That was Then, This is Now

My house back in 1972 when it was brand new and now in 2013. I love seeing the differences (TREES!) but I was happy to take the picture on the same kind of sunny day with blue skies and fluffy clouds and with another red car in the driveway (too bad it's not the same red mustang, ha!). -Dina 

Then: My nighttime companion when I was a young child was Dappy Dan, and if he wasn't around, I felt lonely and somehow incomplete. Now: My nighttime companion is my dog Ringo, and if he is not around, I feel lonely and somehow incomplete. I have held onto Dappy Dan all these years, and watching Toy Story 3 guilted me into bringing him out of storage and letting him see the light of day (I can't be the only one to have this reaction to seeing that movie, right?). Anyway, I tried to pose them together, and Ringo was having none of it, so I left to do other things. When I came back, there he was asleep, embracing Dappy Dan, just like I did about 35 years ago.  -Cort

Next Week's Theme: Nothing to see here

Frozen

During what is typically one of the hottest weeks of the year, I thought it would be fun to photograph the opposite. But instead of frozen temperature, I went with frozen time. I used a really fast shutter speed (1/1000) to shoot a water fountain. I love the abstract shapes and patterns that are formed, which the human eye misses because it's all happening too fast. Freezing the action like this allows you to see something mundane in a whole new way. -Cort

One of the things I love about photography is the ability to capture all sorts of moments: wow moments, beautiful moments, and day to day moments.  I am lucky enough to have dinner with my Dad and my Sis and her family a couple of times a week and I wanted a picture of this ordinary event. It isn't that remarkable of a photo, but someday I hope that my nieces might look back at this moment frozen in time and realize how special our ordinary dinners really were. -Dina

Next Week's Theme: That was Then, This is Now
 

Happiness

Happiness is watching a mama hold her brand new baby. -Dina 

I am showing you a photo from one of my happiest moments this past week, which was riding The Hulk, the first Universal Studios attraction we enjoyed on the first day of my week-long trip to Florida with my 12-year-old godson, Jerad. We spent two days at Universal, and this coaster was one of our favorite rides. Jerad rode it three times, and he's somewhere in this photo.  -Cort

Next Week's Theme: Frozen

Independence

My Independence photo didn't quite go as planned. I had tickets to the Kansas City Royals baseball game on Wednesday night, and they were planning a huge fireworks show after the game. As we approached the stadium, it started raining, so we stopped at a nearby restaurant to wait out what we thought would be a brief passing shower. An hour and a half later, it was still raining, so we gave up and went home. The game ended up started two and a half hours late, so I'm glad we didn't stay!

So instead, the next day I joined my parents at a fireworks show close to their house, which was still nice, but not nearly as impressive as what the Royals fireworks show would have been. Nonetheless, I got some decent photos of some fireworks celebrating our country's independence 237 years ago. God bless America! -Cort


 

Besides the American Flag, fireworks are right up there at the top of the list of what symbols are associated with Independence Day. It was a lot of fun setting up my tripod and using my camera remote to get some fireworks photos this year. I like how this shot has red, white and blue in it. Happy Birthday America! -Dina

 Next week's theme: Happiness