Okay Can You See?

We’re celebrating the Fourth of July in Virginia. I’m grateful for another birthday.

When I was Maura’s age I used to think all the fireworks were just for me on my birthday. Ha!

Not sure if there will be fireworks to celebrate the fourth as there’s rain and more rain.

My granddaughter Maura (4) sings the Star Spangled Banner with a slight alteration of the opening lyrics.

“Okay, can you see?” or more like “O-O-O-Okay can you see”

The title for this post could also be How to Photograph Four Kids at a Time. I’ve had a lot of practice. It’s not impossible but to get ALL four with their best expression is not an easy task. Add the new puppy Henry to the effort.

I’ve used the -get ’em in action method- quite a few times. On the playground, the backyard, the hula hoop, the swing, the bicycle. Anything so they aren’t conscious of Grandma’s lens.

The sitting around all in a row or even staggered grouping and looking at my lens with the old CHEEEEESE doesn’t work for me. Or them Not that I haven’t tried. Canon 70-200mm L series lens ISO 100 f/2.8 1/125 I’m up on the front porch.

On Your Mark-

And they’re off-

Uh oh not that view of Henry. Henry, turn around.

Oh Henry, turn around. Nah, too posed looking. ACTION!

Maura, Anna, Michael and Jack and Henry

Here they come.

Anna calls to Henry to join them.

He’s getting it now

A moment of childhood captured.

Maura doesn’t like coming in last. Henry is watching the cows in the field next door.

Road Trip to Roanoke and the Double Rainier Cherry

We packed up the car and the van but before I opened the hatch I saw the sky reflection and caught it with the Handy iPhone.

Anna took this self portrait with the iPhone to show the double Rainier cherry she found.

We made a pit stop for rest rooms in West Virginia but did not eat Chester’s Chicken or McD. Love’s.

To be continued. It’s a seven hour car trip. Headed to bed. More tomorrow.

Sisters and Hairdoing

Anna turned five just before her sister Maura was born. This fall they’ll be five and ten. Or should I say, ten and five?

The eldest and the youngest with two boys in between.

Sunday morning I looked down the driveway after Laura and James had just pulled out with Laura’s new car (they’d driven over to show us)

I saw Anna fixing Maura’s hair as they stood the end of the driveway. Very intent.

Maura doesn’t really enjoy getting her hair braided or brushed but her hair is long and they swim a lot so it’s necessary. She’ll let Anna do it and Anna has a nice way about it- getting her to cooperate…

convincing Maura it’s a good thing to brush out the tangly knots!

Both girls pretty much ignored me and my camera, the concentration to get it right on the hair made them forget about me, so I took some shots and approached them slowly. You can see when they became “camera aware”.

I like it when they ignore me.

Here’s the link to Francine Russo’s interesting article The Science of Siblings that my sister and I read last week. Sibling relationships and their importance in your life. Some note about only children as well.

These are taken Canon 50mm 1.2 L series lens so no zooming possibility. Have to move myself. Good practice.

Hair still wet from washing it. Anna in the

Anna (in the pink) can get Maura (in the yellow) to do what she needs her to dao

Big sister Little sister

This Photo is for Frizz

One of my favorite blogs I follow, is hosted by Frizztext in Germany. (The link is right here ) It’s fun to be part of the wordpress blogging community, supporting one another’s efforts. He is always encouraging.

You’ve seen his comments on my blogs or his alphabet challenge on fellow bloggers posts.

His posts are filled with finger style guitar music and interesting photographs, curious cats and philosophers. He publishes a daily paper that promotes photography and photographers, news of the world and provocative thoughts and subjects. He’ll tweet your post and retweet! He has a ton of followers.

Today when I was walking down the sidewalks of Powell, Ohio, I saw this Volkswagen van in the window. He came to mind. He has a VW van in his header.

This photo is for you Frizz!

Just Past Midnight- Columbus Ohio

My son Mark drove me and my sister downtown so Mary could catch a 1:10 AM bus to DC to visit some friends. We’ve had a nice couple of weeks together, first in New York City and then with the family in Columbus.

After we dropped her at the Greyhound station, he drove me around the downtown area so I could get a few nighttime shots of the city. The Ohio Statehouse- just a bit of it as I shot it from the car window. Had the 70-200mm Canon L series lens on the camera. I should have gotten out of the car but we were on our way to take Mary. I had envisioned flags flying as they had been the last time we drove by in the daytime, but not even a breeze.

Ohio Statehouse (Greek Revival) Built 1839-1861

Christopher Columbus in front of City Hall- a 3-ton bronze statue- Uncrated Oct 10, 1955 A gift from Genoa

LeVeque Tower- second tallest building- Art Deco with red white and blue lights on it tonight for the upcoming Fourth of July

The Palace Theatre

The Columbus Fire Department Memorial Eternal Flame

(You hear about “noise” in a photograph. This is a fine example of “noise”)

The Santa Maria in Battelle Riverfront Park on the Scioto River

City buses lined up headed north

The Columbus Dispatch Neon Sign across from the State Capitol Building

Thanks Mark for the just past midnight tour of Columbus downtown.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Companionable

This week’s challenge is companionable

Synonyms for companionable

Synonyms from Merriam Webster online: amicable, bonhomous, buddy-buddy, chummy, collegial,friendly, comradely, cordial, genial, hail-fellow, hail-fellow-well-met, hearty, matey [chiefly British],neighborly, palsy, palsy-walsy [slang], warm,warmhearted

Flat Ruthie is participating in the Weekly Photo Challenge on Cardboardmetravels blog, too.

Boy on Stilts Early Morning New York City

Stilts are documented from the 6th century BC in Greece. Who knew?

I’ve never walked on stilts, have you?

I’ve seen them in a gym class somewhere along with a pogo stick or two. And a clown in a circus when I was small.

There were a bunch of people on stilts in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade (1979) in Savannah, Georgia as we just watched the stilts walkers in a Super 8 home movie (now on a DVD) Wonder who sews those tall tall pants to cover those wooden poles.

Watching the home movie, reminded me of this stilts walker in NYC. Last Friday morning.

This was shot in the early morning on the way to the parking garage to pick up the car and drive out to Ohio.

Looked like he was walking on rooftops to me.

I had to look twice. Of course, it’s an ad on a building. Not sure what they are selling.

Canon 50mm 1.2 lens L series set at ISO 100 f/5 125

What the Kids Saw When They Got Home From the Pool

Jack, Anna, Maura and Michael got out of the van after swimming practice.

The sound of a chain saw goes right through me. The sound that is…..

Shot with the iPhone camera- the kids counted twenty rings

The men are coming back to grind up the trunk. Mark and Erika are thinking of planting a Dogwood Tree.

The firewood shot with the iPhone camera.

and the before photo of the Ash Tree in the front yard

Mark and Erika said the tree had been hit by lightning.

My dad used to play The Ash Grove on the piano.

Hail Stones and Shifty Weather

Sun, clouds, half sun, half clouds. Thunder. Lightning. Still some blue sky.

I don’t usually report on the weather but my sister and I have relocated to the midwest and with a flat terrain, it’s different to experience weather with a giant bowl of a sky overhead instead of jigsaw puzzle pieces of sky, broken up by buildings and trees and land.

Maura got a penny so we could compare the size of the hailstones. She called it the “ice show”

The kids ran around and collected them and put them on the concrete drive. Steam rose from the asphalt after the storm as the temperature had been so hot.