: Where the lovelight gleams.