Iceberg Quest

Above is a shot of my handsome husband as we return from a 2 hour boat tour out of St. John's Harbour and out to Cape Spear. It was an enjoyable evening. I don't ever recall being able to see a reflection in St. John's Harbour before, but that evening there were amazing reflections. There were reflections of colourful boats, the Scotia building and towering cranes.

The quest for icebergs was not a successful one (of course, it is August after all!) We weren't fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of any whales either. According to our tour guide, the whales were a bit "skittish" due to killer whales being in the area recently. We did, however, see some dolphins just ahead of the boat. Very cool!

The rest of the tour entailed a soft lop on the ocean, the occasional salt spray in our faces and wonderful perspectives of the Newfoundland cliffs, as well as the lighthouses, fishing stages and houses built along the coast. A photographer's delight!

Fort Amherst

Lovely to photograph Fort Amherst from a boat rather than from land. It's not often I have that opportunity. And I've used the Lomo effect to enhance it. It's becoming one of my favourite effects. Google it if you don't know what I'm talking about.






Check out the above picture. I thought the green of the rocks was pretty interesting. Not sure I'd want to be standing or sitting on those rocks, but it's a brilliant green.

And the lighthouse at Cape Spear. This photo speaks to me of grandeur. If you were able to look very closely you would see several people standing next to the lighthouse at the top of those towering cliffs. Grandeur indeed! Again this week I am caused to appreciate the beauty and ruggedness of our province.

I hope you can appreciate it, too.

Bell Island

So, finally we get to Bell Island this past weekend!

We've been meaning to visit all summer given we drive by the ferry twice a day every weekday. My only previous visit was on a child protection matter. My co-worker and I drove to a client's house, did a speedy interview and booted her back to the last ferry of the day. Not much opportunity for sightseeing.

Despite Bell Island being a small island there is plenty to see! I did the jaunt this weekend with my parents, my husband and three boys. There were cool moments and not so cool moments. The boys absolutely loved the ferry ride! Carter and Caelan were so excited they could hardly contain themselves. They were jumping up and down, running from one side of the deck to the other and squealing with delight. Carter, of course, had to ensure that the boat was safe as we were boarding.

Some of the sights that we took in during our 5 hour visit were as follows:

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  A lighthouse built in 1939



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  A Historic Underground Iron Ore Mine and Museum (OK, so we actually only did the mine tour. At the end of the 45 minute underground tour we were all famished! Not to mention emotionally drained from Caelan's crying cause he was hungry, tired and not real impressed with a damp, cold tunnel of rock. One of the not so cool moments.)



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  Sunken ships at Lance Cove Beach and a very cute seal who kept popping his head up and down in the water, for our entertainment I'm sure. I never knew one could get down to a beach on Bell Island. From our standpoint in St. Philip's it looks like nothing but cliff. Along with that came another not so cool moment when Caelan became very upset because he left his toy car on the beach and we couldn't find it. More crying ensued . . .



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  Dick's Fish and Chips for lunch. A welcome sight! I mentioned we were all famished. No unhappy people there!
  
  
  Anyway, it was a worthwhile 5 km across the bay and a gorgeous day to boot!
  

http://www.bellisland.net/

A Warm Place to Be

I thought today I would write about Newfoundland. Given hurricane Danielle and tropical storm Earl I've been caused to think about how fortunate we are weatherwise here in Newfoundland. Now back in the spring of this year I wouldn't have said that since we had one of the wettest springs ever. But when I think about hurricane force winds, flooding and the resulting damage, we are indeed fortunate. What's a bit of fog and rain? What's the worst that can happen with a snow storm? We get enough snow to cover in our doors and we can't get outside for a day or two? Not such a bad thing is it? Light the fireplace, get a cup of tea and curl up on the couch with a blanket and watch the wind whip up the pure white snow outside, knowing that you're safe and warm. OK, I think I better stop talking about snow!

My point is we have a lot to be thankful for if we have a roof over our head, a warm place to be and people who love us. I look forward again to being able to spend the weekend with my family. Hope you enjoy yours!

Vacation Photo Contest

http://www.family-vacation-getaways-at-los-angeles-theme-parks.com/Vacation-Photo-Contest.html

I just have to write about my watermelon boys! Yesterday they helped me win another photo contest! The Vacation Photo Contest in the U.S. How could they not win?! They're so darn cute!!


Check out the link above. They're one of the "Groups" winners. Not a huge prize, but enough to thank my boys with a trip to McDonald's. Yay!!!

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.- William Blake, 1799, The Letters

Pretty big quote hey? Wonder if I could write something as profound as William Blake? Probably not, but I know some of the pictures I have taken make me feel "profoundness." Or I feel them intensely. The tree above is one of those photos. It was taken at an old, for sale farm on Torbay Road in St. John's. OK, so it didn't move me to tears, but I was quite pleased with the results. And I've been able to share that with other people. One of my co-workers won a "Tina B" print of that tree at our Christmas party. Another co-worker has included the black and white version of this tree in her bathroom decor. And the coloured print of this tree graces my guest bedroom since it is very "Oriental-looking." Well, as Oriental as it can be, originating from a farm in Newfoundland.

The moral of the story? Thanks to nature it doesn't take a big production to pull off an amazing work of art. Well, perhaps it was a big production. You know, creation and all. The only thing I had to do was find it and appreciate it's beauty.

“Children in a family are like flowers in a bouquet: there's always one determined to face in an opposite direction from the way the arranger desires”
Marcelene Cox

“You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back.”
William D. Tammeus

I couldn't wait to write my posting today because I couldn't wait to show off the picture of my family. It is when I am with my family that I experience pure moments of joy and contentment. Watching the boys run around the back yard, sitting together at the dinner table or laughing at some cute thing that one of the boys has said.

This weekend was no different. It was a busy weekend, but enjoyable nonetheless. I think the boys have a more active social life than Terry and I do. We spent some time working on the garage (I'm getting more comfortable on scaffolding). We went to a neighbourhood garden party and two birthday parties. As well as trying to tackle the mountain of laundry that magically appears in our house every weekend. Amongst all that we managed to fit shopping for birthday presents and a new camera for Cody, cooking meals, washing dishes, replanting some houseplants, a BBQ, baths for everyone, making sandwiches for Monday's soccer game and a family photo shoot in the backyard. Whew! I need another weekend off just writing about all that!

Believe it or not, the family photo shoot only took a few minutes. Get everyone dressed in jeans and green shirts, wash faces, comb hair, move the swing set aside, set the camera up on the tripod, arrange everyone, set the self-timer for 20 seconds and run!! OK, maybe more than a few minutes. But worth every effort. It really doesn't take that much effort to pull off a beautiful shot of my family. They're just so darn cute! (If I do say so myself)! I'm willing to bet though, that some of you might agree.

What do you think?

Where the Sun Meets the Sea

Today's blog is about the town that we have been living in since October of 2009.

Portugal Cove-St. Philip's.

Let's see. What do I like about the town?

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  It's really quiet and dark at night. You can actually appreciate a starry night.





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  Whenever the sun is out from behind the clouds you can count on a spectacular sunset.





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  The hills make for a great workout on the butt!





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  It's a small town with easy access to the benefits and services of a larger city.





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  It has one of the best elementary schools in the area.





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  I'm still just a 20 minute drive to work.





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  By Da Beach has the best fish and chips. Move over Ches's!
  
  

And it's a great place to take some beautiful photographs. Still ponds, majestic waterfalls, eerie fog and magnificent sunsets. Come visit soon!

http://www.pcsp.ca/?

The Marshall Family

The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you. ~Kendall Hailey

This past weekend I enjoyed a photo shoot with the Marshall family. I actually refer to it as a photo shoot and a little mini workout all rolled into one.

We went to Manuel's River for some shots by the falls. In order to get the best angle we had to get to the other side of the falls which meant some jumping across rocks and water. I was actually sore the next day! I guess I should do more rock hopping and stair climbing!

I met Krista through the MSW program. We've been experiencing the journey of work, family and a challenging Masters program together.

The Marshalls seem like a pretty relaxed family. Krista has a great sense of humour. Her husband has a social work background as well. And the two little blondie boys were very cooperative with an hour of picture taking in white shirts which they weren't allowed to get dirty. (The promise of ice cream afterwards helped). And let's not forget Max the dog. Very much a part of the family and so nonchalant about his 15 minutes of fame with the papparazzi.

A big thank you to the Marshall family for the honour of being your family photographer.

Weekends

How was your weekend? Mine was OK. I spent a large part of it doing things I prefer not to do on my days off from work. Grocery shopping, school supply shopping, laundry . . .

The things I like to do on the weekend are relax in the sun, have a fire and roast some weiners and marshmallows, laugh with my boys, have a weekly Terry and Tina BBQ . . . You know, the stuff of which vacations are made. A photo shoot every now and then can be a fun thing, too. This past weekend I did a family photo shoot out at Manuel's River. It was photography and a workout all in one since we had to jump some rocks and falls to get to the other side where the sun was in a much more favourable position. Pictures to follow of that shoot when I finish having fun with the editing.

How do you like to spend your weekends?

St. John's

St. John's. Oldest city in North America. My favourite city in North America. I was born in St. John's and have always been proud of that. It's interesting to hear the story of how my parents lived across the street from the Grace Hospital where I was born and how Dad had to finish cooking his chicken before he came to the hospital where Mom was in labor. I love you, too Dad! lol

And then we spent some time in St. John's while Dad was in summer school.

And then there was University. Seems like many moons ago now.

And now I call St. John's home. The things I love about our capital city are that it's not too big. From just about anywhere in the city you can see Signal Hill. Drive downhill to get downtown and uphill to get out of downtown. Pretty simple. St. John's has such character. Jelly bean rowhouses, old churches and narrow downtown streets. Nothing helps you get to know a city quite like getting out of your car, grabbing your camera and walking around.

What about it? Feel like a walk?

Landscapes

Wikipedia defines landscape photography as a genre intended to show different spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. This popular style of photography is practiced by professionals and amateurs alike. Photographs typically capture the presence of nature and are often free of man-made obstructions. Landscape photographers usually attempt to convey an appreciation of the world.


Landscape photography is a type of photography that I'd like to improve upon. Ansel Adams said, "Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment." I think he's right! There aren't too many landscape shots that I've taken with which I've been happy, but that's OK. Lots of opportunity to practice and make perfect right?

I love the photo above of a scene from Ottawa that was taken when I was visiting my sister and her family last September. It's not often here in St. John's that we get a day when there is little wind and such a perfect reflection in the water. Beautiful indeed and I hope it conveys my appreciation of the world to you.

A Thousandth of a Second

Babies are a lot of fun to photograph. And the ones that can't yet move around are easy to photograph! LOL I love to capture the light in a baby's eyes. It creates a moment in time that is priceless. Or a thosandth of a second in time.

When I took some of these photos, the camera's shutter was open for just a thousandth of a second. If there's that much beauty and meaning in a thousandth of a second, imagine how much there is in a whole second, or a minute, or a lifetime.

Bloom Where You're Planted!

I've been a fan of flowers since I was a little girl. Mom tells me the story of how she plunked me down in the middle of some flowers to take my picture while on a family vacation. The love story continues. Nothing brightens up a front step or a room like a plant does. It gives a room life.

It isn't hard to get a good photograph of flowers. Robert Brault once said, "It pleases me to take amateur photographs of my garden, and it pleases my garden to make my photographs look professional."

The flower pictures above are from a variety of different locations. The tulips are from my mother's garden. I remember growing up with flowers in my mother's garden. What a privilege to grow up with such beauty. The white flowers are from my mother-in-law's garden. Another blessing to have a second mother with a love of nature. Some of the other photographs are of the flowers around me in my home and in my garden.

I must admit I love the flowers, but I'm not the best gardener. I neglect to give them the water they need on a regular basis. Life is just so busy with three boys, a husband, work and school! I neglect my plants and hope for the best. As always, there is a lesson to be learned here. Take care of all the people and flowers in your life. Give them the attention they deserve. Live in the moment and bloom where you are planted. Our families and our flowers will not be OK if you neglect them and assume they'll turn out the way you want. Be present always.

Reaching Out

Time to pull out the big guns, so to speak. The photo above is a shot of my friend and previous co-worker, Melanie and her daughter, Maria. Melanie asked me if I would be interested in doing a photo shoot with her in order to enter it in the 2009 World Ostomy Day Photo Contest sponsored by Hollister Incorporated. Of course, I was delighted and jumped at the chance. Twenty photos were selected worldwide. The contest theme was "Reaching Out," showcasing living life to the fullest. Having taken a winning photo meant that the local chapter of the Ostomy Association was given a cash award of $250.

http://www.ostomycanada.ca/chapters#Newfoundland

I was absolutely thrilled to do this photo shoot, to win $250 for the NL chapter and to be one of twenty photos chosen worldwide. And then to have my picture published in the 2010 Hollister calendar and in the Ostomy Canada magazine. (Nothing like blowing your own horn right?)

You can check out the calendar here, download it and print it off. (You know I have! lol)

http://www.hollister.com/us/ostomy/virtual/wod_calendar.asp

Newfoundland Lighthouses

One of the things I've noticed about my photography is that I have collections of certain types of photos. Red doors, old and worn objects, and lighthouses! I've discovered in gathering together my pictures of lighthouses for this posting that I haven't travelled Newfoundland enough. I know there are dozens of beautiful lighthouses in Newfoundland. Now I have a burning desire to go see them!

http://www.lighthousesrus.org/Canada/NFL.htm

My favourite picture of a lighthouse is the one taken by the famous French photographer, Jean Guichard. I'm sure you'll recognize it as soon as you see it.

http://www.jean-guichard.com/

Anyone like to go exploring with me?